Weddingbee Blog
Remember the announcements I was going to send a few weeks after the wedding? Yeah… well… It was more like 7 weeks. I have an excuse for 4 of the weeks: I was waiting for pro-photos. But the other three weeks? I was just procrastinating.
Anyway, I finally got around to it. Since I’m suffering from the post-wedding lethargy (which makes us put everything wedding-related on the back burner and focus on stuff we’ve neglected during the wedding planning process), I kind of dumped all of my fabulous DIY ideas and instead had VistaPrint do it.
Our announcements cost $27.44 shipped, for 50 of them with standard envelopes. According to my ’order details’, I saved $20.01 with coupon codes and specials they were running. It was a pretty good deal (though I really only needed about 20 and now I have tons of leftovers!!). But as is often the case, there’s a reason VistaPrint is so cheap.
First off, I “splurged” and paid the extra $3 to have them print it on the fancy Linen paper. Now maybe it’s just me, but I really didn’t think the Linen finish was very good. The paper was not very thick (Michaels cardstock is thicker than that), and check this out: it shows lots of dust.
However, the texture on the paper was really nice, and the linen finish did hide potential fingerprints from showing.
But here’s the worst thing. I lined everything up online and made sure it was all facing the appropriate directions. It even showed me that the design was aligned properly on their site. From seeing this:
I did not quite expect this:
Yes, the picture was upside-down from the wording. What you’re seeing there is exactly what the recipients saw when the flipped the announcement over: upside-down photo versus writing.
I had a brief moment of, “Dammit, now I have to complain/re-order,” and then just decided to send them out as is. Oh well. Like I said, you get what you pay for. And I was over this project before I even started it. (Upside-down? Who cares? Haha! At least the spelling is all correct!)
Have you had imperfect wedding elements that you’ve just decided to allow people to experience “as-is”?
|
Share this post:
First of all, I think they look really cute. I like the linen texture, even if it is a bit flimsy.
Also, I can’t tell you how many times I have half-assed things like this just to get them done. It really doesn’t matter that much in the long run!
I agree they that they turned out really cute. And I love the linen.
My STD postcards that I printed through Vistaprint had problems with messy edges and too-light type on the backside. But I wasn’t about to go through ordering them again, so I sent them out anyway! You definitely get what you pay for…
I’m in “git ‘er done!” mode right now - It’s too close to the wedding and I’ve got too much else to worry about with the holidays and whatnot. I think your post cards turned out great - and I bet hardly anyone noticed that they had to turn it around to see the pic.
I love the look of the linen, and I love the picture you chose. Do you think the linen cardstock is thick enough to be mailed as a postcard?
They have personality! I love it. It’s too annoying trying to be perfect all the time. Too much pressure. I think it’s awesome that you just let them be themselves.
I think it’s fine that you sent them out like that. I would at least call Vistaprint and tell them what happened, maybe they’ll refund your money!
They’re super cute, and I really love the linen texture. It’s different than just a regular photo card, and I would have loved it regardless of the upside-down writing.
I love the linen texture- I think it cancels out all other mishaps 
They look great!
I like the linen texture. Combined with the coloring of your photo, it gives the picture a really cool vintage vibe.
I dig the linen, and love the photo. And think of it this way: If you flip the card lengthwise, front to back, it comes out correct, right?
your pic makes me swoon. you look so lovely and happy and at peace. i love it!
I think the linen texture and the photo are great — and I’m sure nobody really cared about the upside-down thing.
If you flip the card top to bottom, it the photo is the right way!
I think they look great! I love the photo you chose too. Dont’ worry about the imperfections…its still beautiful!
I think its so cute regardless of the upside down, that picture is so candid and lovely!
It’s an adorable photo of you two…very sexy with the leg up 
Sorry it didnt turn out like it was supposed to. But still cute!
i love the texture of the linen. where did you get these printed??
Oh, there were definitely some ‘light on ink’ recipe cards towards the end of the process. But that picture is lovely.
I love them! I’m sorry about the little imperfection, but I would have done the same thing (send them out!). Great idea!
oh no!
i’m so worried about that happening with my save the dates!
yours sure turned out cute though!!
@Jacqi: They’re probably thick enough. If I were sending them as a postcard, I’d probably be a little wary and would prefer them to be a little thicker, but it wouldn’t stop me from sending them as-is.
@Mrs. Hot Cocoa & PlaidBride: Hah! That’s how I “justified” it too. (Uh yeah, we meant for it to be that way.)
@Rebecca Kim: VistaPrint.com
I would totally justify the flip in the same way - you meant it to be like that!! Very cute!
They are great! And you know, that darn VistaPrint did the same thing to me when we did this for our bridal party thank you cards!
