Miss Warbler, Long Beach/MalibuAge and Occupation: 24, Quality Assurance EditorFiance's Age and Occupation: 32, Handheld AdministratorEngagement Date: December 7, 2010Wedding Date: April 2012Venue: Calamigos Ranch MalibuAbout Me: I’m a Korean BBQ loving, cheesecake enthusiast bride living in the LBC! By day I write and edit for an online search engine marketing company. By night I am a volunteer food taster of all that is delicious. I am fortunate to be marrying an amazing man who loves me and my quirky ways. I love food, books, indie music, and Harry Potter. We are planning a small, intimate wedding up in the Malibu Hills with our closest family and friends. With the help of my wonderful fiance, our loved ones, and red velvet cheesecake, our wedding will be glorious!
At this point in the wedding planning process, most people are wrangling in their RSVPs. But an amazing thing has happened to us: nearly all of our guests have mailed their RSVPs in! And we’re still a week away from our “respond by” date. Not too shabby, Warbler guests.
By far, our favorite response came from Man of Honor J5. Along with his RSVP card, he sent in a hilarious letter written in Old English which declared his intent to attend the wedding. He stained the letter in coffee and burned the edges to give it an ancient look. Proof that you can put to use what you learned in elementary school.
Miss Warbler, Long Beach/MalibuAge and Occupation: 24, Quality Assurance EditorFiance's Age and Occupation: 32, Handheld AdministratorEngagement Date: December 7, 2010Wedding Date: April 2012Venue: Calamigos Ranch MalibuAbout Me: I’m a Korean BBQ loving, cheesecake enthusiast bride living in the LBC! By day I write and edit for an online search engine marketing company. By night I am a volunteer food taster of all that is delicious. I am fortunate to be marrying an amazing man who loves me and my quirky ways. I love food, books, indie music, and Harry Potter. We are planning a small, intimate wedding up in the Malibu Hills with our closest family and friends. With the help of my wonderful fiance, our loved ones, and red velvet cheesecake, our wedding will be glorious!
Now that most people have received their invitations, it’s time for the reveal! Here are our handmade, Catprint printed invites. Let’s take a look at the President’s invite.
Mrs. Mole, Los Angeles/Las VegasAge and Occupation: 29, Test Prep InstructorFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, User Experience ArchitectEngagement Date: April 2011Wedding Date: January 2012Venue: Wynn Las Vegas/Bouchon BistroAbout Me: I’m a Wisconsinite-turned-Angeleno who is planning a destination wedding in Las Vegas. I am passionate about education: I spent 23 (!) consecutive years in school, and now I work to help other people get into graduate programs. I love running on the treadmill, buying bath products from Lush, learning new moves in step aerobics, and exploring my neighborhood on foot. I am sometimes snobby about food, but I am rarely snobby about books. I read everything from Geoffrey Chaucer to Iris Murdoch to Chuck Klosterman to Candace Bushnell. My fiance and I are getting married on our third anniversary!
Now, I have to admit that I didn’t fully appreciate Mrs. Hamster’s advice in the beginning. Mr. Mole and I even got into a small debate about numbering all of our RSVP postcards. He thought it was a good idea; I thought it was a good waste of time. “Seriously, I don’t know how ANYONE could forget to put their name on a postcard,” I huffed while penciling in little numbers in the corner of each card.
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.
Yo dudes and dudettes. I’m finally ready to share the Skunks’ RSVP turn out.
We sent out 83 of the 85 invitations that we bought. I ended up giving the other two to my mom, so now, I sadly don’t even have one for myself. Those invitations belonged to 168 potential guests.
That number may or may not be right. I tried to guess whether or not whole families would come or not. And while I didn’t count little babies, I counted bigger babies if I thought they might eat or have a beer. (You never know, we Skunks get wild.)
Mrs. Ladyfingers, Saint Petersburg, FLAge and Occupation: 30, Marketing ManagerFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Sports WriterEngagement Date: December 24, 2010Wedding Date: November 2011Venue: Palma Sola Botanical ParkAbout Me: I hail from Oklahoma, he was born and raised in Long Island. Fate brought us together, and now we live in a cute little rental house with our nutty dog, and our aloof cat. We both love to read, watch movies, explore our town, and laugh like hyenas. When I’m not obsessively wedding crafting, I enjoy stalking style and decorating blogs, making collages and painting, napping, thrifting, rearranging our bookshelves, and being a total weirdo with my friends. Hi!
