Customized guest books … or plates, platters, bowls, pictures …
Weddings are ridiculously choreographed events these days and every bride knows that it's all in the details. Even the simplest of details have become opportunities for personalization and to show off your originality and creativity. That's good news for wedding vendors because customization means more money.
Guest books are pretty standard at most events. There are special ones for weddings with covers and pages to match the motif of the invitations and decorations. But recently, brides have been striving for a way to make a standard guest book much more unique and merchants have jumped at the opportunity.
Now, you can get special photo books made (www.blurb.com and www.mypublisher.com) just for your wedding or buy albums with spots to paste polaroids of your guests that they take of themselves. But why stop at books?
A very popular thing to do is a signature photo matte. Of course, that has become so trendy that it's no longer unique. So the new thing is dining pieces. Yes, we're talking a displayed dish, platter or bowl.
You can do the homey-feeling ceramic plate two ways –– buy one already decorated with some sort of lovey-dovey saying about your marriage or you can decorate one yourself at one of those paint-your-own-pottery places. Provide a few special pens (I think permanent markers work) and let your guests cover the dish with their signatures and well wishes.
More fitting for a modern, chic couple who turn their noses up at homemade looking knickknacks are offered at www.idoengravables.com, where you can find silver serving platters, dishes and bowls. The idea is to have the middle engraved with some sort of personalized message and guests use a special pen to sign their names. The pen somehow engraves the message on the spot. Amazing isn't it?
And the bottom line is that these trendy products add up to plenty of pennies for their parent companies. A simple guest book from a card and stationary store may only set you back $10 or $20, but a silver platter costs around $100, not including extra pens, display stands and cleaning products.
Apparently, I'm in the wrong business.
Comments
I just attended a wedding in Charleston, SC where we etched our names into a silver platter. Initially I thought it was gauche, but it turned out looking very cool!
Posted by: Roger | May 31, 2007 11:28 AM
Such is life.
Posted by: Hayleigh | June 20, 2007 10:32 AM