The Dreaded RSVP Check-In

Ugh. I know it has to be done. How else are we to know how many to expect and what each guest wants for his/her meal?

But I still hate having to call people to get an answer from them! Why oh why could the RSVP date on our invite not be enough?! I know that delayed responses can be for a number of reasons - figuring out work schedules, pending events, etc - but let's be honest. For the most part, it's usually because people forget or think to themselves "I'll get to that later." And of course, "later" turns out to be 2 months later.

Sigh...so far, the RSVP check-in has been going well. People don't seem at all phased that I'm calling them up to confirm their attendance - sigh of relief.

But I still hate doing it, LOL.

10 Things I've Learned About...

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1. Sometimes the person you believed would be the first to respond, will be the last.

2. Receiving RSVPs on a wedding site is fun and exciting. But there will always be a few guests, bless their hearts, who are technologically challenged.

3. Don't take it personal if people don't respond right away. Everyone is the main character in their own story. In other words, there's plenty of other stuff happening outside of one wedding.

4. After the invites are sent out, it's not a bad idea to casually ask if they've been received after a couple of weeks. In our case, a few never got to their destination! And we wouldn't have known unless we asked.

5. People love chicken, lol.

6. Getting a response is awesome. Getting a personal message along with the response is even more awesome.

7. If the invites were sent out more than 2 months ago, don't be surprised if people have forgotten dates and deadlines as you get closer to the day.

8. You will always get at least one or two casual "Yeah, I'll be there" or "Just count him/her as a yes"

9. Sometimes a "No" is more welcomed than a "Yes," as bad as that sounds.

10. I will always try to respond to future wedding invites early from now on. Karma.

Invitations MIA :(

Canada Post - I shake my fist at you!!!

Trying to get ahead of the game, the Office Groom and I sent out our invites the last week of May. Several were received just days after they were sent out which was awesome. But others - all living in the same city - have not yet received anything!

Aaarrrrgh!

The only reason I know this is because in one example, certain members of my comedy troupe didn't receive their invites. I don't know whether to wait it out, or start inquiring if others have received their invites yet. My worry with the latter option is that people will think we're just asking ebcause we want them RSVP! But I'm also worried about invites that were sent to out-of-town guests! What if I checked in with them in August to find out they never recieved one?

Grrrrrr!

TGIF.

Let The RSVPs Begin!

I just had to share this quickly - We received our first batch of RSVPs on our site today! Is it incredibly cheesy to admit how excited that made me, lol? I'm actually surprised how quickly it happened, considering that the Office Groom and I just started mailing out invites on Tuesday! Canada Post - I'm giving you a virtual High Five.

Now I just have to figure out how to not check the wedding site every 5 minutes for updates.

So sad.

What I Learned About DIY Invitations - Part 1

This should technically be Part 2, as my first lesson about DIY invitations was spelling msitakes and proofreading the sh*t outta them to be sure there are none!

However, let's call it Part 1 nonetheless because this past long weekend, I spent an hour every day fitting the pieces all together. And by "pieces" I mean: writing addresses on envelopes, indicating the number of reserved seats on the RSVP card, and adding the final touch of a custom designed stamp on the back of the envelope. Sounds easy enough, right?

Riiiight.

Writing Addresses
I decided to get all fancy shmancy and purchase a calligraphy pen at a local paper shop.

Just a side note - this particular store is located in the business district of Toronto, which means $$$. At first glace the only calligraphy pens they had were over $150. Pffft. When I asked a saleswoman for a more affordable pen, she showed me one for $90. Again, I asked "Is there anything more affordable?" That's when she half-assedly directed me to a wall of pens for $14. In my head: "WTF didn't you just show me this to begin with?" But I digress...

I have, what most people consider, nice hand writing. So when it came down to who would be writing the addresses, all fingers pointed at me (mainly from Office Groom). I was glad to do it, since I loved doing calligraphy as a kid, and I take pride in my neat writing. So with my brand new $14 pen in hand, I started the job. Everything was smooth sailing... until I messed up a name. Damn. And then I messed up an address. Damn damn. And then I was holding the pen incorrectly and it wasn't calligraphy so much as it was just ink scratches. Sigh.



