Anatomy of a Wedding Invitation

When planning a wedding, everyone has his or her own idea of what is the most important. Some brides dream of their dress and sparkly tiara while grooms just want to be reassured that there will be plenty of food and beer (gross generalization, I know). We of course, like everything else have been much different. Throughout our planning our list of importance has pretty much been:

#1 Invitations

Yep, invitations have been the one thing that we have put the most time and planning into…everything else has just fallen into place.

Through out my career I have done numerous wedding invitations. I always worked really hard with my clients to make sure they got exactly what they wanted. Of course, I could always steer them in a direction that was a little different than they thought they wanted but ended up working out better than they had hoped. I’ve always designed them outside of the box and made them to be memorable but when it came to my own, I was straight-up brain dead.

The Woodsman and I (being graphic designers) felt completely self-inflicted pressure to make really kick-ass stationary. We had too many ideas and no starting point, what to do? Ask Emerson Street Stamps to created a completely custom stamp that would be used on everything! Not many details were given but she sketched on the fly and came up with something so perfect you’d know it was us just by looking at it! (It also doesn’t hurt that she’s a very good friend and bridesmaid). Next, we took a trip to the Paper Source. One of my most favorite stores EVER and picked exactly what we wanted (poppy and chartreuse accent paper and fino luxe cream for the main parts). The Paper Source is so inspiring those of us who love paper and crafting. It was there that we found another perfect element for our stationary…a desk embosser with a bird motif. It was love at first sight! We printed and cut everything ourselves. Simple laser output and 2 rotary cutters did the trick. Lastly, we gathered a few bridesmaids, 2 heat guns, lots of custom mixed Zing embossing powder and went to work.

We spent months trying to express ourselves and our quirky, handmade, semi-formal, DIY summer wedding on paper…I can finally say that we’re done and we couldn’t be happier. The best advice that I can give anyone would be to stay true to your ideas and your wedding. Calligraphy, white raised card stock and lined envelopes don’t have to be the only option. More and more people are making their own invitations and that is an amazing thing. Explore your option and keep in mind they don’t have to break the bank (ours total didn’t at all).

Thank you to all that gave input, proofread, carved stamps and battled a hot apartment to glue, emboss and assemble our invitations. We greatly appreciate the help and love :) Once everyone has gotten their invitations in the mail, maybe I’ll post some pictures of the complete finished set! Until then happy crafting and it’s now under 2 months till the big day…still no stress.

Flowers & Feathers!

Here I am last day of my unplanned vacation….and unemployment. I’m both happy to go back to work but sad to go back to work. Over the past two weeks I’ve done a ton and slept a little. Finally this morning I was finally able to sleep past 7:30am, figures right?

It’s less than 4 months until I get married, and I’m really happy I had this time to make all the stuff I needed to make. Aside from a bunch of jewelry, I finally got around to making my hairpiece and my wedding party’s hairpieces. I’m actually really happy with the way they both turned out.

Orange dahlia and feather clips for the bridesmaids (I love color!)

Vintage silk camellia with feather and pearl clip for myself, I used one of my grandma's deco style earrings for the center. I'm still practicing the birdcage veil but it should be done soon!

Gift Makin' Time!

I like to make stuff…I like to make stuff for other people even more.

When it came time for me to figure out the gifts for my side of the bridal party I knew I was never going to find what I wanted to give them. So, just like everything else I do, I came up with an idea and I’d just figure it out along the way. Now 3 bracelets and 8 necklaces later, I’m sharing the results.

Of course I make jewelry for my hobby, but I’ve never not used feathers or assembled findings. I wanted something unique to each person, asymmetrical and birds. After a little research and finding an AWESOME Etsy seller (Below 14th Designs) and having a mini panic attack at Michaels I got everything done, just the way I wanted.

For Bridesmaids:

18” asymmetrical necklace, sparrow connector from eebeads.com and The Solamente Pendant from Below 14^th Designs personalized with first initial and birthstone charm.

For Flower Girls:

Sparrow chain with toggle closure and The Solamente Pendant from Below 14^th Designs personalized with first initial and birthstone charm.

I'm so happy with the way they turned out that I've made a set for myself. Who knows, maybe something like this is something that I'll be able to pursue as a jewelry maker when I get some more free time...only 3 months to go!

Flippy Flops

Finally, I can post this! Why, you ask? I’ve officially asked all my bridesmaids…only took me 3 weeks! I knew from the beginning I wanted to do something nice to ask all my girls. Problem is, I’m NOT cheesy, I suck at writing anything sentimental and I’m not made of money…what’s a bride-to-be to do? I guess I could have been simple and just asked but I’m much too crafty for that.

What does everyone need, can be found in any color and aren’t hearts? Old Navy flip-flops!

2 for $5, available in any size and color. It was the perfect solution; they could be worn where ever, whenever (I would never dream of ever telling anyone what kind of shoes to wear) and made a useful gift. I bought 8 pairs of orange flip-flops and made little cards asking each gal to be my bridesmaid or MOH. I think they all really enjoyed them. It’s just a small idea I’d thought I’d share for all you non-cheese brides out there that don’t mind DIY projects.

I wrote a little poem (by writing I mean combined lines from multiple poems I found online) that seemed to be straight to the point but also nice and non-bridezilla.

Take these flip-flops to the beach,

or dance in them on “The Night”.

Either way,

Will you be my bridesmaid?

It’ll make our wedding day just right.

Not too horrible right?

P.S.

We also asked the 3 flower girls and 2 ring bearers with very cute cookies from Weddingish.com. Check out their site for some great personalized gifts.