coreyphil

Quote: Originally Posted by mauraw corey those are beautiful!!!!! i love love love letterpress invitations. did your friend have them printed too, or did she just design them? Thanks Maura! She printed them herself. In fact, she just got a second letterpress --- it is really old and is hand cranked ... but she really loves it and I have to agree. It was a lot of fun to work with her - she does beautiful work and not only is she super-talented, but she and her husband are absolutely wonderful, wonderful people!

I got my invitations last Wednesday and just haven't had time to post ... They were in the mail on Saturday, and we've been getting phone calls letting us know they've arrived! So, much fun! Anyways - they were designed with a friend of mine from church ... The invitation and the reply card are backed with a beautiful chocolate brown --- with the heavy textured ivory paper it makes them feel wonderfully heavy. The invitations are very traditional, but the backing and the right justified typeset is a little bit of a modern twist. We also opted for really heavy outer envelopes and skipped the inner envelope. Last, but not least, we did program covers --- it will be a small accordion style program, but I just haven't come up with the insides yet! The yellow in the pictures look a bit darker and a little more orange than it does in real life ... I'm not sure if it is my flash or the room lighting ... and the print is chocolate brown.

Thanks Angela! I loved your menus ... in fact, I think I downloaded Floralia right after I saw your post ... The crystals were a beautiful touch!

I was wondering if any of you have menu templates you would be willing to share? I did a search of old threads, and I do really like the website that Amy posted (it lets you generate menus using their designs) ... but I was just wondering what other other templates might be out there! As always, just trying not to re-invent the wheel ... ... and I'm always so impressed with the creativity around here! Thanks!

I haven't heard of it before ... but I think it's so cool! Especially since they'll have local postage and local canceling ... What a great idea! Are you thinking of doing them in a scrapbook once you get them all back? If so - it seems like you might want to buy 2 of each post card - one to give to your guests to be mailed, and one to keep. That way you could mount the written side of the ones that get returned, and the picture side of the one you kept ... Super-neat idea!

he's SO cute!!!! what a perfect Christmas present! that was sweet of martin to arrange it all --- i know you were sad about the thought of not getting the puppy you wanted ... but this is the one you were meant to have!

Quote: Originally Posted by BrandiB01 I think you did the best thing possible: Kill 'em with kindness. It will probably really eat at her too..... You're response is perfect ... I dealt with the same thing when my FI first moved back to Texas from Chicago. We worked in the same ER and most of the nurses worked with FI and I at another hospital - so we have been friends for years. Everyone knew that he'd moved back for me. There was a nurse (who I had not known well previously) who constantly flirted with him after I started working part-time to go to school (apparently a lot of hair-twirling, giggling, and eyelash batting). Of course, my other girlfriends told me about it ... she even went as far as to ask "Are you dating exclusively?" She would talk about my FI to other nurses (I don't think that she realized I was friends with so many of them). When I would see her, I was always very polite. I never tried to hang on FI or make signs of "claiming" ... The bottom line is - she's had to listen to the others go on about how beautiful my ring is, how exciting the wedding is going to be, etc ... My point - as soon as you have your beautiful baby --- crazy-nurse is going to have to listen to everyone else rave about how beautiful he is, how perfect, and she's going to have to think about him being decked out in all these amazing things she bought him ... all the while KNOWING that Aiden and Brian --- and this amazing life that you share with them --- IS NOT HERS!!! And, if it gets worse, THEN I vote for Lauren C.'s approach

HOORAY!!!! Congratulations Michelle!!!!

Jenn - will you add me to the PM list, too? I really want to see them ... I'm still working up the nerve to do this (and I better do it soon if I'm going to!) I'm glad you love them and it's been such a good experience!

hmmm ... maybe at best it is just one LESS time it gets rolled through machines!

Quote: Originally Posted by PaulaV I asked about this when I sent mine a few weeks ago and they said that even if they are hand canceled, they get sorted through the machines which would have defeated my purpose - some ink smearing - don't ask. Maybe it was specific to our PO or they were not in the mood to hand cancel them Oh! That make me sad! Maybe our post office will be in a holiday mood (doubtful considering how hectic things are for them this time of year!!!). I'll just hope for the best!

