Lacy Invite (by Papel Vivo)

I saw this as an ad on one of my weekly (bi-weekly) wedding blog reads. (I need to figure out which one it was. I never click on the ads!)

But basically: Awesome! The only thing I think could make this even cooler is if it was a pocket. A fabric or print pocket and then the rest of the information was inside. But wow.

The company is Papel Vivo and has a bunch of great designs on their site. Awesome.

Someone Turned into a Bird

Last night I dreamed that some woman, not my real Grandmother, but my dream maternal grandmother, was hand picking the bridesmaids out of all my female friends. I didn't actually know any of these girls but Dream Grandma was picking them day of. Oh nice. Also, apparently Dream Paternal Grandparents had hired a wedding counselor who was a large religious (suuuper Baptist) man from Washington, and he was there (again day of) to do some wedding counseling to Zach and I.

We started in this little room and then I had to go run off for a second (probably when I witnessed the Bridesmaids issue) and when I came back, all I found was the man's assistant. He told me that basically Zach and him had gone off into another room to SERIOUSLY fight. Oh great. Somewhere in all of this our friends Clare and Gavin are there and they hand me something alcoholic that Gavin has made and Clare gives good advice. And I'm not actually stressed at all, b/c at this point, what the hell can you do? Nothing. You can do nothing. So I go wander off curious to see what disaster strikes next and I'm cool as a cucumber.

Stitched Invite (by Alan)

Oh stitched paper you tease! If only I didn't have a history of sewing machine anarchy. *sigh* Some Christmas party is going to have invites with so much stitching you're going to think a sewing machine is inviting you to drink.

These are the awesome Save the Dates of Alan and Jill.

Alan is a designer who has a cool blog. Alan clearly knows how to use his damn bobbin!

Double *sigh*

Also, you think the SaveTheDates are cool? There is more. Go check out his blog. No really.

Prints (by Amy Marcella)

I'm looking at and assessing print flowers. I think these prints by Amy Marcella really hit the type of aesthetic I love.

Amy has a an Etsy and a blog.


(Via BeautifulPaper)

Invitation Mocks

(Click for a larger view)

Here's the plan thus far. It'd be a 4x6 card. Outside would be fabric of some sort with a ribbon of flags encircling the whole thing. Inside would be a "pocket" made out of a ribbon and 3 felt flowers. The felt flowers aren't hard or time consuming to make but they look about like the ones in the image. In the pocket would be the RSVP card (which you all better use!!!), map, anything else. On the left side glued in would be the main information.

I need to go to Staples and dig around in their paper section to see what we can afford but is also pretty. There will probably be a combination of printing out and carving stamps. No letterpress for us. Letterpress is one of my favorite things in the world, and I am OK not using it for a wedding. Maybe some day I'll just own my own press so you know. :)

I need to design some flowery type image to go in the bottom right/left of the cards. I need to also figure out colors. There will be 3D mocks in the future. Slowly but surely folks. Slowly but surely.

Wiley Valentine Table Numbers

These are actually escort cards by Wiley Valentine but wouldn't they be beautiful invitations as well? Lovely.

(via Wiley Valentine Blog)

Fern Save the Dates (by Jill via Mint)

More gocco goodness. Such a clever save the date. Even if it's not your style, you can't help but appreciate the creativity and work that goes into something like this.

Work of Jill (of Small Stump + Studio Choo) and Matt via Mint Design Blog.

Gocco-ed Invitations (via OnceWed)

These are a great example of a printed (gocco-ed) invitations based on design- no stitching or fabric, etc. It's a little more complex than the print with info in middle of a square style. I was digging through the OnceWed archives this weekend. This is from a wedding in Savannah. Check the link for more images from a truly designy day. They have some spectacular lighting at their reception.

These are the work of heatherjeany etsy shop.

(Via OnceWed)

Ampersand Invites (by Lunalux)

This is in the category of what I call Header/Footer Pattern Invites. So basically there is a pretty pattern above and below the main body of copy. In this case, designed by Lunalux Letterpress, the couple went with ampersands. How cool!

This is from the wedding of Grace and Erik via The Knot.

