Mrs. French Toast, Pleasanton, CAAge and Occupation: 29, Marketing & PRFiance's Age and Occupation: IT geek by day, self-proclaimed handyman by nightEngagement Date: October 2009Wedding Date: March 2011Venue: Palm Event CenterAbout Me: I’m a city girl at heart who moved to the suburbs a year ago. Now I’m adjusting to life with a front lawn, nosy neighbors, cooking attempts, and making sure the garbage pail is pulled out on time every week! When I’m not traveling, Mr. FT and I enjoy marathon sessions of Law & Order: SVU, snowboarding, photography, spoiling our 3-year old yorkie-poodle Mokka and disagreeing over what music to listen to in the car. We’re planning a small winery wedding while incorporating some cultural elements into the day as a nod to our Chinese backgrounds.
Last night, Operation Wine Cork Place cards was a big #FAIL.
Mr. French Toast and I went to our final walk-through at the venue this weekend, and the coordinator gave us a box of used wine corks which could double as our place card holders.
“Enough for mistakes too,” she said, ever so sweetly. And boy, was she right about “mistakes.”
She also gave us a sample of how a proper wine cork place card could look.
Mrs. Knitting, TorontoAge and Occupation: 24, Student Recruitment Assistant
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Neuroscience PhD CandidateEngagement Date: October 2009Wedding Date: December 2010Venue: University of Toronto Faculty Club
About Me: I'm a pearl wearing, etiquette book reading Toronto girl who loves cooking and baking, museums, charm bracelets, and collecting books on Jackie Kennedy (a lot). I've been known to spend Sunday mornings at the antique market, Wednesday evenings at sister sushi dinners, and any bit of spare time reading. After six and a half years of many late night walks, watching DVDs together in bed, travelling to places like New York, and Tobermory, doing Sudokus together on the couch, lots of Indian food, the occasional yoga class, moving in together and so much more, Mr. Knitting and I are planning a cozy Christmasy (it's a word!), vintage wedding in Toronto complete with many DIY projects (eek!) and lots of help from our amazing group of family and friends.
Okay, since we’re still waiting on a few more RSVPs it’s a bit silly that I went ahead and began making these. However, it makes me feel better than get things done, so now I have half finished escort cards.
And here’s what half of our escort cards look like: Read more…
Mrs. Plaid, AustinAge and Occupation: 26, Pastry ChefFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, Cabinetry CarpenterEngagement Date: August 8, 2009Wedding Date: October 2010Venue: Kindred Oaks, GeorgetownAbout Me: I am a Jersey girl born and raised but have since migrated to Texas and embraced its twang and Tex-Mex. I could probably eat chips and queso every day but instead I eat popcorn. I use the word “awesome” way too much but I just can’t seem to stop myself. I am addicted to all things DIY and am planning what I call a Texas-Chic wedding. I love snuggling with my two adorable dogs and of course, my adorable fiance. I can’t wait 'til I can call him my husband some day! October 2010, here we come!
Our RSVP deadline was over about three weeks ago. I set it a bit early knowing I needed to know guest numbers to finish some remaining projects earlier than the week before the wedding. Apparently many of our invited guests had a different idea.
I’m not sure what our RSVP return rate actually was, but it was not good. We had to track down many people for an answer. It surprised me to find out that many people think they don’t have to respond to an RSVP if they’re not coming. It also surprised me to find out that a lot of people don’t feel the need to respond if they told you a year ago in passing that they’d be at your wedding. Honestly though, a week out from our wedding, this is the only thing that has caused us stress.
After all the tracking down was complete, I thought it was finally time I start working on my table assignment project. I told y’all I was planning on making Texas shaped lollipops for each guest with their name and table number on the back. Check ’em out! Read more…
Mrs. Brooch, Arlington, VAAge and Occupation: 25, Writer/EditorFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Front Desk ManagerEngagement Date: October 3, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: Oxon Hill ManorAbout Me: I’m an indecisive girlie-girl with a motor mouth, can-do attitude, and knack for making others laugh. I dream of becoming a best selling novelist like Elizabeth Gilbert or Julie Powell (a girl can dream, right?), and love long road trips, a beautiful countryside, music, blogs, books, and all things vintage/thrift/antique/or homemade. I’m a Virgo, i.e. overly sensitive, emotional, and critical, and there’s no such thing as short and sweet in my world. I want to say and do it all. Mr. Brooch grounds me. I point where to go and he figures out the way. He’s a pragmatic fancy-pants who enjoys video games and movies. We both adore our mutt, Rocky, and spending time with our amazingly supportive family and friends. We’re planning a garden wedding with a formal reception with lots of whimsy and unique, Southern-inspired details.
