Miss Elk, City: Syracuse/Long IslandAge and Occupation: 25, Medical StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Computer EngineerEngagement Date: November 22, 2010Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: The Old Field Club About Me: I’m a Long Island girl finishing my last year of medical school in western NY, on the road to becoming a pediatrician. When I’m not studying or sleeping at the hospital, I spend my free time watching bad TV (Vampire Diaries anyone?), playing with my pooch, singing incredibly off-key (to the annoyance of Mr. Elk ), and reading Harry Potter for the zillionth time. Mr. Elk and I are planning a secular wedding infused with both Irish and cultural Jewish traditions. Only a week after I become an M.D., I will get my Mrs. degree, too!
Oh, invitations—how I love and hate you all at the same time!
When I got engaged I thought I knew exactly what I wanted. Formal feeling with a hint of interest. I ordered a sample about 40 minutes after the the ring was on my finger:
Mrs. Honey, Durango, COAge and Occupation: 28, Financial AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Lab Tech/PhlebotomistEngagement Date: August 1, 2010Wedding Date: January 2012Venue: Vallecito LakeAbout Me: I am a Colorado girl through and through, marrying an adrenaline-fueled Alabama boy. We love the outdoors just about as much as we love spoiling our dog and three cats. On any given weekend you can find us being adventurous, doing anything from rafting to snowboarding, and everything in between. We live in an outdoor mecca and truly believe in "Work Hard, Play Harder." I'm an optimist to the core, a crafter wannabe, a Southern food cook-in-training and a big time believer in girls nights. We met, fell in love and got engaged in eight short months and are now knee-deep in planning what we hope to be a super-fun, very us wedding celebration. Join us as we plan a rustic meets whimsical, Colorado winter wedding with loads of personal touches and good food!
Mr. Honey and I have been fortunate in our relationship that we haven’t had to spend many nights apart from each other, much less endure a long distance relationship. While it hardly compares to being in a LDR, I’m currently alone for sixteen long nights while Mr. Honey kayaks with four of his friends in the jungles of Ecuador. This is by far the longest we’ve spent apart, and while he doesn’t have phone service he thankfully emails me daily with updates; usually starting with “I’m Alive,” which is appropriate considering the dangerous nature of his adventure.
The purpose of the post, though, is not for me to whine about being alone. I don’t know if it’s the fact that I’ve been alone (aside from my amazing girlfriends who call regularly to see if I need a beer, wine or dinner—or all of the above) but I’ve managed to become extremely motivated with wedding tasks. It’s not that Mr. Honey doesn’t want to help contribute or even purposely distracts me from wedding stuff, it’s more that when he’s chillaxin’ on the couch next to me I’d rather chat with him than be sitting in my craft room by myself. Read more…
Mrs. Raccoon, IndianapolisAge and Occupation: 22, StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Graduate StudentEngagement Date: Christmas 2010Wedding Date: January 2012Venue: Catholic Church, Chateau Thomas WineryAbout Me: I'm a wholesome Midwestern girl, TV series junkie, professional shower singer, and Anglophile. I love my fiance, crock pot cooking, my cat Heepo, going for the gusto, and all things wedding. Mr. Raccoon is pretty sweet, too! He’s a mad scientist that loves to travel. We met my first night on campus and have been inseparable since.
Best wedding stumble-upon yet! They are kits that have everything needed, and you are supposed to be able to make them yourself from home. The key words I guess are “supposed to.” Printer, how do you do it? If I might be so brazen, you are a total brat.
Mrs. Sunhat, Dyer, IN Age and Occupation: 32, Tax AccountantFiance's Age and Occupation: 35, Landscape ForemanEngagement Date: September 25, 2010Wedding Date: December 2011Venues: St. Andrew the Apostle, Fiesta PalaceAbout Me: I'm a Midwest girl who grew up in the country and now works in the big city! I love cooking, entertaining, reading (addicted to my Kindle) and going to the movies. I don't miss an episode of Hoarders and I start cleaning every time I watch! My profession doesn't call for much creativity so wedding planning has been a great outlet. Mr. Sunhat and I met online three years ago, cheer for rival MLB teams and share a home with our dog, Wrigley. We are planning a traditional, Polish, Catholic wedding with lots of DIY elements and some fun surprises. I'm so excited to be married on New Year's Eve and we can't wait to ring in the new year as husband and wife!