Quote: Originally Posted by carlymcmullen For those that printed at home - did it use a whole printer cartridge? I am debating printing at home or from Kinko's. Mine are pretty long, 6-7 passes for each invite and I have to make about 150 of them... Wow - I think I would definitely have them printed Carly. I only did 35 and I wanted to pull my eyelashes out by the time I was done! I did replace both the color and black cartridges (but I'm not sure they were full when I started). My STD's only had 3 passes each and a "travel bulletin" that I added later after we got our flight discount codes. As far as costs - I think I spent about $15 on paper (plain white cardstock and blue cardstock for the holders); $40 on 2 packs of #10 red string-tie envelopes from paper presentation; $30 on the papercutter plus perforator and scorer attachments; and maybe $5 on the corner cutter?; I think postage was $0.55 each. I didn't add in the printer cartridges b/c I have them stockpiled --- and, I didn't use entire ones ... --- so definitely less than $3 a piece.

I may be the only one who has never heard of this, but I thought it was nifty so I thought I'd share. I just got my invitations and my friend who made them told me to make sure that I requested "hand canceling." She said that since they would most likely be $0.55 postage because of the weight, the hand processing was free. This way they won't go through the machine and get smushed or dirty. Instead, they are hand stamped and processed. So - for all of you who have worked so hard on your own invitations or spent hours deciding on the perfect ones to order ... here's a way to hopefully ensure they arrive beautifully! And, it's free!

Ann - please tell your friend I love, love, love her site ... I haven't had time to really sit down and go through it all, but it is officially bookmarked! I'm sure I'll be ordering - I really like supporting small businesses of women! In another life, I think I would love to have a gift shop full of things and designs I love! Thanks for sharing!

maura - i was just thinking that since bradley does a more 'photojournalistic' style ... you may just be fine with 4 hours (especially since both he and christa think so). my dad used to shoot weddings, and it seems like the majority of time is sucked up in trying to round everyone up for the posed / traditional shots. i'm using juan carlos - we booked 7 hours, but we're splitting it over 2 days and doing a TTD session. i was worried about the same thing, so juan said he would just put a note on our account that we may want to add one hour ... would bradley be willing to do the same, or do you have to pay for it all up-front? off-topic - i know i've read this before and could probably search it, but where in san jose are you getting married?

Quote: Originally Posted by mora I know Jaime already left but you can bring 3 liters of alcohol or wine in your luggage to Mexico.. I would just advise to use bubble plastic and a bag just in case!!! Thanks Mora - we have a bottle of champagne we've been saving, and I've been thinking about bringing it with us!

Amy - I think it is beautiful! So romantic! I agree, I wouldn't do lace - I also think it might be overpowering ... I like the one in the picture, it is so delicate and sheer ... I did have the same question as Carly, does it come completely off once it's lifted?

Quote: Originally Posted by Wisco4 I dont' know the brand, but Walmart actually sells them. They come in a little white box with pink writing and they work great! I buy them everytime we go on a company trip to wear under strapless dresses, or open back tops. You have to make sure and get a size that fits and make sure you put the sticky part as far back as it will go to get the best support. I'm a C cup so not sure how it will work for anyone bigger than that. Ooooh ... I'm going to have to add it to my Wal-Mart list! I've always wanted to try them, but have been a bit skeptical and reluctant to spend a lot of $$! Thanks!

Quote: Originally Posted by mauraw hahahahahaha abbbie you crack me up. i totally agree with this. i dont want a shower or a bachelorette party, and my close girlfriends have agreed to abide by my wishes and join me for a spa day the day before my wedding in cabo. dont think they agreed to this easily though...some of my girlfriends were really bitchy about it. to appease my female relatives, my sister is going to throw a non-shower where they will join me for tea at the drake hotel in chicago (which is super fun and only about $30/pp) the week before i leave for mexico. so much easier, more fun and no pressure to open gifts in front of strangers. ditto ... abbie nailed it! i had forgotten about the toilet paper dress ... those games ARE terrible! i'm in complete agreement ... i also made it clear to my friends and family that i didn't want a shower either! just not my thing! i think you've gotten good advice from all the girls - and you sound a lot better! i know that YOU know that it's just because your family and friends just want to celebrate with you --- so, a nice cocktail party would be nice (and your FI can be there, too)! BTW Maura --- the Drake is one of my favorite hotels ever! my FI lived in Chicago, i've been missing it a bit lately! (and if you know anyone looking for a really nice condo to buy - we have one on the corner of superior and orleans!) good luck Jen - let us know how it works out!

