Our DIY Invitations

I hope all the guests have opened them!

The invitations are..

...gone.

My countertop is naked and I have an unreasonable fear that they will be ripped to shreds and covered in purple tie-dye when they arrive at their destinations.

I promise I will get back to posting when the semester is over. Four.more.days. :)

A Million Thanks

I has asked a few friends to come over and help out with some crafts I needed to to get done for the wedding. The craft supplies were piled high and one of my good friends brought over breakfast food. Several things were not in our favor - the printer broke and not everyone was in a cheery morning mood, but my amazing (soon to be family) made magic happen. After a lot of spray glue and old Motown music, my invitations are DONE!

Of course I won't share them until my guests get them in thier hands, but I'm super excited to put them in the mail at the end of this month.



Also, this past weekend, Mr. Man surprised me after coming back from a wedding and telling me that it got him excited about our wedding. (I have a feeling he won't be as excited in the next few days as we pay our vendors that must be paid off sixty days in advance. Yuck.)

Rehearsal Lunch Invites

Our rehearsal luncheon's theme is "Welcome to the West". Which invitation do YOU like best?

Number One

Number Two

Number Three
Cast your vote!

Getting Things Done - Part III

Rehearsal umm...."Dinner"
Two of my fabulous bridesmaids spent all day with me scouting out rehearsal dinner sites. We'd decided on an evening rehearsal at the hotel followed by dinner at restaurant in shuttle distance from the hotel. After our ah-ha moment, we sat down for a bite when the mothers decided that our idea was out. "Do not pass go, do not collect $200", they said. We're back to a 10:00 AM rehearsal and rehearsal "lunch".


Guestbook
Got it! Preview coming soon.



Bridesmaids Shoes
On their way to Dallas!


More on the Invites
After tinkering in InDesign, I scouted out someone to do the printing. If our guest list were smaller, I'd tackle it myself, but I'm outsourcing this one for sure! I got a few quotes via email for around $250 , but when I went to another store, they quoted me $100. After seeing the surprised on my face, the guy said, "everyone else has over charged you, hunh?". Yippee-skippy for people actually being nice.

photos from elizabethannedesigns.com and ajnproductions.com

Help for a Less Than Tech-Savvy Bride

I've been busy working on the invites (with help and insipration from Budget Savvy Bride), but I'm running into a snafu! When using InDesign, all the pretty fonts I've downloaded turn ugly when I export them as a PDF. Does anyone know how to fix this? Please help!!!

Making It Happen - Part I

Spring break was a whirlwind of planning! It has definitely been a week of both delights and disappointments. I'll recap over the next few days.

Bridesmaid and Hostess Gifts
I just can't ruin the surprise here, but I am super excited to give my girls their gifts. I couldn't ask for better girls to be there for me on the big day. And now that I've got a sewing machine, there's no stop to what I will make or personalize for them! I promise I wont' make them wear pink veils; see below.




Mr. Man
He ordered his guy's gifts too. I'm trying to convince him to let me come up with some cute...errr I mean manly way to package them. Wish me luck!



DIY Invites
In the works. It's tougher than I thought, but when the going gets tough, the bride gets Googling! Here's some paper goodness for inspiration.

photos from etsy.com, blog.african-americanbrides.com via globetrottingbride.blogspot.com, funnyweddingphotos.com

Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn....

I wanted to find an "under $100 a night" hotel for those traveling to the wedding - especially my college friends. Luckily, my venue has a deal with a nearby hotel that guarantees a great rate, free parking, and free shuttle to the venue. Perfect!

Now, how do I pass this information on to the guests?

Here are some ideas.

1.The wedding website. Good, but not for the technologically challenged.
2. An enclosure with the invite. Equal access for the technologically challenged, but getting it printed with the invite suite might cost some money.
3. The hotel provided info sheet. Easy for guests, but I don't want some big hotel paper making the invitation all ugly like.
3. A printed business card from VistaPrint.com. Might look better than a sheet of computer paper in the invite, but I'd still have to tack on the postage.

Any thoughts? How would you announce this deal to your out-of-towners?

My New Wedding Toy and Other Joys

It's not Christmas yet, but I've gotten many presents!

First and foremost, the United States of America has an awe-inspiring new President! It didn't really hit me until I saw one of those posters with all the presidents on it that was in the front of your elementary school classroom. After number forty-four, that poster will look just a little different. I'm proud to have a Black president in office, but I'm even prouder that we have someone who is capable of moving this country to action.

Second, my new wedding toy is heat embossing tool. Its this little handheld machine you can use to emboss paper or other surfaces. I've been playing with it every chance I get. Pretty placecards and marvelous menus, here I come! You can check out a heat embossing tutorial on DIYBride.

photo from DIYbride

Gocco Goodness

I have yet to find an invitation in the color I really want, but I have discovered a new obsession- Gocco.

It's a little machine from Japan that is basically an at home screen printer.

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What is the awesome thing about Gocco, you ask? It can make beautiful things like the photo to the left. And I could make a coordinated wedding stationary set.

Now, how will I go about getting one?

Sadly, the already made Gocco invites are too much for the student wedding budget, but check out more amazing Gocco'ed stationary at Ugly Kitty's Etsy Shop.