Wedding Blog
A few months back, I stumbled upon a great idea for our out-of-town guests that we could include in our little gift bags. Essentially, you address a postcard to yourself, stamp it, put it in an OOT bag and ask your guests to send them back to you with memories of their trip scribbled on the back! (These “postcards from paradise” are a popular wedding staple on the Destination Weddings message board on TheKnot)
(images courtesy of knottie zoegirltx2)
I really enjoyed the idea, but I decided I would only add it to the list of projects if I could bargain it down to Starbucks prices. Then, I could magically skip a day of coffee guzzling and feel no guilt whatsoever… and thanks to VistaPrint and some imagintion, I did just that! I ordered 100 standard size postcards for the grand total of $5.24! Ok…so maybe that’s a frap & scone, but still a good deal! Everything about the postcard was free, except for the shipping (sign up and register for one of their webinars for links to the best deals that really are completely free!).
I decided to make a fun postcard that our guests could not only send back to us, but also send on to others or keep as a little memento… and after searching through hundreds and hundreds of images, I think I found the right one:
The front:
(a Polaroid image of Asilomar beach I found on Flickr.com with text added in Illustrator)
The back:
(Self-Addressed with proper credit given to the photographer in the middle of the card)
They turned out really well, but I did have a bit of a “brain fart” when I decided to print all of the postcards with our address on them. I think I’ll just resolve the issue by putting a white label on top and not thinking about it… oh well! Each guest will get two of these in their OOT bag…. and hopefully our mailbox will be overflowing with memories when we return from our honeymoon!
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Share this post: Postcards From Paradise
I love this. I’m having a destination wedding…definitely going to consider this.
I love this idea! Only problem- I went to the webinar link and couldn’t sign up for any of them- most have passed and the one that hadn’t- said the site was no longer valid unfortunately.
Erika - Only that I wanted people to be able to send the “extra” one to anyone they wanted. 
It probably would have been easier to put a label with our address on than attempting to cover ours up…
Christina - Here’s the link to the deals that I used… perhaps it’ll work for you too!
http://www.vistaprint.com/webinars/
what a great idea! how are the quality of the cards from vistaprint? i’m trying to shop around for places. thanks!
I love this idea! Too bad FI is a butthead - he said “it sounds like you’re surveying people…like, tell us your thoughts on our wedding so we can do better next time”. Ugh. Men.
I love VistaPrint!
Tea - they quality of their postcards is great. I made some anout a month ago for my thank-you-for-giving-me-a-shower gifts and am very happy with them. My FI and friends have had business cards done there too, and they’ve turned out great. I especially love that you can make your own design (in Illustrator, PhotoShop, etc.) and then upload it. And they’re ALWAYS offering freebies.
we did postcards in place of a guest book at our destination wedding … my mom mailed them back to us a few a day for the weeks after our wedding. it was so nice to get all the postcards in the mail … this is a great idea too!!
I really like the idea of using them instead of a guestbook, or giving them a postcard of the destination locale as an OOT gift. And Jen, your FI’s comment cracked me up!
As a guest, sometimes I feel like super well planned weddings can come off kinda overwhelming in terms of feedback to the couple (write your marriage advice here, recount your favorite memory there, etc). I really want to share something special with the bride/groom, but I usually put all that consideration into their gift and card… So having more than 1 or 2 opportunities to write something else to the couple can leave me feeling rushed or like I’m not writing something maybe not worth reading…
Thanks for the Destination Wedding board shout out and crediting zoegirltx’s work.
I hope you and your guests enjoy the postcards. They look lovely.
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Mrs. Lemon, Los Angeles/Monterey
Age and Occupation in 06: 26, Graduate Student (Public Policy)
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Environmental Consultant
Engagement Date: April 7, 2006
Wedding Date: July 7, 2007
Venue: Rosary Chapel & Monterey Marriott, Monterey, CA
About Me: My FI and I met online, but we like to tell people that we met at a "cookie shop" which is the technical location of our first encounter. He proposed exactly 1 year, 1 month and 6 days after our first date (it's the only part of his proposal speech that I remember), and we're planning long-distance from Los Angeles for a July wedding in my hometown of Monterey, CA. I have a passion for all things "cool, cute and quirky" and I enjoy video games, reading blogs (WeddingBee, trashy celeb, consumer & political) and crafting in my spare time, if I have any!
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