skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Dear Bride-to-Be: I've made no secret that I love handkerchiefs—especially white, delicately-embroidered vintage ones...and those with a beautifully-stitched, scrolling monogram, well, even better! My former bridal art-to-wear shop in Atlanta was famous for having a fetching selection of vintage handkerchiefs; they're still my favorite personal gift for a bride; one of my Pinterest boards is dedicated to them; and I often write about the charms and indispensability of handkerchiefs in my books and articles! (There is even a three-part series featuring hankies on this blog.)
So of course I was delighted to see this from Martha Stewart: "Wedding Cakes Inspired by Heirloom Handkerchiefs." Each cake design has an heirloom elegance as feminine as the real thing! See Martha's array of delicious-looking cakes—she calls them "sew sweet!"
Whatever type of cake you choose for your wedding celebration (from old-fashioned motifs to sleekly modern), always choose to have a pretty hanky on hand for happy tears—yours or his or hers!
Love. Listen. Let go.
...with love from Cornelia
ps: My first book, The Bride's Ritual Guide: Look Inside to Find Yourself—the perfect gift for every bride—has at least three stories dedicated to handkerchiefs...including why you should not go down the aisle without one!
[Top image courtesy of Augusta Auctions; cake image courtesy of Martha Stewart Weddings]
Dear Bride-to-Be:
I've made no secret that I love handkerchiefs -- especially embroidered white vintage ones and those with a beautifully scrolled monogram, even better! My former bridal art-to-wear shop was famous for a fetching selection of them; they're my favorite gift for a bride; one of my Pinterest boards is dedicated to them; and I write about handkerchiefs in my books and articles often! (There is even a three-part series featuring the benefits and magic of hankies on this blog.)
So of course I was delighted to see this from Martha Stewart: "Wedding Cakes Inspired by Heirloom Handkerchiefs." And they are divinely charming, 'natch! See my favorites from Martha's array of delicious-looking cakes on Pinterest, along with other hanky delights sure to inspire your heart.
Love. Listen. Let go.
...with love from Cornelia
[Top image courtesy of Augusta Auctions; bottom image courtesy of Martha Stewart Weddings]
Dear Bride-to-Be:
Handkerchiefs and weddings—along with the
likes of languid moments, love and courtship, soft sighs, and “taking one’s breath
away”—have a long poetic history together. And if you were lucky enough to have
a close relation skilled with a needle (and many people did up until the middle
of last century), then you’d have your own special handmade wedding
handkerchief to sigh over. Perhaps made from near translucent Belgium linen or
fine cotton from Portugal with a lush border of rose point bobbin lace for her
and for him, a spacious, white lawn handkerchief with hand-rolled edges and
embroidered with his initials.
Beautifully fetching handkerchiefs may evoke
a more leisurely era as well as their costumed weddings; however, there’s a
romantic melodrama that spins around weddings of any era. Weddings of the past
and present are like a microcosmic slice of real life magnified and when
planning a wedding (no matter how small or quickly assembled—even if it’s
“Let’s hurry over to the courthouse!”), emotions swirl and time seems to speed
up and slow down all at the same time. In our hurry-up world, whatever the
occasion, maybe we need to stop and sigh
every now and then. Oh, not for any
melancholia—but just to enjoy the beautiful, take-your-breath-away blessing
that life is.
When I had my bridal shop years ago, to help my customers
ease the pace, relax into their bodies, and enjoy their rite-of-passage ahead, I
would tell stories taken from wedding folklore, adding my own twists with a bit
of goddess legend and mystical mythology woven in. I didn’t wave a hanky for
dramatic effect, but I did take slow,
unhurried breaths—with exhales not unlike a sigh—and soon my listeners were
breathing deeper as well; they became more relaxed, even more sympathetic to
mother or daughter or partner or whomever appeared as the source of their
anxiety. Sometimes we miss life’s magic if we don’t slow down (letting go of
the drama) and take a deep, long, easy breath.
So keep a pretty handkerchief handy—even if just as a reminder to take a few soft, languid moments to look within and refresh, relax and regroup.
Love. Listen. Let go.
...with love from Cornelia
[Handkerchief images: Karen Augusta]
Posts