Using Ink Stamps
Once the addresses were completed, the invites were inserted, and I started on the custom stamp on the envelope. That part was really easy. I took a few lessons from Etsy seller AssPocket Productions and learned the ideal way to get ink on the stamp using her on-line tutorial. It's the sealing of the envelope that proved to be more difficult. Not wanting to pull a "Susan," Office Groom used a damp cloth to wet the envelope glue. Unfortunately, with a just a bit too much water, you end up with this:



The ripped up paper is a result of me reopening the envelope in frustration to remove the invitation card. Office Groom said that it wasn't so bad, and I just gave him that look that says "Really?" He left me alone to produce a new envelope, lol.

What I learned: Patience is a virtue. I was exctied to get through as many as possible, but speeding along won't save you time in the long run. So - take your time! Don't it all in one sitting either. I found taking an hour here and there was less stressful. And lastly, having a very clean and clutter free surface to work helps a lot. Chances are it will get cluttered with all the invitation materials anway, so may as well have a clear workspace to begin with.

Part 2 coming up soon!

Spelling Msitakes

The Office Groom and I printed out our invites last night! That part is a "YAY"! After hours of designing and wording, picking out the paper at The Paper Place, and printing them on one of the office printers at O.G.'s workplace (ssshhhhh), we had ourselves some really nice looking invites. I was so proud of them, that today I decided to take one with me to work and show them off to a co-worker.

The design is pretty different - it's a short funny story of how O.G. and I met. I was inspired by this invitation that I found online over a year ago, so there's a lot of text and in different fonts.

I thought I had proofread it a billion times over - so did OG - so when my co-worker pointed out that I spelled "treked" instead of "trekked" my heart broke into little pieces! That's the "GRRRR" part.

How could I have not noticed that? I feel like such an idiot! Here I am, putting in all this time and effort, only to discover 150 printed invites later than I have a typo. Sigh. Please, oh please, tell me that I'm not the only one out there! I wouldn't normally sweat the small things, but I took a lot of pride in designing them myself :(

We're not reprinting. It's a waste of money and paper. And I can only hope that either guests don't notice or don't mention it if they do. Although, having two parents for teachers, and a plethora of academic friends and family - chances are I'll have to develop thick skin after the invites get sent out.

"Treked." Pffft.

Sew cool!

(Sorry, I like puns)

Check out this invitation design I stumbled upon this morning. Yup, you're seeing it right. The designer, Anna Bond, stitched the design with needle and thread! Talk about paying attention to detail (and a whole lotta patience)! I can totally appreciate the craftmandship, growing up with a mom and grandmom who both sew (and taught me everything I know about it).


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For the finished product, check out Anna's Blog.

DIY Rubber Stamp Image

To tie in the book theme of our wedding, we've decided that a custom stamp on the outside of the invitation envelope would be a nice added detail. Naturally, the first place that came to mind to find such a thing was Etsy, where I discovered Ass Pocket Productions.

Ok, so I know the name is a bit deceiving, but the artist, Stacey, has been creating custom stamps for a while, and her feedback has been 100% positive after selling to over a thousand customers. She has a wide selection of stamp designs to choose from - everything from bookplates to wedding themed stamps. The best part - she also welcomes personal designs, which is where my DIY project got its start.

I wanted something circular that had soemthing to do with books and with me and Office Groom. The idea is to stamp the back of the envelope on the fold - similar to the wax stamps used in the olden days.


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With a bit of internet research and photoshopping, this is what I came up with:



Waddaya think? I used the same font used in our invitations (more on those later - ooh, can you handle the suspense? LOL) and re-invented the book image (found on-line) by adding a simple heart graphic in the middle. Cute!

Now I just have to find out how much it's going to cost to have one made! More details to come!

We got paper!

Now what?

Ever have one of those moments when you feel really inspired to undertake a DIY project and then you go out and get all the necessary tools and materials, only to get back home and look at all the stuff you just bought and think those two dreaded words - "Now what?"

