Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Does A Wedding Dagger Really Need A Point?

Hiya!

Remember our friends who threw that EPIC Game of Thrones dinner party?



You know, the party where every dish was themed, and dessert was traumatizing?

This was hard to forget... no matter how I tried, bahaha.

WELL, last weekend was these friends' 50th wedding anniversary(!!), so I knew a run-of-the-mill gift just wouldn't do.

Enter, THE INTERNET.

Well, Etsy, to be more precise.

I discovered the Strongblade Etsy shop, which sells personalized daggers and swords. This isn't sponsored, but what they made me turned out so nice I have to show it off.

First here's a look at the engraving, because I really like the saying John and I came up with:

Anna & John, Forged 1972
50 Years Unbroken


Eh? EH?

Listen, part of romance is having the ability to stab each other, but not doing it. (PRO TIP.)


Next we needed a way to display both the dagger and sheath, so we bought this wooden plaque at JoAnn's to modify:
John drilled holes through the plaque to pressure-fit wooden dowels:



... then Dremeled the dowels into shape so they'd cradle the dagger and blade exactly:


This is where the blade slots into place.

After this we spent a couple of days getting the finish right, because staining wood is a pain. First it was too dark, then it was too red, but our third attempt was just right.

Ready for the grand reveal? (EEEEEEE)

Here we go.




Oooooh


OooOOooooh


AHHHHH YEEEEAAAAH

And last one for luck.

My photos of the back aren't as nice, but you can see we painted it black and added both an easel back and sawtooth hangers, so it can either set on a shelf or hang on the wall:


We took the easel off a cheap frame we already had.


The dagger came in a nicely padded box from Strongblade, so to finish it off I only had to wrap the lid to look a bit nicer, then make a custom gift bag long enough to hold both pieces:


And here's the happy couple at their anniversary dinner!


Anna brought their wedding album along to show us, so after dinner we had them re-create one of their wedding pics... and LOOK HOW SWEET:

50 years and still dancing! These two are part of our chosen family here in Orlando, so it was such a special night, getting to celebrate with them.

(I asked what their wedding song was, and Anna told me they danced to live accordion music in someone's garage, which is unexpectedly delightful. See the accordion player in the background?)

Oh, and they loved the dagger! Apparently John used to order big swords from the shopping network back in the day - and in fact some are still hanging in his fan cave where he plays video games - so our wedding dagger should fit right in.

Random side note: if you're a Wheel of Time fan (the books, at least) there is such a thing as a Marriage Knife in that fandom, and it is SUPER badass. Basically the husband gives it to the wife so she can stab him if he ever displeases her (!!), and she wears it like a glorious punk rock necklace between her cleavage. Amazing.

Anyway, I'm just saying, we could totally make decorative wedding daggers a thing. 

Hope this gave you a smile, and happy 50th anniversary again to Anna & John!

13 comments:

  1. Beautiful display work (as always) and killer inscription! You guys are inspiring!

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  2. Awesome! I love all the thought you put into the gift for your friends.

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  3. As someone who's been married for 14 years and dating for 5 (19 years total), a marriage knife is freaking hilarious! I'm picturing a crysknife that the Fremen carry in Dune.

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  4. Beautiful gift for a lovey couple who must have gotten married when they were 14 and 16!! (Seriously they look amazing!!) I'm so glad they were pleased and your holder just was the pièce de résistance for it all!

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  5. Oh wow, great idea and GORGEOUS display for it!

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  6. What fun and what a thoughtful gift! Loved the pics. I was just thinking "Geez, that guy is really rocking out on the accordian in the background of that picture!" Then I read that you noticed him too. Congratulations to John and Anna!

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  7. I was never so jealous in my life as when I first read the post about the GOT dinner party. Such cool friends! I hadn't even seen GOT at that point but I was still entranced by the creative foods and games. (Since then I have seen the show and the party is even more amazing - though let's just say that when I first met Ned, I knew some dark portents in his future!)

    I would move to Orlando just to hang out with y'all!

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  8. Whoa, tell me more about this "make a custom gift bag" process? Has there been an Epbot tutorial on this?

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    1. I've never done a tutorial myself, but it's basically like this: https://designertrapped.com/how-to-make-a-gift-bag-from-wrapping-paper/ The difference in mine is instead of folding over the top flap, I crease my sides and add handles, so it's more like a traditional gift bag. You'll need to use hefty/thick wrapping paper for this; the thin stuff will rip.

      This little trick has been a life-saver with awkwardly sized gifts!

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  9. Oh wow, this is so gorgeous!

    May I steal...uh...borrow the "forged...unbroken" lines please? It's our 30th Anniversary in 2024, and this would be wonderful to do for that!

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    1. me too! It was our 25th on Aug. 9th

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    2. Please do! I'd love to see this used more!

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  10. That's how weddings were (I was married in 1975), not the debt makers of today! That was a great gift.

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