Sep 3, 2010
Posted on Sep 3, 2010 in paper goods | 3 comments
Yowza! I’m so excited to (finally) share our entire invitation suite with all you lovely people. If you’ve been following along with my extremely bizarre anatomy analogy (it just popped into my head one day, go figure), then you’ve already seen the skin and bones of our invitations. And you’re dying to see more. Or you’re just sick of how drawn out this reveal is, but indulge the crazy a little mkay?
I promise I’ll shut up now and get to the point already. Set. Go. We’ll start with…
Our Awesome Invitation Suite:
I have no words, just LOVE!
Again From a Different Angle:
And now one yummy little detail at a time starting with…
The Envelope:
Black Envelopes/White Calligraphy make me swoon. The Envelopes are 6 1/2 x 6 1/2 Squares from Paper Source. And big thanks to Cupcake for her amazing post on designing your own invites- the tip on starting with the envelopes was invaluable! As for calligraphy, I had the best luck using cheapie white gel pens and I made it up as I went along- no way we could afford a pro! Bonus: I picked up a new skill. 
The Inner Envelope:
It became apparent that we needed a way to bundle up the many pieces of our invite and the translucent vellum envelopes offered a little glimpse of our custom artwork. We ordered 6×6 envelopes here and the service was lovely and quick.
The Name Tag:
Probably my favorite part. I have miles and miles of muslin lying around the house, and with the stamps I already had this was a totally free and uber personal way to inform our guests exactly who was included in their invitation.
Don’t Worry! We Didn’t Forget Michelle:
Each guest got their own little muslin tag and for friends who we gave a +1 to, there was an additional tag that said “and guest.”
The Inner Envelopes Backside:
Sigh. More vellum goodness.
Our Actual Invitation/RSVP Tag:
I designed our invitations in Illustrator and printed them off our home printer onto Paper Bag text weight paper from Paper Source. CAUTION: While the text weight of paper bag looks exactly like a brown paper bag in delicious shade/tone/texture, the cover weight is a different/disappointing color and not nearly as awesome/tactile. Since we printed the invites on a light weight paper, we backed ‘em with some black Arches paper from an art store.
And Again:
Not that anyone will notice (except maybe a few paper-crazed readers) but all the paper for our invitations was torn with a tearing edge ruler so as to have a lovely deckle…
An Original Lino Print by Moi:
Did I say the tags were my favorite part? I lied. The artwork is my favorite favorite. It was really important to us that we included something with our invitations that our guests could actually keep/use/display. Now I know the peeps we invited love us and all that jazz, but I don’t really expect that they’re gonna cherish and/or display our envelope or the text of our invitation. But maybe, just maybe, they’ll hang on to an easily framable piece of art?! (IKEA, Ribba $4.99, and yes we made the art this size on purpose) Or not. C’est la vie. The art gets its own post, so I’ll shut up now.
RSVP Tag:
We were a little (teeny tiny) bit green after all and opted not to do RSVP cards/envelopes. Or we were cheap and didn’t wanna shell out left for stamps…. Anyhoo, these manilla tags are a job liability of mine (they’re lying around everywhere) so we decided to put them to good use and let our guests know to check our website for more info and to RSVP.
And FINIS.
Thanks for being so attentive and indulging my crazy! In the end our invitations are exactly what we wanted them to be- unique, artistic, informal, and affordable. We did spend a considerable (incalculable?!) amount of time on them though, so if you’re planning on going the DIY route I recommend starting EVEN earlier than you are planning. Maybe even before you get engaged.
What do you think lovelies- is DIY worth it to you or would you rather shell out the cold hard cash?
Sep 2, 2010
Posted on Sep 2, 2010 in paper goods | 4 comments
Okay. Are you ready to see exactly what our guests found after they recovered from swooning* over the skin (envelopes/calligraphy/liners) of our invitations?
First A Little Reminder:
After ripping into these bad boys (swoons & smelling salts aside of course) our guests were greeted with a translucent vellum envelope:
Specifically, they were greeted with one of the following three colors peeking through the vellum:
The envelopes were tied up with bakers twine and bore individual little muslin tags stamped with a heart, and our guests names:
The name tags are one of my favorite parts and man were they a serious labor of love! They took a bridesmaid, a couple dogs, my awesome-sauce alphabet rolling stamp, and loads of time:
And I LOVE ‘em! (The tags, the maid, and the dogs!)
Here’s A Closer Look:
It was really important to us that our invitations make our guests feel like they were getting a special little package in the mail. A beautiful little present. Of course, I *do* realize that most folks just rip into invites and don’t go all gaga the way us abouttobemarried peeps do, but I’m still hoping our invites put a smile on our guests faces and made them feel just a little extra special. All paper, twine, and vellum aside, our wedding is quite simply a celebration with the most special people in our lives. And it felt really good to reach out and invite ‘em!
And that my lovelies concludes this portion of our awesome invitation anatomy: the bones. Next up: The guts (aka. The Big Reveal!) of our Invites of Awesomeness!
Whew! Just writing this post has made me tired all over again! It’s a little mind boggling how much work we put into these invitations, although we were totally, 110% satisfied with the results. As were our wallets. Big Smile.
Did you spend countless hours making your own invitations? If so, I’m curious why you went the DIY route? Budget? Artistry? Blogland pressure to DIY every-’effing-thing? Or something else? AND if you were a super sane bride who just shelled out the cash, were you able to get exactly what you were looking for?
Sep 1, 2010
Posted on Sep 1, 2010 in paper goods | 3 comments
Just in case you’ve been wondering if we actually invited anyone to this awesome shindig of ours, I think it’s high time I talk gush about our invitations. Just a little gushing mkay? And maybe a photo or two. No big deal.