The RSVPs are rolling in so I can finally share our finished invitations!
Bridesmaid K has designed and made invitations for several people over the last couple of years, so after my engagement, she showed me her designs in case I was interested in any of them. She knew I wanted to make my own and as luck would have it, one of her designs was perfect! She mocked up the main body of the invite in our colors and it helped confirm this was the route we wanted to go.
MOB ordered multiple paper samples from a company in Gary, IN. I wanted a cream color, but nothing too yellow, as well as a midnight navy paper for the background. We found exactly what we were hoping for and the navy even has a nice shimmer to it to give it a wintery feel.
Miss Porcupine, NYC/Lancaster, PAAge and Occupation: 26, Sales Coordinator/PublishingFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Assistant Manager/SalesEngagement Date: August 8, 2010Wedding Date: March 2012Venue: Riverdale ManorAbout Me: I'm a born and bred New Yorker with a love/hate relationship for the city I have always called home. Although I may seem quiet from afar, I have a loud personality once you get to know me. I am a book nerd at heart, but love a night out in the city with good friends. I have a serious addiction to all things cheese, chocolate, cardigans, Mexican food, and reality TV. The future hubs and I met in college, settled in New York, and decided to go with a rustic/peacock infused wedding in Lancaster, PA, right near his hometown. Come the big day, we will be together 5 years, and we're looking forward to making it official!
This might be a good time to start doing likeee actual stuff for the wedding, and perhaps stop whining. Since it seems, after all the vendors are booked, there are still several hundred things to do. One of those things would be invitations. Oh, you freakin’ expensive invitations, you. How I love/loathe you and your paper goodness. And, no, I do not think it is a good idea to subject myself to a “print yourself” or a “design yourself” venture. Mostly because I hate when I toss printers across the room—there are just too many pieces of plastic to pick up afterward.
Moving right along…I’m still unsure if I want to go the full blown peacock route. Yes, that is our “theme” and all, but we also have a blue/green situation going on. Would a peacock invitation be peacock overkill? I’m trying to stay away from having the actual bird on anything. I just like the idea of the feathers. And, I could include a feather in a twine tied-up simple blue invitation. I don’t necessarily need the peacock feather imagery on it.
I originally thought, “oh, we’ll just order from Wedding Paper Divas or the like” because that’s cheap, right? WRONG. Read more…
Ms. Ferris Wheel, San FranciscoAge and Occupation: 29, PsychologistFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, PsychologistEngagement Date: May 23 and 28, 2010 (one for each of us!)Wedding Date: November 2011Venue: Parc55 Hotel (city lights ceremony, ballroom reception)About Me: Born in the Southeast, educated in the Northeast, and over-educated on the West Coast, I finally earned my city-girl credentials and have put down roots in gorgeous San Francisco. I’m a raging perfectionist with a lightning quick wit and a terrible sense of both time and direction. Our wedding task list is endlessly growing because of my predilection to think that DIY projects I can make = DIY projects I should make (so not true!). I always go to bed wishing there were more hours in the day to enjoy all the things I adore, whether that be hobbies, friends, my career, our two dogs, or Mr. Ferris Wheel. Ours is a story of a non-traditional couple living an oddly traditional life planning a not-so-traditional wedding in this city we adore. Together we are bustin’ out all of our best skills (and some of our worst ones) to plan a laid-back-chic DIY-craftastic love-alicious affair!
Apparently the theme of my posts lately is “Ms. FW brags about Mr. FW’s amazingness.” So to continue with that theme, I’d like to tell you about how instrumental Mr. FW was in creating our super-fun rehearsal-dinner invites. It started when we were both standing in line at Michaels (so we could have two separate transactions and thus use two separate 40%-off coupons—obvs) and he wandered over to the one-dollar bargain section, where he picked up the cutest little silverware-set rubber stamp. He suggested that it might be nice to emboss this little knife, fork, and spoon design onto the back of whatever rehearsal-dinner invite we chose. Of course I was all for that, so we snapped up the stamp and then went looking for a coordinating invite.