Sarah & Marc (via The Knot)

Adorable illustrative invites by Ridge Carpenter in NY.

(Source: The Knot)

(I can't find Ridge Carpenter in NY. So I'm not sure if this is a person or a shop.)

Fabric Wrapped Invitations (by Mr Boddington's Studio)

This week there will probably be a lot of invitations popping up on this blog.

Here's a great contender. The fabric wrapped look. Love it.

This is the beautiful work of Mr. Boddington's Studio via Once Wed.

Paper Flower (by Jessica Murnane)

This wouldn't work for the style we're having but I still think it's so clever!

The Country Living site has a ton of great stuff (I love Christmas. *sigh*)

This design is by Jessica Murnane via Oh So Beautiful Paper.

Ornament (from Anthropologie)

This is an ornament from Anthropologie. Seems like it'd make a cool addition to a paper/fabric flower arrangement.

Just say'n.

(Found via Mint.)

Art by Merce Darbra (via Inspire Me Thursday)

I'll admit. I kind of always have wedding on the brain. It doesn't come out in loud ways like yelling down a woman across the street and asking her where she got her shoes. Mostly it comes in the form of seeing some great piece of artwork (like this piece by artist Merce Darbra) and thinking, "That would be a lovely invitation."

I stumbled across this by way of Merce's work mentioned on Inspire Me Thursday. She has a fantastic etsy site. Purchases are in my future. I especially love her still lifes of vases and pitchers. Fantastic.

Invitations (by Hello Tenfold)

I'm beginning to worry about invitations. Not worry worry...but consider. I'm beginning to seriously consider invitations. (How non- committal is THAT?!) January 30th is invitation craft night, and I have to be ready to do them this time. I day dream of non specifics like "there shall be burlap! And stitching!" How those two combine for our particular invites? I have no idea. And that's kind of the problem.

But through all this, occasionally I stumble across some really straightforward invitations. And it reminds me that what I love is good design. And good design while hard to create when you're an amateur designer like me, doesn't have to be overtly complex. I have loved pattern for many many years and if our invitations were simply a beautiful pattern with all the pertinent information in a bubble, then that would be just fine.

These Hello Tenfold invitations reminded me just of that. Such lovely work. Straightforward and so elegant. Thank you for the reminder.

Hello Tenfold's shop. Ellie's work was some of the first wedding work that really caught my eye months ago when I was beginning this whole planning thing.

Deco Tape (from Nothing Elegant)

Transparent Deco Tape from the drool-worthy etsy store Nothing Elegant.

I also love these. Yes please!

(Originally from Ffffound)

Lovely Package (by Lindsey of Run Lucas Run)

Can you imagine getting something like this in the mail? How awesome!

This is the work of Lindsey. Check out her flikr and blog.

(via oh, hello friend.)

Wreath (by Struggle)

Isn't this awesome?! I know it's not really a wreath but it's kind of the coolest wreath I've ever seen!

This is the great work of Struggle Inc in Chicago. Lot's of great poster work on their site.

(Blog trail: Fffound, Struggle)

Coffee Filter Garland (by Pam Garrison)

I knew I'd seen something similar. This is really lovely too! Similar to the feel (the fantastic feel) of the cupcake liner garland.

Fantastic work of Pam Garrison.

Cupcake Garland (by 100Layer Cake)

Oooooh lovely. Lovely! These are going to COVER our Christmas tree next year! Did I mention lovely?!

There's a tutorial over at 100Layer Cake.

Pocket Fold How To (by Miss Cola of WeddingBees)

I'm linking to a lot of tutorials this week. Lots of good stuff to remember for later.

This one shows how to make an inside pocket on a card. I will totally use this! Maybe not on wedding stuff, but limitless possibilities!

This is from the super clever Miss Cola over at WeddingBees.

Hitty Book Cover (via WovenPlay)

Something really appeals to me about the straight forward invite. Something like this (this isn't an invitation clearly) where it's a pretty pattern and then the names. Maybe names and date. Simple.

