Invitations are done!!

WOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!! So glad to have these puppies done!

This is what our guests will be greeted with when they open the outer envelope...

(Source: yours truly) Our "wax" (glue gun sealing wax, so much easier than the old method!)

And this is what they will find once they open the inner envelope...

(Source: yours truly)

And all the pieces...

Invitation, RSVP card & envelope and direction/accommodation card (Source: yours truly)

Close up of our invitation and RSVP card....

The small writing at the top of the invitation says "Two friends united in love, one love united in Christ."

(Source: yours truly)

I couldn't possibly be happier with how they turned out! These Brides kits from Michael's were a lifesaver. It was DIY but not from scratch. And I'm so glad I decided to change the ribbon color to purple! So what do you think?

Two

Two months to go until the wedding!!!!! And let me tell you, I can't believe it! I will try and continue to get some posts up for you all but be patient with me. I have LOTS done already but I swear every time I cross something off the to-do list, there are four more things to add to it! ughhh On top of all the wedding planning, Charles and I are getting ready to begin the task of painting every room in the house. It needs it soo badly and will make the place look so much better when we're done. Hopefully we can get it all finished before it's time for me to move all my things into his house!

And today, all of the invitations went out in the mail! I'm so glad they are done and now going out to all our guests! Here are all 168 invitations ready to just before I mailed them! :D

(Source: yours truly)

Wedding Shower Invitation

As I shared about a week ago, my wedding shower is set for February 13th and I am sooo excited! Unlike most brides, this will be the only shower I will be having. And unlike most brides, I had a good deal of involvement in the planning process for the shower. My maid of honor lives over 7 hours away so needless to say it wasn't possible for her to plan the shower. My mom is having to do almost everything for it but she's loving it and she's asked some of her good friends (who I know well) to help her out. I created the invitations for the shower and am ready to share the design with you all now that everyone has received the invites!

(Source: yours truly)
(Source: yours truly)

I have always loved the "Love Is" cartoons and have also always wanted to somehow incorporate them into the wedding. With the shower invitations, I figured out how! I just love how they came out. However about halfway through making them, I was seriously wishing I hadn't decided to do ribbon on both the front and back of the invites, that was some tedious work! But it totally paid off!

So what do you think? Have you been more involved in the planning and details of your shower than you ever expected?

Thank You Louise!!

This post goes out to Louise (The Thirty Something Bride) with a big huge THANK YOU!

Your suggestion to sell my "mistake" stamps on eBay worked! I never would have even thought to sell them on eBay but your suggestion made me look into the option.

Well, I sold all 4 unopened rolls of stamps I had and only came out $20 short. Which isn't too bad I suppose. Bottom line, I got rid of those ugly flag stamps and was able to get the King & Queen of Hearts stamps instead!

(Source)

We may end up having to use 2 stamps per invitation and if so, we'll be able to use both the King and the Queen. (As pictured above.) And I think that it would be really cute! So anyways, thank you so much Louise for the suggestion, you're a lifesaver! :D

And for those that pray, I'm still without a job so keep me in your prayers!

Well That's Settled!

(Source)

Thank you to all of you who comment on my post about invitation wording! You were a great help! :)

So to update you all, I decided to stick with the following (which is what I had originally):
on Saturday, the first of May
two thousand and ten
at three o'clock in the afternoon

As for the wedding website address...I nixed it. Not only would it have been impossible to fit on the invitation but it just wouldn't have looked right! As Ready to be Mrs. B! suggested, I'm going to see about fitting it on the accommodations card that will go in with the invitation. I know it isn't necessary but I'm a little concerned. Our save-the-dates will be electronic and not paper so the e-mails could easily get deleted and the information would then be lost.

I was able to include that saying I loved on our invitations. The FI loved it, just as I thought it would! I'm so happy with how the wording, format and look has turned out!

Here's a tiny little sneak peak of the wording. The big reveal won't come until after the invitations have been received by guests so this will have to tide you over until then....

(Source: yours truly)

The above graces the top of our invitations! The font we chose is called "Adine Kirnberg Script" and I downloaded it from dafont.com.

We had the font choices narrowed down to three options; Adine, Brock Script and Edwardian Script. We liked all three but Adine looked the best with our invitations. Brock and Edwardian both looked too "thick" and "heavy". Thankfully the FI picked Adine as his favorite before I told him it was my favorite and what we'd need to go with because of layout and space reasons! :D

Now it's time to play with the reply card layout and mess around with the accommodation/direction insert.

