Personalized Picture Frames for Weddings and Life's Special Occasions

Picture frames are a great way to preserve a moment captured in time such as your wedding day, graduation, birthday, anniversary, or any of life's special occasions.

Modern frames are available in a varity of shapes, colors, and themes and feature customized options such as adding names and date or a short sentimental message which creates a keepsake to last a lifetime.   Personalized frames are a popular way to thank your bridesmaids for helping make your wedding day special or as a gift to the bridal couple.

Renee'

Tips for Keeping Wedding Day Memories Fresh

If you are like most brides, a lot of your wedding budget is allotted to favors and mementos for your guests. You are probably working hard to think of ways to make the day memorable for them. It is great to do this for your friends and family, but don't forget to make sure you have everything you need to keep your wedding day memories alive for yourself as well.

The most obvious way to capture memories in this day and age is with a camera. You will want tons of pictures. It has become quite popular for couples to leave a disposable camera at every table for guests to take snapshots throughout the night. You will also want to make a detailed list for your photographer to make sure you get all the pictures that you want. You can even include a list of candids you might want them to capture, like the flower girl dancing or the bride chatting with bridesmaids before the ceremony.

Aside from photographs, you will want your own keepsakes to place on shelves or tuck in a scrap book. Keep this in mind while you are planning. For example, when you go to your florist ask about bouquet preservation. When you are choosing your cake topper, pick something you might also like to put in a shadow box or on a mantle as an everyday reminder of your commitment. Instead of a guest book, you could opt for a signature frame. This is usually a large mat that guests can sign with ink pens or permanent markers. There are also engravable signature frames like the one shown here. These come with an engraving pen that guests use when signing their signature or special message into the frame. Choosing a frame instead of a book allows you easier access to the memories of well wishes from your guests.

Throughout the day, tuck a few items that you will want to keep into an envelope or bag. This could be a personalized beverage napkin for your scrapbook, or a few of the flower girl's petals to dry or preserve. You will want to do the same on your honeymoon. Other things you will want to save could be the notes you wrote for your speech or your vows. The rough draft with lines scratched out and replaced is a perfect way to recall exactly what you were feeling when you wrote it. You could also ask your best man and maid of honor if they would mind handing over the notes for their toast or giving you a copy. Make sure you get a good keepsake box or scrapbook for all of this before hand. This way the items can be put in their proper place immediately and won't get lost or forgotten.

Most people get their dresses preserved and keep their hair piece, jewelry, and groom's accessories safely tucked away over the years. These are brought out on occasions when you are feeling nostalgic or cleaning out the attic. But wouldn't it be nice to keep them in your every day life? You can do this by creating a large shadow box or wall hanging. The one pictured here was made by The Heirloom Shadow Box Company. These both preserve and display the items in an artful way behind a glass frame. You can even have soft lighting installed within the box to create a real show case for your most precious items. If the idea of framing the dress doesn't appeal to you, you can still have a collage of your program, invitations, flower petals and several other small items framed in a much smaller version.

Tangible reminders of your wedding in your every day living space or carefully preserved in an easily accessible scrapbook will put that wedding day joy right at your fingertips!

~Jenna

Back to School College Must-Haves

It's that time of the year again.  Summer is rounding out and soon the air will be crisp with the fall season.  Before you head back to the classroom, check out our top picks for your back to school college must-haves.  From koozies for your fraternity or sorority to tote bags to hold your books, add a custom touch by having your school name, monogram initials, or nickname personalized on the front.

1) Book Worm? Tote your books in style with a one-of-a-kind canvas tote bag.  A great way to add a unique twist on the every day backpack.  Customized to be one-of-a-kind, your bag will never look the same as another classmates.

2) Frequent Traveler? When it comes to college traveling, make-up seems to always find its way scattered across your desk or dresser.  Pretty and personalized, monogrammed cosmetic bags are the perfect way to keep your make-up needs all in one convenient location (and are a life-saver when making the trips home to visit mom and dad).
3) Gone Greek?  Custom can koozies are a fun and much-loved addition to any frat or sorority.  Have your letters printed on the front and pass them out to your fellow sisters and brothers.  Perfect for socials and parties.

4) Need to add decor to your blank dorm walls?  Custom bar signs like the NFL locker room print (shown above) add a whimsical twist on ordinary wall art.  Add your own name to you favorite team jersey and become one of the players.

Happy Planning!

Allie

Family Reunion Party Planning Ideas

While helping plan one of our customer's family reunions it really got me thinking that I should share some of her creative ideas with our blog readers. Planning a family reunion should be fun and a shared expense. Here are a few ideas to get you started on your next family reunion.

Do not party plan alone, you’re not Martha Stewart! Get together with some family members and assign different committees. This will ensure that the family reunion runs smoothly and you will not be overwhelmed with too much to do. Break the committees down into small groups such as, invitation committee, food committee, events committee, budget committee and clean-up committee.

Planning a theme for the family reunion would be a fun idea. The customer I was speaking to told me that their theme was Hollywood. Everyone is dressing up like their favorite actor/actress or character from a movie. Their last name is Harding so the personalized favor bags she was ordering were going to read, Hardingwood… Where Everyone is a Star! How cute is that.

Each family member is going to receive their personalized goodie bag as they walk the “red carpet” into the family reunion. You can stuff the bags with small snacks; travel size sunscreen lotion and mosquito spray if the party is going to be an outside event.

If you don't have a theme idea or don't want a theme, another great idea is to plan your reunion around a special event, such as Aunt Sue’s 90th Birthday party. This not only brings the entire family together but it also makes the reunion much more special to everyone.

No matter how you decide to plan your family reunion, whether it is at a park, a campground or a beautiful hotel. Don’t forget to keep it simple and fun for all family members involved.

Carrie

Personalized Bridesmaids Tote Bag Gifts

Personalized gifts are one of the best ways you can show someone how much you really love and care about them. One great way to show your bridesmaids how much you appreciate them is with a personalized tote bag.

There are so many styles, designs and colors to choose from, it will be easy to find a tote bag to match each individual style and personality. From the friend who loves to work out, the one that loves to bargain shop, and the one who loves her day at the salon or spa. She will be able to carry her essentials and have plenty of room for more.

Make it personal and have her name or monogram embroidered making it the perfect gift she will never leave home without.

Renee’