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By MARY JANE PARK
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 21, 2001
In cooler climes, June traditionally is the month for weddings. Store registries make it easy to purchase items a couple has specified; individualists may want to seek out other options.
-- MARY JANE PARK, Times Staff Writer
New York jewelry designer Jay Strongwater's Jewels for the Home picture frames are collectibles in themselves. All are individually cast, featuring hand-enameled detail and hand-set Austrian crystals. Protective fabric bags and tiny screwdrivers for removing the frames' back plates are part of the package. Double frame, $825; horizontal frame, $675; vertical frame, $425. Saks Fifth Avenue, WestShore Plaza, Tampa.
Note from the etiquette police: Well-wishers have up to a year to present gifts, but thank-you notes must be written within a month after receipt of the bounty. Please eschew all cheesy paper that has "Thank You" printed on the front. Stationery, department and gift stores can help put together an entire stationery wardrobe, whether engraved with a couple's names or using more affordable thermograph and printing techniques, but there are elegant alternatives with no personalization. Lulu locking baronial notecards, 51/2 by 41/4 inches; 8 cards and envelopes, $15.50. Erika correspondence cards, 5 by 7 inches; 8 cards and envelopes, $14. All by Studio Z. Penne's Papers, 6151 Central Ave., St. Petersburg.
A fixture in many British homes, this electric tea kettle is an appliance for which you will be remembered, and privately thanked, each day. It brings water to a boil faster than most microwaves and has an automatic shutoff. 11/4-quart Russell Hobbs kettle, $119.95. Williams-Sonoma. Catalog, Web orders only. Telephone toll-free: 1-800-841-2233; on the Web: www.williams-sonoma.com
For wedding-day remembrance, this album is bound with satin ribbon and embellished with a sheer dress and has cover and interior pages of handmade paper; white photo corners included. Photograph album, $36. The White House/Black Market, BayWalk, St. Petersburg; Old Hyde Park, Tampa.