Invitation Envelopes

While I'm waiting for my mom and Steve's mom to provide us with the addresses for our Save the Date cards, I've been busy thinking about the invitations! One of the latest additions to our To-Do List from The Knot is to order our invitations, so I feel like I need to get on board with their design!

I was hoping to get away with folding the cardstock in such a way that it could be an envelope in and of itself, like this example...
That way, I could save money on envelopes and the presentation would still be super cute! The only problem is that I usually see this style inside of another envelope, like this...

Is there some sort of invitation etiquette that I'm missing out on?!?

Now that I've come to terms with the fact that I'll need envelopes, the mission has been to find the cutest ones at the lowest price! Here's what I've found...


At just $1.09 each, they're a pretty good deal! :) While they may be the most expensive part of the invitation, I think they'll be a nice touch.

*Edit: I take back every single time I've ever said how much I love math and how it was my best subject in school! The envelopes are only $0.11 each! Hehe, forget to carry the decimal over two places!*

If worse comes to worse and I don't want the added cost, I'll either just found some simple white envelopes or try my idea of using the invitation itself as an envelope.

As far as sizes go, I will probably go with the A7 envelope, which will fit a 5" x 7" invitation. Not too big, not too small! Since we are sending about 115 invitations and 115 thank you cards (230 total, if you do the math!), we'll probably get three boxes - 2 pink and 1 orange. Hehe, I always have to overdose on the pink!

Ciao,

Flower Ideas

I had to write this down before I forget! We won't be meeting with our florist again until a few weeks before the wedding, so I wanted to make sure I remember this!

I've been struggling to figure out a way to incorporate our pink and orange colors into our flowers. You see, I'm dead set on having an all pink bouquet. I don't know why, but I'm just not as much of a fan of multi-colored bouquets. I want to carry a hot pink ball of flowers down the aisle!
With my pink shoes and white dress, I won't be carrying a lick of orange. So, I think it would be cute if Steve were decked out in orange!

Hehe, okay...maybe not that much orange! Maybe an orange boutonniere, white vest, and orange pocket square? Or perhaps an orange vest and white pocket square?

Then, for the bridesmaids, who will be wearing a black dress, black shoes, and pink sash (again, no orange in the outfit), they could carry orange flowers. The orange bouquets will be used as centerpieces on the head table during dinner, so we would have a pink runner across the front of the head table, similar to this picture...

For the groomsmen (sorry to jump from ceremony to reception then back to ceremony!), they would probably wear orange vests with pink boutonnieres, sort of flip-flopping the colors of the bridesmaids.

I've been contemplating this whole flower/color dilemma for quite some time now, but I think I have it sorted out!

Ciao,

Duty Sheet: Maid of Honor

Here's my next installment of the duty sheet - this time for the maid of honor!

(click to enlarge)

It's pretty similar to the duty sheet for the bridesmaids, but, obviously, tweaked slightly for the Maid of Honor's additional roles, such as holding my bouquet during the ceremony or giving a speech during the reception dinner.

Ciao,

Duty Sheet: Bridesmaids

One of the overdue items on my to-do list is to make sure our bridal party knows what is expected of them. While I did discuss this slightly with my MOH, we agreed that having something written down would be much easier to remember!

I will be putting together a "duty sheet" for the MOH, bridesmaids, best man, and groomsmen (assuming Steve approves of this!), but I thought I'd start with the bridesmaids...

(click to enlarge)

I tried to keep it short so it won't get too overwhelming! Equipped with their "duty sheet" and wedding itinerary, the bridesmaids should be on top of everything!

Ciao,

In Case You Get Lost in the Mail

Well, phase two of our Save the Dates is under way...the return labels! I contemplated hand-writing the return address, but I couldn't resist making these cute return address labels!

(Obviously, the ?'s are filled in with the actually numbers or letters, but I'm a stickler for privacy! )

The faces, which are supposed to be Steve and me (and they're actually pretty accurate!), were created at pose prints. If they look familiar, you're very observant! I used them for my blog heading!

All in all, I'm so happy with this project! My handwriting can get pretty sloppy pretty fast, so hand-addressing all of them will be hard enough!

Ciao,

Invitation Iterations

Although I still need to finish the Save the Dates, I'm already thinking about the invitations! Honestly, though, I've been thinking about them for some time! I think I've gone through about five completely different iterations so far...

From a purple and blue (yes, I said purple and blue...told you they'd be completely different!) version of this vintage-inspired invite...

to a pink and orange version of this elegant stationary...

My latest (and hopefully final!) iteration mimics the Save the Dates with the damask stamping technique. Although, I may get a little fancy and use embossing powder! Here's what I had in mind...

(click image to enlarge)

The response card, which would be about postcard size (which makes sense b/c, well, it'll be a postcard!), would be in a little pocket. I considered adding a direction card as well, but most people these days have access to a computer or GPS, so I figured they can map it themselves! :) Plus, we added a little blurb at the bottom about our wedding website, so guests can go there for directions and such.

I'm not entirely sure how big the invitations will be. I initially considering making them to fit an A2 envelope (4-3/8x 5-3/4"), but now I'm considering making them slightly larger to fill an A7 envelope (5-1/4 x 7-1/4"). But, I won't worry about that until I get Microsoft Office back on my computer and I can start playing around with them again!

*Side note: See the cute little pink blurred out word on the first line? That's my last name. See the much longer pink blurred out word just underneath? That's Steve's last name. Ugh, not looking forward to that name change! :P

Ciao,

The Dress

Now that I'm done with school, I have a bit more time to focus on wedding stuff! I've completed the card box, tackled the Save the Dates, and started on the favors, but I've been neglecting one major project...the dress!

The Background Info
Now, let me tell you, I love fashion! Since I was little, I've been sketching dresses, shoes, skirts, tops, you name it! I'm honestly a little surprised I never went into fashion design, but I always tell myself that I'll pursue fashion design once I become a famous construction manager. :)

I'm also the type of person who knows EXACTLY what she wants! This can be a blessing and a curse, depending on the situation. I can't tell you how many times I've gone shopping with a specific item in mind and had to go home empty-handed because my criteria was too strict! On the rare occasion do I actually find exactly what I've been looking for (like my wedding shoe find!). However, I knew this wouldn't be the case with the dress...

So, with all of that in mind, I decided I was going to make my own wedding dress! I scoured the internet for inspiration, ranging from designer duds on style.com to simply chic dresses from j.crew. It wasn't until I thought back to my favorite dress from Project Runway Season 5 Finale by designer Kenley Collins that I knew how I wanted my dress to look:

Ok, so my skirt won't be quite as large and the top won't have a geometric pattern to it, but the sweetheart neckline, poofy skirt, and layers of tulle are right up my alley! I'm still a little nervous to even begin the skirt, but I have nearly completed the top...

Ignore the belt - I wanted to show some waist definition (plus, I used it to mark where the waistband above the skirt is going to be).

Unfortunately, the picture above doesn't show the fabulous fabrics, so here they are, up close and personal!

Off-White Silk Dupioni


Off-White Tulle

I've received mixed responses when showing the Project Runway inspiration picture to family and friends, but I'm confident I can, in the words of Project Runway's Tim Gunn, make it work!

Ciao,