Like most brides, you probably kept your wedding invitation set, your save-the-dates, a guestbook, and many other special things from your wedding, engagement, and bridal showers. Where are they now? I know mine are sitting in a box and several other places in my house at the moment. Melissa Abele’s business, Charming Scribe, is entirely devoted to the task of capturing and honoring your most precious wedding memories by placing them together in a personalized and beautifully designed keepsake called a Beloved Book.
We conducted a little Q&A with Melissa, so you can learn more about her Beloved Books and why they make the the perfect wedding keepsake.
“Take your guest book from an afterthought to an heirloom that you will cherish for years to come. ”
What made you decide to start Charming Scribe and what do you love most about it?
Charming Scribe began as Weddings Etc, a stationery and gift store that was located "on the curve” of Downtown Homewood for 25 years. After owning it for 10 years, I moved the business online and narrowed the focus to the best selling products, our cake charms and the wedding books we call the Beloved Book. My most favorite aspect of the current business is the design work. I love designing monograms, guiding brides in selecting fabrics and thread colors, as well as photostyling all of the products.
What is a Beloved Book?
What is a Beloved Book? Here in the South, a wedding essential that every mother has insisted her engaged daughter get is a book that has been known by several titles - a bride’s book, wedding book, or a memory book. I love a little romance, so I gave our books the romantic title of a Beloved Book. A Beloved Book is your family heirloom that tells the story of how your family first began. It is a shower guest book, rehearsal dinner guest book, wedding guest book, and a photo album. It has a place for your engagement photos, baby and current photos, save the date, shower invitations, rehearsal dinner invitation, wedding invitation, and wedding program. The Beloved Book chronicles your engagement memories from proposal to the honeymoon.
How many designs are there for the Beloved Book? Do you have a favorite design?
There are 19 different designs for the Beloved Book, with an additional option for custom art. My favorite design is Genevieve because of her beautiful details, 3 thread colors, dot details inside the middle letter and accent dots that flank the side letters. The Genevieve monogram is very dimensional when embroidered. I also love embroidering customer’s unique custom art. It is always a little creative adventure that brings a thrill when I see it completed.
What are the top things you recommend including in a Beloved Book?
The top things I recommend including in a Beloved Book are:
1. YOUR handwriting. I think brides feel the pressure to have the pages be penned perfectly, and while I understand that I would invite brides to dive in to the project anyway. Here’s why - perfection is the enemy of completion, you’ll never complete your book if you are afraid of "getting it wrong". The other reason is that this is a family heirloom. Your future children and grandchildren want to see your handwriting in your book telling your story, not someone you have hired to do it perfectly. They’ll even appreciate your mistakes as it gives them permission to make mistakes too.
2. Photographs - In today’s digital world we have gotten out of the practice of printing precious memories BUT we have loads of apps and technology to make it SUPER DUPER easy. Commit a little time to adding your shower, engagement, and rehearsal dinner photos to a photo printing app, order them, and they will arrive at your doorstep. Easy Peasy! Also, if your parents aren't ready to part with your printed baby pictures, you can just take a photo of the photo and it will look like it has a cool filter on it.
3. Invitations and sweet notes - It is such fun to stroll down Memory Lane as you flip through your book and see all of the invitations from the parties your generous friends and family threw in celebration of YOU! When you see the invitation alongside the guest sign in page, you’ll be filled with appreciation for everyone that was there. (Tip - if you missed a party and the guests weren’t able to sign in themselves, just write in who was there in your own handwriting. 10 years down the road when you can’t recall everyone that was there, you will be so happy that you wrote them in.) And all those sweet notes and greeting cards you received during your engagement? Add those to the Love Notes pages to keep them safe forever.
What are the books made out of?
Beloved Books are handmade with beautiful linen or silk dupioni, the finest embroidery threads, and a lot of TLC. Each book’s foundation is a sturdy, custom made 3 ring binder that allows for easy removal and addition of pages. The pages are heavyweight, acid-free card stock printed in charcoal ink.
Can you customize the books?
Beloved Books are customizable in a couple of ways. You may send us your custom monogram, crest, or any other special wedding art to be embroidered on the cover of your book. We will take your art, have it digitized for embroidery, and then share the file with you afterwards for future embroidery projects. Another beautiful customization is the title page. We can print the title page with your names and wedding date in a graceful script.
Take your guest book from an afterthought to an heirloom that you will cherish for years to come.