(Blog trail: Ffffound, WovenPlay)

Alissa and Ryan 2 (via Design*Sponge)

I couldn't not post these images too. Also from Alissa and Ryan's wedding. Also from Design*Sponge. Look at the colors in that bouquet. And the light fixture above the cake? *sigh*

General Wedding Feel (Alissa and Ryan via Design*Sponge)

I love inside furniture outside. This entire wedding is gorgeous. It's one of my favorites from a design standpoint. (Top 10 I've seen online.) Go check out their flowers. Such beautiful colors.

This is from the beautiful wedding of Alissa and Ryan. Check out their store Horne.

(Via Design*Sponge)

Awesome Envelope (by Miki Sato)

I normally go back to the same, oh 15 or so blogs. In my browsing a few days ago, I book marked two new ones. Designalicious and Polaroid Cupcake. I began going through their archives today and wow. Totally great. Designalicious had a link to another promising blog, Magazine Junkie. And that's where I saw Miki Sato's work. She's one of those artists that really speaks to my design sensabilities. *Squeal*

Also, how cool would this be for the outside of the wedding invite? Go to the last image in this here link and you can see she's sewn in a card on the back. Perfect!

Miki Sato: website, blog (with a ton more of her work)

Freezer Paper Silk Screen (by Mrs. D'orsay of WeddingBee)

Nice little set of instructions over at WeddingBee on how to silk screen an image on to a tote using the oh so amazing freezer paper.

Lights Under Table (by Gourmet)

This is really really pretty idea. Lights under the table cloth. Yay!

Note on the gourmet article: They have a link off to Czech Kolaches!! I lived in Slovakia for a year during high school and I fell in love with the Slovak Kolac, which is basically the same thing. Makes me really happy every time I see anything from this are of the world mentioned.

Blog Trail: Weddings and Cookies, Gourmet.

Doily Tote (by Ashley Ann)

Yay for doilies! So feminine. So pretty. So useful as stencils. This is a cool tutorial from Ashely Ann by way of Design*Sponge.

Also, I should note that Ashley Ann's blog is super cool. Check out her DIY category here. I think this plate project could come in really handy as a wedding decoration. I could find white small plates at Goodwill and do this. Oh damn. I may have to go do this right now.

(Blog trail: Design*Sponge, Ashley Ann Photography)

Wrapping (by Holly at Decor8)

One of the things I've been trying to analyze while browsing potential wedding stuff is wrapping. I've never been very good at wrapping gifts. That and flower arranging are two things I've just never been very good at I still don't really care about the latter, but I want to be able to wrap something. It's the kind of detail work that really appeals to me.

This image is from Holly of Decor8. I love the doily (paper and knit) and the layers. So lovely.

Horse Ribbon Tutorial (by Design*Sponge)

Horse ribbons are kind of everywhere right now and I love them. I know it's one of those things that will soon go out, but I'm thoroughly enjoying them while they last. (Also they may pop up at our wedding :)

Design Sponge had a really good tutorial. I think I've seen other tutorials but this one involves a stapler instead of sewing. I'm a sucker for stapling.

Craft Night Success

This Saturday was the first craft night and how awesome are my friends and family?! Everyone did really great. Really. Great. They had ideas on how to make the projects more efficient (I took notes) and did a fabulous job on projects that include a lot of cutting, wire twisting and hot glue gunning.

They also had very nice things to say about the center pieces so it's nice to have affirmation on those.

The next craft night is in January and will be a longer one. It will also be the night of invitations. But for now, my focus is switching into non-weddingy things. Until Dec 27th I am play focused and wedding concerns are background only. But watch out, come Dec 28th, I'm going to be in machine mode. Can't wait!

Green Ribbon Explosion

These are the Container Store ribbon I will be buying in loads come Saturday. Eeek!

I'm so excited to have a focus. It looks like craft night will have about 6 of us including me. That's fantastic! Now I'm trying to figure what we should try and get accomplished. I only have so many tools so instead of all of us doing one thing, each person may be doing a different part of one project or a different project completely. I also have to take into account how hard something is. I'd rather not have everyone go home frustrated or with singed fingers. (Although some hot glue burning *is* inevitable. Sorry.)

Mostly I'm just really looking forward to seeing everyone and sharing the ideas I've been working on.

Counting down the days!