Letterpress was one thing I knew that I really, really wanted. Luckily, I have a friend who does letterpress and does amazingly beautiful work. She recently graduated and has just started her business. The interesting part about it was that having a smaller number of invitations (only 35) didn't really help as much as I thought it would - the plates that they use have a set price - like around $100 per plate (and they need different ones for the invitation, envelope, reply card, etc.) ---- that price is fixed regardless of whether you print 35 or 200. When I was looking into all this - I think that I did remember a couple of on-line companies that had 'per set' pricing - so they didn't require that you order a big minimum (it seems most require 100 or 150) --- I think the minimum for their orders was 50. I'll try to see if I can find the links. You might just check and see if there are any independent people offering letterpress (for example, I live in Dallas, and D magazine has the names of a few) ... You could be surprised - their pricing should at least be lower than what you'd find in an invitation shop - they're cutting out the middle man. Plus - you get to design your own so you get exactly what you want. Also, with independent makers - you may have a bit more flexibility to cut costs a little here and there ... like I was given a number of paper options at different prices. Also - if the invitation is the most important thing - you could order the standard size, and do you're own envelopes and line them yourself - it's not hard to do and it's easy to buy quality envelopes online. I don't think that people necessarily notice if the envelopes are letterpressed or not. It is really hard making those decisions. I have always had a "thing" for paper ... and I love the idea of how old letterpress is as an art ... I wanted to be able to pull out my invitation when I'm 80 and still love it. And, even though we're doing a lot of "non-traditional" things (like the boarding pass STD's), I wanted traditional for the formal invitations. Plus, at some point I decided even the ones I liked that weren't letterpressed were pretty expensive - so then it became - if you're going to spend this much money on invitations - shouldn't you just get the ones you really love? But - I think many girls have said time and time again ... no one else really cares about it as much as you do! You know you're budget and how important the invitations are to you ... And, you're right there are a lot of really beautiful options out there! I'll see if I can find some of the links to invitation sites when I get home.

oops .... sorry - i didn't read through the entire post ...

Quote: Originally Posted by starfish kate What about a donation to a scolarship fund in their name on an annual basis, and a photo of you at your graduation? They sound like people who would appreciate someone giving back in a similar way that they helped you. Wow! How wonderful! I love hearing about people who are so generous ... I was going to suggest something similar. You said that they are both really into education - so this would seem really appropriate. I went through nursing school at a community college completely on scholarship money. Some were like $150 per semester - while this doesn't seem like much - they all added up to cover tuition, books, nursing supplies, etc. I was recently divorced with a 2 year old and an infant ---- those scholarships provided me a way to provide for my family. At a community college, you could probably do something small and it might go further.

Happy Birthday! I hope it's wonderful!

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I can't tell you how much better I feel ... all of you are so sweet ... I think that it helps just getting it off my chest! I felt a little silly - like I was pouting about missing a party! I truly am thankful for the opportunity to go to school ... and, I know that it will be worth it. But, there is definitely a part of me that longs to just go have fun with my friends! Even when I'm doing Christmas things with my kids ... I am thinking about what I need to do when they go to bed! That stinks! Also just logging on and posting really made me feel better ... I've felt so isolated lately! (it really IS an addiction isn't it? ) I realize that there are so many of us that are in the same boat!!! SO --- thank you again, and "Good Luck" to all of you that are also taking tests in the next couple of weeks!

Quote: Originally Posted by mrsmark08 I had hired an outside WC (Katie Thompson at Weddings in Paradise) before I found this forum. If you are looking to save money, I think you could find all the information you need as far as vendors, DIY projects, etc. on this forum. However, I am glad I am working with Katie because then I only have to communicate with one person & she in turn makes sure all my vendors are aware of what I want. I just wanted to cut down on my stress level, so I don't mind the enxpense of a WC. I completely agree! I'm working with Beth Dalton at WIP and I have loved her. I've never been to Cabo and don't have time to go on a site visit. Therefore, I needed someone to give me ideas, etc. Beth was recommended by friends who used her last year. I'm also finishing my last year of school, working, and I'm a single mom - so I also wanted planning to be as stress-free as possible. It has been really nice to have one person to talk to, one person to give money to, etc. It just depends on what you're looking for! Good luck!