We fell in love with this design from Invitation Consultants. (FYI…we were really happy with the quality of these invites. The paper has a slight sheen to it that feels very luxe, and they are printed in color on both sides. Also awesome was that we snagged a $10-off coupon from Retail Me Not!)
Mrs. Magic, Chapel Hill, NCAge and Occupation: 30, Licensed Clinical Social WorkerFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, ResearcherEngagement Date: December 1, 2009Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Barn at ValhallaAbout Me: I’m a tall drink of water (5’10”!) and a Southern bride with an enormous appetite for Mexican food, good deals, anything French, and all things wedding! By day I am lucky enough to work with individuals with autism and their families. By night, I’m even luckier to be able to spend time hanging out with awesome friends, crafting, shopping, thinking about exercising, and kicking it with Mr. Magic and our two cats. I tend to have sudden, intense cravings that will not be denied (seafood enchiladas! new jeans!) and I’m prone to being a disorganized mess of anxiety and stress. After waiting (and waiting!) to get engaged, I am finally planning the colorful, fun, fabulously awesome Fall wedding of our dreams. In an effort to share the fun and craziness that is wedding planning, I’m gonna blog about it for y’all---the good, the bad, and the pretty!
Miss Ticket, Riverside, CAAge and Occupation: 25, Executive AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, HVAC TechnicianEngagement Date: November 14, 2010Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Crestmore ManorAbout Me: I'm a lifelong So Cal gal, a chocoholic, a closet gamer, and a television enthusiast (love me some Vampire Diaries!) who adores playing in the kitchen and lives in flip flops. Mr. Ticket and I are best known for singing and dancing in the car, our World of Warcraft addiction, adoring food, crane game playing, and our general homebody ways. Oh, and GO STEELERS!
You may have noticed some orange envelopes in my invitation post. Well, they were our rehearsal invitations, of course! I know they aren’t absolutely necessary, but I also knew they would help avoid confusion since more than half of our bridal party are from out of town. Plus, I really wanted an excuse to order these…
Aren’t they awesome?! They are so similar to my original inspiration picture and the best part is… Read more…
Mrs. Sunhat, Dyer, IN Age and Occupation: 32, Tax AccountantFiance's Age and Occupation: 35, Landscape ForemanEngagement Date: September 25, 2010Wedding Date: December 2011Venues: St. Andrew the Apostle, Fiesta PalaceAbout Me: I'm a Midwest girl who grew up in the country and now works in the big city! I love cooking, entertaining, reading (addicted to my Kindle) and going to the movies. I don't miss an episode of Hoarders and I start cleaning every time I watch! My profession doesn't call for much creativity so wedding planning has been a great outlet. Mr. Sunhat and I met online three years ago, cheer for rival MLB teams and share a home with our dog, Wrigley. We are planning a traditional, Polish, Catholic wedding with lots of DIY elements and some fun surprises. I'm so excited to be married on New Year's Eve and we can't wait to ring in the new year as husband and wife!
Yep. It’s official. We are 100 days out from the wedding. Holy crapola.
This is the perfect time to take inventory—what is done, what is in process, and what is left to do? I’ve been keeping you pretty updated on what is done so I’ll share some of the projects still in process.
First up: Invitations
We’ve been making a lot of progress on the invitations. The actual invites are almost done—just need to secure the vellum cover on top with ribbon—and this Sunday we hope to crank out the reception and RSVP cards. I hope I’m not jinxing myself, but this process has gone smoothly so far.
