Weddingbee Blog

When it came time to mailing our save the dates, I did so in a few batches. First up: my parents and Sister Beanstalk. I wanted them to receive their cards first in order to give me any feedback (yes, I am that much of a perfectionist), and also I just wanted them to experience the joy of being the first to receive them! Sister Beanstalk got hers a day before my parents (weird because they all live in Miami) and posted on Facebook how much she loved them. (YAY! They were a success!)

She knew I was DIY’ing all of the paper goods, but still thought that I had taken them somewhere to have them printed. (Nope, it was all me…that’s just how good the Gocco and I are!) My parents got theirs the following day, and I had them open it while I listened on the phone. (I’m beyond close with all of my family and being thousands of miles away can be hard at times…especially when they receive their save the dates and I’m not there to witness their reactions upon first viewing the tangible card!)

A few days after mailing my parents’ and sister’s cards, I had to go back to the post office to buy more stamps. (It was hard to calculate the exact number of each I needed while I was there the first time around.) You see, the buying of the stamps was a little tricky. I had done my research beforehand. I knew what stamps I wanted and how much each one was. I was planning on my bulky envelopes costing around 80 cents to a dollar each to mail. After weighing my envelope, the woman at the post office told me they would be 65 cents each! That totally threw me for a loop. I had completely overestimated!

I told her I wanted the “Garden of Love” stamp (a beautiful collection of heart shaped plants, fruits and birds).

Image via USPS

The Garden of Love stamps are forever stamps, which mean they take the face value of whatever the current value is (45 cents currently). So, I had my one stamp, I just needed another stamp to accompany it. The woman began to show me my options. She even showed me the traditional (and in my opinion cheesy) wedding stamps, which I would only need one of per envelope because they were worth 65 cents (thanks, but no thanks!).

Image via USPS

Going the tried and true wedding route for stamps was not something Mr. Beanstalk and I had envisioned (nor would it look good with our save the dates, which have a vintage/whimsical vibe), so that was out. She then showed me stamps of lesser value that I could add with my 45 cent Garden of Love forever stamp. These stamps were of past presidents’ heads, Hawaiian shirts, and random other artifacts that didn’t mesh with our wedding feel. I pulled out the stamp list I had composed and asked if she had any of the ones I saw online and liked.

Image via USPS

The “Love: King and Queen of Hearts” is a 44 cent stamp, but it is so cute that if they had this I would have considered getting it and nixing my Garden of Love option (and then finding a cute secondary stamp to go with it). That idea was short lived; they didn’t have it. Go figure.

Image via USPS

I loved this “Monarch Butterfly” 64-cent stamp, and thought I could get this and either get away with not having another stamp or get a simple 1–2 cent stamp. But of course, my post office did not have this either. Luck definitely was not on my side!

Image via USPS

I also inquired about the “Herbs” collection of 29 cent stamps. It would go with the Garden of Love stamp (both being plants and all). This was a no-go as well. I began to think that perhaps I should just buy my stamps online. I asked what she had in terms of 5 and 10 cent stamps. She showed me a clock and a teapot.

Images via USPS

These two weren’t bad. The more I stared at them the more I realized that they actually really worked with our vintage wedding vibe. I told the woman that I would get these. So each envelope uses one Garden of Love”stamp (45 cents), one “American Clock” stamp (10 cents), and two “American Toleware” stamps (5 cents each). All of the stamps together equal 65 cents (couldn’t have been more perfect!). And I just adore the look of multiple stamps. Mr. Beanstalk and I want to try and collect/buy vintage stamps for our wedding-invitation envelopes, so this was a good transition into that.

I adore the look of vintage stamps. / Image via Martha Stewart Weddings

All of the postage stamps that I bought!

I played around with the placement of the stamps…some envelopes got a single row, while others got three in a row and one below in the corner. Doing all in a row worked best because it gave me the most room to write. (I tend to have large handwriting and most people we are sending them to either have really long or multiple names.) Oh, and in case you were wondering, those are the kraft envelopes I got from Paper-Source!

Our stamped envelopes

I know every bride has a different vision when it comes to stamps. (Some may put far too much importance on these somewhat minor details—like me!—while others just care to mail them and be done with it!)

Did anyone else research stamps online, only to discover your local post office didn’t have them? What did you do? Also, I’d love to know how any brides handled the multiple-stamp dilemma?