My First Major Wedding-Related Disappointment
February 11th, 2008 @ 4:34 pm by Mrs. Peony
I think…
I may…
I’m not sure about this but…
I hate my invitations!
There. I’ve said it.
When I first got engaged the invitations were the part of the wedding planning process that excited me the most. Not my dress, not my venue, not my flowers. THE INVITATIONS.
To me, a well-made invitation sets the mood of the event, as well as giving the guests a taste of what to expect… get them salivating and keep them wanting more. So as a paper-lover and a designer, the invitations meant the world to me… and I so looked forward to designing and making them myself.
Perhaps I was too ambitious. I didn’t have to go the tri-lingual route. I didn’t have to try to hand-make each and every one of them. I didn’t have to ask for input every step of the designing process.
Maybe I tried too hard to accommodate everyone’s requests. There were numerous arguments about color (Mr Peony didn’t want to use white at all because it’s considered a bad color for weddings in the Chinese culture), wording, name placements, translations….. even whether the Korean or Chinese side folds out first!
Either way, I’m not too pleased with the end results, and whenever I look at them I’m reminded of the painful process behind its design.
If I could do it all over, I would’ve scrapped the tri-lingual idea and would have worked with a nice letterpress company. And although this may sound selfish, I would’ve made all the decisions, without asking for input from our family. I really do turn green with envy whenever I see all the other Bee’s beautiful invitations.
Nonetheless, it’s too late to turn back now because we’re already behind schedule. The wedding is in two short months and we plan on sending out the invitations this week.
How about you? Are there any wedding-related decisions you vehemently regret?
P.S. - I’ll post pictures of the invitations after they are sent.
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21 Responses to “My First Major Wedding-Related Disappointment”
Miss Peony,
I completely feel your pain… the one thing i regret the most was my invites. While they did turn out lovely, I still regret doing them myself and spending a fortune on them… when i could have had letterpress (which I ADORED) instead! but you know what, once they are out, and you’ll realize it’s just a piece of paper and get sorta get over it like me! i’m sure they are beautiful, it’s just they aren’t your dream invite!
Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. I’m sure they’re much lovelier than you realize. It’s probably just because you’ve been working on them and with them for so long that you’re just sick of looking at them. And anyway, the fact that you made them is incredible. 250 guests?! Everyone’s going to be massively impressed, no matter what.
Can I admit I’m not in love with my wedding dress and I’m a month away?
I’m just not stressing over it. It’s just a dress.
I’m not very happy with my invitations too and I just sent them out…also people have called saying they love my invitations but it is hard to believe them….I wish I could start over too 
I agree with lovebug — you’re probably too close to it to appreciate them fully. i’m sure your guests will think they’re fab!
I regret the b’maid dresses. I was trying to please everyone and wound up pleasing no one, I fear. Oh well. This is certainly not a decision that will impact anyone’s good time at the wedding.
Yeah, I spent about $200 on our DIY invites, and I wasn’t entirely pleased with the look (not too mention all the gas money I wasted looking around for the “perfect” stuff. I loved the content, but I just put waaaaay too much time and energy into them. They weren’t even in my top three.
Next time (hehehe), I’m hiring Mrs. Corn!
Like many said above, I’m sure your guests will love them! I’m in awe just by the fact that you have tri-lingual invites!
Gee, this is my second comment today to a post that presents a wedding related problem that I can totally relate to. I guess that says something about me, not sure what though.
I totally understand about the invitation. I would have loved my invitation except for the fact that the ink that should have been a pretty green turned out to be flourescent green. I didn’t ask for a test run before hand and when it was delivered and I took a peek, it was so bright/flourescent green that I couldn’t admit that I didn’t like it. When I finally did admit I didn’t like it, it didn’t feel anybetter either. (If I told you how much I spent, you’ll keel over. They were letterpress.)