Just A Few Things

So our wedding website is now up and ready for the viewing! Go check it out here and let me know what you think! Be sure to sign our guest book too if you'd like! :)

I haven't talked anymore about our Save-the-Dates because I haven't done ANYTHING with them. I've decided to wait and send them once we get our engagement pictures taken and I have some fabulous images from Wes & Danielle to play around with. My rush in wanting to get them out ASAP was my OCDness and the major planner in me rearing its ugly head. The wedding is ten months away, waiting until the end of July or early August to get the save-the-dates out is not going to be the end of the world! lol So I'm waiting. We don't have an appointment set for our e-session yet because our photographers were out of town and I'm hoping to lose a little more weight before I get in front of the camera.*

Yesterday, I had an epiphany. I got the most random idea in my head about how I can achieve the balloon look I'm envisioning in my head for the reception tent. Use white decorative fishing nets! Let me explain, the nets can be hung from the frame supports of the tent and connected together to cover the whole area of the tent ceiling. The balloons can be tied to the net all at once before each section is hung from the frame and the nets tied together. That way, we won't have to hang one balloon at a time (which would take forever to put up and take down). Hopefully this weekend I'll be able to illustrate what I'm thinking so I can show you. I was worried about the cost of the nets, but I found some very reasonably priced ones on amazon.com!

And because no post is a good post without beautiful pictures I bring you these.....

(Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7)

Those stunning images are from Kauai, Hawaii. Kauai is where Charles and I are planning to honeymoon! We don't have any other details about the honeymoon at this time so there will be more on this later. But I wanted to give you a sneak peak. ;)

*When I bought my dress back in March (which should be in at the end of this month/beginning of July!) I didn't set any goals with myself about losing weight. I was at a comfortable and healthy weight for myself and didn't feel like I needed to lose any weight for the wedding. I just didn't want to gain anything. So guess what happened....I've gained weight since I got my dress...and more than just a few pounds too. I was so mad when I discovered this. I can be a stress eater....and things at work for a while were oh so stressful. I'm talking not knowing if I would have a job the next day stressful. On top of that, I don't have much to do at work and I was having literally having to eat to stay awake (caffeine didn't help) while I was at work. It wasn't good. I'm being VERY careful about what I'm eating now and have been taking Alli to help shed the pounds even faster. I've already lost some weight and want to lose a little more before we get our e-pics taken.

Will You Be My ________? DIY Cards

Today I thought I'd share a DIY project with you. Unfortunately, when I made these cards, I wasn't thinking that I'd one day be blogging about them so I don't have pictures to walk you through the steps. However, I got my idea from Jenn over at With This Ring.... For the how-to go check out her post on DIY Jewelry Cards.

I loved Jenn's concept of the DIY Jewelry Cards and I knew I wanted to make some cards of my own...just not for jewelry (at least not to start with, more on that another time though). I wanted to make my MOH and my BM cards officially asking them to be in the wedding. Now my girls already knew that they would have the affore mentioned titles come the wedding before I was even engaged. But I still wanted to officially ask them. Plus I love all things DIY and crafty so it was a perfect excuse to make some beautiful cards for my girls!

I'll show you the pictures I took of my finished cards first and then tell you how I changed Jenn's original design to meet my needs and make them unique.

(Source: yours truly - click to enlarge)

First up is the card I made for Lindsey, my MOH. Secondly, is the card for Bridesmaid Javiera. Unlike most brides out there, I made these cards in colors that each girl likes. All the gifts I have for L&J are gifts in their favorite colors. The only gift for them that's in the wedding colors is the jewelry I'm gifting them (more on it another time). I wanted to make sure that the gifts I give them will be enjoyed and well used. And since neither of them have a deep passion for purple like I do, I chose to go with colors I know they like. The gifts are for them and therefore, they should fit each girl and her personality...not mine or the weddings. lol

Anyways, on to the changes I made from Jenn's original idea.
1) I chose to make the cards square.
2) I used the Scallop blade on my Fiskars Desktop Rotary Trimmer to give the edges of the cards a really unique look. (I found the trimmer at Tuesday Morning for $19.99 and then saw it at Michael's for over $50!)
3) I also used the scallop blade to cut the slit for the ribbon to go through the card, I really like the look that created.
4) I obviously did not make the slit for a necklace or holes for earrings.
5) I added a piece of the ribbon to the right flap of the card because to me it just didn't look right without it there.
6) Instead of using alphabet stickers for the girls initals, I found $1.00 inital stamps at Michael's and stamped their inital on the top right corner on the cover for the cards.

