The wedding bowl makes the perfect wedding gift for the happy couple and allows you to gift something unique that you won’t find on any wedding list.

The wood

I generally make the wedding bowls in Sycamore as the carved Runes show up really well against the crisp light colour of the Sycamore.  These bowls can also be made from Ash and Elm too.

 

Turning the back of the bowl

The first stage in making the wedding bowl is to turn the back of the bowl and sand to a fine finish ready to be oiled when complete. I turn the bowl over and start work on the front of the bowl. Once the bowl is turned to shape it is then ready for the finer detail.

Carving the Runes into the front of the bowl

Once the front of the wedding bowl is turned and sanded to shape I mark out the Runes to be carved. I normally carve out “Love and partnership” in the Runes as this is thought to bring good luck to the happy couple.  The next step is to hand carve the Runes into the wooden rim then I blacken the carving over a short period of time.

Hollowing the centre of the bowl

The next process in making the wedding bowl is to cut a rim out of the top of the bowl to hold the fused glass in place. Once the rim is removed this gets blackened. The inside of the bowl is then hollowed out to take the fused glass insert. The bowl has a final sand with some steel wool and it is now ready to get oiled over a period of 3 to 4 days. Once the oil has all dried the fused glass insert is fitted into the bowl.

The finishing touch

On the underside of the wedding bowl I can burn in the names of the happy couple and the date of their wedding. This makes the gift extra special and personal.

       

All designs remain the property of Harmonies in Wood.

To see more examples of the bowls I make, visit bowls