I’ll tell you something though, that yucky feeling will pass, no one will notice you didn’t like the invitation, you’ll get complimented on them, and you’ll actually end up saving a keepsake for yourself. Then 6 months after you’re married and a new bee is posting about invitation disappointments, you’ll be able to tell her it’ll all be good. Actually, it’ll all be great.
I can’t say it any better than the lovely ladies above, except to add that long after the guests have forgotten what the invites looked like, your families will remember all the effort you put into honoring both their cultures.
Hang in there, Peony!
awww i’m so sorry miss peony. maybe working on the other paper products for the wedding will alleviate some of your disappointment? i know you have some great skillz you can flex! 
Everyone loves getting a wedding invitation so I wouldn’t worry about it too much, but I understand you’re disappointed if they were important to you
I already don’t like my invitations and I haven’t even ordered them yet. I can’t seem to get my FI and my mom to actually agree on any color combination. It is driving me nuts. I just ordered something like my 12th round of samples today, in yet another two color combinations. Good grief. By the time we actually decide on something I won’t ever want to see them again.
I’m also doing trilingual invitations (English, Hebrew and Spanish–we’re a weird bunch!) and I’m still fairly early in the design process with my wedding 7 months away. Whoa, 7 months sounds close to 6 months which sounds close!! I’ve been working on invitation ideas for a LONG time–like since last October so it’s the thing I’ve been consistently massaging in my head.
Mine do not fold out though–they’re all on one card. This means, of course that there’s not a ton of wording like parents names, etc…
Anyone interested in seeing them can PM me. I haven’t seen this too much so if anyone else is thinking of doing it, it’s nice to see examples.
I’m EAGER to see your invites too, Miss Peony!!
I have been extremely critical of our (homemade) invites as well. But I’m sure it’s like some of the ladies above described — we’re always SO much more critical of our own work and others are always more impressed.
It’s like when I cook and find fault with my creations, and meanwhile whenever anyone else cooks for me, I’m always blown away with the fabulousness of it. I’m just happy there’s food in front of me!!
Oops.. PM me here I guess? I didn’t realize I wasn’t logged in.
Ok sorry–apparently you can’t do that in comments in the blog posts–sorry again for so many comments! :I
Oh Miss Peony, I’m sure it is sooo lovely! I agree w/Miss Lovebug. After looking at 250 of the same thing, anyone would hate that thing. I’ve only done about 50 STD cards and I was sick of looking at it.
Your family and friends will really feel honored you put allt hat time and effort into making them yourself, and trying to accommodate for any language/cultural differences. That’s so sweet, and that’s what people will remember.
Sorry to hear this. I bet they are great, though! No wonder you are fed up with them if you made them all yourself… you must have been staring at the same thing forever!
Just writing out 25 Save the Date postcards this weekend, I started going off them by the time I finished… but when I looked at them again the next morning, I loved them!
Love your website! Sorry to hear about the invitations, it can be tough. When we work with clients to design invitations we try to focus in on what the bride and groom want, after all its their day.
Being primarily a letterpress print shop and studio I wish we could have helped you with the invites!
Good luck with the rest of the wedding!
[...] promised, here are pictures of my tri-lingual invitations. They are far from perfect, but they represent the [...]
Mrs. Peony, New York
Age and Occupation: 27, Marketing Coordinator
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, QA Engineer
Engagement Date: June 28, 2007
Wedding Date: April 18, 2008
Venue: The Fountainhead
Blogging Since: August 7, 2007
About Me: Both Mr. Peony and I are huge computer nerds, and our conversations usually consist of the latest gadgets, programming languages, and video games. At the same time, I can also be very girly with an obsession with handbags, makeup, and high heels. And art! I've studied studio art extensively, almost majored in art history, and freelance as a web and graphics designer. Mr. Peony and I are having a ball of a time planning a wedding for 250(!) guests, doing our best to infuse our personalities (geeky chic) with the wishes of our very traditional Asian parents.
Oh no… Im sorry miss peony. How crappy is that. Honestly though, people won’t even realize… whats important is the day of… Im sure they arent as bad as you say they are!