Our final, final deadline was last Saturday, and we spent a couple of days beyond that tracking down some stragglers (like, oh, our Reverend and his wife). Like many before me, I feel compelled to share our breakdown and how we feel about it.
I love charts, so I spent way too much time this morning composing a few.
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!
Alternate Title: There are a Boatload of People Coming to Our Wedding.
Alternate Title #2: The One Thing I Would Change About This Wedding Process.
We invited approximately 177 people to our wedding. I say approximately because there were a couple of last minute add ons coughbytheMisterandhisfamilynotmecough that I don’t think ever officially got on the list-list. They got an invite, but maybe weren’t actually added to the Google doc that holds all the relevant guest info. Whatevs. Not my problem.
Anyway, I was a little nervous. I was initially hoping for 100 people, and then I decided that was unrealistic and bumped that number up to 120, maybe 130. I may have been that bride that opens up the RSVPs and wishes “Please, be a no!” But it turns out, people like us a freaking lot.
Sally Field’s “You Really Like Me” Speech / Image via Nina Spencer
Mrs. Funnel Cake, Zürich, Switzerland/Columbus, OhioAge and Occupation: 24, Visual Communication DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Application EngineerEngagement Date: May 30, 2010Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Catholic church followed by a botanical conservatoryAbout Me: I'm an American designer who moved to Switzerland for love after a fairytale beginning at the top of the Eiffel Tower. I love travel, photography, museums, learning German so I can speak with my mother-in-law, cooking (eating), cuddling, and I'm not afraid to try something new even if it terrifies me. My Swiss/Brazilian man and I are both down to earth people planning a traditional Catholic wedding in my hometown with some quirky cultural exceptions to reflect our different backgrounds. We look forward to celebrating with friends and family from all over the world in a classic, sophisticated fusion of heritage and love.
Funny story. Once upon a time, we found out our venue could hold a maximum of 170 people. In our naivety, Mr. Funnel Cake and I decided to tell each parent they could invite 50 guests while we would both invite 30 friends. 50 + 50 + 30 + 30 = 160, allowing room for the priest, photographer(s) and of course ourselves. Aren’t we great at math?
Mr. Funnel Cake told his mother she could only invite 50 40 guests and she was immediately very upset that she couldn’t invite the entire world to the wedding. I told Mama Funnel Cake we were asking the parents to invite 50 people each and she replied “That’s nice. I’m inviting more than that.”
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!
Mrs. Cucumber Sandwich, Washington, DC/Cape May, NJAge and Occupation: 28, School CounselorFiance's Age and Occupation: 40, Collegiate AthleticsEngagement Date: March 27, 2010Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Congress Hall HotelAbout Me: I am a school counselor who spends my day wrangling children and my nights attempting to be creative with wedding projects. My enthusiasm for each of these activities far surpasses my skill. Thank goodness Mr. Cucumber Sandwich is there to pick up the pieces and be the voice of reason about my DIY tries. I have an obsession with terrible romantic comedies (‘From Justin to Kelly’ anyone?, anyone?!?), competitive Scrabble play, and hot dogs. I could eat astronaut ice cream for every meal and can’t seem to resist buying more shoes. Our wedding is going to be a true hodge podge of semi-destination, tradition, Yuengling, New England charm, with just a dash of ‘Jersey Shore’ thrown in. It has been six years in the making and I can’t wait to marry my best friend.
… it says u + me = us! (please tell me someone else remembers that song)
Our RSVP date was this weekend so let’s bring on the numbers!
Total Guests Invited: 177
# of Yes: 95 (53%)
# of No: 33 (18%)
# missing: 52 (29%)
To be fair that is not 52 RSVP cards that we have to track down, it is more like 25 families/couples. I have a lot of phone calls to make but if I had to give my best, most educated guess…I believe we are going to have 120 people at the wedding. Perfection!
