Innovative new twists will help to personalize your wedding day

Sentimental touches will make a wedding day unforgettable.
By KATHLEEN MURRAY
SCRIPPS HOWARD
Personalization is more than just about putting your initials on the packaging. It's adding your mark to a wedding memento that will never get tossed away (like your groom's tie).
We've come up with innovative new twists on personalization -- complete with the inspiration behind the idea.
Look for hidden meaning. Personalization isn't always about the how; it's also about the why. Put some thought behind the elements you choose to decorate your day, and then enhance the sentimentality with ancient meaning. Start with your bridesmaids. Suffuse their bouquets with symbolism. During the Victorian era the language of flowers created an ultraromantic lingo in which flowers replaced words in expressing feelings. For instance, dahlias meant gratitude while gerbera daisies professed friendship. Pick a single flower for each of your ladies, and then attach a handwritten card explaining why you chose that particular bloom for her.
Reinvent tradition. What could be more hip than taking an item, an idea or even a custom that's synonymous with weddings and making it uniquely yours? For instance, look at the standard unity candle in a new light. Wrap a gorgeous grosgrain ribbon around the middle and carve your initials in the wax using a monogram stamp. Breaking the glass? Don't feel limited to traditional drink ware -- step on a replica of the (thin-glass) vase you use when your mate gives you flowers or use a pint glass from the bar where you first met. The bouquet toss? Curb the catfight and borrow a custom from another land. In Turkey, before the bride walks down the aisle, she asks her single bridesmaids and relatives to sign the sole of her bridal shoe. After a night of dancing, tradition states that the person whose signature has faded the most will be the next to marry.
Wax nostalgic. Looking to the past is a great way to bring personality to your present. Ask your parents (and your future in-laws) about their weddings. Did they start any stealable traditions? Turn something old (your mother's veil) into something new. Incorporate your grandmother's wedding flowers (or her rosary beads) into your bouquet. Or add a little nostalgia to your reception: Place old family wedding photos, using classic frames in your wedding colors, or classic white, around the room. For a single hit of history, group them at the guest book table, or on a mantle in the room. Your families will love the sentimentality of the shots, and so will your guests. If you're really looking to make a fashion statement, consider reincarnating both your mothers' and grandmothers' old dresses and display them on dress forms at the entrance to the reception.
Focus on your favorites. Incorporate a few of your favorite things to do, eat and listen to -- you get it. It goes without saying that your wedding will have some of your aesthetic preferences -- curlicue calligraphy, sweet pea wreaths and antique place settings perhaps? But think of all the elements that make up your day. Are the two of you wild about bossa nova? Who says you can't have your band play a set of the groovy Latin tunes? You love bowling? How about gigantic gumballs with your wedding date hand-painted on them (with edible ink of course) as a favor. The options are as vast as your interests.
Honor your love story. While you're individualizing your wedding, don't forget about how you got to this point in the first place. Draw on meaningful moments you and your spouse-to-be have shared. Eschewing table numbers for names has become popular, so follow suit with your own sentimental style. Name the tables after your first, second, third and so on date spots. Or group them by your all-time favorite movies, mountains you've climbed together or neighborhoods you've lived in.
Make lasting memories. Let your guests help personalize the day. Create a guest book that leaves your guests feeling like they've really left their mark. For instance, find an object that symbolizes you two, like a rugby ball for sports lovers, and ask everyone to sign the pigskin. Or think inside the box: Leave a blank note card at each guest's plate so everyone can write down well wishes for you as a couple. Once done, ask them to slip the note in a gorgeous box. Read them after the honeymoon, then at your first anniversary, and your second -- handwritten notes will never lose their power of personalization.