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7 Ways To Include Heirlooms In Your Wedding

Weddings aren’t just a couple’s affair. Our families tie into our nuptials intrinsically, and most brides and grooms love to carry a bit of their love with them into their new lives — in the form of heirlooms.

What qualifies as an heirloom? Objects that have been preserved and passed down with love through generations of your family may be called heirlooms. These can range from clothing, jewellery, and accessories, to photographs, and documents. If a new couple wants to create their own heirlooms for their lineage to relay to each other, weddings are a good time to do that too. Here are our top ways to tie in family heirlooms in your weddings and feel twice the amount of love.

Delve Deep Into Your Mom’s Closet

This one is a no-brainer, but your mother’s closet is the perfect place to begin your hunt for cherished heirlooms. Ask your mother if she has the old sari or lehenga that she wore for her own nuptials — if they’re in good condition, a bride can very easily wear the same outfit for one of her functions.

If there are no full outfits, feel free to borrow a beautifully embroidered stole and build a new outfit around it. The process of shaping your look around a piece of history is immensely satisfying.

Repurpose Your Grandmother’s Old Things

Go deeper into your line of predecessors and rummage through your grandmother’s things. Most likely, she has a huge variety of saris and suits that feature fine borders, embroideries, zari, or applique work.

Use these embellishments as a part of your look. Repurpose her old saris and suits, and use the best of these works of art in your new look. It’ll feel great to carry those bits of your family’s love and affection into your new life. A wedding stylist can help with the best ways to

incorporate these embellishments in your looks.

Crack Open Their Jewellery Box

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but vintage jewels are their confidantes. Not only are all things vintage and retro in fashion, but they’re also beautifully made. The craftsmanship on some of your great aunt’s pieces can’t be matched — and new jewellery can barely hold a candle to it.

So, do a deep dive into the family casket of earrings, necklaces, brooches, and rings to wear for your wedding. If you’re lucky, you may find one piece to wear for every function, and even some inspiration for your look and decor from these gorgeous trinkets.

Include Old Photos In Your Invites

There may be times when a decorative ornament might not be available for a bride or groom to use for the wedding, and that’s where photographs come in. The act of documenting our lives is one of the biggest mementos we leave behind for our future generations, and some cherished photographs of your parents’ ceremonies and even beyond their generation would look beautiful on your wedding invites.

This way, their blessings are truly with you, and everybody who makes it to your wedding will have seen the familial tribute for sure.

Replicate Something From Their Rituals, In Yours

An heirloom doesn’t have to be tangible. The best tribute to family can be to pass on their traditions and their ways of life. Replicate the decor of your mom’s wedding, or that one quirky family tradition for your own marriage.

Your guests may not know the inspiration behind those particular flowers or the reason why you had a strange ritual in your wedding, but your loved ones definitely will.

Include Heirlooms In Your Decor

An inheritance is not always monetarily high valued, and couples aren’t limited to just clothes or trinkets to include in the wedding. Beautiful antique lace, tablecloths, old-world decor pieces, and buttons can be added to intimate nooks in your venue to really personalise them.

Having a piece of your family’s history be part of your big day is the important aspect of this, and there are many innovative ways to include these if you look hard enough at all the keepsakes you own.

For Grooms, A Cherished Accessory Can Be Worn On The Big Day

While it may sound like only brides should want to use and wear heirlooms, that’s not true at all! Grooms, too, share an unbreakable bond with their fathers, grandfathers, and other family members, and they should absolutely incorporate family baubles in their rituals and outfits.

They can sport a vintage watch that’s been in the family for years, or a kalgi or brooch that their parents pinned on for their respective wedding days. Getting replica accessories made is also an option, if the original trinkets are too old and fragile to wear.

Contact CLAD for our wedding styling packages.

*This article was written by Fawzia Khan, Creative Features Editor at CLAD