I’m finally getting serious about our flowers. Of course, I’ve drooled over lots of wonderful wedding day flowers, but I just started collecting inspiration pictures strictly for our day; not just the stuff I like, but the stuff I want.
My motivation is strictly it’s-the-end-of-the-road procrastinator, also known as an upcoming vendor meeting! We’re getting together with our florist for the first time in less than 2 weeks from today (Squee!) so it’s time to finally get down to business!
It’s never easy to describe the vision in my mind, which is why blogs and pictures are such a great resource. Right now, I need to figure out what we’re doing for the escort card display and gather the inspiration to share to be able to convey my wants to our planner and the florist. If it’s a DIY project, hello! I need to get cracking! If not, I just need to know what I’m asking of the florist.
I’ve looked at a lot of really cool and unique escort card displays, but I really like the more clean look for these spaces. I’m immediately drawn to the photos below. I think it looks very classy, yet whimsical at the same time.
Ms. Stripes, Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 29, Costume Designer/StylistFiancee's Age and Occupation: 29, ChefEngagement Date: June 23, 2009Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: Heritage Square MuseumAbout Me: I’m a type A creative with a messy streak, a loud mouth, and an uncanny knack for combining clashing patterns. I can usually be found with my nose in a book, my feet (or at least my toes) on the ground, my head in the clouds, and my arm around the prettiest girl you ever saw- aka
Fiancee Stripes. Together we’re planning a FUN vintage/modern French carnival wedding extravaganza and rockin’ dance party on a dime. (Say that three times fast!) Good coffee, long lists, Uniball pens, and my iPhone keep me sane, and making art, making trouble, and making out keep me happy! I love urban adventures, bike rides that end with afternoon drinks, breakfast for dinner, beautiful light, photography, travel, my furry family, and of course, my beautiful fiancee! I’m super excited to be here and can’t wait to share all our adventures as we craft a joyful, budget-friendly, design-savvy and all-around AWESOME wedding!
Hello from wearestillrecoveringfromourweddingland! It’s pretty awesome, except for the part where we both got colds. Yeah. Weddings really take it out of you!
Anyhow, because my wife (!) recovers far later into the morning than I do, I actually have time to start tossing up all those posts I meant to write for you guys pre-wedding! Lucky you!
So pull up a chair and let’s chat about my other love: the blue mason jar. I’ve loved blue mason jars since I was a kid addicted to Sunset Magazine. Yup. I was a freak. Moving on. I knew that I wanted to incorporate blue mason jars into our whimsical, outdoor love fest, but I was already hung up on using milk glass (say what?! I never wrote that post either! My god—what was I doing around here?) for our centerpieces. Then a crazy thought sprung into my head—what if our guests could drink out of the jars?
I know, it’s not the most original idea in wedding land, where mason jar brides abound, but the blue ones? I became hellbent on having our guests drink out of those damn blue jars. And not just because they’re blue people, but because they’re green. Read more…
Mrs. Starfish, Boston/NewportAge and Occupation: 25, Operations AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, SalesEngagement Date: October 8, 2008Wedding Date: October 2010Venue: The Atlantic Beach ClubAbout Me: I'm a perfectionist who is a planner at heart. I don't do well with surprises. I love planning, crafting, Newport RI, family and friends, and most importantly, Mr. Starfish---all of which will be big components in our October wedding in our favorite little city by the sea.
As I mentioned before, we decided early on we wanted to have starfish escort cards. I had seen quite a few on the internet and thought nothing could be more perfect for our theme.
It seemed like such an easy project, and it really was, but it was so time intensive. I originally planned to print off the names and table numbers for each guest, but I decided I wanted a navy card with white writing, so I decided to write out each card. I now understand why calligraphy is so expensive. It takes forever! I’m no pro, so maybe that was the issue, but it took so long to write out each name and they are far from perfect. I can’t even imagine how calligraphers do it and make them look so perfect.
