Our grosgrain wedding gown labels come with a “pinked” (zig-zagged) edge to prevent fraying. Most people tuck in these edges and apply it to the gown as shown.

Once pinned in location, you can press the edge with your finger or a warm (not hot) iron before doing a whip stitch to sew it into place. In doing the stitching, take a little bite of the lining fabric of the dress (being careful not to catch the front dress fabric in the stitch) and then catch a bite of the label itself. Do this along the edge of the label on both sides. It does not take a lot of stitches to hold the label firmly in place.

I just joined the website Project Wedding (www.projectwedding.com) where various wedding vendors are showcased by category.  People who have purchased Initial Impressions items for their wedding can leave comments there about the products offered.

Today I work on some of those cute aprons embroidered with children’s faces and names - such an appropriate Mother’s Day gift for grandmom.

After that, I turn my attention to a group of wedding gown labels for the upcoming June weddings.  When I started those labels, I had no idea how huge they would be.  Brides Magazine even saw fit to suggest them as the something blue” in one their articles.

We are excited to announce that our wedding labels and wedding ribbon labels will be showcased in the November/December issue of Brides Magazine. These include labels for the wedding dress, groom’s tie and even the flower girl dress.   

I don’t know if it is a common thread among middle children, but my daughter, Kate, is not terribly competitive. She would rather everyone win. So when her April, 2006 wedding was being planned, the notion of the bouquet toss struck a raw nerve with her. Then she came upon a better idea - at least for her. She had me make a second bouquet from flowers that were similar to her florist made bouquet. But this bouquet was different. It was composed of multiple mini-bouquets, each wrapped with a satin ribbon with an attribute of a good marriage embroidered down the length of the ribbon. We had embroidered ribbons with the words “patience”, “understanding”, “communication”, “laughter”, “forgiveness” and more. Kate stood at the top of the stairs and held the mini-bouquets together as if they were all one bouquet, but as she tossed them, they scattered and all the young ladies assembled to get the bouquet did get a bouquet. It was a lovely gesture.

I was recently asked to make a monogrammed arras coin bag for a wedding that will be held in Manila this winter.

The use of the arras coins in marriage is a long-standing Spanish tradition of “earnest money” which has migrated to Latin American and Filipino weddings. The coin “arrhae” is often a small sack, which holds thirteen coins. It is handed to the priest who blesses them. The thirteen coins represent the Christ and his twelve apostles. The priest then hands the coins to the groom who hands it to his wife to manage the money for the family. The Arras is given to the bride as a symbol of the trust and confidence the groom has in her, and his willingness to provide for her. By accepting the Arras, the bride symbolizes her trust and confidence in her groom.

The coins need not be real, and may instead be gold tokens or round, flat metal pieces that resemble coins. Indeed the Filipina whose bag I made is marrying a man of English heritage, though they both live in America. They plan to use British one pound coins, making this currently a rather expensive aspect of the ceremony! However, it is not the monetary value which is important, but the representation of wealth, prosperity, and security.

Historically it is said that this tradition of the coins came from a
custom in the Roman Empire of breaking gold or silver arrhae, one half to be kept by the woman and the other half by the man, as a pledge of marriage. They were later included in the legal codes there as well as in the Germanic and Visigothic law. The use of the coins in Christian marriage became well established in Spain in the Middle Ages where they symbolize the good economy of the future home. The groom now handing them over to the bride represents that the material assets of the marriage will be shared by the couple, rather than any sense of payment or dowry.

Here is some additional reading on the Arras in the Philippines:
Unity Coins

Modern Context in a Filipino Wedding

Blessing of the Arras

An affordable and strikingly attractive shower gift that is as functional as it is frivolous.

A repeat collaborator asked me to embroider another of her wedding gift Christmas tree skirts.

This one was a particularly nice wedding gift because the bride was very attached to her maiden name, but was taking his. Both their names are so distinctive and polysyllabic that hyphenating was not an option.

The bride was thrilled to have both names on the skirt for Christmas and sent this photo of their very first Christmas tree.

Isn’t young love beautiful?

I have been astonished at how popular our wedding labels have turned out to be! We started out with the large wedding label, but we quickly learned that they are more suitable for the lining of a flower girl basket, the cover of wedding albums or the edge of the table cloth for the gift table. The consensus is that brides prefer the smaller wedding label for the bodice of the dress. Love is in the air — they are popular! These labels are whip stitched by your seamstress or anyone familiar with a needle and thread into the inside bodice of your gown. Make sure your photographer gets a photo of the inside of the gown as he or she is photographing your bridal party getting ready for the wedding.

These make a terrific shower gift - affordable and memorable!

These flower girl dress labels are really cute for ensuring that the flower girl feels super special and a great way to memorialize a very special wedding.

I have tailor made wedding labels for the flower girl dress as a new Initial Impressions offering.  The sample shown here has been made after the fact for the dress I made when my daughter, Erica, was asked to be the flower girl for my sister’s wedding in 1988. 

 I can’t even estimate all the hours that went into the hand smocking, but it was a labor of love and it sure received a lot of oohs and ahhs.  I decided that if I was going to put in the hours, I might as well use the very best materials.  It is made from silk.  I know she enjoyed wearing it because I remember her swishing the  skirt from side to side.  Silk feels so great when it moves!

Now, Erica, who wore that dress, is contemplating her own family.  I am hoping she will have a little girl who will get a chance to wear it.