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Silver Wedding Gift Ideas

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wedding cake tray

Silver Wedding Gift Ideas

Despite so many weddings being postponed or held in a much smaller gathering than originally planned due to coronavirus, giving a gift to the happy couple is still a must to show your support and celebrate their marriage! Silver is a classic heirloom wedding gift and my functional silver objects are extremely popular to commemorate the joyous occasion. My designs are inspired by traditional silver forms, but are interpreted in my original, contemporary style. A unique, handcrafted silver gift will be cherished for generations to come and is such a memorable, lasting gift to receive.

My website Shop has a wide variety of options available and many can be personalized with hand engraving for a special finishing touch. Detailed below are some of the most favored of my classic silver wedding gifts.

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Silver Bar Spoons, Decanter Bottle Tags, and Vase
by Kaminer Haislip

Coronavirus is keeping more people at home these days, so stock the newlywed’s bar with fun silver accessories they will use while enjoying evenings at home together or for stylish entertaining (while being conscientious of social distancing of course!). Silver bar spoons, personalized decanter tags with their favorite libations engraved on the front, tumblers and cups, wine goblets, and wine coasters are all useful and beautiful gifts.

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Silver Tumbler and Bar Spoon by Kaminer Haislip

The silver tumbler pictured above and the silver wine goblets and wine coasters below all can be hand engraved with the couple’s initials and wedding date for a personal touch.

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Silver Wine Coasters, Wine Goblets, and Vase
by Kaminer Haislip

Let’s not forget the very important hors d’oeuvres for snacking during cocktail hour! Silver appetizer accessories shine and make serving the tasty bites even more enjoyable.

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Silver Cheese Knife and Silver and Glass Tray
by Kaminer Haislip

The silver and glass cheese tray shown above is the same silver and glass cake tray pictured at the top of this post. My Ziggurat Tray creates a stunning tablescape and is very versatile for many uses, including serving hors d’oeuvres, cheese, anti-pasta, cakes and desserts, or for a table centerpiece displaying fruit or flowers. 

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Silver Spreader by Kaminer Haislip

This silver spreader is multi-functional for serving a wide variety of soft cheeses, spreads, and condiments.

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Silver Condiment Spoon by Kaminer Haislip
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Silver Appetizer Fork by Kaminer Haislip

The silver cheese knife, spreader, condiment spoon, and appetizer fork were all forged and have a hammered handle. Due to the hammering process, they are very sturdy and functional. Plus they bring contemporary refinement to the setting.

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Silver Nest Bowl by Kaminer Haislip

A popular wedding gift is my Nest Bowl, comprised of hammered and woven sterling silver wire.  The nest acts as a metaphor for building a new life and home together.  Nest Bowl comes in three sizes, 4″, 6″, and 8″ in diameter, but can also be created in custom sizes. It functions beautifully for serving bread or crackers or on a vanity or dresser for holding items.

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Silver Nest Bowl by Kaminer Haislip

For serving up the main course, my silver salad servers and serving spoon make excellent silver wedding gifts that will be used frequently and not just on holidays. My husband and I use our silver serving spoons regularly and get a lot of enjoyment out of them!

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Silver Salad Servers by Kaminer Haislip
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Silver Serving Spoon by Kaminer Haislip

A pair of silver napkin rings with the couple’s initials hand engraved on them is a lovely gift that can be built upon over the years. Starting them on any collection creates a gift you as well as others can give to help them complete the set.

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Silver Napkin Ring by Kaminer Haislip

Silver bowls, dishes, and boxes are also thoughtful silver wedding gifts, not only for their useful function on a coffee table, dresser, or vanity, but also for their beauty and enhancement of a new abode. Most of my silver bowls, dishes, and boxes come in a variety of sizes and too can be completed as a set in the future.

Silver Poppy Bowl by Kaminer Haislip
Silver Oyster Dish by Kaminer Haislip
Silver Boxes by Kaminer Haislip

There are many more gorgeous heirloom silver wedding gift options in my website Shop Home category, so visit it for the complete selection. Elegant gift wrapping is free and it can be shipped directly to them. 

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Silver and glass tray by Kaminer Haislip

If you do not see specifically what you are looking for on my website Shop, contact me directly at kaminer@kaminerhaislip.com to design a custom commission gift. For details on commissioning bespoke pieces, visit the Commission Work page on this website.

Cheers to the happy couple!

 

Handcrafted Silver Spoons

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Kaminer Haislip’s silver Flight of Fancy Serving Spoon

Handcrafted Silver Spoons

Serving up silver spoons for this Blog post! Since silversmithing has become an obscure craft, I have decided to write a series of posts that feature various traditional silversmithing processes I use to create my silver designs. As often as I am asked how I make my pieces, I have come to realize how little most people know about silversmithing. I took my first jewelry and silversmithing course over twenty years ago, so it has become extremely normal to me since I have done it practically every day since then!

The majority of the time, people only see my finished works and not the process, so they have no idea the amount of time, labor and skill that goes into making them. Through sharing some of my silversmithing techniques, I hope to give some insight into what it takes to craft my functional works of art.

