Weddingbee Blog

… ’cause my map attempt at a map was a little sad. I studied the tutorials here on the ‘Bee and diligently created myself a wedding map. I was proud of my little map… for a time.

When it was go time, I couldn’t figure out how to work it into the invitation suite—it looked out of place… a little amateur. I tried not to focus on it because Mr Pretzel and I had never discussed having a map made for us and we certainly hadn’t budgeted for it.

Then I saw PChip’s invitation suite, designed by the talented Miss Snapdragon. I love the suite so much I sent the post to Mr P. Out of the blue he replied with, “We need a map like that.” (Love that man!)

We discussed the expense and agreed to go for it. I shot off an email to Snappy titled “Mr Pretzel loves your maps”. It was short notice, but after a couple of weeks Snappy came through with the most fabulous Pretzel map.

Map by Pantomime Papers

Both Mr P and I brainstormed locations and icons in Seattle that meant something to us. From the top of the map the icons are as follows:

• Airplane: The airplane represents Boeing, which is not only where we both work, but where we met each other.
• Bonfire with Crab and Clam: Golden Gardens Park in Ballard is famous for sunsets and bonfires (and our rehearsal dinner location)
• The Fremont Troll: This public art piece lives under the Aurora Bridge in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle and is clutching an actual Volkswagen Beetle. It is derived from Scandinavian story Three Billy Goats Gruff.
• Nest: Our townhouse purchased last year.
• Celtic Cross: St Brendan’s Church not only our Ceremony location but is also our home parish. Saint Brendan was an Irish Saint renowned for his legendary quest to the “Isle of the Blessed.”
• Mac ‘N’ Jacks Brewery: We love beer, especially local favorite Mac ‘N’ Jacks African Amber. The bottle depicted is a half gallon growler- a common method for purchasing small quantities of micro-brew beers.
• Jimi Hendrix: The legendary Jimi Hendrix was a Seattle area native. On a street corner in Capital Hill you will find life-size bronze statue of Hendrix.
• Rachel the Pig and Pike Place Market: Pike Place market is the oldest continually operated public farmers’ market in the US. Rachel is the market’s unofficial mascot. Rachel is a 550 lb piggy bank which collects $6,000-$9,000 annually by the Market foundation to fund the Market’s social services for low income individuals.
• Safeco Field: Home of the Seattle Mariners! Mr P loves baseball and Miss P loves to knit at baseball games.
  Did you know that Nintendo of America owns the Mariners? You can actually order food and drinks from your Nintendo DS during Mariner Games.
• The Engine Room: Once the engine room of the pre-prohibition era Seattle Malting and Brewing Company and the makers of Rainier Beer, the Engine Room is now used for events such as our reception. The whole brewing complex is featured in a ink drawing on our invitations. The drawing was done specially for Mr and Miss Pretzel by Miss P’s sister-in-law’s sister-in-law.
• Miss & Mr Pretzel: ’nuff said!
• Starbucks: Even though Miss P is a die hard Dunkin’ Donuts coffee drinker, Starbucks reigns supreme in Washington. If you are visiting, you won’t find a DD’s in the whole state but there is a Starbucks on every street corner.
• Oxbow Park: Located in same the quirky Georgetown neighborhood as the Engine Room, Oxbow park pays tribute to Seattle’s sense of humor. The park contains two structures, a giant cowboy hat and a giant cowboy boot, which was previously the Premium Tex gas station.

Even though it wasn’t planned, the map is one of our favorite elements of the invites. We plan to have a larger scale version printed to hang in our home soon. I know it isn’t in everyone’s budget, but Snappy has converted two die hard DIY-ers to leaving some things to the professionals. We have some tips if you are thinking of having custom maps made.

• Get your SO involved - You might be surprised by the ideas that working together generates. Mr P and I are advocates of involved FIs but even if your FI hasn’t been very hands on with wedding planning this is an opportunity to partner together on a fun project.
• Come to the table with some ideas It helped that Snappy and I had met before, but remember a lot of times the designer won’t know you or your personality. Tell them stories about you as a couple or why certain locations are important to you. Describe activities that you like to do together. If you think of something after your initial consultation, email it—little bits of information can be incorporated as the design is taking shape.

• If you aren’t feeling something, speak up! Mr P and I initially had Microsoft on our list of locations. As the map was taking shape we realized we don’t really have any connection to Microsoft and it wasn’t “doing much for us”.

Did you create your own map, outsource the design, or forgo maps all together? If you could do it again, would you do it differently? Why or why not?