Wedding Blog
I gotta keep it real, our invitations are so PIMP, they’re one of my favorite projects from the wedding thus far. Don’t get me wrong, our Save-the-Dates were extra-fly and unique, but something about our invitations just rocks my world in ways beyond expression. I think it’s because they really capture the energy of the wedding, and drive home to guests exactly what to expect out of our funky, eclectic, Magic Carpet Ride-themed wedding!
MAD PROPS to the gals at Elizabeth Anne Designs who worked as design consultants on these and patiently made every suggestion and note that we had come to life. Also BIG UPS to my girl Mercedes for her insane art skillz.
So, let’s get started. I’m dumb and didn’t take a photo of the envelopes before we ran out, but we used Stardream Jupiter A9 envelopes, just like our STDs. We decided to go with printed envelopes because we could use our symbolic Ganesh image and the cute font is better than our handwriting any day of the week!
This is what comes out of the envelope! We made these fabric pockets out of 2 saris I ordered from eBay for $20 each. You can’t really tell, but the pattern is all glittery and gorgeous - really, this fabric is quite stunning in real life.
I’ll post a tutorial on creating these pockets soon, but it was easy peasy and cheap as hell! I’m really proud of the way they turned out; we almost scrapped these fabric pockets because we thought they would be really difficult! I love that they’re sheer enough to see the text through. PS: I stored the pockets in a box with chai tea so they’d get a deliciously exotic aroma infused into them!
Here’s the main event - the 11×17 wedding poster! The border is a vector image of a Baraat: a traditional Indian wedding processional. The background is the same lotus vector from our STDs, and you’ll recognize our logo, as well. We really wanted to communicate the whimsical vibe of the wedding and get people pumped, so the wording was all carefully selected to do just that. I think we did a pretty wicked job, if I do say so myself!
(you can click to enlarge)
This is the reverse side of the poster. Mr. M loved TinTin comics growing up, so we used that style as a launching point for the design. We wanted to echo the STD image without just recycling it, and Mercedes did an amazing job of incorporating the style and making it uniquely us. Bonus: our little Paco bears quite a resemblance to TinTin’s doggie, Snowy.
The RSVP cards were printed on Stardream Opal cardstock, which is a gorgeous, shimmery and luxe paper. I wish the photos did it more justice. This is the front of the postcard:
And the back was MadLib style! Receiving our responses has been so much more fun because of everyone’s creative answers. We plan to display all the response cards at the reception cocktail hour for our guests’ enjoyment!
(you can almost see the shimmery goodness here)
We just love everything about them, and all the feedback from our guests has been incredible. Everyone agrees that they really capture our style and essence as a couple. We’re so proud of these babies, and especially thankful for all the hard work that EAD and Mercedes put into them.
So, there you have them! Invites, check!
What do you think?
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Share this post: Invites to Delight
Oh man, what a great afternoon pick-me-up! I love the fabric pockets — infused with chai tea aromas, what a great idea! — and your poster is SO colorful.
I assume, though, that you had to fold it to mail it out? How’d that work out?
And, um…total LOL at the sombrero-wearing elephant graphic. Too cute and totally creative!
Oh my GAH! That sari fabric is amazing! I could just melt. haha. You did a great job!!
Ridiculously awesome.
Those are awesome!! I’m so glad the pockets worked out. And I love the MadLibs style rsvp!!!
You are right- your invites are PIMP. Love them.
PS I never received mine in the mail??????
wow! love, absolutely love, the madlib! would you mind sharing it in a bit more detail?
LOVE your invites! They’re so unique!!! I can’t get enough! 
How had me at chai-scented! Those are awesome, Meatball!
Oh my gosh! I absolutely love the mad libs. My FI got mad libs for us on our first Valentine’s Day and we did them together at a really fancy restaurant. Everyone thought we were crazy but it was such a great time. You are so creative!
I think your invitations are incredibly creative, and I read your post about why you chose Ganesh and thought it was cool for someone who is not Hindu to be using Ganesh on their wedding invitations (because that’s very common on Hindu wedding invitations as well), but there are two things in this post that I think are kind of disrespectful - calling your image of Ganesh your “fun logo graphic” and the fact that you’ve depicted a religious deity with a sombrero on his head.
Really like the reverse side of the poster. And the mad libs are such a fun idea! I just love how personal you made these.
I love how you invites are so Mr & Miss Meatball 
I especially like the MadLib RSVP! Will you post some of the responses?
Your invites are so quirky and so you, just as Miss Frenchie says!
I agree with Asha- I think it is very disrespectful to call Ganeshaji a ‘fun logo graphic’ and depict him with a sombrero on his head. Ganesh is a revered and respected Hindu god, and images and mentions should be treated accordingly, especially by somebody with knowledge of the Hindu tradition.
