Weddingbee Blog

Whelp, I figure it is just about time to do the big Candy Apple invite reveal. Would you like that, Hive? Would you like to see our invites? Well, too bad if you wouldn’t like to - you have a lot of pictures coming your way! And let me tell you: I can’t wait to share!

First off, I just wanted to point out that, yes, we did indeed use an invisible ink pen to covertly number our RSVP cards. Unfortunately (ahem, I mean fortunately), we did not have to resort to breaking it out, as everyone either wrote their names on the RSVP card, or at least had a return address label on the envelope. I was a bit bummed that I couldn’t put my sleuthing to use, since I spent so freaking long labeling all of those cards with the invisible ink, but oh well.

Okay, on to the goods!

Like many (many, many, many, many, many, many) Bees before me, Mr. CA and I worked with the incredibly fabulous and talented Kristin Walker of Twin Ravens Press. I honestly don’t recall where I first saw her work - I believe it was in a post by Mrs. Panther? I just remember checking out her site and immediately feeling a connection to her work. Her letterpressing was just beautiful, and she seemed to take such pride in what she does.

Just a little aside here, guys, but seriously, Kristin is amazing. Hire her immediately. She took mysilhouettes and some vague ideas I had and somehow churned out a perfect, elegant, and classic stationary suite. And she did all that with a broken hand. Yes, I love her. Period.

Anyway. Like other brides and Bees, I insisted on using baker’s twine with our invitations (we went with Whisker Graphics in Plum Purple and Oyster).

I was a bit worried about how much I would need, so I ordered three spools of 240 yards each. Yeah, I definitely only used about 3/4 of one spool for 100 invitations. Oops? Once again, Candy Apple over-orders. Oh well. I am, again, glad that I had too much than too little! Plus, it means I can maybe sneak some in to other decor elements.

I started out by measuring one length of string to fit around the invitations twice, with a knot, and then painstakingly lining up that “template” length as I unrolled the spool, cutting each strand with scissors. Mr. CA really sped things up when he set up some weird, Saw-like contraption to unwind the twine more smoothly and cut it more quickly. Yes, he did tape an exacto knife to our chair. Yes, I was paranoid we would stab ourselves. Yes, I made him stay away from the room until I was finished. Do not try this at home folks! Actually, maybe you should - it made the cutting go so much more quickly!

The cut twine. So pretty! After that was all cut and laid out all pretty-like and untangled on the back of my chair, it was time to punch some heart holes into our Moo Cards, to string the twine through. Because, you know, I like hearts. They kind of go with the whole ’love’ thing that weddings are all about.

Can I just say that this part freakin’ sucked? You see, the first heart punch I bought was broken - it was totally sticking when I squeezed it together to punch through the card. I had to manually pull the prongs apart each time! So ridiculous. I thought (stupid CA!!) that was just how the punch was, and that I was wimpy, so I somehow got through quite a few cards before my manual pulling-apart of the prongs literally broke the thing in two. So dumb.

I drove to Michael’s and bought another one (looking super pissy and sweaty and like a mad woman, might I add). The second one worked perfectly!! It was so smooth punching through the cards; I can’t believe I thought the first one was okay. Moral of the story: if your punch feels weird when you’re using it, return it and get another one.

At least I got an arm workout

But the hearts turned out super cute, so it was alllll worth it

A punch from the “first” batch. Yeah, there were some dents from the crappy punch. Oh well.

And the back of the Moo cards. Again. Because I love them.

Honestly, I wasn’t too concerned about finding a coordinating stamp for our invitations. However, as I was checking out the USPS site for stamps, I happened upon these Holiday Evergreen Stamps that looked impeccable with the suite. I am pretty sure they were made specifically for our invitations. Aren’t they perfect? Not only are the colors complementary, but Washington (where we’re getting married) is the Evergreen State. Get it? Evergreen stamps, for the Evergreen State? Har har har.

Oh, and did I mention that we had the amazing Michele, of Calligraphy by Michele, do some lovely work on our envelopes? Not only was her work seriously gorgeous, she was also really affordable. She was also really fast; she turned around our envelopes within a day of receiving them. What a vendor!

I am so pleased with the result - I think the lovely loops and swirls gave the invitations just the right touch. And I love the white font against the sage-y green of the envelopes. It pains me to have to blur any of her delicate work!

I honestly was so in love with the calligraphy that I didn’t want to send the envelopes out. Michele did such an amazing job! I wanted to keep them all to myself. So, I just ended up taking a picture of, oh, every single envelope. Well, almost. Until Mr. CA demanded that I stop being a crazy person. Hey, I paid for that calligraphy! I wanted to be able to remember it…

But seriously - they are pretty. We received so many compliments on the calligraphy, and the invitations in general!

Those puppies were ready to go! Um, and I’ll say it again - I love the beautiful, perfect stamps. Also, can I just say that these stamps re-taught me how to tell the difference between different types of evergreens?? Learn something new every day…

Detritus. Apparently our twine-cutting device wasn’t as accurate as using my scissors. Oh well.

Okay, okay - I’ll give you a sneak peek of the invites themselves…

Can you tell that I love these invites? It was hard sending them out into the world.

Oh who am I kidding - they were all ready to go! This was a good day…

Next up: the invitations themselves! I know you’re excited.

Did you use the invisible ink pen, only to end up not actually using it? Anyone else have issues with their hole punch? Did you choose coordinating stamps for your invitations? Did they help you learn anything while you were stamping your envelopes Any other fellow baker’s twine lovers? Calligraphy fiends? And, seriously, how cute is that little heart punch??

• Invitation Design and Printing: Twin Ravens Press
• Calligraphy: Calligraphy by Michele
• Heart Punch: Fiskars Hand Punch - 1/4-in Heart, from Michael’s
• Baker’s Twine: pine Twine, from Whisker Graphics
• Stamps: Holiday Evergreens (Forever) stamps, from USPS
• Mini Cards: Moo Cards
• Silhouettes: Blue Clara