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.
Please pardon the pause in our wedding day recaps.
Hive, I’ve got to get this out in the open. I have been less than stellar in terms of our thank you notes lately.
Writing thank you notes was of utmost importance to me. If someone is going to go out of their way to spend money and give us a gift, they deserve our most sincere thanks. Bottom line. I can’t even express how disappointed I am in myself considering how poorly this situation has turned out.
We ordered a massive amount of thank you cards right at the beginning of planning, to make sure we always had some on hand for any gifts we received.
Things started off strong. For the gifts we got at our engagement party, I made sure that every single person got a thank you note immediately after the party. It was so exciting to get our first few wedding-related gifts, and it was so easy to get those few cards into the mail in no time. Done and done
Our Dallas area shower went off famously. My mom helped me make a really neatly detailed list of gifts, and again, thank you notes were out in the mail less than a week later. Read more…
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!
This past weekend, Mr. Snow Cone and I finally finished our thank-yous and sent them off into the world. One day short of our three-month anniversary, we were finally done. Emily Post advises:
Each wedding gift should be acknowledged with a written note within three months of receipt of the gift. It’s best to write the notes as soon as possible after gifts arrive, however. Write a note even if you have thanked the giver in person.
According to Ms. Post, we were made in the shade, by 24 whole hours. Why, then, did we feel kind of like big ol’ failures? Why, when we were celebrating our recently-completed task, did a more recently married friend squash our happiness by pointing out that she had gotten her thank-yous into the mail sooner than we had, and her wedding had occurred long after ours?
After thinking on it for a bit, here’s the conclusion I’ve reached: people need to take a chill pill when it comes to thank-you notes.
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.
Now that I received all these generous gifts from my shower it is time to write thank you notes. I have a tendency to drag my feet, kicking and screaming when it comes to writing thank you notes. They were the dread of every Christmas and birthday party. I am always grateful and incredibly thankful for the gifts it is just hard for me to write it down in a card.
To make it a little more fun I decided to get a little creative with my thank you notes. I purchased some blank cards along with a ’thank you’ stamp from Michaels. The stamp and the cards were less expensive than pre-made thank you notes (in my mind, at least). On the inside of the card I wrote a generic thank you note. If it would help anyone, here is roughly what I wrote: Read more…
Mrs. Cinnamon Bun, Calgary, AlbertaAge and Occupation: 26, Stage ManagerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Theatre TechnicianEngagement Date: June 22, 2010Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Calgary Opera CentreAbout Me: I'm a life-long crafter and bookworm living in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies. Some of my loves include Lord of the Rings, Sherlock Holmes, knitting, opera, musicals, Etsy, baking, and of course, Mr. Cinnamon Buns. We're keeping our wedding close to home---the venue isn't very far from our house, and we live within walking distance of 6 bridal salons. I'm using the wedding as an excuse to try out every craft project I possibly can, with the endless help and support of my fiance.
Well no, we didn’t send any thank you cards to India, but that song always gets into my head when I’m writing thank you notes. Speaking of which, I wrote our thank you notes!
They’re in the mail and everything. England and Ireland haven’t received theirs yet, but hopefully this week. It was a daunting task that I kept putting off. Before I finally buckled down and did them, the conversation went something like this:
Mrs. Biscuit, Morgantown, WVAge and Occupation: 24, Dental StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Chemist at a pharmaceutical companyEngagement Date: April 2010Wedding Date: July 2011Venue: Catholic Church, Lakeview Golf Resort and SpaAbout Me: I'm an engineer who decided to trek back to my hometown three years ago to become skilled in the arts of drilling and filling. I'm engaged to a pretty awesome guy who tests your assorted benzodiazepines by day and home brews by night. Together we have two fur children, Tsali and Tobias N. Fünkat. I'm a lazy perfectionist and eternal sorority girl who enjoys running, crafting, string cheese, good beer, and bad reality TV. We are planning a Big Fat Italian/Sicilian/Polish wedding filled with DIY details and are expecting 300 +/- 50 guests. Our whimsical summer affair is themed "Alice attends the Mad Hatter Vintage Garden Tea Party in a Ballroom. She Thinks That The Venue is Odd for a Vintage Garden Party, but is Tripping on LSD, so She Doesn't Really Care." Yes, I am the Dickens of themes.
I’ll be the first to admit it: I’m not that great at thank you notes. As a child, we had a special Hallmark program to make cards on our computer and the most commonly used one had a turtle on it:
It’s not that I wasn’t grateful for my gifts. I guess I’m kind of a procrastinator. OK, that’s a lie. I’m the Procrastinator. I’ll formally claim my title—someday.
But I know wedding thank you’s are something I cannot put off. Read more…
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!
