Mrs. Green Tea, SacramentoAge and Occupation: 30, Tea AnalystFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Coffee CriticEngagement Date: November 17, 2006Wedding Date: August 23, 2008Blogging Since: June 10, 2008Venue: Vineyard on the DeltaAbout Me: I'm just your average obsessive compulsive, arts & crafts loving, funky-on-the-inside/boring-on-the-outside girl, who dares to say 'Hey! I can make that!' Nerdy professional by day, goofy won-ton by night. The won-ton sometimes comes out during the day when I'm fed the dollar breakfast at Ikea. Since our engagement, wedding planning has put me on high alert for bargains and I've been pushing my nimble fingers through callous building experiments!
I designed several back options for MOH-Ho to choose from. My favorite was the cleaner looking centered print… Read more…
Mrs. Spaniel, Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 28, Law StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, PsychologistWedding Date: March 2010Venue: Calamigos RanchAbout Me: I'm a third-year law student trying to balance graduating with starting my career, keeping up a relationship, and, oh yeah, planning an Old World, multi-cultural, "mountain lodge" wedding for 180 guests! A South Asian Jewish girl getting ready to marry my handsome Catholic Dane, I'm hoping to blend our cultures in our wedding just a bit more gently than by providing samosas as appetizers and offering æbleskiver for dessert. (Although that would also be awesome.)
It’s amazing being able to plan a wedding in the age of the Internet—get stuck on wording? Hop online! I can’t even say how much text I “borrowed” from other brides out in space for our ceremony programs, but I’d probably still be thinking about what to write instead of wondering where to store them all right now if there hadn’t been so many samples online to rely on.
In that vein, here’s what we included in our programs, in case it helps anyone!
Cover page
You’ve seen this one before!
I just used this page for the Who/Where/When. I got the idea in my head that this would be a great page for a cute photograph and vellum overlay (à la Mrs. Emerald and Mrs. Eggplant), but I wasn’t willing to invest more money or time. Maybe one of you will try these programs that way? Read more…
Mrs. Green Tea, SacramentoAge and Occupation: 30, Tea AnalystFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Coffee CriticEngagement Date: November 17, 2006Wedding Date: August 23, 2008Blogging Since: June 10, 2008Venue: Vineyard on the DeltaAbout Me: I'm just your average obsessive compulsive, arts & crafts loving, funky-on-the-inside/boring-on-the-outside girl, who dares to say 'Hey! I can make that!' Nerdy professional by day, goofy won-ton by night. The won-ton sometimes comes out during the day when I'm fed the dollar breakfast at Ikea. Since our engagement, wedding planning has put me on high alert for bargains and I've been pushing my nimble fingers through callous building experiments!
I am throwing a bridal shower for MOH-Ho and it is freaking me out! I did accomplish one thing, though not without huge assembly help from MOH-Ho and her momma - the shower invites:
Mrs. Green Tea, SacramentoAge and Occupation: 30, Tea AnalystFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Coffee CriticEngagement Date: November 17, 2006Wedding Date: August 23, 2008Blogging Since: June 10, 2008Venue: Vineyard on the DeltaAbout Me: I'm just your average obsessive compulsive, arts & crafts loving, funky-on-the-inside/boring-on-the-outside girl, who dares to say 'Hey! I can make that!' Nerdy professional by day, goofy won-ton by night. The won-ton sometimes comes out during the day when I'm fed the dollar breakfast at Ikea. Since our engagement, wedding planning has put me on high alert for bargains and I've been pushing my nimble fingers through callous building experiments!
Mrs. Green Tea, SacramentoAge and Occupation: 30, Tea AnalystFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Coffee CriticEngagement Date: November 17, 2006Wedding Date: August 23, 2008Blogging Since: June 10, 2008Venue: Vineyard on the DeltaAbout Me: I'm just your average obsessive compulsive, arts & crafts loving, funky-on-the-inside/boring-on-the-outside girl, who dares to say 'Hey! I can make that!' Nerdy professional by day, goofy won-ton by night. The won-ton sometimes comes out during the day when I'm fed the dollar breakfast at Ikea. Since our engagement, wedding planning has put me on high alert for bargains and I've been pushing my nimble fingers through callous building experiments!