Try 2

Here's the exact same table with a slightly less full bouquet. I think fuller is better. And while I still haven't totally figured out how to design the bouquets...at least I know where I'm headed will work fine.

We have a winner?

Just in time for craft night? Thank you Ms.A for the help this weekend. This is the mock up bouquet for the reception tables. (Click for a larger view.)

The table clothes will probably be a chocolate brown instead of the purple and the square in the middle won't be salmon most likely. But each table may have a different square of color and the bouquets will have different arrangements. I like the idea of every table just being slightly different.

I am going to spend so much money on brown floral wire. Good lord.

Invitation Trouble

Invites are kind of driving me crazy. I'll just put that out there. The save the dates, while they weren't easy, they did come about organically. Whereas before I was totally unsure about them, now I love them. Oh invites, why can't you just follow the same path?

I think the biggest problem is text. On Save the Dates you just have, well, a date. Their purpose is a little hello! Invitations are suppose to convey the bulk of the information. Information = type. Tools I have at my type disposal are:
1. stamps I cut
2. stamps other people cut/make
3. stencils I cut
4. handwriting
5. printer

I'm not a big printer fan. To be fair, I haven't really tried that much printer-ing. But ooooh...I just thought of another possibility. What about image transfer. Mmm...? That'd be a lot of work but isn't a bad idea. Hmmm...must experiment.

But all the other ways of putting type down on paper are rough at best. None of them (besides printers and and handwriting) allow very small letters. Stencils are hard to cut if you want the insides of letters. So for example with an "e" you wouldn't have the little hole inside of the e. I'm bad at cutting intricate letter stamps. The stamps on our Christmas liquor labels are about as tiny as I can get and that, while I liked it OK, kind of looked like a crazy person's handwriting. (Happy Holidays?)

Tonight I am going to the fabric store and just wandering around. This leads to the second major invite problem: I want to include everything. I like stitching. I like fabric. I like transparency. I like paper. And in all of this I want to maybe start working in our still nonexistent wedding theme. Gah!

Doily Cards (via Oh Hello Friend)

This is the always great work of Oh Hello Friend.

I couldn't find the original source on her blog, but the link goes to flikr. Her blog is great as well!

(via Fffound)

Sewn Paper (by Bespoke Letterpress)

Ooooooh. Sewn!! Lovely. Loveliness.

This is from Bespoke Letterpress. Found via Oh So Beautiful Paper.

La Strada (by Transformers Studio)

La Strada identity. I love the napkin or package or whatever it is on the right. That would be a neat card.

Blog trail: 100LayerCake, Graphic Exchange, Behance (b/c I couldn't find the original source from Graphic Exchange, Transformers Studio)

Fabric Flowers (by EmersonMade)

I love EmersonMade. They do a fine fine job of fabric flowers. Lovely!

Packets of Awesome (by GreetingArts)

I am in awe of people who do things like this for their wedding. That's a lot of stamping and sewing.

Here's the how to at GreetingArts.

(via Miss Poodle of WeddingBee)

Programs (by Cynthia and Michael via Oh So Beautiful Paper)

These are the closest thing I've found to our own idea. Yay! Note the corners. Yay for detail work!

Click on image to see them bigger, or go to Oh So Beautiful Paper for more angles.

(Source: Oh So Beautiful Paper)

Heads Together

This really doesn't fall under the advice column but a couple really excellent ideas came out of last night's brain storm:

1. Serve cold food: theoretically it's going to be hot in August. So instead of dealing with the headache of trying to keep everything warm, let's just not serve warm food. Lots of salads. Salads rock. This is a great idea. Thank you Z's Mom!

2. My Mom came up with a great idea too. Come up with a few drinks that we can premix before hand. Premix everything maybe but the alcohol. We just make sure we keep out pitchers of the mix. Excellent!

I've done a bad job yet again communicating well with my family. The easy route is to just do everything alone. But that's not the best route for them, who want to be a part of it. I don't know how to delegate. I'm happy leading people, but this doesn't quite feel the same.

Invitations

November first. Wow.

This weekend is sort of a wedding-y weekend. Tonight we're meeting with both sets of our parents and discussing wedding topics. What wedding topics I kind of have no idea. Today I've been trying different invitation ideas and have been met with mixed success.