Mrs. Magic, Chapel Hill, NCAge and Occupation: 30, Licensed Clinical Social WorkerFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, ResearcherEngagement Date: December 1, 2009Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Barn at ValhallaAbout Me: I’m a tall drink of water (5’10”!) and a Southern bride with an enormous appetite for Mexican food, good deals, anything French, and all things wedding! By day I am lucky enough to work with individuals with autism and their families. By night, I’m even luckier to be able to spend time hanging out with awesome friends, crafting, shopping, thinking about exercising, and kicking it with Mr. Magic and our two cats. I tend to have sudden, intense cravings that will not be denied (seafood enchiladas! new jeans!) and I’m prone to being a disorganized mess of anxiety and stress. After waiting (and waiting!) to get engaged, I am finally planning the colorful, fun, fabulously awesome Fall wedding of our dreams. In an effort to share the fun and craziness that is wedding planning, I’m gonna blog about it for y’all---the good, the bad, and the pretty!
You’ve seen a sneak peek of my invitations here, but I wanted to back up and tell you how I was inspired. Ever since I first started reading Weddingbee, I was always way into the invitation posts, and extremely impressed by everyone on the blog and boards. I mean, I even ordered a damn Gocco for Pete’s sake (and no, I still do not know how to use it).
I think it would have been mad awesome to say “Hey, guess what? I made those invitations!” But, I probably would have had to say that through a mic stuck in my padded cell at a mental institution. So, I got someone else to do it themselves, that someone else being my fabulous and talented stepmom.
Miss Ticket, Riverside, CAAge and Occupation: 25, Executive AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, HVAC TechnicianEngagement Date: November 14, 2010Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Crestmore ManorAbout Me: I'm a lifelong So Cal gal, a chocoholic, a closet gamer, and a television enthusiast (love me some Vampire Diaries!) who adores playing in the kitchen and lives in flip flops. Mr. Ticket and I are best known for singing and dancing in the car, our World of Warcraft addiction, adoring food, crane game playing, and our general homebody ways. Oh, and GO STEELERS!
So I feel like I kind of left you hanging with the invitation posts. I started off telling you about my inspiration then I moved on to explaining the torturous design portion of the process, then I explained the assembly and send off. But I never actually did an official reveal of what our invitations looked like in the end. I would like to apologize for that. I had intended to write that post as soon as Mr. Ticket and I returned from our little mini vacation to Philly for his brothers wedding. But as we were en route home we received some very sad news: Mr. Ticket’s grandma passed away that morning. With this news and sending Mr. Ticket back to the East Coast for a few days I simply was not in the mood to write about our invitations. I wasn’t really in the mood to write about anything.
Life happens. It doesn’t stop just because you are planning a wedding—this was a harsh truth that really took hold of me that week. That being said I would like to report that the wedding in Philly was a complete success—Mr. Ticket and I had a total blast and the happy couple had a wonderful day.
Mr. Ticket sporting a spiffy Tux
And while we are still mourning the passing of his grandma, we are trying to honor her memory by continuing with the planning of our wedding. She had deeply wanted to attend and she would be pissed at us (she was a FEISTY grandma and I loved her for that) if we didn’t continue planning as usual. So without further ado…
Mrs. Skunk, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 23, Post baccalaureate studentFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Mechanical DesignerEngagement Date: February 13, 2011Wedding Date: November 2011Venue: Neverland Farms About Me: I’m a Georgia peach born and raised in the dirty dirty. I love reading, baking lots of sweets and forcing them on my friends, and most of all, rock climbing. I am in the process of applying to graduate school in physical therapy and I work at farmers’ markets around town selling bread for a local bakery. The mister and I met while rock climbing just over two years ago and have been inseparable ever since. Our climbing friends mean the world to us and have played an integral role in our relationship. We’re planning a barnyard shindig filled with good food, good friends, and lots of love.
So now that I’ve left you in dire suspense, I think it’s time I share with you the final proofs that I got from Alison over at Orange81. Seriously, y’all, she was the best.
Mrs. Skunk, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 23, Post baccalaureate studentFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Mechanical DesignerEngagement Date: February 13, 2011Wedding Date: November 2011Venue: Neverland Farms About Me: I’m a Georgia peach born and raised in the dirty dirty. I love reading, baking lots of sweets and forcing them on my friends, and most of all, rock climbing. I am in the process of applying to graduate school in physical therapy and I work at farmers’ markets around town selling bread for a local bakery. The mister and I met while rock climbing just over two years ago and have been inseparable ever since. Our climbing friends mean the world to us and have played an integral role in our relationship. We’re planning a barnyard shindig filled with good food, good friends, and lots of love.
