Family momentos.

When I first got engaged, my mom and I spent an hour or two looking over various items that she had saved from their engagement and wedding. I saw the headpiece that my great-grandmother, grandmother and mother wore in their respective weddings, and tried on my mother's wedding dress. I also looked at my parents' wedding programs, saw their customized cocktail napkins, and a few of the cards they received.

Something else that my mom showed me was a Brides magazine that my dad bought her when they got engaged- she said it was so weird for her to be engaged, she couldn't actually buy a magazine herself. (Which I understand. I've bought a grand total of three wedding magazines in the the 8+ months we have been engaged.) And then my mom gave me this:


Your Wedding, by Blanche Wheeler.

Published in 1941, Your Wedding is basically an indispensable guide to wedding planning- or at least one of my mom's closest friends at the time thought so.* You see, my mom's friend felt that not only was it helpful, she actually took the time to highlight the really important details that my mom might overlook. Details such as: (the highlighted sections are written in italics.)

"A 'thank you note' should be sincere and informal and written on the best of note paper. It need not be long:

Dear Jane--
The beautiful breakfast set you so thoughtfully selected for John and me is one of our most cherished gifts. One of the nicest things about it is every single morning, rain or shine, we shall enjoy using it. And every time we feast our eyes on its lovely color and design, you shall be in our thoughts. We both do thank you so much and won't you drop in some Sunday morning and have breakfast with us?
Sincerely,
Margaret."

or

"Gift Suggestions for the ushers:
Knife and chain
Smart cuff links
Silver or Gold Pencil
Silver bill clip"

or

"Duties of the best man:
Presenting the ring at the proper time
After the recessional, presenting the fee to the clergyman
Helping the groom change from his wedding clothes to his traveling clothes"

:-P I thought all of this was really funny.

But it also got me thinking about what sorts of memoirs I might have to pass along to a daughter or son who is getting married. Calvin's mom showed me the hat that she wore when she got married. (Sidenote: Calvin's parents got married by Dennis Kucinich, who was at that point in time the mayor of Cleveland.) This blog is more of a record than anything else I can think of that I might have to pass along, since it is chronicling my thoughts and reflections about getting married. Yes, the shoes and dress and all of those components of the wedding, but also contained in these pages are some of my thoughts about getting married. When the wedding has passed, I'd like to somehow print out these pages so that one day, I can share them with a son or daughter.

How are you keeping a record of things for posterity or future children?

*My mom's friend got her this as a joke.