In order to jazz up some oft-neglected reception spaces, I’m trying my hand at a few minor and manageable paper craft projects. I’m hoping with a little bit of money and a little bit of effort, these small touches will help to add some pop to different areas of our reception venue.
First up? The gift and card table. I know people won’t be spending oodles and oodles of time there; however, I like the idea of adding something special to it. I was smitten when I saw Mrs. Cheeseburger’s post showing her sweet and simple “Merci” banner that she used to decorate her gift table.
This project looked easy enough, so I decided to give it a go. As always, this is probably an endeavor that is full of easy steps for any relatively experienced crafter. But for craft-challenged brides like myself, it can have a few bumps and bruises. So, here’s what I like to call, “Thank you banners for dummies.”
Mrs. Elephant, Dallas, TXAge and Occupation: 27, Financial Operations AnalystFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, IT Student/Store ManagerEngagement Date: March 29, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: The Tribute Golf ClubAbout Me: I'm a Philly native creating roots deep in the heart of Texas. I might be a little obsessed capturing those Kodak moments of anything and everything (mainly on vacations). I've become more of a gamer thanks to Mr. Elephant, who I met online and can't wait to spend the rest of my life with. We are planning a wedding based on our favorite colors, blue and green, with a travel theme for 150 of our closest friends and family. Hopefully our long (2-year) engagement won't kill me!
We were very lucky to have such wonderful friends and family come from all over the country (as well as outside of the country) to Dallas to celebrate with us during our wedding weekend. Our wedding would not have been the same without the love and support of our guests, and their generosity in the gift giving area simply blew our minds.
Similar to the thank you cards that we made from our engagement pictures and used for shower gifts, I wanted to make photo thank you cards for the wedding. We almost forgot to have a picture taken on the wedding day with my awesome DIY sign, but thankfully right after the send off Mr. E reminded me and the photographers. We were able to get in some last minute shots before going back up to the bridal suite for champagne and cake.
I couldn’t decide on one picture (I have a feeling I am going to have a very hard time narrowing down pictures when it comes time to make our album), so guests either received this card: Read more…
Mrs. Eggs Benedict, SeattleAge and Occupation: 29, AttorneyFiance's Age and Occupation: 35, AttorneyEngagement Date: December 5, 2009Wedding Date: February 2011Venue: IslandWoodAbout Me: I'm a Northwest girl who spends my time goofing around with Mr. Eggs Benedict and our dog, hiking, traveling, drinking wine and planning a wedding that will showcase the best of what the Pacific Northwest has to offer. I also love photography, beating Mr. Eggs Bene at Mario Kart, and watching the most ridiculous natural disaster flicks you can think of (seriously, how can you deny the awesomeness that is The Core or 2012?? That's right, you can't). We are planning our weekend wedding adventure at an environmental educational center, and I can't wait for the fun to begin!
Back in December I was going to send out holiday cards for the first time with Mr. EB. You know, being engaged and all, I thought it was time.
And then the December craziness hit. With family in town. And us traveling to see family. And Christmas. And oh yeah, remember how we made our own invitations and we assembled and mailed them right after Christmas? Needless to say, holiday cards were not going to happen. But I had a coupon code for some free cards and I really wanted to use them, because c’mon, free! It was right around that time that I realized what with shower gifts, wedding presents starting to trickle in and other thank yous that I needed to send, I was going to need a whole lot of thank you cards. And that’s when I’ve had one of my few flashes of brilliance throughout this whole wedding planning fun.
I could make thank you cards with some more of our engagement photos! So I did! Read more…
Mrs. Cardigan, AustinAge and Occupation: 21, Student/Soon-to-be Special Education TeacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 20, Student/Soon-to-be Accounting Systems AnalystEngagement Date: August 16, 2009Wedding Date: January 2011Venue: Vintage VillasAbout Me: I'm a native Austinite who was raised as a die-hard Aggie. Luckily, I'm a pretty persuasive girl because I managed to convince my high school boyfriend (now fiance!), Mr. Cardigan, to ditch his hardcore Longhorn ways and join me up at A&M, where we currently reside with our adorable dogs, Cullen & Ranger. We're currently planning a bright, cheery wedding with a ridiculous amount of DIY projects that I can't wait to tackle! I love crafting in any form, reading, and margaritas (I think I love them the most!). Organization is what keeps me sane and I love helping others, which is probably why I ended up as an education major. It gets a little chaotic sometimes when you're planning a wedding among all of the papers, projects, finals, and certification exams, but we're having the time of our lives and we can't wait to get started on our journey as husband and wife - and we're so excited to share our wedding with the hive!
I got my issue of Brides magazine in the mail today, and for once I found something really useful in it! I’m not sure how I even got a subscription to it, but I have one and I’ve found that it (along with most wedding magazines) tends to have the same articles every month, just written slightly differently. It’s probably much more useful if you’re newly engaged, but for someone like me who has been engaged for what feels like FOREVER it’s definitely less than helpful.