That's it! Pretty darn simple if I do say so myself. Even if you aren't too crafty or arty I think you could easily master this DIY project!

I do have one recommendation for you though. The decorative paper I chose for BM J's card was a little heavier than the paper for MB L's card and because of this, once it was glued onto the stock paper and I folded the card it caused the decorative paper to crack. I ended up have to go back and put ribbon over the folded edges of BM J's card to cover this up. So when you pick out your paper, opt for thinner options if possible!

Are you going to create a DIY Jewelry Card holder like Jenn created or are you going to change the design and keep it a true card design?

Thank You, Thank You Very Much

Couldn't help but steal some Elvis words for this post!

Again, I'm breaking the away from what's normally done with stationery. Usually everything coordinates perfectly. From invitations, programs, shower invites and table numbers to escort cards and seating charts. But when you're working on a really tight budget you just don't have that luxury...at least I don't. Not to mention that I DON'T CARE if my stationery items don't match! I like no, I love each and every thing I've bought to date and have managed to keep at least one thing consistent with all items...PURPLE.

All this jibber jabber brings me to my thank you notes. I found them at Wal-Mart in the craft department and again....they were ON SALE! Woo! I love how when I'm not looking for wedding related stuff I just stumble upon it...and find great deals too! They are from Martha Stewart (her wedding line). Who I will admit at one time I absolutely could not stand. However, since her little stay at "Camp Cupcake" I find her much more enjoyable to watch...she's just not so anal about everything anymore and frankly she was a b**** before her stay there! :D

Anyhoo, back to the thank you notes. They were originally priced at $10.96 per 40 pack. However, I happened to find them on sale for $7.99 per 40 pack!! I bought all four packs they had. They are from her wedding Eyelet collection. I had been scouring the net to find thank you notes that I liked and were within my budget but it just wasn't happening. I wanted something unique, something with more eye pleasing details to it than just a while piece of card stock with the words "thank you" on it. These thank you cards are exactly what I was looking for and I was able to turn them into a little DIY project to add some purple to them too! So without further adieu here they are!

This is what they look like straight out of the box. (Source: yours truly)

Eyelet detail. (Source: yours truly)

And this is what they look like now that I'm done with them! (Source: yours truly)

New eyelet detail! (Source: yours truly)

How'd I do it? It was so simple! Just measure the width of the cards and then the height of the eyelet design and cut paper strips (of your color choice) to those dimensions. Then take a handy dandy double sided tape runner and place some tape at each end and in the middle of the strip and place it on the inside bottom of the card. Don't place it directly behind the eyelet design or your tape runner strips will show through...and yes, even if you use clear it will show! That's why you adhere the strip to the bottom of the thank you note. You get the pop of color through the eyelets and then it's still there when the invitation is open.

Cutting the paper strips. (Source: yours truly)

Applying the tape runner. (Sorry it's blurry!) (Source: yours truly)

I love how they turned out. With the addition of the purple behind the eyelet design I think it looks so much better and makes the detail of the eyelet pop! I got this simple little DIY embellishment project done in about an hour and a half. And I incurred no additional cost because I had the purple paper on hand already! So what do you think? I adore them! :)

Are you finding some of your wedding related items when you're not even looking?

Priceless Photos

I love the new idea of Flickr photo sharing cards! I first stumbled across the concept over at www.weddingbee.com. Miss Candy Corn, Miss Cream Puff, Miss Lemon, Miss Penguin and so many others created Flickr accounts and photo reminder cards so their guests could share their pictures with them after the wedding! How awesome is that!?

As a photography lover, I want to be able to see the photos that our guests are able to capture at the wedding. They are scattered in many different locations and can capture different angles, scenes and moments that our photographer won't be able to get; because lets face it, they can't be in every single place...as much as I wish they could be. ;)

Back at the beginning of the month I sat down and designed our Flickr cards from scratch. Because I'm poor and can't afford Photoshop, I used PowerPoint. I have discovered that working in PP on a Mac opens up a lot more editing options than you have when working with it in Windows. Here's what I came up with, the first image is the front of the card and the second is the back. Remember you can view the images larger by clicking on them.

(Source: yours truly)

(Source: yours truly)

When I sat down to design the cards, I had no vision as to what I wanted them to look like. I was just going to play around a bit, maybe come up with a few different options and see which one I liked most. This was my first and only design and I just love how it came out!

The tree design came from the kiss the groom. They have this thing called The Kissing Tree...you should really go check it out! It's a generator that places your text in the heart on the tree. So cool! I found it on another brides blog a while back but I can't remember which one, I loved it instantly and made a lot of trees.

