Memorial Candles - Check!

This is still a work in progress since I haven't received photos of my fiance's deceased loved ones yet. So the only one I could complete was my grandmother's memorial candle right now, and I think it turned out beautifully. I wanted to do something differently to honor our loved ones that are no longer with us instead of the usual paragraph in the program, so I sought out different inspiration, and I definitely found it. As our guests enter the reception, they will be faced with our escort card table to their left and the memorial table to the right. Anyways.. here it is!

This photo certainly does it no justice. But what I did was buy a 6 1/2" x 10 1/2" vase, and I created a 6 1/2 x 11 document in Microsoft Publisher. I inserted my grandmother's photo, then inserted three separate text boxes. In the first text box, I wrote, "In Loving Memory Of,", the second, "Her Name," and the third, "Grandmother of the Bride." Then I inserted a fourth and final text box that lined the entire document, and then turned it a light gray color. I did this so that I would know where my cutting points were once I printed it off. I printed it off, cut it to size, wrapped it around the vase and held it will tape. Then, I used some thin satin ribbon to line the edges of the vase. I used my hot glue gun to make it stay. It was really simple, and easy to do overall. It probably took me a total of 20 minutes to do from start to finish. On wedding day, I plan to insert a small candle into the vase and light it, so that the photo and words will illuminate.

I found this DIY to be very sentimental to me, and I'm glad to have done it. I believe that it will definitely honor our deceased loved ones and truly make them apart of our special day more.