Eugene & I kept our wedding day children-free. We truly wanted everyone to relax and not worry about little ones. It was a tough decision though. This meant my two nieces and nephew couldn’t attend, and it broke my heart. Doesn’t everyone dream of letting the smaller relatives be the flower girls/ring bearers? I feverishly searched the Internet for ideas to make it work. Which then led me to pitch the craziest timeframe solutions to my relatives– “what if they only come for the ceremony?!”. The idea of hanging photos of them on my bouquet made it seem like they had passed- which was not ideal.
And then it came to me. What if we had them with us during the ceremony in a meaningful way. The final idea: sew their handprints onto handkerchiefs. My mom was instrumental in making this a reality.
PS- Brides planning during the pandemic, this is a beautiful way to incorporate people you couldn’t include in your special day.
Time To Create
- Purchase handkerchiefs. I bought two– one for me and one for Eugene. We found ours on Amazon. Didn’t want this to break the bank.
- Grab embroidery thread, needles, embroidery hoop and any patches. I selected one thread color for each kiddo– three colors total. Additionally, we ironed on a heart patch to each handkerchief.
- Trace the hands either onto the handkerchief directly or onto paper. If you trace onto paper like we did, then trace it onto the cloth next. We found it easier to use paper first in case the little ones had any wiggles.
- Embroider the hand outlines and iron on the patch(es).
- Voilà! Don’t forget to add it to your wedding photography shot list.
Special thanks to Momma Moe for embracing my idea and putting in the work to make my handkerchiefs a reality. I love you, Mom.
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Professional photography in post by Stephanie Marie Photography & Design
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