I have had some MAJOR setbacks regarding invitations.
OK, I lied. Kinda. It wasn’t so much a setback as a “let’s see how long we can put this off” situation. Sure, I bought a template from an online resource for cheap early in our planning. But at eight weeks out, I’d yet to do anything with it.
So I got down to business. And it turned out pretty bad. I realized that part of the copyrighted graphics weren’t completely within the print frame. Despite several emails to the company to have this fixed, with screen shots depicting exactly what I needed fixed, I never even got an acknowledgment, much less the fix. I finally decided to take matters into my own hands with things and found fonts that I loved. When I finally went to print everything, I realized the spacing was really wonky on a couple items.
Here’s an example of what I’m talking about. This would be the back of the reply card, and I was wanting the return address centered. The response I received when I asked about this was, “That’s how it’s supposed to look.”
Miss Sweet Cream, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 26, Public Relations Account ManagerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Outside SalesEngagement Date: July 4, 2010Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church / Rosebank WineryAbout Me: Born in the ‘burbs of Philly, it took some time living in the Big Apple to realize that I’m a girl who likes her roots. That’s why the mister and I bought a 1950s house on a charming street not too far from our childhood stompin’ grounds. This could also be the reason why our hometown is the scene where we are planning our super sweet, totally charming, BBQ-for-supper wedding that I never knew I always wanted. I DIE over DIY projects and live for vintage, heartfelt inspiration. I obsess over all things mid-century (from forks to furniture). Love is… cartoons and flea markets, and I am known to whip up a mean banana cream pie. I met the Mr. in grade school and after that boy took me for a spin on the handle bars of his BMX, I knew that things would never be the same again. Besides lovin’ my Mr., I also love to plan, sew and create, and that’s just what I’m doing as I navigate through the details, creating a laid-back day that oozes charm; one that will go down in (at least our) history as the Best. Day. Of all time.
Before we get to that… I will tell you that Mr. Sweets helped me oh-so-very-much! Maybe other misters get into every aspect of planning. But Mr. Sweet Cream really only likes the parts that involve tools, food, and men’s attire…and of course, the honeymoon!
If it wasn’t for him, we would be left without adorable little wooden hearts that I could wood burn our initials into. Boy, I love that boy! Read more…
Ms. Ferris Wheel, San FranciscoAge and Occupation: 29, PsychologistFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, PsychologistEngagement Date: May 23 and 28, 2010 (one for each of us!)Wedding Date: November 2011Venue: Parc55 Hotel (city lights ceremony, ballroom reception)About Me: Born in the Southeast, educated in the Northeast, and over-educated on the West Coast, I finally earned my city-girl credentials and have put down roots in gorgeous San Francisco. I’m a raging perfectionist with a lightning quick wit and a terrible sense of both time and direction. Our wedding task list is endlessly growing because of my predilection to think that DIY projects I can make = DIY projects I should make (so not true!). I always go to bed wishing there were more hours in the day to enjoy all the things I adore, whether that be hobbies, friends, my career, our two dogs, or Mr. Ferris Wheel. Ours is a story of a non-traditional couple living an oddly traditional life planning a not-so-traditional wedding in this city we adore. Together we are bustin’ out all of our best skills (and some of our worst ones) to plan a laid-back-chic DIY-craftastic love-alicious affair!
The RSVPs have started to trickle in, which tells me that it’s finally time to reveal the Ferris Wheel invitations to the world. Are you as excited as I am? Oooh, I certainly hope so! Truth be told, every single step of creating these little lovelies—design, production, and packaging—was unimaginably time-consuming. The process involved unanticipated material costs, social isolation, lack of sleep, a ridiculous amount of mistake corrections, and at least one or two probably unnecessary freak-outs (”Oh no, I think I hate them. Do I hate them? Should I hate them? Will other people hate them? Maybe we should start over from the beginning. Agh!”). But, BUT… At the end of all that, thankfully we adore the outcome! That would be enough on its own, but we’ve heard from at least a few people that they love them too, and somehow that makes it all worth it.
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
