Weddingbee Blog

Miss Avocado and her slick haired salesman friend are back to walk you through the confusing details of her invitation inserts. If you didn’t know, Miss Avo will have a temple ceremony with 35 people in attendance, a ring ceremony and dinner in Seattle for 120 people, and a tented reception for 200 (200 is capacity, it is TBD the number that will actually come) at the home of a family friend.

Salesman: “Those invited to Seattle received a small invitation card insert, inviting them to the ring ceremony and dinner to follow. The curly decorative motif from the announcement was copy and pasted here, as well to tie the inserts to the booklet.”

Miss Avo: “Leaving these cards out of every invitation was incredibly difficult. I truly wish we had a venue large enough to seat everyone.”

Salesman: “Another piece that was only sent out in 75 of the invitations to the Seattle guests was this map that was a collaborative design between Mamacado and Miss Avocado. It is a Mapquest map, live-traced using Adobe Illustrator. The road numbers, directions, temple, heart, and Elliot Bay were all added in using Photoshop. This was provided to help guests understand the need for transportation between the temple and the ring ceremony location.

The last two elements are the only invitation elements not cut or ripped by hand from full sized sheets of paper.

Not one, but six different RSVP postcards were created. Three different fronts were designed for two different backs. Each photo below is one Miss Avocado took during her visit to Poland, which she then texturized to give a “vintage” feel. A post on how to texturize photos for this same effect will be up later this week.

The photos below are of a Polish circlet (a term the bride came up with to describe a wreath hung above doorways, seen in an outdoor museum they visited), a 19th century Polish chapel steeple, and a real Polish castle she visited.

All of these postcards have a delicious linen texture, ordered through Mamacado’s professional photo printing lab.

Here is one of the two backs included the following text. The swirly motif comes through again, and the wedding website for the Seattle event is included at the bottom. The tropical fruit stamps did NOT match the vintage theme, but beyond hunting down other options on eBay, this was the only choice.

The RSVP postcard sent to hometown reception guests included a few less details, but also included the wonderful option of sending a personal message to the bride and groom. If only it asked for names as well—such nice messages are being sent, but they are all anonymous!

Every invitation included an engagement photo, and with individual invitations so different from each other already, why should only one type of photo be sent? The pocket folds were stuffed with one of 14 different prints, none of which would satisfy your grandma as they are all atypical announcement photos with either one or both subjects faces obscured or featuring silhouettes.

The metallic printed, linen textured photos are actually the single most expensive piece of the invitation, coming in at just over $1 each. This was completely unintentional, and should teach all of you a good lesson. If you are getting a good deal on professional products, make sure the professional does the ordering. This is a mistake that cost 70 cents, 275 times over.

Not pictured are the complimentary valet parking slips (for bridal party members and grandparents) and handwritten temple ceremony invitations. Both were last minute additions, and not very attractive in their design. Despite their appearance, they did the job they were intended to do.”

Miss Avo: “Thanks to my slick haired salesman friend for walking all of you through my invitations, as I am a little bit shy about presenting such an imperfect product so dear to my heart. Criticism can be directed towards him at slicksalesman@ifyoucantsayanythingnicedontsayanythingatall.com. Feel free to direct all compliments my way.

A big thanks needs to go to Mamacado and Elizabeth Anne Designs for the amount of work they contributed towards this project. Although I do not believe Mamacado is interested in any further invitation projects (until Sistacado gets engaged, that is), EAD was a pleasure to work with, and I am happy to call them my friends after this experience.”

Did you have variations in the invitations you sent out to different guests?