If you’re looking for something unique, yet personalized to surprise your wedding party with on the wedding day, I’m seeing wine markers becoming increasingly popular. I first saw wine markers at a local department store. I found them generic and expensive, but I loved the idea of it. Wine markers are a simple and unique way to say, “this is my glass.” It also lets the restaurant or banquet server know not to take your glass away to the kitchen. A wine marker is simply a wire ring that opens at a point that is decorated with beads and/or charms. It is placed around the stem of a wine glass or champagne flute, and hangs at the bottom, touching the base of the glass. As I mentioned, I saw them sold in sets of 5, with generic charms on them such as a teddy bear, or shoe. They were actually very simple and inexpensive to make at home, and the best part is you can personalize them to your wedding party member!
The rings can be bought in such places as craft stores, most commonly found in the beading aisle. I found the rings are usually sold in packs of 2 or 3 for under $3.00. The rings are sold in different sizes, to suit your needs. They are also sold in gold or silver. I recommend silver, just because I found more of a selection of charms in silver than gold, and you want the charm color to match the ring color.
The beads come in all sizes, colors and textures. I’ve seen them in wood, plastic, ceramic, detailed and solid colors, large and small. I found the smaller beads easier to work with on the ring, but it strictly up to the crafter. You may want to choose bead colors to match your bridesmaid dresses, or colors on your groomsmen glasses to match their tuxedos. The beads are usually less than $2 or $3 for a package of 50 or 100 beads.
The charms are also found in the beading section of craft stores. Again, they come in all shapes, sizes and textures. This is the part where you get to personalize your wine marker. Choose a charm that relates to something about the person your making it for. For example, one of my bridesmaids just had twins, so I found a pacifier charm. I bought two, and put them on her wine marker. My sister, who loves the Grateful Dead, got the dancing grateful dead bear charm. One of the groomsmen got a soccer ball (his favorite sport) and another groomsmen got a little computer charm, he loves working with computers. The charms took the most time to pick out. Of course you want to find that perfect charm for that person. You may want to look in your phonebook for a specialized beading store near you. I did find one locally, and that is where I got most of my charms, they had a whole wall dedicated to charms! The charms are inexpensive, because they are not precious metal charms. The ones I purchased ranged in price from $.69 to $2.00.
Finally, simply slip the beads on to the wire ring in the color and style order you desire. There are no rules. You may want to count how many beads you slip on before you put your charm on; you probably want to put the same number of beads on each side of the charm. When finished, just put the rings around the stem of a wine or champagne glass and secure the ring closed. Place in front of the place settings for your unsuspecting bridal party members and watch their eyes light up when they see you’ve personalized gifts for them! It’s also a great conversation piece among your guests.
No comments:
Post a Comment