Rod and Jess’ Blog

…or in our case, a wishing well! My mother’s family owned a restaurant in Cincinnati, OH and one in Richmond, IN for many years (the Cincinnati one longer than the Richmond one), The Wishing Well. Growing up my grandma was always partial to Wishing Wells (the house she bought even had a wishing well on the property!) because of the restaurant. A few pictures of a matchbook cover from the restaurant:

Yup, that “dumb proprietor” was my grandfather! I think it’s a great advertising campaign!

I’ve been looking for ways to honor my grandparents who have passed on in the wedding without bringing down the celebratory mood of the occasion. So when I was looking for a card box I thought about doing something using our engagement pictures or to match our color scheme, but then I had the idea, what about a wishing well? People could “wish us well” all while paying silent tribute to my mother’s parents! My mom contacted my dad’s cousin’s wife (also our florist) and asked if her father would be able to construct a wooden wishing well that could serve as our card box! They agreed and here’s the final product:

Here it is in all it’s glory! I like the ivy and would like to add some touches of pink to go with the overall color scheme, but isn’t Rich talented?

While I appreciate the offer of our Matron of Honor to use her sister’s card box, I feel really special to have this to give tribute to my grandparents. I never met my grandfather (he died when my mother was very young) but I think this is a fitting tribute to my grandparents (and their dream of a successful Italian restaurant). I’m still looking for other ways to honor my “special grandparents”, DeeDee and Bill and my grandfather on my dad’s side.

What are some ways that you have paid tribute to those in your family who have gone on before your happy day?

One of the more frivolous things that I’ve been trying to think of is what to use as a card holder for the reception. The theme we’re going with is garden/dragonflies but I don’t like the idea of the butterfly or the dragonfly shaped card box holder. A few thoughts:


Obviously not this paper style, but a nicer maybe silver or white metal wishing well. I could make “water” to stick the cards through a slit so that nothing falls out or disappears that day or try and cover it with ivy. Still not sure on that part of it though. I like the idea of incorporating a garden wishing well and also a tribute to my grandparents on my mom’s side. This will take some searching if I go this route though.

This is very popular on the knot, but I’m not so sure I like this idea just because I’m stuck with a photo box of us that I would have had to put a ton of work into. At least with the wishing well it would be a nice gift for my mom afterwards.

Originally I had liked the idea of a birdcage decorated with dragonflies and topped with pink and green wire edged ribbon. I’m not so sure I like that look, plus the cards will be falling out the sides! I’m also way too picky so this would have to not be too fancy, nor too rustic/antiqued looking.

This is the most simple style I’ve found, just purchasing a hat box at Pier 1 or some other store and cutting a slit in the top. Nothing falls out, it’s not easy to run off with cards but it’s pretty traditional looking. I’d have to cover a hat box in pink or green fabric and hope that it doesn’t look too tacky.

Other ideas I’ve thought of were chests, wicker baskets with lids, using a fishbowl and a traditional pink silk chest with a slot in the top. What are other ideas for card boxes that you’ve seen?