Anyways, I was flipping through it and I saw an article that I was actually really excited about! I immediately ripped the page out so I could save it, and I thought y’all might appreciate how helpful it is.
Mrs. Giraffe, ChicagoAge and Occupation: 23, Graphic DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Music Student TeacherEngagement Date: October 23, 2008Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: Trinity Lutheran Church & Idlewild Country ClubAbout Me: Coming from the suburbs of the Windy City, you'll often find me with my foot in my mouth while laughing for no reason or telling bad knock knock jokes. I've been crafty for as long as I can remember, and will DIY something twice over before I have someone do it for me. I'm a semi-awkward, typeface obsessed, design junkie and have been know to break out my dance moves for no reason as well as try my best to be ridiculous at all times. My love of pop culture, wordplay, and graph paper almost rivals my love of Mr. Giraffe (who is just the bee's knees). After a 2.5 year engagement, we're planning a modern-in-disguise traditional wedding, and cannot wait!
We’ve already learned about dotted lines, glyphs, zig zag lines, and black & white effects, so I bet you’re wondering what could possibly come next. Today we’re going to use clipping masks to make a thank you card.
I know, I know, what a strangely specific thing to write about, right? But when I read Starfish’s post about thank you cards, I started wondering how else you could incorporate wedding photos into thank you cards— aside from the liners she made—besides the standard photo with ’thank you’ on top.
This is what I think of when I typically think of a wedding thank you card (Well, at least before I started reading Weddingbee and finding out about all those great ideas, anyway!):
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.
Creating the thank you notes was bittersweet. For a wedding loving girl it was sad, because I knew it was the end of my wedding planning. Thank God I have Weddingbee to relive every detail of the day! To be honest though, it also felt great, because DIY projects and wedding planning is time consuming!
Since the wedding is over and projects are complete, I’ve had much more time for friends and family. Including these lovely girls. Can you guess who they are? 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.
I felt like I was Christmas shopping the weeks leading up to the wedding with all the gifts we had to buy. It was so much fun! We of course did the gifts for our parents, wedding party, and each other, but there were a few other gifts that popped up.
Like gifts for readers. We weren’t really sure if you get something for the readers, but we chose people who are really special in our lives and wanted to get something to thank them not only for participating in our wedding ceremony, but for all the love and support they’ve given us over the years. Our readers were Mr. Starfish’s ant (yes, “ant”), my aunt, and Mr. Starfish’s cousin.
For Starfish Aunt and Ant, we got each of them a mix of treats from Newport Chocolates.
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.
Everything about our wedding was navy and white. I’ve really wanted to include color somewhere, but wasn’t sure where. Then it hit me—the thank you gifts! I wrapped part of the bridesmaids’ gifts in fun colors. It’s not a huge detail, but I was excited to include the fun pops of color.I started with the thank you notes.
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.
I’ve written many times about the other things we made using the laser cutter at Mr. Cola’s office, including rubber stamps, our cupcake tower, invitations and escort cards. And with only one wedding project left, I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to use it a final time!
Also, I was only able to find one “Thank You” paper punch in stores for some reason, but I wanted something a little different than the all caps text with the star/flower shape on top.
Mrs. Hot Wings, Chicago/San DiegoAge and Occupation: 28, ProfessorFiance's Age and Occupation: 32, InstructorEngagement Date: December 20, 2008Wedding Date: August 2010Venue: Ocean View Villas/Jasmine Seafood RestaurantAbout Me: I am a psychology grad student living in Chicago and planning my wedding to a fellow psych grad student. I am a Sunny So-Cal bred gal who trudged across the country to follow her love of psychology and ended up finding a partner in the process. I am overly passionate about anything I involve myself with. I am an activist, a foodie, a reality TV watching junkie, an over-analyzer, a photography obsesser, and am utterly cheesy to the core. This is a story of what happens when a boy and a girl meet, fall in love over academic dorkiness, and a shared love for life. We (mostly I) are planning our semi-destination wedding in my hometown of San Diego. We are excited to bring our families and friends together from across our lifespans to celebrate our future in a grand 400+ person culturally blended affair!
As a bride, showers are great because they don’t involve all that much work. You don’t have to plan anything. Someone else does the inviting, and you simply show up. You basically show up and feel special. That’s how it has been at least… until now! That’s right, the work has begun. For each lovely gift you receive, it is proper etiquette to send a thank you card.
Creating the thank you notes was bittersweet. For a wedding loving girl it was sad, because I knew it was the end of my wedding planning. Thank God I have Weddingbee to relive every detail of the day! To be honest though, it also felt great, because DIY projects and wedding planning is time consuming!