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A selection of Kaminer Haislip’s silversmithing and jewelry hammers.

My journey to becoming a silversmith began long before my first college course and you can read about my background in detail on a former Blog post titled “How did you get into silversmithing?”. During my BFA studies at Winthrop University under Alfred Ward, an internationally acclaimed English silversmith, the first functional object I made was a silver spoon with laminated ebony handle. The spoon form has much significance to my functional work and I have continued to explore it since that first creation so many years ago. To view a selection of spoons I have made over the course of my career and the aforementioned first spoon visit my website Portfolio Spoons page.

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Several of Kaminer’s steel silversmithing stakes

As covered in my previous Blog post on my forged silver cheese knife, all of my objects begin as sterling silver sheet and wire. For hollowing and forming silver sheet into functional objects, I hammer it over steel stakes that are the precise curve I need for an item, such as a silver spoon. The stake is held in a sturdy steel vise as shown below.

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Spoon stake in vise

I use a rawhide mallet to form the spoon bowl, because it does not stretch the silver or leave marks in the surface.

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Silver spoon bowl being formed over steel stake
sterling silver spoon charleston rice spoon serving spoon

Once the spoon bowl shape is formed, I planish it with a steel hammer to set the form precisely and work harden the metal, so it has strength when used to serve food.

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Silversmith Kaminer Haislip planishing the silver spoon bowl.

With the planishing technique I use small, light overlapping blows as shown up close below.

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Overlapping planishing hammer marks on the silver surface

The planishing process is one of my favorite silversmithing techniques! It requires focus, rhythm, and precision to hammer around and around consistently over the entire surface. I really enjoy planishing my silver spoons, but a coffeepot or teapot is an extensive challenge that I so revel in!

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Kaminer Haislip’s Flight of Fancy Charleston Rice Spoon

The two spoons highlighted in this Blog post are from my Flight of Fancy Series in which the handle design was inspired by the shape of a bird’s wing. The serving spoon (first image) has a traditional serving spoon length handle, but the Charleston Rice Spoon has a longer handle. The silver Charleston Rice Spoon, derived from the English Stuffing Spoon, historically had a long handle. During the 18th and 19th centuries rice was an immensely important crop to Charleston’s economy and the rice spoon was created due to it. My contemporary design is based on the historic form and gives a nod to tradition while still looking forward.

Both spoon styles are very popular wedding gifts, so be sure to check them out in my website Shop Home category. A handcrafted silver spoon certainly serves a purpose when stylishly entertaining!

Bella Magazine – December 2016

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bellamagazine

Gift Ideas for Bridesmaids and Groomsmen

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Mum_earrings

 

 

 

 

 

Kaminer Haislip can create custom Bridesmaids and Groomsmen gifts for your wedding!

Some ideas for Bridesmaids include jewelry to coordinate with their bridesmaids dresses for the big day, custom earrings or a pendant with the design based the wedding decor flowers or theme (see Mum Earring picture above), a small silver vanity dish to hold jewelry and other items, a silver bud vase, silver mirror, and silver Mint Julep Cup or beaker.

Some ideas for Groomsmen include custom cufflinks with the design based on their initials (see Q Cufflink picture above), cufflinks that relate to the wedding theme or style, tie pin or clip, silver money clip, a silver and wood wine coaster, and a silver beer stein or beaker.

Don’t forget Mom and Dad! The gift ideas above could apply to them as well or something unique could be created to thank them for their love and support.

All objects can be personalized with engraving to remind your special friends and family of your wonderful day!

Contact Kaminer Haislip directly for all inquiries.

New Online Shop!

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Greetings!  I am very excited to announce the addition of an online Shop to my website, in which my work can be purchased directly!  It includes the four categories of Home, Jewelry, Baby, and Holiday.  Each category will have new items added to it regularly, so please check it frequently!

Additionally, my new online Shop includes a fantastic Wishlist feature that allows you to build your own gift registry for wedding, baby, birthday, anniversary, or simply to keep a record of items you would love to own!  You can set up an account that has Privacy options, so you can choose to share your list or not.

Visit http://www.kaminerhaislip.com/shop/ to start shopping now!

Please feel free to contact me directly with any inquiries into Portfolio objects not posted on the Shop page as well as inquiries into custom commission pieces.

Thank you for your interest!  Kaminer

Sterling Silver Wedding Gifts

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Designer and silversmith Kaminer Haislip has a wide variety of sterling silver wedding gifts available.  A unique, hand crafted silver gift will be cherished for a life time and a memorable gift to receive.  A silver vase, bowl, dish, tray, pitcher, wine coaster, or box is an appropriate wedding gift that would be much appreciated by the couple.

A popular wedding gift is Kaminer Haislip’s Nest Bowl, comprised of hammered and woven sterling silver wire.  The nest acts as a metaphor for building a new life and home together.  Nest Bowl comes in three sizes, 4″, 6″, and 8″ in diameter.  Custom sizes can be created as well.

Visit www.kaminerahislip.com for a gorgeous selection of sterling silver wedding gifts!  If you do not see what you are looking for, contact the designer directly to create a custom commission piece.

Portfolio Items