For the Flickr card though I had to use a photo editing program to erase what the kissing tree placed inside the heart. The text I wanted there wouldn't fit using their site so I did it myself. It's kind of hard to read in the image but in the tree it says "Kristal & Charles May 1, 2010". And the top quote says "A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels about what is being photographed in the deepest sense, and is, thereby a true expression of what one feels about life in its entirety. ~ Ansel Adams" I've seen lots of flickr cards with the popular quote "A picture is worth a thousand words" but I wanted something different...hence the Ansel Adams quote.

I'm still undecided about how I'll get the cards to my guests and if I'll embellish them with any purple ribbon but I have time to figure those things out. If you have suggestions though let me know!

What do you think of my card design? Have you created a DIY project with no vision in mind and totally fell in love with your first attempt?

Get With The Program!

In addition to getting my bubbles and invitations at Michael's while I was on vacation back in early March, I also scored our ceremony programs! As I did with our invitations, I changed the color of ribbon used on the programs so it coordinates with our colors. And just like I did with the new ribbon for the invitations, I got it all cut to length while I was on vacation. A number of weeks ago, I decided I would go ahead and tie it around the programs so that's done too. When it's time to print the cover of the programs, I can just slide the ribbon off, print and then slide it back on. Here's what the sample program looks like with the purple ribbon I added (it was originally white).

(Source: yours truly)

I didn't get a picture of the inside of the program because until I design and print them, there's nothing to see. However, the kits from Michael's came with inserts for the inside of the programs and I plan on using them because I think it gives the programs a nicer more elegant touch.

The cost you ask? I'll have to check my receipts when I get home but I believe the original price on them was $15.99-20.99 (I can't remember but it was somewhere around there). They were on clearance for around $11.99 I think but they rang up at $9.99 per box of 40! And the ribbon I bought was on sale for $0.33 a spool! Unfortunately I didn't keep up with how many spools I used so I can't do a price breakdown including the new ribbon but I still think it was a steal and I love how they look!

I know the programs don't match our invitations but because of the price I couldn't pass them up and I was still able to incorporate our main color; purple.

Did you opt for a program design that doesn't perfectly coordinate with your invitations and other stationery?

You're Invited

To see what my wedding invitations look like!

Along with the bubbles I talked about in Where To Start, I found my invitations at Michael's back in March when I was on vacation. When I saw them I couldn't believe my eyes. They were on sale for $29.99 (regularly $39.99) for a box of 40. Which includes printable invites and response cards, invitation backers, ribbon, rhinestone buckles, adhesive tabs and envelopes for the invitations and response cards. I couldn't believe it, they were perefect. The only thing that I wasn't too crazy about was the ribbon color. It was silver and while beautiful and one of my colors, I just had to have purple somewhere on my invitations. But with a little DIY project I could easily change the ribbon. I quickly snatched up all the boxes they had and began my search for the perfect ribbon. Thankfully that didn't take long. I found the perfect width and the perfect color of purple!

Here's what the sample invitation looks like that comes assembled in the box:

(Source: yours truly)

The invitation is stunning just the way it comes in the box but I wanted to add my pop of purple to it because it's my main color. Do you think they're amazing the way they come?

Here's what the sample looks like with the purple ribbon in place of the silver ribbon:

(Source: yours truly)

And a few detail/closeup shots:

(Source: yours truly) (Source: yours truly)

I love them to pieces. They are so elegant and beautiful! And they reflect my colors and theme so well!

Once again I took advantage of being on vacation and not having a schedule to stick to and I cut all the purple ribbon to the proper lengths for all of the 250 invitations. So that's another DIY project I was able to get done before even getting engaged. I can't assemble the invitations for a while though because the top sheet has to be printed before assembly can begin. But at least I have one less thing to worry about come time to assemble them.

The response cards are two to a sheet and this is what the sample looks like:

(Source)

I sent one to myself in the mail to see if one stamp would be enough postage and to see how they did going through the mail. It came back to me in pretty good condition and it was enough postage! I've already bought 500 forever stamps so that I could save some $$ on them before they go up in price yet again. Plus, they could go up more than once before I'm ready to send them out. I'm not picky about what kind of stamp goes on the invitations and response cards because it's not the stamp that matters, it's the invitation that's inside. However since then I decided I needed to go ahead and invest in second envelopes for them so they had a little more padding and protection. Hopefully doing so will not make them more expensive to send. I'm also going to see if they will still hand cancel mail.

So what do you think about the invitations?

Have you bought stamps for your invitations and/or response cards before the price on postage goes up?