The Engineer and I have been engaged for a year.
Which means I have been planning a wedding for a year.
And yet I BARELY write about anything wedding! Ironic considering the name of this blog. And considering that I host a wedding show.
With five months to go, I thought it was time to share some adventures in the planning of a wedding.
After taking a good few months (FIVE. Five months it took) to set a date and a place (I know brides who have their venue booked the same week they get engaged!), the Engineer and I sent out invitations.
We debated sending out 'Save the Dates' but felt that as it was a destination wedding and we didn't want to pay for postage twice, we just sent our invite out early.
How long have 'Save the Dates' been around? I have gotten a few for some weddings I have attended, but for the most part I didn't know they even existed. Now they seem to be the norm.
Damn wedding industry. Always inventing new things for crazy brides to buy into.
Urm.
I am that crazy bride. Not that I bought 'save the dates' but I did insist on stamps that had an engagement picture of the Engineer and myself, return address labels that co-ordinated with our invites and vintage ink stamps that said words like 'Firenze' 'Roma' to get people in the Italian mood.
Cute picture for a stamp right?
This is how it begins. With something so seemingly small and insignificant (only one person noticed my awesome stamps) then turns into escort cards and personal menus that all are stamped with our wedding logo.
Yes friends, people are now branding their weddings. And don't put it past me. I LOVE branding things.
I felt that I could justify the stamps and return labels due to the fact we saved so much on our invites. We didn't want to typical invitations (no judgement on typical invitations!). We wanted something fun, unique and memorable.
And we found it on Etsy. Have you discovered Etsy? I LOVE ETSY! I found it last year sometime and have since been an ADDICT. ADDICT! Half the stuff from my wedding is Etsy.
Anyhoo, I was pretty shocked that invites could be up to $5 an invite. WTF? FIVE DOLLARS? I shouldn't be surprised seeing as Hallmark cards are $7 now. Dear god. It's paper.
You know how you know what you want but don't know what it looks like yet and therefore can't express it?
That's how it was with my invites. Our invites.
I was practically cross-eyed as I flipped (what do you do online? Flip? Turn? Scan?) until the PERFECT invite jumped out at me.
And with a bit of back and forth with a very lovely artist, the invite was made even more perfect. Check it our for yourself:
Isn't it cute??
EEEEEEEE! It's the Engineer and me in a balloon over Italy! Oh, the Engineer's name is Jody. Guess the jig is up (it's jig, not gig - I checked).
A bargain in the world of invites. $2.30 for the first 60 and each thereafter $1.50! Woohoo! She has more cute designs for weddings, baby showers, etc here.
We were really happy that this invite reflected us. Seeing as we are so often in a hot air balloon over Tuscany. I'm not really sure how it reflects us, but it does.
And the response from our friends was great! So many people texted, emailed and called to tell us how much they loved their invites. I'm always happy when I go to a family or friend's house and see our invite up on the fridge.
There you go. Planning a wedding? Think outside the box. Fun postcards may just be your thing! And your budget . . . .
Which means I have been planning a wedding for a year.
And yet I BARELY write about anything wedding! Ironic considering the name of this blog. And considering that I host a wedding show.
With five months to go, I thought it was time to share some adventures in the planning of a wedding.
After taking a good few months (FIVE. Five months it took) to set a date and a place (I know brides who have their venue booked the same week they get engaged!), the Engineer and I sent out invitations.
We debated sending out 'Save the Dates' but felt that as it was a destination wedding and we didn't want to pay for postage twice, we just sent our invite out early.
How long have 'Save the Dates' been around? I have gotten a few for some weddings I have attended, but for the most part I didn't know they even existed. Now they seem to be the norm.
Damn wedding industry. Always inventing new things for crazy brides to buy into.
Urm.
I am that crazy bride. Not that I bought 'save the dates' but I did insist on stamps that had an engagement picture of the Engineer and myself, return address labels that co-ordinated with our invites and vintage ink stamps that said words like 'Firenze' 'Roma' to get people in the Italian mood.
This is how it begins. With something so seemingly small and insignificant (only one person noticed my awesome stamps) then turns into escort cards and personal menus that all are stamped with our wedding logo.
Yes friends, people are now branding their weddings. And don't put it past me. I LOVE branding things.
I felt that I could justify the stamps and return labels due to the fact we saved so much on our invites. We didn't want to typical invitations (no judgement on typical invitations!). We wanted something fun, unique and memorable.
And we found it on Etsy. Have you discovered Etsy? I LOVE ETSY! I found it last year sometime and have since been an ADDICT. ADDICT! Half the stuff from my wedding is Etsy.
Anyhoo, I was pretty shocked that invites could be up to $5 an invite. WTF? FIVE DOLLARS? I shouldn't be surprised seeing as Hallmark cards are $7 now. Dear god. It's paper.
You know how you know what you want but don't know what it looks like yet and therefore can't express it?
That's how it was with my invites. Our invites.
I was practically cross-eyed as I flipped (what do you do online? Flip? Turn? Scan?) until the PERFECT invite jumped out at me.
And with a bit of back and forth with a very lovely artist, the invite was made even more perfect. Check it our for yourself:
Isn't it cute??
EEEEEEEE! It's the Engineer and me in a balloon over Italy! Oh, the Engineer's name is Jody. Guess the jig is up (it's jig, not gig - I checked).
A bargain in the world of invites. $2.30 for the first 60 and each thereafter $1.50! Woohoo! She has more cute designs for weddings, baby showers, etc here.
We were really happy that this invite reflected us. Seeing as we are so often in a hot air balloon over Tuscany. I'm not really sure how it reflects us, but it does.
And the response from our friends was great! So many people texted, emailed and called to tell us how much they loved their invites. I'm always happy when I go to a family or friend's house and see our invite up on the fridge.
There you go. Planning a wedding? Think outside the box. Fun postcards may just be your thing! And your budget . . . .
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