Ya’ll know by now that I adore the Mokume Gane. What *I* didn’t know is that there are patterns other than the standard woodgrain! I was reviewing sites by jewelry designers that work with the metal and found out that there is more than one way to mokume. Just look at these gorgeous patterns from Andura Designs:

The wave is pretty neat but I can’t get over the raindrop pattern. How cool is that? I do wish there was more info on the techniques used to make patterns like that, but it may be an industry secret kind of thing. Here’s a closer look:

As I was scouring Google’s image archives earlier this morning, I came across a page of old wedding photographs. Upon closer examination, I discovered that these lovely photos (page one and page two) are associated with the Invite Site, which designs online invitations for weddings and other parties.

While they only have a few samples posted at this time, the notion of a custom online invitation is pretty neat — and will probably catch on as a whole new generation grows into adulthood never having known a time when people weren’t connected via computers. But mostly I loved looking at those vintage pics. They are so beautiful, no?

And for more vintage weddings, you have to check out I Do: 100 Years of Wedding Fashion. It is just such a fabulous coffee table book and the photo spreads are gorgeous!

Here’s another one for the book of modern (and etiquette-unfriendly) wedding gift registries:

Realtors Bill Brandenburger and Mike Rizzo of Keller Williams Realty Sonoran Living decided it was time to develop an alternative to the traditional wedding gift registry (after nabbing the idea from Sarah Mara and Cindy Westlund, owners of Signature Title in Tempe, AZ, apparently). They recently launched a new program titled “Home Registry Solutions” specifically designed for couples getting married. The registry enables family and friends to contribute monetary gifts to the couples’ escrow account set up by both Brandenburger and Rizzo by way of Security Title. The money can then be used to pay for the couples’ first home together.

Ooookay. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m with Peggy Post, who suggests putting items like “basic appliances, cookware, formal and casual china, crystal, flatware, and bed and bath linens” on registries. When I see other items on a couple’s registry, I always get a little weirded out.

Asking for items for the home (rather than the home itself) is somewhat of a tradition and a sweet one, at that. But we’re all adults here. We don’t make birthday wishlists and hand them around or leave our Christmas lists somewhere others won’t miss it. Our guests, for the most part, are also adults and thus know what constitutes a good wedding gift. One can hope, anyhow. The very nature of mature gift giving suggests, IMO, that the recipient does not get to choose.

That said, I can certainly sympathize with brides and grooms who have already set up shop and don’t need a blender, a chef’s knife, or another set of sheets. If you simply must register for your home, honeymoon, or something of that nature, set up a token registry for those who prefer to give individual gifts rather than contribute to a communal gift. And please, please, please, stay away from those tacky cash registries that have sprung up all over the web. Those are just as bad as sending around a cheesy poem a la,

Now we are to be Mr. and Mrs.
We don’t need a wedding list of dishes
We have two kettles, two toasters, two microwaves
We require a house for which we have to save.
If you would like to give us a gift,
A checks or vouchers would give us a lift
We like to think of it as our ‘Wishing Well’
Which will be filled with your love, we can tell.

I’m not sure when “love” became a euphemism for “cash.”

If, like many brides, you love chocolate, but aren’t in love with the idea of the chocolate fountain, do not despair. While it seems like there are chocolate fountains like the one below chugging away — most make a fantastically ugly noise — at every wedding nowadays, you can incorporate the good stuff into a limited dessert array without caving.

The lovely folks at Alice’s Tea Cup, a delightful bakery and purveyor of fine afternoon teas located in New York City, suggest you try a chocolate wedding cake. Seriously. Toss the groom’s cake concept out the window because there is truly no reason in the world why the centerpiece confection of your reception should not look (and taste) as scrumptious as this:

It’s described on the site as “Chocolate Leather Boxes.” I imagine the description refers to the fact that each ‘box’ looks rather like those fancy leather desk accessories one can buy at office supply shops. I mean, I’d hate to think of chocolate leather being anything other than a color or an allusion.

From Dee comes this amusing little cake topper from Fortunoff.

I know when I think nuptial romance, I think of strangling my future husband on top of a giant cake. Possibly in a tiny gazebo.

I hate those white plastic bouquet bases. You know, the ones that have a wad of soft green foam in the middle. I much prefer pretty hand-tied bouquets. For a variety of reasons, however, many brides don’t want to go the hand-tied route.

Enter the cone. I stumbled across this DIY guide on the Flower Arrangement Advisor earlier today while doing a search for unusual bouquets and immediately fell in love. There is simply something so earthy and sophisticated about the cone bouquet…even if the blossoms themselves do look like they are resting on a birds nest. Who knows? Maybe that’s part of the appeal of the cone.

Get your glue guns handy, people. Because from where I’m sitting (which is in front of my desk, incidentally), the cone looks like an easy-to-put-together alternative to other DIY floral arrangements.

The Primetime video on this page described as “A couple fights to remember” is truly amazing.

I’m not sure how I’d handle it if The Beard suddenly couldn’t remember who I was. It’s so wonderful, though, that it all worked out in the end.