That's what I went through after the Office Groom and I returned from a visit to The Paper Place.

Early on in the engagement (Ok, who am I kidding? It was like 2 days after he proposed) I knew that I wanted to make our invitations. After a bit of internet research, I found my inspiration. I loved how unique and personal it was, and it was totally something that OG and I would do. So I did what any creative but lazy person would do - I used the same template and made a story of our own.

Because of the length of the invite, I knew that we wouldn't be using the usual 4x4 invite and envelope. I entertained the idea of using a regualr 8x10 sheet and cutting it in half, but that lazy side of me kicked in again and I realized I was better off buying pre-cut paper. Enter the "Tea Length" paper and envelope.



So I've got a design and paper. You think it'd be just as easy as printing those suckers off, labelling the envelopes, stickin' a stamp on, and sending them on their merry way.

Nope.

While I'm lazy, I'm also detail oriented. The thought of just sending the invites as is without any doodads to spice it up didn't sit well with me. Hence our visit to The Paper Place. The name of the store speaks for itself - if you need paper, and I'm talkin' any kind of paper, this is the place to check out. OG and I agreed that a little something added to the invite and envelope with a pretty paper would do jsut the thing. The employees were really nice and helpful and helped us narrow down our choices.



Or so we thought.

When we got home I started playing around with the different paper, and I just wasn't feeling it. Either it was too much or not enough, and I started to get frustrated too early in the game. So I put it away.

I know this isn't the ending you were looking for. You wanted to know what we decided on and what the end result was, right? Sorry, no dice. This is the real world, and I'm a real bride, and fact remains that I wasn't very successful with my first attempt at making our DIY invites a reality.

BUT - we're not giving up. This was of course, our first try. Although we are definitely still going with the design and ivory tea length paper, the doodas will have to wait. And I'll be sure to post more when it happens I'm just glad that we gave it a try before buying a whole bunch of paper that would go to waste (or used for numerous origami projects).

Stop Motion Wedding Invitation

If you and/or your partner have:

- loads of patience
- tons of time
- oodles of creativity
- great taste in music
- oh yeah, and an interest in stop motion...

...you should draw some inspiration from Corey & Rachel's wedding invitation:

Stamp of Approval

A while back a friend of mine was telling me about custom made stamps. She and her husband had designed their own with a photo from their engagement photo session and used them to mail out the wedding invitations (the only reason I didn't remember this was because she ended up giving us an invite in person).

So, I did a bit of research on it the other day - and all I gotta say is...

That's friggin' awesome.

Whether it's for a special occasion or just for everyday use, I think having my own custom stamps is a fun idea! After a quick Google search, I found sites for both Canadian and American stamps. The process is really easy and they cost just as much as a regular stamp (plus shipping costs).

I presented the idea to Office Groom last night, and after promising him that it wouldn't be a cheesy kissy-kissy photo of us, he was all for it. High five!

And while the idea of using a pic of my shoes is tempting (I can't help it, you should know by now that I'm obsessed with shoes), it definitely won't be this but I just wanted to give you an idea of what you can do!

Save The Dates - Done and done!

With nine months until the big day, Office Groom and I wanted to take advantage of the holiday season to send out our Save The Dates. Earlier in the engagement we had decided on a bit of a theme for the wedding. We're both big book nerds and I come from a family of printers, so it was an easy decision to go with a book/literature theme. Once that was decided all the details of the wedding seemed to fall into place, including the STDs.

Pulling inspiration and ideas from other weddings that have had book-themes, we thought that using a library card as our STDs would be fun. Inititally we were going to purchase real library cards from a supplier, but then I found several designers on Etsy that would also print custom messages on library cards.

That's when it occurred to me - "I can do that."

So, with a little bit of work on Microsoft Word, a date stamp from Staples for $7, and printing by the sheet at a printshop for only $1, this is what we had as our end result:



We sent them out with Christmas cards to all of our out-of-town guests. A few have arrived already and we've had nothing but compliments on them!