Wedding Needlepoint

June might be the traditional month for wedding but this year, at my house at least, the weddings are in July. With weddings the next two Saturdays, it’s got me thinking about needlepoint you can make to commemorate such a special day.

Often we think a needlepoint gift is something we should give only to our nearest and dearest, but how many people do you know who would appreciate a stitched memento of this special day? It even might cost you only about as much as a less individual gift so it is within budget as well.

Here are some ideas from many different designers.

Wedding-themed Ornaments

Babies, especially first ones, often get plenty of ornaments celebrating their birth, but how often do newlyweds get something special for their tree?

Several designers make wedding Christmas ornaments in many styles. Not only do we have the lovely “Mr & Mrs” ornaments from Raymond Crawford, you can also get a great wedding cake round from Jody Designs, as well as “I do” in several colors Mindy also makes a wedding cake in her mini line (seen above).

If you want to go with ornaments that have people in them, several companies have great designs. The Princess & Me not only has a wedding cake, they have individual figures of everyone in the wedding party, several different happy couples, and even a charming bride’s purse.

A lovely tradition, but a big undertaking is to stitch the 12 ornaments for the Bride’s Tree. This tradition has one ornament that bring happiness to the new family. Rebecca Wood (website not available) has a series of painted canvases available for this. David McCaskill has a series of line0drawn canvases for a Bride’s tree that can sometimes be found on eBay.

Larger Designs

If you want to make something larger, you can think further afield than just wedding themes.

If the couple is very fond of a particular style, why not make a pillow from a canvas in that style?

Jean Smith is famous for her floral canvases. If one of these flowers is in the wedding bouquet, why not stitch a pillow to commemorate the day? At 4″ square, her coaster designs could even be ornaments, (seen above).

Honeymoons are often spent in exotic locations. Once you know the destination, you can find lovely canvases to commemorate the place and time. You can go with anything from postcard-like designs to New England landscapes to elegant calligraphy.

Making it Unique

Being stitched by hand, your gift will already be special, but there are a some easy ways to make the gift even more personal.

Have the initials and date sewn onto the back of the finished piece. This doesn’t add much to the cost and is a subtle lovely touch.

If your needlepoint has a background or borders, why not stitch it in the wedding party colors? If you are stitching figures personalize the clothes, ties, hair, and skin colors.

If the wedding bouquets use flowers that would make god sachets, use petals of these flowers (not necessarily from the bouquet) to make a sachet to put inside the pillow.

Next time you are stick for a wedding present, don’t think towels (my Dad’s go-to present), think wedding day needlepoint.