What to do with everything after the wedding.

AnnK8y5

I was just wondering if anyone had any neat ways they kept things from their wedding. For example, my bridesmaid made two really cute bouquets for my bachelorette and rehearsal. I could tell she put a lot of work in to them and I really don't want to throw them away. I have my bouquet (we used fake flowers), my garter (H's favorite baseball team on it), cake topper, personalized painted wine glasses and a whole bunch of other things. I feel like each item had a lot of thought/work put into it. I'm also not wanting my house to be filled with wedding items because I think it's a little cheesy. Thanks

firsttimersluck

hah.. I haven't had any time to think about it.. but I'm not really a collector of anything.. so.. as of now everything is just in a box in the garage

mbrischoux

Right now, all of our cards, cake topper, unity candle, and toasting flutes are in the box we got to hold the cards at the reception, so it's currently serving as a "wedding casket."  (Yeah, I have a twisted sense of humor).

Once we buy a house and have a dining room, these things will go in the china cabinet with the fine china.  My garter is hanging on the corner of the mirror over our dresser.

I agree, though, I don't really feel like turning my house into a wedding museum.

You might want to have the bouquets your cousins made become the family bouquets, so each of your cousins use them as their rehearsal bouquets or something, or they make random appearances at family events for fun.  Just a thought.

crazykatiemae

maybe consider putting some of those items in a shadow box to display them at once and keep them contained to a space instead of scattered on coffee tables. this would be a neat way to encorporate them into one space, without throwing them away or making it feel like your house or a specific room of your house is a wedding museum. plus you'll probably want to hang some wedding pictures and get some enlarged, so take those plans into consideration when planning what to do with your left over items, since photos will also add to the amount of wedding related items you display

i like mbrischoux's idea of a traveling bouquet. do you have other friends in the same circle of friends (or family) who are getting married as well? those bouquets could show up at their bridal parties and rehearsals as well as a nice tradition between your group of close girlfriends

smartlypretty

I saw this thing online (sorry, don't remember the website) where you take pictures of all those little things (and obviously you'll have your actual wedding pictures) and they make you this giant collage with all little pictures and you can hang it on your wall. I think I'll do one. That way my house won't be a "wedding museum", and I can (almost) guilt free throw away all the things that are sentimental but don't actually cost anything. 

NicoleLyn1218

You could use the bouquets as a centerpiece for your kitchen table or coffee table or something if it fits with the room.........have it put in a hutch or something.

mattycam

I have kept anything wedding related (except the unity candles) in our money box.

tiffielynn91

i would say either a shadow box. or a large hope chest. this way you can pull all of these things out one a year on your anniversary and remember the day 

DanniLynn88

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_wedding-recap-withdrawal_what-to-do-with-everything-after-the-wedding?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:12Discussion:fe5c606e-16eb-4369-9378-36a8181c87a6Post:0e4c8a23-7ae3-4cd5-b084-bf7393bb37f4">What to do with everything after the wedding.</a>:
[QUOTE]I was just wondering if anyone had any neat ways they kept things from their wedding. For example, my bridesmaid made two really cute bouquets for my bachelorette and rehearsal. I could tell she put a lot of work in to them and I really don't want to throw them away. I have my bouquet (we used fake flowers), my garter (H's favorite baseball team on it), cake topper, personalized painted wine glasses and a whole bunch of other things. I feel like each item had a lot of thought/work put into it. I'm also not wanting my house to be filled with wedding items because I think it's a little cheesy. Thanks :)
Posted by JustinandHaleyKnapp[/QUOTE]

I saved ribbon from my bouquet and pressed a couple flowers from it, it was real so no keeping it forever. My mom plans on using the ribbon from the bouquet for a baby outfit when I decide to have kids. Our cake had a ribbon around the middle of each tier. I saved ribbon just from the middle tier and the cake topper. I will probably wrap the ribbon around the cake topper and put that on display. We didn't want to keep a ton of stuff, however we bought all our table cloths and it happens to be my favorite color and they were sheer so I am making curtains out of them for our new place. I kept the garter but it will probably sit for a year then get given away.

TexasWriterBride2012

I got a bench/chest to put at the foot of the bed to hold everything. We have a LOT of stuff because our centerpieces were all books we had made into origami art, plus the usual stuff--guest book, candles, extra invites and programs, as well as my shoes, jewelry, hair decoration, and my daughter's flower girl dress and basket.

We only keep out our Wedding Box. Instead of a unity candle, we had friends and family put things in the box during the ceremony to signify the things that brought us together. That will stay out always.

christyhal

One shelf in our china cabinet has a display of our wedding stuff - a framed picture, our toasting flutes, cake set, a centerpiece, etc.  Everything else is in a tote in our bedroom closet.