Why Wedding Decor Details Matter: the story of a baby quilt

If you read the introduction to the Michelle Edgemont Shop blog post, you might remember a little story I told about scrounging up interesting textiles to use as table linens at my wedding. For anyone who didn’t read that post, 1) how dare you, and 2) a little back story…

I planned, designed, and decorated my own wedding in 2009. We threw a seated dinner reception for 100 guests on a budget that, basically, was, how to I put this, as tight as the slightly inappropriate shorts I wear to Crossfit. No more room to squeeze in anything not absolutely necessary. Since I love a challenge, love designing, love textile design, and love searching for treasures – off to flea markets, random side of the road barns, and fabric stores to find some fun color to jazz up our plain reception space.

I found vintage bed sheets (the pink and blue floral), retro curtains (the green and teal geometric), and modern cotton twill (the navy and pink fabric) that would all soon decorate the tables at my wedding reception full of our closest loved ones. The vintage, shabby chic look was all the rage for weddings back in 2009.

Our best people dined and laughed and cried over these linens. People who have since passed away, like my grandfather and my dad, ate a meal over these beautiful fabrics that I spend hours searching for.

Since our reception, the fabrics spent five years in our wedding memory box buried in a closet. I had always wanted to make something out of them, but never really got around to it or had much inspiration. Then I got pregnant. The weeks leading up to my due date were spent eating spicy food, bouncing on a yoga ball, and sewing this baby quilt out of the fabrics that I used as table linens at my wedding. Eight days past my due date, I was still hand stitching the binding over a gigantic belly full of baby.

This quilt now has a bigger story. It has a legacy that can be passed down. I can say to Dean when he’s at an age when he’ll care, let’s say 25, “your dad and I were married around these fabrics and you used this quilt when you were a baby.” Then, in my biggest dreams, my grandkids will use the quilt too.

This is why wedding decor details matter. 

The details matter in the long run. They matter when you can fetch a keepsake out of a dusty box in a closet to show your kids something from your wedding. I couldn’t have made this quilt from the basic white linens provided by my caterer. You can’t display a cake topper in your home if you didn’t purchase one. That incredible custom welcome sign? Yep, it won’t be hung in the foyer of your first home if you didn’t have one welcoming your guests at your ceremony.

For me, I finished the quilt the day before I gave birth at over a week past my due date. Since then, I took Dean’s monthly photos on it (month 3 and month 9 above), played on it, napped with it, and all around treasured it as a memento from all of my favorite people (two of which are no longer here) being all in the same room in 2009.

The details aren’t about throwing a “blog-worthy” wedding. They aren’t about impressing your friends or living up to your pinterest board. And for goodness sake, please do not go into debt over some party decor. The decor details are about creating an aesthetic space at your reception that makes you feel relaxed, rejuvenated, loved, cared for – however you want your wedding to feel. Keepsakes, mementos, that little, physical piece of your wedding that you can decorate your home with – that’s what the decor details are for.

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