When planning a groundbreaking ceremony there are dozens of options available for designing your shovels. Shovels have a variety of spade types, handle styles, colors, finishes, and of course personalization options. In this blog series, we will look at the differences between each so that you can choose shovel options that fit your budget, theme, and goals for your event. In Part 1 we will start with the shape of the shovel, comparing spade and handle styles. These features set the tone for how your event pictures will look. The handle type changes how your participants pose for photos, whilst the spade style impacts where the focal point of the photos will be.
The specialty spade is the centerpiece of the shovel. By flattening the surface of the spade, we are able to present the largest spade engraving area of any of our shovels. This personalization area is ideal for engraving a rendering of your building project (hand traced in-house by our team of graphic designers) or simply incorporating all the business logos of the project’s development partners. This is a luxury ceremonial shovel meant to keep after the event and shouldn’t be used for digging into hard earth. Dirt should be loosened ahead of the event to avoid causing damage to the spade.
This shovel reflects the classic design of the original groundbreaking shovel. The spade has a deeper bowl shape ideal for lifting and throwing dirt. While the engraving area on the spade is not quite as large as its specialty counterpart, if your goal is to set another element as the focus of your shovel (such as engraving on the handle or shaft), this is an elegant and more affordable option for your event.
The traditional spade style is also the best design for digging into hard earth. While we do recommend prepping and loosening the ground ahead of time, especially for the plated shovel options, if you’re looking for shovels that can really dig, this is the best style for the job.
After selecting your spade type, the next decision is choosing your desired handle style. The handle you choose changes how your participants pose for photos and affects the overall presentation of the event. While there are a variety of handle types to choose from (we've done baseball bat handles, hockey sticks, and paddle handles), the two most popular are D-Handles and Long Handles.
By far our most popular style, the D-Handle shovel features a handle grip that makes lifting dirt and posing for photos comfortable and convenient for your groundbreaking participants. Being shorter than the long handle, these shovels are easy to transport and store. They are also excellent commemorative gifts for your guests to keep after the event as these shovels can be mounted easily to wall plaques or presentation display cases.
We offer a range of D-Handles for every budget. The handles paired with the gold/chrome plated and gold/silver finish shovels are made with a high polished lacquered wood that can hold high levels of engraving detail. These are ideal for executives and other VIPs. The stainless steel and painted D-Handle shovels are excellent options for events with smaller budgets and are best personalized with attached gold and silver plates.
The long handle shovel tends to be the preferred choice for groundbreakings with limited space. The design of this shovel allows for a longer reach, allowing for tighter group photos. The presentation of photos is also shifted in that participants are less likely to be bending over or looking down with their shovel. Groundbreakings with the long handle tend to have stronger executive group photos while the D-Handle tends to produce photos with more action-styled shots.
When planning a groundbreaking ceremony there are dozens of options available for designing your shovels. Shovels have a variety of spade types, handle styles, colors, finishes, and of course personalization options. In this blog series, we will look at the differences between each so that you can choose shovel options that fit your budget, theme, and goals for your event. In Part 1 we looked at the shape of the shovel, comparing spade and handle styles. In Part 2 it’s time to dive into color! Color sets the tone for your event. Traditional groundbreakings feature gold and chrome shovels while modern trends utilize custom painted shovels to stand out through visual branding.
