Wedding Blog

Mr. Canary and I had another productive weekend and finished our parents’ gifts. Although originally I had wanted to be super creative and make a keepsake album, it would be too time-consuming to complete before the wedding for both sets of parents, so we opted to get them each something to wear on the wedding day.Our first stop was Bloomingdale’s in midtown Manhattan. I’ve always loved Bloomie’s men’s department because they carry a wide range of styles (from super trendy to very classic) so there were a lot of options.

Papa Canary did not want to rent a tux and instead had one custom-made in Hong Kong. We decided to get him a very nice tie to match his tux vest. I was looking for something classic and formal and made of high quality silk. This is what we opted for:

Giorgio Armani silk tie
The color was the perfect complement to his vest and the diagonal stripes in different shades of blue added a pop of color.

Mr. Canary chose cufflinks for future FIL Canary, who is an avid collector. We looked at a few options and finally settled on these:

Links of London cufflinks
We loved the unusual shape (rounded square) and the dark onyx center

For our mothers, we were hoping to get silk wraps. Although we’re getting married in July, we thought it would be a nice accessory in case the air conditioning is too cold at our venue. Plus, they’re such elegant accents to evening gowns. We looked at Bloomingdale’s but the ones that we loved were over $400 each so we decided to go to a specialty shop in Brooklyn - Indigo Handloom. I’ve blogged about them before but never actually visited the store.

Inside the shop at Indigo Handloom
{Image courtesy of Indigo Handloom}

Indigo Handloom is located in Dumbo, Brooklyn. While there, we met the owner, Smita Paul. I showed Smita and her associate, Tina photos of our moms in their dresses and we selected complementary scarves to match. It was quick and painless and all the scarves are priced between $40-$200. We were able to find something right in our price range. Here are the ones we picked.

Left: Future MIL Canary’s wrap (light chocolate with silver silk banding)
Right: Mama Canary’s wrap (creme with light pink stripes)

When you purchase, each packaged piece has a little tag that denotes the weaver.

Smita even offered us the 10% off discount for first time buyers, which I had seen on her online shop. If you make it to the shop, just ask and Smita will give you the discount too. It was great to be able to go in person to touch and feel the fabrics before buying. Mr. Canary had to drag me out of the store because I started perusing the dresses and silk blouses… which of course were not part of the parent shopping excursion!

What are you doing for parents’ gifts? If you’re going the more creative route, share your ideas! I plan on making our parents something after the wedding that includes family photos as well as some shots from the wedding. Also, does anyone know when it is customary to present the gifts to our parents?