wedding mementos

IF A WEDDING can be a frame of reference for life events, it is only appropriate that a wedding later in life frames memories of the past and present. Marriage is a symbolic point at which a couple's lives officially merge as witnessed by close friends and family.

The trees were carefully crafted beforehand and displayed at the wedding with the expert help of Devin Borden (center, bottom).

WHEN DISCUSSING designing a tree and other elements for the couple's wedding, we discussed a way to personalize the trees. Including the photos of persons so important to each family's heritage along with past and current life event photos of living relatives was a perfect way in which to accomplish this, at least symbolically. Later, we decided that having two trees of equal stature representing both sides of this merging family was a great way to honor both families, both separately and together as a unit. The bride and groom both garden, so it wasn't a stretch to use simple natural elements as decor on the trees and tie to other decor for the wedding. It was also a theme in keeping with the autumn season at hand.

THE SINGULAR tree shown in this post combines photos from both of the trees done for the wedding. Because marriage merges two families together, this tree is symbolic of the union between the bride and groom and their respective families. 

Each frame was simply made from pine cone pieces surrounding a laser photocopied picture mounted to thin cardboard—creating frames that harken back to history, having a "tramp art" look to them. Thin brown satin ribbon formed the hanging loops.

All the handmade photo frames for both trees. The idea for the frames was modified from instructions found on the Martha Stewart website here.

At the base of the modern clay container for the tree (a wire Easter tree from this past season's Pottery Barn line) photographed for this blog, a small pot of moss, a wooden box, some leaves, pinecones and a silver bird add just the right touch of earthy whimsy.

©2012 DARRYL MOLAND | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED photography and styling by Darryl Moland; pine cone photo frames hand-crafted by Darryl Moland and Devin Borden

white wedding

WHO  KNEW?  Queen Victoria wore a white wedding dress. That in itself may not seem like news at all, but since she's widely credited with starting the tradition, it's a revelation. It followed that Victorian era elites, rapturously reading and writing the etiquette books of the day, took Victoria's lead and embellished it with the "connotation of innocence and sexual purity." 

FAST  FORWARD to over a century later and the Billy Idol song "White Wedding" served to heighten the fantasy of a virgin bride. Some say that he wrote the song to express his displeasure with his sister's fiancé impregnating her before marrying her. It was a nice day (meaning the '80s) for a white wedding, because it was one of Idol's most successful songs.

VICTORIA and husband/cousin Albert are also subsequently credited for popularizing the modern Christmas tree. Either alone is a testament to the great effect these kissing cousins had on modern culture. She was the longest-ruling monarch of Great Britain (64 years!), during a time of economic and imperial expansion (Albert died early in 1861). Victoria gave her name to the Victorian Era, but she was also nicknamed the "grandmother of Europe" since the fruitful couple had four sons and five daughters to keep the royal lineage going for decades to come (42 grandchildren).

“Married in white, you will have chosen all right. Married in gray, you will go far away. Married in black, you will wish yourself back. Married in red, you’ll wish yourself dead. Married in blue, you will always be true. Married in pearl, you’ll live in a whirl. Married in green, ashamed to be seen. Married in yellow, ashamed of the fellow. Married in brown, you’ll live out of town. Married in pink, your spirits will sink.”

—From The History of the White Wedding Dress by Kelsey McIntyre

IN  ANY  CASE, weddings are steeped in tradition, rituals and superstition all-at-once. A bridal set of ornaments is an elegant gift that brings the seasons all together in one set, whether used only around Christmas or separately throughout the year, or both. A wedding in June—is surprisingly only the second most popular month for weddings—even with the "June bride" being part of the cultural dialog. June falls just below September in wedding month popularity (according to the Knot). Victoria and Albert's wedding date was February 10, 1840, so the June bride didn't start there (that may go back to Roman times). In true Victoria (not Victorian) form, it seems like the only tradition today is to break with tradition, making your wedding unique—a reflection of your own personal style. Maybe, also, one day it won't be so unique for gay people to legally marry in this country and it will be passed into law, for better or worse. I doubt if it will interfere with the sanctity of marriage. And it certainly is better than marrying your cousin. Being a gay man from Alabama, I can say that with hope and conviction, having been in two long-term, live-together relationships, nine and six years respectively, both with whom I still maintain good friendships.

ACCORDING  TO  German tradition, a set of  bride's tree ornaments (all photos this post) are twelve symbols of a happy home—a nice gift to wish the newlywed couple success in marriage and life. Follow the numbers to find the meaning, ritual or superstition behind each:

1) BIRD | symbol of joy and happiness
2) ANGEL | symbol of guidance
3) RABBIT | reflects hope and peace with nature
4) FRUIT BASKET | symbolizes generosity and plenty
5) HEART | symbol of true love
6) PINE CONE | represents motherhood and fruitfulness
7) FLOWER BASKET | symbolizes good wishes or beauty in the home 
8) ROSE | symbol of affection  
9) HOUSE | represents protection or shelter
10) FISH | represents fertility and faith
11) TEAPOT | represents hospitality
12) SANTA | is a symbol of goodwill, giving and sharing

WRAPPING an heirloom such as this set of ornaments warrants a reusable box with protective squares of archival tissue. I've added squares of wide shimmery organza ribbon as an accent. The bride's ornament set can be found in pre-packaged gift-boxed sets, but since this set was found individually, an ornament box was necessary to contain it. This starter set of holiday ornaments can be used together at Christmas or individually, according to the season. Small inexpensive honeycomb wedding bells are a nice topper to the gift instead of a traditional bow (they can also be positioned half-opened, taped to the top of the wrapped box).