First off, my most sincere apologies to the trees. As green as our wedding will be in a lot of ways, the invitations are not one of them. What can I say? Hangs head in shame. I absolutely LOVE paper.
And that brings me to these invitations of ours. Our relationship was hot, heavy, and all-consuming. I should have mentioned them earlier, but quite frankly we just needed a little break from each other. I was sick of their constant and increasing demands- a liner here, a little twine there, an inner vellum envelope in a nearly impossible to find size, and the list went on. Our invitations were a demanding lover, and finally I had to say enough is enough.
After the post office lied to us about the amount of postage it would take to get these invitations out of my life (*shakes fist), I resigned myself to slapping a blue goat (“It’s a ram, a ram is better right?” said the placating postal worker) on the last few invites and dropping them in the mail. Yes. You read correctly. Some of our wedding invitations required an additional 15 cents postage, and damn it if that blue goat wasn’t our savior. But that’s a beast for another post. Har. Har.
And so without further ado I give you our invitations, boxed up and ready to go in all their glory:
The Front of the Envelope:
Calligraphy by moi:
It’s been a few weeks and since I’m out of practice I almost ran out of room for the “Obama.” Oops. Oh well.
Stamps to die for:
The Liner:
A Closer Look:
And there you have it. That’s the skinny (and the skin) of our most excellent invitations. Still to come: The bones, the guts, and finally the heart (awwww) of our invitations. So stick around mkay?
Anyone else recently kick that demanding invitation lover to the curb? Doesn’t it feel good to know how much effort you put into the relationship now that it’s over? Smile. And I certainly don’t miss those non-stop crafting days one little bit…
Aug 29, 2010
Posted on Aug 29, 2010 in awesomeness | 2 comments
Last weekend was our bridal shower, and it rained big buckets of lurrrve here in Los Angeles! It was torrential actually.
And totally amazing.
Remember when I wrote about my dress and how I’ve been overcome with gratitude while planning this wedding shindig of ours and blah blah blah? Well folks, during our shower the gratitude reached critical mass, and now my heart has swelled so big it just might burst right out of my chest! I’m not sure how I’m gonna make it through the next three (three!) weeks, and I certainly hope it doesn’t affect the fit of my dress. I’m just saying…
You need a few examples? No worries. I got examples.
My mom sat in the airport for almost 12 hours just to get a flight to Los Angeles. My mom was here you guys! I don’t even have words for this, but it made me SO happy. And I think she had fun too:
Bridesmaid J (and her bun) drove all the way down from San Francisco and turned our house into a delicious french wonderland.
Lil’ Stripe left her new puppy at home (I finally met the pup, and trust me, this must have been super hard) to organize and wrangle our friends into a fantastic party.
And our RAD friends and family showed up to celebrate our awesome (and imminent) wedding. The love, support, excitement and champagne pouring from our friends and family was truly amazing and something I wasn’t all together prepared for. And the smiles. There were lots of smiles:
And presents! We got to open presents! (Which to be honest is a little awkward when everyone is watching, but whatever, we got presents!)
And the pups got to have a little fun too:
And the flowers were gorgeous:
And the favors were yummy:
And we received my most favorite non-registry gift ever:
It’s a vintage statue/vase of two little girls. Gal pals, if you will. On one side is carved “I heart D” and on the other side “S heart’s D.” Pretty awesome right? A little lesbeean history in our living room, perhaps? I sure like to think so! And this little gem will definitely be making an appearance at the wedding- so big thanks D!!!
And then it was over. So. Damn. Quick.
We spent the two days afterwards talking about how much fun it was and what this person said, or how happy we were that person came, and then it hit us: The wedding is going to be just as amazing, just as fantastic and overflowing with love, and over just as quick. Gulp.
And so as we enter these last few weeks leading up to our wedding it’s sure to be crazy, but we’re gonna do our best to actually be present and squeeze every last bit of joy out of every single moment.
What about you guys? Were you crazy surprised at how fast it all was over? Any tips for staying present and enjoying the moments as they fly by?
Aug 20, 2010
Posted on Aug 20, 2010 in fashion, the dress | 4 comments
So I never really had the thisismydress moment. And I didn’t shed any tears. But I do feel really content, happy, and even a little giddy about my wedding dress.
I LOVE the dress aesthetically, ethically, and emotionally.
Are you dying to know which dress I chose?
I chose romance
I chose ruffles
I chose the dress that makes me feel pretty
I chose independent design
I chose reuse
I chose to borrow my dress from the incredible and amazingly generous Mrs. Mouse.
And I could not be more grateful. Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you x a bajillion Mouse!
Seriously. The lady is letting me borrow her beautiful wedding dress people! That’s huge! My budget and my heart are bursting with happiness. And gratitude of a magnitude (ha!) that I find difficult to express. I LOVE that my dress was worn by another beautiful bride and that it has a history, a story, a beautiful happy past.
It’s funny, but as this little wedding journey of ours draws to a close, gratitude is the emotion I am most often overcome with.
I am so grateful to have found someone to adventure through life with. And grateful to all our friends, family, coworkers, and even random strangers (or lovely blog friends) for their support, encouragement and excitement about this grandiose adventure. It means the world the to me.
But I’m sure by now your eyes have gone crossed and all you’re reading is blah, blah, blah. So without further ado I give you my dress, and a sneak peak at my bouquet too! Feast your eyes lovelies, because this is the last you’ll read/see of my dress before the big day.
What emotion are you most often overcome with while wedding planning? And would you ever lend/borrow your wedding dress?
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