I agree with some of the other commentors that this feels really disrespectful of Ganesha. I understand that you’re going for a fun and funky feel, but please take pause and realize that you’re equivalently putting a sombrero on a picture of Jesus, which may or may not make you understand how offended this may make a Hindu person feel (I’m not trying to speak for anyone else, but it seems as though I’m not alone in this thought). I know this wasn’t your intention, but what with the diversity of readers, please consider those who don’t appreciate the joke.
Thanks, everyone, for the great comments and compliments!
@Asha, Sonia, Mechiebaby: I can totally see how our putting the sombrero on our abstracted ganesh might be misinterpreted, and it was never our intention to offend anyone or disrespect hinduism whatsoever.
However, if you knew Mr. Meatball and I, you’d know how deep our respect for all cultures runs - and I recommend that you check out the post about why we decided to use the Ganesh in our wedding to understand our approach a little better. Our inclusion of this image is completely rooted in respect.
That being said, those who know and love us (aka our guests) also know and love our sometimes off-kilter sense of humor, and I guess that’s just where to difference of opinion here lies.
those are really unique and beautiful invites. your guests will LOVE them.
I’m not Hindu, but my fiance’s family is, so I’m familiar with the importance of Ganesh (he is on our Hindu ceremony invitations!). However, I don’t think most non South Asian people are and I don’t even think Miss Meatball realizes her modern elephant graphic is that of Ganesh. That’s why I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt here. I think if someone intentionally takes a religious symbol and does something like put a sombrero on it, that’s one thing. But if they google “modern elephant graphic” and come up witht this design, that’s something entirely different. I think intent makes a big difference here.
Then again, I’m not South Asian, so I imagine I’d be more offended if I were.
OK, so Meatball and I must have been posting at the same time so my comment looks out of place. Anyway, I read what you wrote, Meat, and I also looked at your STD post and realize now that you did intentionally use Ganesh here. I guess I really don’t have much to say much except I hope you’re not inviting any religious Hindus to your wedding. Even if you are, though, my gut still tells me you didn’t mean to be offensive. So… I’ll shut up now.
OK, so Meatball and I must have been posting at the same time so my comment looks out of place. Anyway, I read what you wrote, Meat, and I also looked at your STD post and realize now that you did intentionally use Ganesh here. I guess I really don’t have much to say much except I hope you’re not inviting any religious Hindus to your wedding. Even if you are, though, my gut still tells me you didn’t mean to be offensive.
It was precisely because of your previous post talking about why you were incorporating Ganesh that I was upset - you clearly know and understand why he is important to Hindu culture, yet you still chose to depict him this way. To me, that is MUCH more disrespectful than if you didn’t know what the image was or meant (if the situation were as phruphru says above). You may think it’s funny, and your friends and family may think it’s funny, but this is a public blog, so you probably also should have thought about how the general public would react to your invitations.
I love them. These are personal and creative and well thought out. I love Sari fabric - it’s SO beautiful!
I love the invites and know how handy it is to have all of the inserts tucked nicely into one place especially such pretty sari fabric! So much luvin’! You will be a such a special bride!
This is the first time I have ever felt compelled to leave a comment on this site. I just wanted to voice my support for Asha, Sonia, and mechiebaby. As mechiebaby pointed out, this is no better than making a cutesy graphic for Jesus.
Miss Meatball, you say you have a deep passion and respect for other cultures, but this disrespect to a religious symbol is incredibly offensive. You are treating this culture like it’s something trendy and faddish. If you truly respected Hinduism, you would not take one of its sacred symbols and turn it into a “fun logo” owing to your “hippie” tendencies.
Love the sari fabric & LOVE the MadLib RSVPs!! I would have so much fun with those!
I love how one of a kind they are! I couldn’t click to enlarge, though.
You must have taken the comments to heart. Although I’m not Hindu (and said so in a previous comment), I’m glad you took folks’ comments to heart. I’m not sure how I feel about the whitewashing of this post, though.
Gotta agree with the comments above re: Ganesh. But I love all your beautiful graphics and the mad lib is the coolest thing. Ever. I’d love more deets on that too!
I too am glad that you took our comments to heart- however I hope that you truly understand where we’re coming from in saying so and didn’t just do it to appease the masses.
that being said, I love the sari bags! They’re beautiful, and making them chai-scented i is such a creative and wonderful idea.
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Mrs. Meatball, Hollywood
Age and Occupation: 30, Actor/Writer/Office Maven
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Actor/Writer
Engagement Date: October 7, 2007
Wedding Date: May, 2009
Blogging Since: September 16, 2008
Venue: Private Garden/The Bungalow Club
About Me: I love melty cheese and diet coke almost as much as I love my man. I'm from Chicago, he's from NYC, and we both miss public transit and great pizza. We have an adorable muppet dog called Paco. I'm part hippie with a healthy dash of hip hop superstar, have excessive empathy for animals, and have not one, but two bionic eyes (long story). We're broke and it ain't no joke. It can't stop us from planning the bold and whimsical wedding of our dreams, but we've had to get pretty creative to make it work, yo!
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