After weeks of writing out names a little at a time on my lunch breaks and while watching TV, it was time to add the table numbers. Read more…
Mrs. Barrettes, Tumon, Guam/Napa, CAAge and Occupation: 29, DancerFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Licensed Building ContractorEngagement Date: November 16, 2008Wedding Date: October 2010Venue: V. Sattui WineryAbout Me: I'm an East Coast girl, living on a tiny little island in the Pacific, twirling, leaping, and shimmy-ing my way through life, and now, wedding planning! I'm equal parts nerdy and cool... okay, mostly nerdy. I love satin bows, red lipstick, black & white graphic anything, the shine of sequins and the sound of a champagne "pop". My favorite books are The Portrait of a Lady, by Henry James, and Tender is the Night, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I can also conjure a pretty good Patronus Charm. I started my appreciation for good red wine while traveling on the high seas, and it's only fitting that my passion for wine drinking led me to my Napa-bred honey. We bonded over bottles of Cabernet on my oceanfront porch and haven't looked back since. We're sealing the deal at a winery in the Napa Valley on a 'perfect ten' of a day!
We finally finished our wine charm project! In part, thanks to the postponement of the Men’s Tennis Final. I can’t craft and pay attention to tennis at the same time. Also in part to Baby Barrettes—look how helpful he tried to be!
Mrs. Seashell, Chicago, IL / Providence, RIAge and Occupation: 28, Marriage and Family TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Electrical EngineerEngagement Date: September 3, 2009Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: The Glen Manor HouseAbout Me: Fonts and fashion, stationery and Sundays, photography and french toast... the beauty is in the details for this fun-loving Chicagoan who loves to plan plan plan! The soon-to-be hubs plays "Mr. Fix-It" in our new condo while I swoon over beautiful, personalized stationery and choose shades of aubergine for my bridesmaids' dresses... and thus begins my new fairy tale! Skirting to the East Coast for our September nuptials where my home state of Rhode Island awaits with fall foliage, I'm just a few dress fittings and bachelorette party away from saying "I Do" to a very happy ending!
I am proud to say that we have braved a few projects with our Cricut! (Honestly, the thing still scares me a little, but we’re slowly becoming friends. Notice who’s operating it in the photo below.) Most recently, we have begun creating our escort cards. Here’s how our process works: I am the visionary, Mr. Seashell is the engineer. I do the organizational work, and then Mr. Seashell executes the details involving patience and precision. Yay teamwork!
The Idea:
Create golden leaves with our guests’ names and table numbers printed on them.
The Problem:
How to get printed information on a cut-out shape?
Mrs. Starfish, Boston/NewportAge and Occupation: 25, Operations AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, SalesEngagement Date: October 8, 2008Wedding Date: October 2010Venue: The Atlantic Beach ClubAbout Me: I'm a perfectionist who is a planner at heart. I don't do well with surprises. I love planning, crafting, Newport RI, family and friends, and most importantly, Mr. Starfish---all of which will be big components in our October wedding in our favorite little city by the sea.
When we started planning our starfish nuptials, I knew for sure I wanted to use starfish for the escort cards. I’ve seen quite a few photos of these and love the idea!
Mrs. Veggie, Raglan, New Zealand/Scranton, PAAge and Occupation: 27, Director of Small Non-ProfitFiance's Age and Occupation: 42, PhD Student & FarmerEngagement Date: June 13, 2009Wedding Date: August 2010Venue: Indian Head Camp, Honesdale Pennsylvania
About Me: I am a tree-huggin' farmer turned enthusiastic wedding-planner. I live in a house truck and wear flip-flops more often than shoes. In my old life I was a high school Spanish teacher in love with a crazy guy who lived off-the grid on a farm in New Hampshire. But, we decided to mix things up a bit, quit our jobs and move to New Zealand. My southern hemisphere lifestyle involves growing veggies, teaching, running our small non-profit, and surfing. I love laughing, singing, playing, and the inspirational Mr. Veggie (of course!). For our wedding, I am committed to throwing a killer party that celebrates our values without breaking the bank. Look forward to an eco-thrifty summer-campy weekend-long extravaganza.