Originally I didn't care about invitations, but I feel like they are the beginning of tone setting. Do we have a theme? Do we have colors? Will this thing, this piece of paper, match the feel of the event itself?

I pull back and quickly recognize that none of the answers really matter. Not REALLY. But the invitation is the first one that if it did matter- a texture, palette or theme, it'd start here.

Cake (via Martha Stewart)

Wedding cakes kind of scare me. I'll admit to that. something about something so big and so expensive that you can't really taste until the day of. I guess this is showing the true colors of my micromanager self. Like the dress at least you get to try on. And the dress you try on is the dress you'll wear so that's that. Cake?!?! I don't really have opinions on cake. My favorite cake would be a stack of baked lays or chocolate chip cookies in a cake stack. But I have people in my life who have strong opinions about cake. (Yes I am talking about you Miss. R, but also my Mom :)

All of that said, this cake rocks. Thanks Martha.

(Via: Style Me Pretty)

Birds (by Spark letterpress)

I joke about having love birds as a theme until I see something as great as this. I simply love this. Love love love. Such great design by Spark. *sigh*

I will be spending some time at their blog.

Via Oh So Beautiful Paper.

Brilliance (by Cathe Holden of Just Something Made)

Oh my god BRILLIANT!!!! Watch out envelopes!!! Thank you thank you Cathe Holden!

(Blog Trail: Fffound, Handmade Charlotte, Lobo Likes Lonely Pie, Just Something Made)

Cat (by PenguinAndFish)

I love this! It isn't a card but instead a fabulous notebook by penguinandfish. I'm sorry. This is when I have to fully admit my love of cats. So cute!

(blog trail: Ffffound, Penguin and Fish blog, Etsy)

Painted CD Stands (by Lena)

Oh neat! The bride, Lena, found some CD stands and spray painted them in her colors. I love how she added the yellow and gray poms, and invitations. She clearly has an eye for design.

Have I mentioned my love for adding furniture outside yet? And here is a great example of making something really designy but within budget.

The photography is the work of Andrew Lin. He has more great shots of this wedding on his blog.

(via Snippet & Ink)

Invite (by Simplesong Desin)

What a pretty invite! It's the first I've seen like that. Very cool work of Simplesong Design. Photographs by Kate Headley.

Also, I love when people incorporate fruit/vegetables into their decor. It's one of those things I'm not interested in doing; it's not my style. But it's a style I really love. And every time I see it I just think, "Wow. So neat."

(Note: I realized the fruit/veggie comment made no sense. Click on Kate Headley's blog and you'll see what I mean! :)

(via: RitzyBee Blog)

Plushy Owls! (By cynicthelamb)

Owls! These are the really cute work of cynicthelamb. Is our theme going to be birds? Love Flocks Together. OK, now I'm making myself laugh. *sigh* Did I tell you I bought a bird cage at Goodwill today? (Right before I locked my keys in my car.) Don't tell Z about the bird cage! (Just joking!)

(Via: Vintage Indie, Vintage Indie Kids, Etsy)

Necklace by spinthread

I love this idea. I've seen lace necklaces (beautiful), and I hope jewelry goes more toward this trend. This is the lovely work over at the Esty shop spinthread.

(via Oh So Beautiful Paper)

Fabric Lables (from Make Something via IDIY)

My first thought was, "How much does a typewriter cost...hmmm..." but then I remembered I have a stamp that's the same type face. I mean, it doesn't quite look *this* cool but it's the right price.

This is from the always great Idiy and from Make Something.

Table Piece (via Style Me Pretty)

This is exactly the type of piece I love. LOVE! In fact I'm starting a new tag for it. So great.

I can't find the name of the bride anywhere, but wow. Nice work couple!

There's a ton more pretty at Style Me Pretty.

Pictures by: Zoom Photography

Folded Invites (by Elise & Patrick via Design*Sponge)

This seems like such a happy wedding. Wow.

I'm thinking about invitations again. Here's nice example of something folded. I like the long envelope because I think it looks nice. Cards are loose inside. Something to think about.

Photos by Our Labor of Love.

(via Ffffound, Design*Sponge)