EDIT: Apologies to those who were asking about this post, I had to take it offline for awhile and completely redo the photos. I know it took me a long time and the photos aren’t as good as before, but everything is harder to do sinceI’m far from home, sorry about that.
Here are the invites I designed for MOH-Ho’s wedding. I worked really hard on making these efficient (the set is printed on a single sheet of 8.5×11 cardstock). While I thoroughly enjoy receiving a pretty invite, I also feel terrible when I throw out fancy sets that include so much material. So I was thrilled that MOH-Ho and her parents appreciated the compactness as I did!
Mrs. Champagne, DC/Vail/ColoradoAge and Occupation: 26, Eye DoctorFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, AttorneyEngagement Date: March 13, 2006Wedding Date: February 2009Blogging Since: July 30, 2008Venue: Small church ceremony with mountain-view log cabin receptionAbout Me: I'm a small town mountain girl with a city heart. Found my way to the east coast, and Mr. Champagne kept me here so we're planning a wedding from afar in my hometown Vail, Colorado. I'm secretly obsessed with reality TV, Wii games where I can shoot a gun, country music, and Caesar: Dog Whisperer. I also spend time pretending to golf, backseat driving, having one way conversations with our MinPin Maxwell, loving champagne, and wedding perfecting… I mean, planning. I use way too many repeated symbols and letters when I write, and I'll love Mr. Champagne endlessly…
Okay, so I will completely admit that many documents and designs are so much easier with Photoshop, but I’m simply not willing to shell out the money for a program I’ll use a few times. I’ve searched and searched the Microsoft Word functions, and I didn’t see anything that would let me do circular text. I called my brother, who told me to check Avery.com for some free software. It was seriously SO easy, I had to share.
Mrs. Peony, New YorkAge and Occupation: 27, Marketing CoordinatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, QA EngineerEngagement Date: June 28, 2007Wedding Date: April 18, 2008Venue: The FountainheadBlogging Since: August 7, 2007About Me: Both Mr. Peony and I are huge computer nerds, and our conversations usually consist of the latest gadgets, programming languages, and video games. At the same time, I can also be very girly with an obsession with handbags, makeup, and high heels. And art! I've studied studio art extensively, almost majored in art history, and freelance as a web and graphics designer. Mr. Peony and I are having a ball of a time planning a wedding for 250(!) guests, doing our best to infuse our personalities (geeky chic) with the wishes of our very traditional Asian parents.
I Google everything and anything…I’ve gotten so good at it, in fact, that people are usually amazed by the speed and efficiency at which I can find obscure information off the web.
(It also doesn’t hurt that Mr. Peony works for Google. And yes, their cafeteria is fantabulous.)
Today, Google released a large collection of templates for Google Docs. When I saw that “wedding planners” was the first template mentioned in the blog post announcing this new feature, I knew I had to share it with Weddingbee readers.
Mrs. Canary, New YorkAge and Occupation: 24, MarketingFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Journalist/EditorEngagement Date: February 16, 2007Wedding Date: July, 2008Blogging Since: October 19, 2007Venue: Pier Sixty, Chelsea PiersAbout Me: I'm a born and raised New Yorker who loves all things crafty and artsy, food (cheese and dessert!), magazines, and shoes. I'm a power shopper always on the lookout for good deals or great quality-- sometimes I'm lucky and I find both! I love to dance and "shake what my momma gave me" but can also really enjoy a quiet night in with Mr. Canary and a good episode of Seinfeld or curl up with a good book.
Expanding on my obsession with all things cute and bird-related and for those of you finding it hard to procure birds for decoration or cake toppers, I discovered a great tutorial this morning on one of my favorite blogs, Peonies and Polaroids (another one for the reader!). These birds are absolutely darling and if I had some more time, I would make a few for gifts. Read more…
Mrs. Daffodil, San Francisco/Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 26, Nonprofit Strategy ConsultantFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: December 29, 2006Wedding Date: May, 2008Blogging Since: August, 2007Venue: Church w/ floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Valley; Westin in downtown LAAbout Me: I moved around a lot growing up, but consider myself a Southerner at heart. I love scrapbooking, dancing, doggies, and diet coke. I am all about personalizing everything and hence, I'm a DIY bride who is just loving the entire wedding planning process! Mr. Daffodil and I met in our college fellowship group and were "just friends" for three years before we started dating. We've been together for four years now and can't wait to get married in sunny SoCal, Mr. Daffodil's hometown.