Since everyone is coming from out of town that statistic won’t really help you (100%). I could give you the break down of the Ms. Cucumber Sandwich RSVP response rate vs. Mr. Cucumber Sandwich RSVP response rate but that would just be cruel. Lets just say about 90% of the RSVPs missing belong to him. Oops, I guess I just let the cat out of the bag.
I don’t really have any pictures for this post but I did want to share some of the amazing advice we received from family and friends. Read more…
Mrs. High Wire, DallasAge and Occupation: 23, Legal AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Director of CommunicationsEngagement Date: October 9, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Clark GardensAbout Me: My loves include yoga, anything spicy, our eccentric cat, our rambunctious dog, and Mr. High Wire, of course! Like the steadiness act of the tightrope walker, this gal is busy balancing life while planning a wedding to the man of her dreams. We’re hosting a laid-back, vintage-inspired, bird themed wedding with heavy doses of love, good eats (did someone say tacos and margaritas?), and endless Texas charm. Mr. High Wire and I are so happy to have you along for the walk across the tight rope.
Total Guests Invited: 341 (including Mr. HW and myself)
Originally this was 405, but we decided to trim the guest list a little bit because we didn’t want to have to lay out any extra costs.
The response rate doesn’t really shock me. Our wedding is sort of “destination” in that each side will have to travel a bit to get there. It is about 90 minutes from my hometown and about 2.5 hours from his. So, I expected a few more “no’s” because of this.
Total Yes Responses: 131 (38%)
Total No Responses: 100 (29%)
Total RSVPs Still Outstanding: 89 + a few random last minute invitations that were sent out after I made my spreadsheet (26-33%)
So, uh, anyone want to track down 89 people for me? Please?
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!
Hello, my name is Miss Ticket and I am an indecisive font monster. Yes it’s true. There’s no hiding it. I spent so much time staring at and changing fonts that they all became one giant blur to me. I said I was done with invitations and yet somehow I still sat down in front of my computer to AGAIN revamp the RSVPs (while watching one of the worst movies ever made please don’t watch Skyline…. save yourself, just say no!). I printed out another 8 options of different fonts and wording and continuously asked opinions of Mr. Ticket. I think even his eyes grew confused after all the different fonts.
It was shortly after this point that I decided to give up. It’s not normally in me to do that, but I’m afraid it was the healthiest course of action for my sanity. What I had was good enough. They would have to do. It was time to finish the little monsters and move on with my life. I knew I had hit my limit when I begged Mr. Ticket to redo our RSVPs and he said, “Only if I get to include a picture of a Starcraft Zealot ripping a Disney Princess’ head off.” (Since of course he knew I would never agree to this.) I agreed…we were definitely done with the invitations!
After making Mr. Ticket, Mama Ticket, and Daddy Ticket double…triple… and quadruple check spelling, grammar, directions, etc. It was time to print these babies out! Read more…
Mrs. Pony, Bloomington, ILAge and Occupation: 25, AttorneyFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, AttorneyEngagement Date: March 22, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Mackinaw Valley Vineyard; Bloomington Center for the Performing ArtsAbout Me: I found my Southern counterpart in law school and since he popped the question last March, we have been busy graduating, job searching, bar taking, and wedding planning. My loves include must see TV, magnets, quotes, anything green, my car, fun socks, the Cubs, and my Mr. Together we love wine, playing outside, and exploring the world together. Stay tuned to see our Midwest wedding full of Southern charm, vintage flair, lots of DIY details, and a whole lot o’ wine.
I should have known our response cards were cursed from the start. I loved the final product when they were sent out in our invitations, but these are little cards have been the bane of my existence from the beginning.
The response cards were originally supposed to look like this: Read more…
Mrs. Macarons, TampaAge and Occupation: 26, Graphic DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, Renaissance ManEngagement Date: September 12, 2009Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Lange FarmAbout Me: I'm creative at heart and a graphic designer with an unhealthy obsession with type. I love roller coasters, spicy foods, and a good glass of Crianza. We’re planning a soft and lovely vintage-meets-modern wedding in a state that’s known for its beaches, glitz and glam. I have a ton of DIY projects and lots of little details I’m dying to share and can't wait to celebrate with our closest friends and family.