Two weeks to go. There’s no time for a real post right now, as Mr. Veggie flew in to the US two days ago and I am on my way up to see him for the first time since mid-June. (Pucker up Veg!, I’m-a-comin’.) Then we have a wedding to go to, a conference to present at, family to visit, a driver’s license to renew, a bank account to open, oh yeah, and a few minor details to hammer out before the big day. Marriage license? Yeah, that one should probably get moved up to the top of the list.
So, sorry for the lack of witty and insightful commentary, but the least I could do is give you a sneak peek at some projects I’ve been working on this week.
Vegetable Escort Cards made from recycled craft paper cardstock and fabric scraps from Veggie sister Kale’s quilting room.
Mrs. Guinea Pig, Baltimore, MD Age and Occupation: 26, PhD student Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Operations Director at a non-profit Engagement Date: December 25, 2008 Wedding Date: May 2010Venue: The Chesapeake Bay Beach Club About Me: I'm a tomboy science nerd whose girly side has made a startling appearance thanks to wedding planning! I love to bake, knit and sew but I also ride a motorcycle (that Mr. Guinea Pig wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole). We live with our three crazy cats and love to read, travel, watch movies, and do home improvement projects together! My parents/family are Canadian but I'm definitely American, although I've lived in 5 different countries, 6 different states, and speak Russian fluently. Mr. GP and I met online (did I mention I'm a scientist?) and had a whirlwind romance - now we can't wait to get married & celebrate with all our friends and family in a blue and yellow waterfront affair!
I was surprised, flattered, and thrilled to discover that so many people like, and also want to make, the escort flowers that we made for our wedding!
I received so many questions asking for more detail on how to make them that I decided it would probably be easiest for me to just do a tutorial. I’m excited you all want to make them! So here’s how I did things, which I’m sure is by no means the only way to do them. I tried to make it fairly detailed so as to answer all the questions I’ve gotten so far, but if you have any more questions, feel free to ask in the comments or PM me.
To start, here’s the paper I used:
(origami paper: one side is blue, the other side is white)
Mrs. Sewing, San Mateo, CA/Honolulu, HIAge and Occupation: 24, Electrical EngineerFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Electrical EngineerEngagement Date: June 27, 2009Wedding Date: July 2010Venue: Anela Garden Chapel & Japanese Cultural Center, HonoluluAbout Me: I'm an easily entertained, compulsive idea-scheming machine who loves good art, good food, and a good engineering challenge. I'm planning a half-destination wedding on the beautiful island of Oahu - imagine a plethora of movies, art and games; savory Hawaiian food; blended Chinese and Japanese cultural details; lush, fragrant tropical flowers and all the air conditioning a NorCal native could want! And once I marry the love of my life, we'll come back to the 'mainland' to party it up all over again in my hometown of Salinas, the salad-bowl capital of the world!
First of all, I’ll admit I didn’t know what an escort card was until I joined Weddingbee. And honestly, they aren’t really crucial to a seating plan - a chart would work just as well. However, like many other things, I became enamored with all the cute ideas and wanted to make my own. And like many other things, Mr. Sew rolled his eyes at me, but decided he wanted to be in charge of the Cuttlebug anyway. Such is life.
Though not all our guests will keep their escort card longer than the time it takes to find their table, I wanted to make it a dual-purpose kind of card. You never know, there could be one person like myself that likes to keep everything. Right?
Also, being that we have to either ship or fly all our stuff there, we can’t do anything heavy or bulky. We have to stick to paper. And thus, the simple idea of escort card bookmarks was chosen:
I made some boxes in Photoshop and filled them with some pretty screen tones from this website. Then I made a little character using this website. Easy peasy. Read more…
Mrs. Guinea Pig, Baltimore, MD Age and Occupation: 26, PhD student Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Operations Director at a non-profit Engagement Date: December 25, 2008 Wedding Date: May 2010Venue: The Chesapeake Bay Beach Club About Me: I'm a tomboy science nerd whose girly side has made a startling appearance thanks to wedding planning! I love to bake, knit and sew but I also ride a motorcycle (that Mr. Guinea Pig wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole). We live with our three crazy cats and love to read, travel, watch movies, and do home improvement projects together! My parents/family are Canadian but I'm definitely American, although I've lived in 5 different countries, 6 different states, and speak Russian fluently. Mr. GP and I met online (did I mention I'm a scientist?) and had a whirlwind romance - now we can't wait to get married & celebrate with all our friends and family in a blue and yellow waterfront affair!
