Weddingbee Blog

In the scheme of things, our invitations were a piece of cake. You wouldn’t know that to talk to me, however. I stressed out so much that I would do something wrong, that they wouldn’t get to the people, that our guests would think I did a crappy job lining the envelopes and making the ribbons… any number of things that really  don’t matter.

It was when talking to a friend one night about a different topic (to be specific, DIY flowers), that I heard myself saying, “If you’re going DIY, fine. But you shouldn’t expect yourself to be able to produce the same quality as a professional unless you’re suuuuuper crafty - and you have to be OK with that!”

Why I don’t listen to myself, I just don’t know.

So, in no particular order, here are the four things I fretted about on our invitations that I finally just let go. I added little doodles to distract you.

I tried, I really did, to cut our website notes JUST THE RIGHT SIZE so they covered the ribbon but didn’t extend too far. In 90% of the cases, I did not meet that goal. Hiding the seam? Not so much. I showed these to Mr. LF a couple of times, asking, “Are you SUUUUURE” this isn’t a big deal? And both times, he looked at me and said, “I don’t even know what you’re showing me.” So I let it go.

Level of obsession (on a scale of 1-10): 3

Ah, plain, untouched envelopes. So much that can go wrong. I stamped and stamped the backs of each envelope with our custom address stamp, and then, eager to move onto the next step, picked up the whole pile and *tap*tap*tap* against the table to even out the stack. Then, I noticed: The ink from the stamp? It was not dry. So here you have the smudgy-smudges on many of our previously plain, untouched envelopes. I may or may not have cried. There were some that were just too bad to send that way, so I lined a few of our reserve envelopes, but for ones like this? I left them. Hey, if they notice, I’ll just blame it on the post office.

Level of obsession: 5

The liner paper that we used ended up being more of a thin card stock weight. Therefore and henceforth, when I bent the flap down to score the liner paper, I got these little bends and creases in the envelope corners. Could I have produced these liners in a more professional, less-bendy way? Probably. Did this cause me any grief at all? Not. No, it did not. I figure most people will just tear into the envelope anyway, despite my careful lining and scoring and gluing. Chalk this up to handmade follies.

Level of obsession: 0.2

Now, THIS. THIS was a real problem for me for the longggggest time. I think this was the primary reason I put off assembling the invites for so long. What is this? Too-loose belly bands. I’d envisioned this a certain way: the belly band would look purdy and be functional, as well, and would hold the invite and RSVP card together in a little bundle. It worked out a different way: wrapping the ribbon around a dummy invite (a piece of paper cut to the same size) and gluing the ends together, then SLIIIIIDING it off, did not necessarily produce a nice, tight fit. More often than not, it produced the above. And man, did I freak out about this. As I stuffed the envelopes, I silently cried as I slid another too-loose bundle into the envelope.

I asked everybody and their mother about this. Does this look stupid? Will this work? Should I do something? I Googled. I searched Weddingbee. I couldn’t find one person who talked about loose belly bands. Had nobody gone through the stress I had gone through?? Were all their bands PERFECT?!

And then it hit me: No. The reason I couldn’t find one thread or post about loose belly bands (and if I have to say that phrase one more time I’m going to throw up in my mouth) is that NOBODY STRESSED ABOUT THIS. I could either redo all 50 of them, or move on. So, as you can see, I did indeed move on.

Level of obsession: 11

The invite phase is a tough one, m’ladies! I’m thrilled it’s over—but not because I expect to breathe easy. Hah – no, I know better. I’m thrilled because it means it’s all coming together. Soon, these invites will be in the mail, people will be sending their acceptance or regrets, and we will be one big step closer to holy matrimony (holy moly).

Did you have little things about your invites that you just couldn’t let go? How were you able to finally move on? Do you like doodles?