After several of our invitations went M.I.A we expected a few tardy responses but not nearly as many as we got. (Shame on you Macarons guests!) I assumed our mailbox would be overflowing with RSVPs on our deadline but we got nothing, save for one lonely envelope. I let out a large sigh as I reached inside for what I thought was just another piece of junk mail.
It might be a little hard to make out but it was from our friends on Capitol Hill! Read more…
Miss Kettle, Chicago, ILAge and Occupation: 26, Non-Profit Donor Resource CoordinatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Musician & TeacherEngagement Date: May 29, 2011Wedding Date: February 2012Venue: Patrick C. Haley Mansion, Joliet, ILAbout Me: I'm a city girl who loves a good escape, so I'm planning a Chicago wedding outside of the city. I've been described as a quirky yet down-to-earth drama queen who loves fiercely. I used to be a scientist, but now I'm learning to navigate the world of non-profit organizations. I love cooking, blogging, shopping, and music, and movies (Hans Zimmer is my favorite movie composer). Mr. Kettle and I had a short courtship and now we have a happy home with our cat-who-thinks-she's-people, Belle. We spend our days and nights with good food, live music, video games, family, and friends. Our wedding has become this wonderful excuse to bring together hundreds of people we can't bear to be without.
I’ve been very worried about how RSVPs will go for all our wedding events because of two people: my mother and my fiance. Momma Kettle and Mr. Kettle are both…RSVP-delinquents. Seriously, hive, they never never RSVP. I just knew this would cause a catastrophe for our wedding-related events because that’s how karma works.
Many a bride have had to track down my momma to ask about attendance at a wedding for my mother only to respond, “I’m not sure yet. I’ll let you know next week.” And to my knowledge, Mr Kettle has never RSVPed to a wedding he wasn’t a musician at.
In dramatic fashion, I’ve been drawing the back of my hand to my forehead and sighing worriedly that no one will RSVP to our events. Don’t worry, I knew they’d come, I just figured we’d never be able to get an accurate head count ahead of time.
Our e-party invites had gone out and on them people were asked to either call/text my mother with their RSVP or go to our wedding website and do it.
There have been all types of responses. A couple called/texted my mom and a couple went to our website. But oh, there were others.
Mrs. Snow Cone, Pittsburgh/Johnstown, PAAge and Occupation: 23, Public Health Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, EngineerEngagement Date: April 9, 2010Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: OMOS Church ceremony/Sunnehanna Country Club receptionAbout Me: I’m one of the lucky ones---I met my future husband at the ripe old age of 13, started dating him as a mature woman of 15, and have been enjoying the ride ever since. Here we are, 8 years later, living in Pittsburgh, planning a "homestination" wedding in the place our school romance began---Johnstown, PA. I thrive on talking a mile a minute, eating my weight in chocolate, and internet shopping. I love a lengthy to-do list almost as much as I love a healthy amount of chaos in my life. Mr. Snow Cone and I watch countless episodes of Friends and The West Wing on repeat, root for rival college sports teams, and make each other laugh each and every day. We’re putting together a small-town wedding with a big personality and a classically modern (or modernly classic?) look for 250 of our closest family and friends. It’s been 8+ years in the making, and sometimes I still can’t believe I’m finally getting to marry my high school sweetheart!
By now, our wedding RSVP deadline has come and gone. And then some. We only have two more pairs of guests to track down, so I feel like that’s a complete enough picture to breakdown our RSVP results. Here we go!
Number invited: 276
Number attending: 193
Decline percentage: 30%
Now that we have the numbers, let’s crunch them. Truthfully speaking, never in a million years did Mr. Snow Cone and I anticipate ending up with a wedding reception with fewer than 200 people. We spent more than a little bit of a time stressing over the guest list, making cuts to give us a morsel of breathing room. We had visions of people uncomfortably squeezed together at tables that were also uncomfortably squeezed together. Lots of tables with lots of people in a moderately-sized room on an August evening—it’s practically a request for someone to pass out! We were definitely worried about attendance, to say the least.
Once the RSVPs started rolling in, we would kind of secretly high-five when we got a “no,” since that meant that we’d have a little bit more room to work with. Read more…
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
