Weddingbee Blog

Wedding season is quickly approaching, and I know what you’re all thinking inside those wedding-crazed heads of yours: “I best save up my paychecks so I can buy all of my soon-to-be-married couple-friends gifts, even though they probably won’t remember who got them what.”

And that’s pretty sad, right? All of the time spent picking out a perfect gift for a couple near and dear to your heart, wrapping it to perfection, finding the most amazing, tear-jerker card…and then nobody remembers which gift-giver gave what. OK, except maybe the KitchenAid mixer. Everybody remembers who got them that.

So what do you get for the couple who has it all, wedding gift or otherwise?

Well, budget-abiding hive, I now present you THE PERFECT ALL-OCCASIONS GIFT, WHICH HAPPENS TO ALSO BE PERFECT FOR WEDDINGS:

My excited (now married) friend showing off her new last name, gifted by her loving bridesmaids

Framed alphabet photography in their namesake, made up of pictures of things that resemble letters. I’m sorry, but HOW FANTASTICAL IS THAT?! Even Oprah loves them, and she gifted one to America’s resident crazy (Tom Cruise, the crazy before Charlie Sheen) when he married Katie Holmes. I’m confident when I say that their picture is probably the second most precious thing in their house—aside from the totally sassy Suri, of course.

The “original” creator of this alphabet photography goodness is Sticks and Stones, which is run by a cutie-cute family from a city in central Illinois (where Mr. Jam just so happened to go to school). Prices range from $140 to over $300 depending on frames and various other options. And did I mention that there is a Sticks and Stones picture hanging in the White House? Well, there is. I KNOW.

For some of us on a more restricted budget, a Sticks and Stones picture may seem like a really great idea. And we might be tempted to buy one because they are just so gosh-darned sweet. But if the price is still a bit much, have no fear…

…because you can find the same thing for less on Etsy.

Framed alphabet photography via AnotherFrameofMind, $75

I did a quick Etsy search and uncovered oodles of talented sellers who offer the same exact thing anywhere from $50 and up, and buyers are able to handpick whatever letter pictures they want. Talk about the easiest DIY project in the universe, seriously! And if you’re a die-hard DIY-er, you can even purchase separate letters and frame them yourself with tons o’ love.

Of course, if you’re handy with the camera and you have time on your hands to seek some found-in-nature letters, that would make it even more special and people might even scream or faint at your sheer talent. (Note to people who might want to do this: A photography professor in college gave us this very assignment to complete in just one class, and guess who got a total of five letters? This gal. My professor wasn’t pleased.)

And for couples who won’t be sharing the same last name, there are so many other frame-able options to choose from: Sweet words, short first names, a wedding date, blah, blah, blah. I’m sure you could come up with something.

What’s the verdict?  Would you buy one for some soon-to-be-married friends, your parents, to welcome new babies, the nice neighbor who offered up their snow blower so you didn’t have to shovel the entire driveway yourself? All of the above?