When I last talked about what I was going to do for escort cards, I showed you the idea I had to modify the origami flowers into escort flowers. Once I had completed that mockup I knew that was what I wanted to do, and began the process of folding enough petals to make one flower per guest. Since each flower requires 5 petals and we were estimating 160 guests, we folded 800 petals! And when I say ’we’, I really mean: my mom. Here’s a quick look at the final product, first!
Mrs. Cola, Mountain View, CAAge and Occupation: 27, Product Communications and PromotionsFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Managing Partner and Senior DesignerEngagement Date: March 5, 2009Wedding Date: June 2010Venue: The Mountain Terrace, Woodside, CAAbout Me: I’m a Washington State native, enjoying life in Silicon Valley California with my fiancé, our three kitties and one leopard gecko. I like reading wedding blogs, Photoshopping wedding design mock ups, making lists, and planning, planning, planning! I’m a bit of an anomaly, on one side I’m a very girlie girl, I collect shoes, I lay out my outfits 4-6 weeks in advance, and I’d never leave the house without my hair curled and makeup on. But on the other side, I’m a total tomboy, I love to go camping and hiking, play drinking games (hey, I’m Irish!) and most of my closest friends are guys. My fiancé and I are planning a DIY-focused wedding with a balance between easygoing (what he wants) and chic and stylish (what I want), and are tying it all together with elements in lavender, sage, butter cream and chocolate.
In case you didn’t already know, Mr. Cola is an engineer, which means he has a serious love for gadgets, electronics, machinery… and LED lights!
So when he came up with the idea to incorporate LEDs into our escort cards, I was all for it. He would be able to showcase one of his DIY talents at our wedding, and it meant one less project that I had to take the reins on!
This was a pretty complicated DIY though, and not something that would be easy to replicate unless you have the engineering know-how, so I won’t go into too many of the details on the process, just a quick overview.
Mr. Cola started by laying out the design of the circuit boards, and had them made in China. Once the circuit boards arrived, Mr. C attached three LEDs to each board. Then, we had to “stuff” the circuit boards with resistors. I helped while watching TV (the resistors are the little brown things on wires). Read more…
Mrs. Octopus, Boston, MA/Pittsburgh, PAAge and Occupation: 25, Grad StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Graphics Operator for TV NewsEngagement Date: May 6th, 2009Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: Heinz Chapel Ceremony, Museum Reception
About Me: When my best friend dragged me to a toga party in our freshmen year of college, I was not expecting to meet my future husband; but seven years later, here we are. I'm a crazy-organized planner at heart, and I am a great lover of random trivia, books, chocolate, blogs, new and exciting adventures, mockumentary-style television, and anything heavily flavored with bright orange fake cheese powder. We're planning a festive and fun mini-destination wedding in the place where we met: fabulous Pittsburgh, PA! I can't wait to marry the man I love!
… in having certain random little wedding planning details on the horizon that strike fear into my heart. Mine? Escort cards. Shudder.
I know exactly where my dread of escort cards came from. About a month after Mr. O and I got engaged, I attended a childhood friend’s wedding with my family. Later, my sister and I were talking about all the behind-the-scenes work that goes into pulling off a wedding, and she said, “Just think about that place card table from today. We spent barely thirty seconds walking up to that table, grabbing our cards, and walking away without a second thought, but SOMEONE had to go buy those little cards, make a seating chart for all one hundred and fifty people, write every single person’s name and table number ON the little cards, alphabetize them all, then arrange them nicely on the table.” Gulp. Ever since that conversation, those damn little cards have been the one particular detail that gives me heart palpitations.
But no more! In my ritual quarterly browsing of Martha Stewart Weddings, I noticed a potential solution to my problem:
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
After weeks of writing out names a little at a time on my lunch breaks and while watching TV, it was time to add the table numbers.
