starting small

When we first started talking about the details of our wedding, my partner-in-crime and I decided not to mess around with flower girls or ring bearers. I'm not sure why we were so quick to rule them out. Maybe it was our reluctance to have too much "ceremony" in our ceremony. Or maybe I was just heeding the warnings of my Aunt Kathy regarding the unpredictable nature of small children who are asked to do important things. It seemed obvious that we'd just go the old-fashioned route and ask our maid-of-honor and best man to carry the rings and produce them at the appropriate point of the ceremony.

Recently, though, I've been reconsidering the idea. We're still not planning on having a ring bearer, but I'm starting to think that those teeny, tiny symbols of our eternal commitment might deserve a little more attention. I don't know exactly how those rings are going to make it down the aisle--we have until June to figure that out--but I do know that they ought to travel in style.

I've been playing around with a few ideas--ring bowl, bird's nest, wooden box--and while I haven't yet come up with a winner, I did cobble together the little number pictured here.

I came across the vintage coffee tin at work and couldn't bear to toss it in the recycling pile. The colors and the font are fantastic. The best part, though--and you'd have to squint to see it here--is the "good to the last drop" slogan under the upside-down coffee cup. Really, is there a better sentiment for kicking off a long, happy life together?

The hat pins were a thrift store find that had been drifting around in my craft stash for awhile, and I needle-felted some wool roving into a kind of cushion for the rings to perch on. The tiny banner was an after-thought. It might be a little too cute for my tastes, but I think it's a sweet idea. (My niece and nephew came up with the names for the fictional bride and groom. It felt too strange to use our names. I wonder at what point this whole wedding thing will start to feel real to me...)

I don't think our rings will make their much-anticipated journey down the aisle in this tin, but it was fun to put together, and it's definitely given me some new ideas...