Invitations

Choosing invitations was a hard decision for me. They were not high on my "what do I want to spend money on" list of priorities, yet I wanted them to look a certain way. The problem came when I had a hard time finding my vision in an affordable way. 

My initial idea was to create my own. I'm sort of crafty and can kind of be creative when the mood strikes---how hard can it be? Very. This thought process lasted about 2 weeks. During that time I attempted to make a few mock ups. It was only after days of frustration and agony that I realized that 1. technology and I do not get along, 2. I am only crafty and creative when it comes to non virtual things (hello paper and pen!) . Added to all that is the fact that I literally  knew *nothing* about making invitations. A tiny piece of information I had failed to remember. Long story short  after 2 weeks I was left with a massive headache and quickly decided to start searching online for alternative ideas. 

I hit up a ton of highly recommended places (thankyouverymuch wedding blogs), all of which had beautiful designs but nothing even close to my vision or even my price range. Eventually though, my searching turned to Esty. And that dear friends is where I found the amazing vendor Arippke. It's a husband and wife team that specializes in affordable custom wedding stationary and graphic design.  They were extremely helpful and wonderful to work with. I gave them my colors, my overall vision  and thoughts on what I was looking for and boy did they deliver! They were cost effective, quick and wonderful. While the final product turned out a bit darker than I was anticipating (looks a bit more black than dark purple) I really have no complaints. 

We ended up going with a invitation and response card. To save postage our response card asked guests to please either RSVP by phone or online at our website where we had set up a RSVP feature (which was amazing by the way).  We had those two pieces in an inner envelope which we lined with a gray/lilac-ish paper which played off the gray and purple hues in the invitation. Everything was then placed in the outer envelope which was sealed with a dark red wax emblem of the initial of my soon to be new last name. Even though we have some family friends who are calligraphers we decided to print out the names instead. We used a cursive font and found an awesome gray/ lilac-ish ink color that tied everything together. Since Arippke offered a 'package' we were able to get thank you notes  that matched the invitations as well. All in all I thought they turned out pretty damn well and was pleased with the outcome. 

invitation set with invitation, response card, inner and outer envelope (both sides so you could see the front and back). 

One last word to the wise (or not so wise as was the case with me).....when you're ordering invitations, don't make the same mistake I made. Don't order based purely on the number of people you are inviting. Instead order based on the number of couples, or families you are inviting. That way when all is said and done you don't end up paying for almost 100 extra invitations like this girl right here. Oh yea, I am that good. 

In light of yesterday's post..

I just had to share this with all of ya'll:

video courteous of STELLA EVENT DESIGN

Pain in my....

Does anyone else despise the guest list? I mean really, truly loathe it? Because I do. I really really really do. Let me count the ways..

First off I don't have the budget to include 500+ people (shocking I'm sure). Second S. Monster and I really want a intimate affair of about 130. That "intimate number" is further confirmed due to my venue which only holds 150. You would think then that this wouldn't be an issue. We know the number so we should be able to stick to it, right? Well consider for a moment that we have about 70 people just including our families.  Then of course there are the family friends and those people your grandparents/aunts/cousin twice removed feel should be included but whom you're pretty sure you've never met in your entire life (or if you did, you did not have the developed mental capacity to remember). Don't forget of course mine and his friends. 

The problem, I have found, does not lie in who to include but rather who to not include. Where does one draw the line between a really close friend and a really friendly acquaintance? Do you invite the best friend you had a few years back or the semi-good friend you have now? What about significant others? How do you determine whose significant other is "significant" enough to include? What about if you are friends with both people in a relationship and then they break up--do you still include both--or just one--or neither? What about a best friend who you had a somewhat falling out with, who you are now a friendly acquaintance with whose still close with all the friends you are inviting and whose (as of yesterday) ex-boyfriend is your fiancees good friend? (did you manage to follow that?)

What do you do when one of your close friends starts inviting mutual friends whom you had no plans on inviting in the first place? What about when a new friendly acquaintance starts inviting herself--on a daily basis--to your face? 

Honestly its enough to make a sane girl crazy. And I'm talking running through the streets in my underwear with a stuffed chinchilla and a bag full of onions singing "A Spoon Full Sugar" at the top of my lungs crazy. 

editor's note: Sorry for the lengthy vent. Sometimes this stuff boils up and out of me before I can control it. I blame it on living by myself with no one but my dead plant (aka pot of dirt) to talk to...

1, 2, 3, 4 tell me that you love me more

Is it bad that I can not keep my focus on any one thing for the life of me? Now I can more or less stay focused on one over arching theme (i.e. weddings) but I can't really stay focused on any one topic. Therefore, dear reader, I apologize for being all over the place. Luckily though, thanks to technology, I can label each post according to topic and despite my chaotic randomness still stay organized (neato!). Anyways...what was I going to post? oh right....wax seals. Oh my goodness I feel a new obsession coming on.... I love, love, love it! Stamps be damned but this, THIS is amazing. It's unbelievably bad ass. It is the holy grail of invitations and I must have it....

Invitations

This past weekend S. Monster (as the fiance will be referred to from now on) was in town (yay!!!) and we had 2 main goals: caterer and invitations. The caterer meetings went well and now we're just waiting for price quotes. The invitations however is a whole other matter. S. Monster and I spent a few hours flipping through several books that had nothing worth writing about. To be fair though, I'll admit I've never really been a big fan of invitations--and the few that I have liked usually clock in around $2,000 for just the invitation alone (read: no reply card, reception card, etc.). So that said, I'm currently in the process of looking for some unique and cheap alternatives. Here are some designs that I like:



Wedding Paper Divas; Kenzie Kate; DIOurself Invitation Designs;
Oblation papers; Dream weddings

The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning towards a DIY project. 1) they would be more personal 2) I would get exactly what I wanted 3) I would save money (woot woot!) and 4) I have a lot of time on my hands despite a full time job in Corporate America and working out excessively to get in shape. What do you think?