WEDDING TABLEAU | (Top) This unusually neutral white and silver bride's tree set was found individually a few seasons ago at Star Provisions in Atlanta. I had to replace the original house ornament which was broken with a similar one from the grand daddy of the German glassblowing tradition, Krebs Lauscha. (Center) I've numbered the set of ornaments to correspond with the list of their meanings. (Bottom) If found individually, it's a nice gesture to archive the ornaments for gift-giving and keeping. The linen napkin with beautiful silver-threaded stitching is by Thomas O'brien, from his Vintage Modern line for Target in 2005. The paper daisies were found at Michaels and the honeycomb wedding bells are from Martha Stewart Crafts.

©2010 DARRYL MOLAND | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

photography and styling by Darryl Moland

tree of light

IMAGINING the first holiday tree, it must have been the lighted ones that really touched the primal spirit of our collective psyche. Like the first magical fire that danced in front of man's eyes, the addition of light brought the sparkle and wonder alive. There is no doubt that the decorated tree has become one of the most beloved and well-known symbols of life during the holidays.

AN ANCIENT custom, the decorated tree has played an important part of winter celebrations for centuries. Whether it was the Pagans honoring the spirit of nature with festivals incorporating decorated trees; the Vikings believing that the cold darkness of winter would end with the light of spring returning, as long as there was an evergreen around; the Druids of ancient England and France using fruit and candles to decorate oak trees—honoring the gods of harvest; or the Romans celebrating Saturnalia by arranging trinkets and candles on trees—the ritual of decorating a tree is stored deeply into the collective consciousness of our holiday celebrations.

IF  IT WAS the patron Saint of Germany, Saint Boniface chopping down the Oak of Thor in a stage-managed confrontation with the old gods and "heathen" tribes—and claiming the small fir tree growing up in the roots of this oak as a new symbol of Christianity; the initiator of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther being inspired to light an evergreen with candles to illustrate to his family, the twinkling of stars through the fir trees at night; or the German Christians adopting the evergreen indoors during the new Christian holiday, the decorated tree is a ritual that represents an inspired collective of ideas and beliefs.

THE TRADITION spread throughout Europe, culminating in the first real media attention for the custom when engravings of Prince Albert, who was German, along with his wife Queen Victoria decorated the first Christmas tree at Windsor Castle in 1841 and it was written up in the London Times replete with an engraving (see below for a later illustration in color). They decorated their famous tree with candies, gingerbread, fruits, nuts and candles to their children's delight.

GERMAN IMMIGRANTS came to America in the 1830's, bringing Christmas ornaments with them. Most Americans still considered the Christmas tree a heretical symbol of Paganism. One of the first public displays of a Christmas tree was set up by German settlers in Pennsylvania. But it wasn't until the late 1800's that Americans began adopting the irresistible custom of the Christmas tree.

EVEN  IF none of these legends are entirely true, the origin of the decorated tree in modern times has many connections to Germany where the first glass ornaments—humble representations of evergreen pine cones were made. Even in parts of Germany where evergreen trees were scarce, families would build a Christmas pyramid—a simple tiered structure decorated with branches and candles. Pagan or Christian, the act of decorating a tree, for whatever reason, resonates with most of the world's population. 

CHRISTMAS  TREES were then decorated with nuts, apples, cookies, strung and colored popcorn, and candles while European ornament collections were begun. Electricity brought strung-together lights in the early 20th century. The idea of  the lighted tree spread as quickly as electricity and Christmas trees became a household fixture during the holidays. And in communities across the globe large outdoor displays of holiday trees and lights have been adopted over the years—the world lighting up with the magic of the winter season.

ON  THIS  ELEVENTH day of September, we in America still have a lot of candles to light and a lot of thoughts and prayers to be answered, either by God or by our own actions. And it's not lost on me, but my eleventh blog follower, after resistance to the chaos he finds in my life, has finally realized that this blog is my way of digging through  the rubble of a passion to collect and making something of it. Thank you Mr. Jon Chavez for being patient with me and being the brightest light in my life. The number eleven has truly become significant for me (a time prompt from spirit guardians or not). I'm making a wish before I extinguish any flames. 

SPARKLE AND LIGHT | Pine cones—long symbols of fertility and even eternal life—were some of the first German glass ornaments made for use on the holiday tree. I gathered my collection to decorate the most perfectly-shaped fir tree I could find (photos above). Simply adorned with a widely-varied, but singular collection of old and new pine cone decorations, this tree evokes a timeless historical elegance. It is draped with an antiqued tinsel garland from Bethany Lowe Designs (above, right). The candles held atop the trees branches in metal pine cone-shaped clips from Germany create a beautiful flickering warm light unparalleled by modern electric lights. The lighting of the tree became an occasion that year (2007) and was a pure celebration of the origin(s) of the decorated tree. The finial glass tree topper was made for the brilliant Thomas O'Brien retromodern ornament collection for Target several years ago.

©2009 DARRYL MOLAND | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
collecting and styling by Darryl Moland, photography by Jon Rou

HISTORY AND MYSTERY | In these two illustrations, Martin Luther is shown to be one of the first to place candles on the branches of the evergreen tree brought inside (above, left) and the English monarchy that was Victoria and Albert are credited for popularizing the decorated tree in 1841 (above, right).