Remember my DIY invitations? Well, here are my long overdue instructions, starting with the pocketfolds! In an effort to keep costs down while having a perdy invitation, we opted to make our own pocketfolds. I bought 8.5×11″ metallic cardstock paper (in Spring Green!) from bluedotpapershop.
What you’ll need:
- 8.5×11″ cardstock
- 0.25″ wide supertape (seriously, supertape is the only thing that will work)
- Paper cutter and scissors Read more…
Mrs. Cherry Blossom, San FranciscoAge and Occupation: 27, Administrative Asst.Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, District Sales ManagerEngagement Date: December 23, 2006Wedding Date: May 3, 2008Venue: Zen Garden in the East Bay w/ reception in a floor-to-ceiling window Atrium with views of the Zen GardenAbout Me: After 5 years of dating, we're finally ready to get hitched! I am a lovah of all things wedding, creative, crafty, and definitely DIY bc I love to add a personal touch to everything I gift or make. In my free time, I like to bake, spend time with our family, friends, and my doggies, read my guilty pleasure celebrity gossip and catch up on TV shows.
Nothing fancy schmancy but we needed table numbers for the Chinese banquet and wanted one that could give us space to write each guest’s name at each table, stood on its own, and showed the number. But I couldn’t find a simple tri-fold template online that I could use and make easily, so I created my own and it’s shared here for you all!!
I kept mine really really simple but you can use the template and dress it up in so many different ways! Here’s how it looked prior to printing it on Staples Cover Letter stock paper. Read more…
Mrs. Blueberry, Kansas CityAge and Occupation in 06: 21, Full-time StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Full-time StudentEngagement Date: September 10, 2005Wedding Date: May 25, 2007Venue: Wynbrick Center - a historic mansion in my hometown.About Me: We're having an intimate, 125-ish person wedding with a full-blown dessert reception. When I'm not obsessing over wedding stuff or studying for my BA in English, I'm usually playing with our two kitty cats, blogging, doing crafty things, or hanging out with Mr. Blueberry!
I just discovered the greatest resource for those of you still looking for inspiration for your DIY invitations!
Bridalocity offers a number of free templates (most require MS Publisher 2002 or higher, but some are Word-compatible). They’re all very tasteful and elegant, and so helpful for anyone still searching for just the right layout for their invites. Even if you don’t use their exact layouts, things such as proportion, font, and spacing can be helpful while designing your own .
I’m DIY-ing my own stationery, and while more complex directions will follow (after I make the invites!), this is pretty much how I made our STDs. I created a template in Word, then used my parents’ high-quality laser printer to print the invites onto cardstock from Paper Source. Then, I used stamps and ink to stamp each, and added the second layer of cardstock behind (for added thickness and dimension).
Mrs. Ladybug (formerly Miss Ladybug), New York/PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 31, Full-time blogger from 7 pm to 12 amFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Playing video games while I blog from 7pm to 12 amEngagement Date: August 2005Wedding Date: April 15, 2006Venue: Ballroom at the Ben, PhiladelphiaAbout Me: I am the 2nd of 5 girls. Yes, you read that right, 5 girls. I don't know if there's anything interesting about my wedding that I can tell you but I was proposed to twice.
Mrs. Bee, New YorkAge and Occupation: 29, Weddingbee PublisherFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, InternetEngagement Date: May 7, 2004Wedding Date: March 5, 2005Venue: Westside Loft, New YorkAbout Me: Yes, my name really is Bee! I love my blogging, wikis, and tabasco sauce!
Reader Leena generously sent in a template and pictures of her program! You can use it as a guideline to come up with your own, or just change the relevant information on this one. Thanks Leena!
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
And yes, their cafeteria is fantabulous.)
{Image from here}
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