Weddingbee Blog

For my 18th birthday, two of my dearest friends presented me with a beautiful Remington Portable Model 5 typewriter, c. 1932. It was perfect and fully functional, and I loved it. When another of my dear friends was sent to Iraq as a marine, I frequently typed him letters on the typewriter. In every home I had, it was proudly displayed, with both fashion and function.

(personal photo)

I have always tried to find ways to use the lovely, antiquated typewriter technology, and the wedding provided so many opportunities! Of course, the guestbook was the first decision made. We would load a scroll of nice paper and have our guests type us their well wishes. Many other couples have gone this route, and while the idea certainly isn’t my own, it’s very “me.”

I also found (and loved) this idea:

(source)

But the most immediate use for my beloved typewriter was for the save-the-date envelopes. Yes, that’s right—I spent hours upon hours hand-typing (and often re-typing) 100 envelopes with the recipients’ addresses and our return address. I loved how they turned out, especially in contrast with our more modern-technology, binary-code-laced cards inside. But near the end of the pile of envelopes, I began to notice that the typewriter would occasionally cut off the tops of the letters. Sometimes it would fix itself if I continued typing, but sometimes I would have to feed the ink ribbon to get it to show. I had sort of hoped the problem would just resolve itself, but so far that doesn’t seem to be the case:

(personal photo)

I’m not sure how to fix it. While I’ve loved typing on it for many years, I won’t claim to be an expert in vintage-typewriter repair. Mr. Husky is certain it’s just an adjustment that needs to be made, but I wouldn’t even know how to begin figuring out what that adjustment would be.

(personal photo)

If we can’t get it figured out, I have this other vintage photo album that was given to me by my father. He found it in an antique shop when he came out to visit us, and I re-bound the book with new pages and filled them with photos of me and the Husk. If we can’t get the typewriter up and running, I suppose we could just have our guests sign the pages within the photo album.

(all personal photos—can you tell I like self-portraits?)

Were you planning to use an item in your wedding that stopped working before the big day? How did you rearrange your plans?