AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER

I got married last century. Engraved invitation on cream card stock. Twelve identically dressed bridesmaids with dyed shoes to match. Buffet with carved meats and cheese platters. Golden oldies band, heavy on the synth.

Not the same wedding bells ringing today. Welcome to the age of wedding reception as red carpet event. Letterpress invitation on up-cycled, paper. Craft cocktails in mason jars with paper straws. Monogrammed dance floors. Bagpipers on unicycles. The pendulum has swung from staid and stale to over the top with an ironic mustache.

While I shake my head at the spectacle of it all (with just a smidge of envy), I do believe that wedding receptions today are a lovely and personal reflection of the betrothed. Our wedding certainly did not have our stamp on it. It also strikes me that once the butterflies have been released and the last guests electric slide into the sunset, this meaningful day of joy and celebration loses its tie to the married life that follows. Aside from photos, wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a daily reminder of the moment you became we and vowed to build a life and home together?

Consider how beautiful linens can brand your wedding YOU. Make a colorful, personal statement about your style. Coordinating napkins at each place setting. Table runners dressing up a buffet. Cocktail napkins for those craft-y cocktails. Inviting pillows at seating areas. Guest towels in the powder rooms. And, the best part? You end up with a collection of linens to start your homekeeping.

And, there will be that morning when you sit down to a rushed breakfast still fuming over the tift you had the night before. What if the table was set with one of those dinner napkins? Just a little reminder of the day you did and still do.