Wow, thanks for sharing this! Now that we all know that VistaPrint does this, we can correct for our own orders. I love the picture you guys chose for your announcement, it was one of my favs from your recaps!
i like the linen texture! and that picture is just too cute.
personally, i would have sent them back. the perfectionist in me would not have let me live with that. i wish i could shut it up sometime though. haha
Very cute! I’d probably have complained to vista print… that’s a pretty obvious muck-up, but then would have sent them out anyway. So many of the smaller details about a wedding just aren’t worth stressing over (as I experienced first-hand!)
@tea: Normally I would have too… but I’m so busy with school, and my friend’s shower + wedding, and house stuff, and thank you notes… I didn’t really care enough to complain i guess - I just wanted them DONE and out the door!
Oh, I had the SAME thing with the thank you cards I ordered from VistaPrint! Wasn’t particularly impressed with the linen (to me, it made my picture look kind of weird and striated, like I’d just printed it on my home printer and run out of ink halfway through), plus the writing on the front was totally off and way too close to the edge for my liking (everyone else thought it was fine, but….eh.) The worst part was the fact that each card had “www.vistaprint.com” printed on the back. At first I was like “these are crap! I’m sending them back!” But you know……they cost like $40 for 100 and I was sick of being a perfectionist (did enough of that during the wedding planning phase) so I just sent them out anyway.
I’m ordering Save-the-Dates and Invitations from Vistaprint in the same way! It’s confusing because these cards are technically a horizontal product (as shown in your screenshot), so it’s kind of confusing how to flip your vertical design to get it to print out in the right direction.
I think Vistaprint printed it out correctly, but it’s hard to tell from the site how it would turn out. The Back Side of the horizontal card is literally taking the right edge of the Front Side and flipping it horizontally so that it becomes the left edge once it’s flipped over.
I’m sorry your announcements didn’t turn out the way you expected! You and Mr. Mary Jane are seriously a beautiful couple, and I’m so amazed by your creativity to come up with this super cute card! You also take gorgeous pictures — you should consider being a wedding photographer
I bet most people won’t even notice, and if they do, they’ll think you did it on purpose! They’ll probably think it’s creative.
We used Vista for all of our printed wedding materials. Took a bit of playing, but in the end, they turned out great. (I think somewhere within their site, there are options for choosing a horizontal or vertical orientation.) We had multiple orders and there was a problem with one order. I called and the customer service rep was great. She offered to either issue a refund or reprint. I chose the latter and they rush printed and express shipped the job at no cost to us. I’d give them a chance to make it right!
We just had our wedding two days ago and the wedding cake was kind of an afterthought. My mom really wanted us to have one, so she went ahead and ordered it from a bakery. She told them that I don’t like anything plastic and that it had to be simple. The baker said that he’d top it off with red roses. Cool. Well, when the cake was presented to us, it was round, and the top where the “roses” were was all lumpy and weird looking. And the roses were BROWN and randomly places, not centered or anything. My 5-year-old cousin could have done a better job! But, I let it go. We all kind of made a joke about it and just went ahead and ate it. Little did I know that waiting for me at home, my friend had surprised us with a cake that she baked herself, and it was BEAUTIFUL! I don’t sweat the small stuff because there’s so much more important things in life to worry about and enjoy!
This same thing happened to me when I purchased business cards in a vertical format from Vista Print recently.
Things I learned:
#1 There is a tiny icon to click where you can pick vertical alignment templates. This is the option that will allow you to see a “correct” preview side-by-side and have them printed that way.
#2 Vista print would have re-printed and shipped them to you for free. I called customer service about mine and the rep on the phone not only fixed the alignment problem, but cropped my image so it was centered better and shipped them express. I got them in the mail just days later and didn’t have to mess with a single thing myself. The rep on the phone just worked with my uploaded file and fixed everything in just a few minutes!
What a bummer that they printed like that! 
The photo is really cute though!
That photo is perfect - and I don’t think the upside down factor really matters much!
Haha, I’ve had so many of those…”ARGHHHH… whatever. it’s over!” moments! Either way, your announcements are SO cute and I looooove that picture of you two!
Those annoucements are gorgeous! I’m glad you sent them out as is… they are awesome & unique!
What did you use to print these? So cute! (No one will notice the mistake with great paper and pictures!)
| Visit our sister sites | Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
Fertile Thoughts Infertility Support |
Mrs. Mary Jane, Grand Forks, ND
Age and Occupation: 26, Instructional Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Lead Programmer
Engagement Date: February 28, 2009
Wedding Date: September 2009
Venue: City Hall
About Me: I'm a career woman on the surface and a homemaker at heart. I love fast cars and high heels, and my favorite food is cake. Mr. Mary Jane and I are both full-time employees and students, and we just bought our first house. We love to curl up on the couch with buttery popcorn, Sour Patch Kids, and the latest Netflix arrival -- whenever we can get a break from everyday life.
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 |
Latest Gallery Pics