Weddingbee

Well this part had a lot more actual invitations, and a lot more challenge if not disaster.

We were on a very tight time constraint for invitations, due to the fact that there was simply not very much time between beginning planning and the actual wedding date. Also, my roommate donated her time and talent to make these, and I did not really want her to lose sleep or become a crazy shut-in because she felt she had to meet some sort of extreme deadline. Therefore the invites took several weeks to complete, and finally last week they were proofed, checked and ready to print.

Someone was kind enough to let me use their very expensive printers free of charge to print out each of the three inserts and then the title sheet as well, saving me tons in printing costs. But this is also where my only bridal fit-throwing thus far comes in. I ordered, foolishly, the paper inserts already cut into 5×7 inch pieces, not knowing that it would have been far easier and cheaper from a production standpoint to get full sheets and have them cut later. As it turned out the green paper (my favorite, to be used for our postcard-style response cards) was far thicker than the other two colors and when the printer grabbed it…. smears, shadows, sadness.It might have made a difference if I could have done two inserts per full size sheet because then the printer would have been grabbing in a different, less inky section, but as I mentioned, they were sadly precut. So after much threatening of the printer, and slamming down of Diet Coke cans, I had to walk away. I had to give up on the design, even though I loved it. It wasn’t going to work, and the biggest tantrum in the world wasn’t going to change it.

So, after talking to my roommate and Mr Robin via cell, it was on to plan B. I ran to the paper store, bought two more packages of the cream paper (luckily the only one they carry in store) while my roommate tweaked the design, so that the green was all ink. It would fool anyone into thinking that paper is green unless they were looking hard, since we printed both sides fully green and then just printed brown text on top. Problem solved. I still like the first design better, but this at least got the invitations out the door.

(the least troublesome piece, good ole parking. Also weirdly the piece that made me cry because I thought it was beautiful)

Waiting at my house was a “Forced Labor Party.” We gathered up the nearest and dearest (those that can’t say “no”) my mom, my future MIL, my sister, and the bridesmaids, and made them help Mr Robin and I put it all together.

(my dedicated mother, hard at work)

Actually, I highly recommend doing it this way. It is a very special memory for me to have had these women around us all working together and laughing as we put together the invitations to an event that touches all our lives and makes us all a family together. It was originally done because of budget constraints - we could not spend very much on invitations at all - but I am glad that we did it this way because having it be a community project was so much more touching for me.

The entire package

This project taught me more good lessons though:

1. Plan B is often just as good as Plan A, because nothing will be perfect. Which feeds right into..

2. Walk away if you are becoming upset. Very few things will ruin the day that you marry the person you were meant for and remembering that is more than half the battle.

3. Pounding on the hand letterpress kit will relieve much stress and makes lovely envelope seals.

4. I am definitely marrying the right man. Mid-printer beating, he calms me on the phone, asks if he can do anything, and then shows up with Bellagios pizza. That’s a man who knows me.

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