Preserving Memories of Your Love Story

As the song from the classic movie “Love Story” goes, “Where do I begin, to tell the story of how great a love can be?”

Trace your love story from the first time you laid eyes on each other, to going steady, to engagement, marriage and beyond. YThroughout the years, revisiting those memories can be a great way of rekindling your love for one another.

Here are some ideas for you to preserve your love story:

• Scrapbook frames. Tell your story through pictures, captions and keepsakes artfully placed in scrapbook pages. You can have as much as three or four pages – and then frame each page on a square picture frame. The completed set can be a gallery display in your new home.
• Picture Letters. Rather than using scrapbook pages, you can use a wide picture frame for a panoramic look. Using the computer, take favorite pictures and use them to form letters. Frame these letters as they make a statement such as “U and I”, “FOREVER”, “LOVE” or your last name.
• First date memento. Did sparks fly right from the first date? If you were sentimental enough to have kept items from the date, here’s your chance to display mementos of this cherished day. For instance, if your first date was at the theater, you can frame the program and the ticket stubs.
• Ticket collage. Memorialize theater and movie dates, trips abroad or your everyday commute. Create a collage of all these tickets – combining boarding passes, movie ticket stubs, theater passes or your subway cards. Place these in a simple picture frame, with neutral matting for a put-together display that has a high visual impact. You can add variation by using a heart-shaped picture frame rather than a rectangular or round picture frame.
• When you got engaged. The engagement marks the next stage of your relationship – planning to start a life together. You can frame some keepsakes of your engagement day by using a shadow box frame in an antique picture frame design. This can display the cork and the label of the champagne you toasted each other with, plus a note about the date and the details of the engagement.
• Framed invitation. Get a copy of your wedding invitation and place it on a picture frame. Include the envelope, monogram stickers or envelope seal and other attachments. You can use your color motif as a backdrop, with a complementary color serving as secondary matting. For classic and formal wedding invitations, you can use a vintage picture frame.
• Framed song lyrics. What is “your song”? Do you have a favorite song, one that you danced to for your first dance at your wedding reception? Create a DIY print of your favorite line from that song and place it inside a frame. This can adorn your bedroom wall or the entryway console table.
• Map out your story. Outline special places in your love story with the use of a map. This can work especially well for long distance relationships or those who have done a lot of changes in locations. Using a map, cut out (in small heart shapes) the places where you and your spouse used to live, where you met, where you got married and where you now live. You can place tags on these cutouts and then attach them to a background with a color that complements or matches key colors in the map. For a 3D effect, you can place the cutouts on thick cardstock before attaching it to the mounting board.
• Guest’s well wishes. During your wedding, collect the wedding wish cards that your guests have written on and place them artfully on a silver picture frame (for that classic look). Another alternative is to have the guests write directly on the matting in the frame. Make sure that you only have a small window for your selected photograph, to give more space for your guests’ well wishes. After the wedding, you can add your wedding photo and attach the glazing.
• Preserved wedding bouquet. You can have your wedding flowers professionally treated. Once this is done, you can mount the bouquet in an acrylic dome.