Vancouverpetunia - Now Sapphire - April 7, 2016

[yycbride2016]

I like option number 2 as well. Its a little bit less in your face and its got a softer more tropical feel to it in my opinion. I'm a fan of white space on printed products though. I think that it will look great! Its funny that you say you dont care if the color matches. I was so picky about color for my invitations. But I think its probably because I knew what color I wanted and back then I was set on everything being the exact same shade of that color. Now in retrospect I wouldn't worry. Most people just throw the invitations out so knowing that I wouldn't have made mine quite so elaborate.

 

For printing just 1 card You could try somewhere local like Staples or a local print shop. They can generally do that for you. I used to work at a print shop and do their graphic design work. Shops like that usually have someone there to design and if you bring in a picture of what you are looking for they can usually make it for you.

[vancouverpetunia]

Thanks, ladies, for your opinions on the invitations. Seems like #2 is the winner. 

 

@@calgarybride2015 I think I would only lose $2 on the Groupon, so not a big deal, but thanks for pointing it out. I wonder if I can apply it to shipping or taxes. Probably not. And I had only found a quantity of 100 for the biz cards I was going to use as placecards. I thought I might use the extras for something else, but I will see if I can adjust to 50 if and when I decide to order them, as that would be better. 

 

@@yycbride2016 Thanks for the tip on the local print shops. I actually have a couple of printers that I use regularly for work, so maybe they would help me out. Plus we have an in-house design team that I could probably persuade to design something in exchange for a bottle of wine I was also looking at the Avery products/templates. If I can get the background design, then I think I can adjust each item (for table number, name or whatever) and print them myself.

 

@ These dreams are sooo funny! Not at the time, but certainly in retelling them. 

[Wafflesmom]

I'm like everyone else, I love invite #2. I like the balance of white and blue on that one. And if that's not your actual colour, I do agree that no one will notice. Your invitation looks beautiful and fitting given that it's a destination wedding and that's all that really counts.

[calgarybride2015]

The 50 card quantities are not the 'standard business cards' but more the personalized ones. Once you dig around you'll see what I mean. I just remember if you want the card double sided it has to be 100 or more.

 

Great idea on having printing done at staples and such!! I printed some things at home at higher quality cardstock.

 

Vistaprint doesn't allow it for shipping or taxes if I recall but totally could be wrong.

 

 

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[TinkerSofi]

I like the second invitations and I agree, it doesn't really matter if you're not exactly set on the colors yet. You can always add to that palette later and no one will remember haha. For my bridal shower, we played a game "who knows the bride best?" and for the questions "what are the wedding colors?" only half of them knew hahah. I think that as long as you don't change them drastically people won't see the difference. 

[vancouverpetunia]

YAY! 40 invites & envelopes purchased from Vistaprint for $33! (Groupon cost plus shipping). Thanks for your help, ladies. Went with the white version. 

[vancouverpetunia]

It’s been awhile since I’ve updated my planning thread, but not much going on in terms of wedding planning lately. Now, honeymoon planning, that’s another story!  

 

Invitations

We received our invitations from Vistaprint a couple of weeks ago. Very happy with them! I had them delivered to the office and everyone I showed immediately said “I love the paper”. I felt vindicated as I splurged for the “linen” stock, which Jeff said didn’t matter.   Here is a pic of the front, back and envelope:

 

 

Completed Items

I feel like we’ve made some good progress given that we are still 8 months out. Here’s everything that’s done:

• Wedding web site

• Save-the-date emails

• Wedding party selected & confirmed

• Ordered decor from KatyHK

• Invitations printed

• Groom’s outfit purchased

• Groomsmen’s outfits purchased

• BM & GM gifts purchased

• Group excursion booked

• Photographer booked

• Ceremony musician “booked” (friend/guest of ours)

To-Do List

I feel like I don’t have a lot on the to-do list for the immediate future. (What am I forgetting?!?) We aren’t doing welcome bags and I’m planning on bringing very minimal decor, so not a lot of DIY going on in our house. But to keep me on track, here are the things I need to sort out in the next few months:

• Buying summer stuff while it’s still available: bathing suits for both of us, flip flops for Jeff, I’d like another cover-up, Jeff needs t-shirts, sunscreen, etc.

• Wedding website: Starting writing some info on things to do in the area for anyone who is interested in leaving the resort. Cenotes, ruins, etc. We’ve been there lots of times and have explored quite a bit.

• Send email update to guests: Topics include: hosted excursion, golf event, passport reminders, health insurance, website updates (see above).

• Wedding rings: Go shopping!

• BM dresses: I’m really struggling with this. I live in Vancouver, my BMs in Portland, OR and Toronto, so no group shopping excursion. I originally thought it would be easy to order from David’s as we all have access to a store and can go shopping on our own, but I’m not loving the color options. I want a teal and their “teal-ish” colors are more true blue and true green, I think. Online, I've looked at Macy's, Nordstrom's, The Bay, Sears, BHLDN, J. Crew, Ann Taylor and some others. I just found Weddington Way and requested a swatch from Alfredo Angelo. Could be a good option, as they have lots of styles in the same fabric & color, and my girls could try on dresses at a local bridal store. I also found Azazie.com, which looks fantastic, but one BM would not be able to try them on and shipping to Canada could get expensive, so we’ll see. I’ve requested swatches from them as well. I'm looking for: Teal; Short; Chiffon or other light fabric, if anyone has any suggestions.

• My dress: This is the big one. The one that keeps me up at night. Technically I have a dress already. I bought it at David’s earlier this year, off the rack, on sale. But I have dress regret, which I know a lot of you can understand. I can’t stop thinking about this one dress I saw on Etsy. Both of them are relatively inexpensive, so I think I will likely order the Etsy one as well. I’ll try to sell whichever one I like the least (since I’m doing a short dress anyhow, I don’t see the need to have one for the ceremony and one for the reception).

Honeymoon Planning

Originally we were planning to head to Belize from our wedding for another week. We figured since we had already flown south, why not head somewhere else in the area and Belize is next door. However, it’s not as easy to get to as I had hoped. Either 9 hours by bus/boat or $600USD for 2 one way tickets, which seems ridiculous. There were some other challenges as well.

 

I started poking around for other places we could go from Cancun and there really isn’t a lot. I guess most people don’t leave a tropical paradise for another tropical paradise! But there is a budget Mexican airline  called Volaris that is opening a route this September from Cancun to San Jose, Costa Rica. The price is pretty reasonable (only about $200 more than the one-way Belize tickets, but it’s a return flight). And now that I’m researching Costa Rica, I’m really excited about the possibility! It’s always been on my radar, but in a general sense in that I’ve heard from other people that it’s great. The more I read about it, the more it sounds amazing!

 

Fingers crossed that the route is finalized and actually flies in September. I can currently book tickets for April, but on the booking screen it says “Flight subject to governmental approval”, so my plan is to make sure the September flights are happening and then book it. So excited! 

Edited August 14, 2015 by vancouverpetunia

[calgarybride2015]

Your invites turned out fantastic!

 

I think you have done a lot!  You will find that if you have purchased the large items you won't have much until a few months out when you start to put together favors, tags, seating charts, finalize your options, etc.

 

Costa Rica is honestly most people's favorite destination once they have visited it. All my friends or family who have been RAVE about it.  I'd really love to go too but from Canada the flights can get pricey if you want direct flights.  One day we will make it there, but from what I have heard you WON'T be disappointed  You could also maybe consider coming back to Canada for a night and flying back out the next day if it ends up being cheaper.  It does seem silly that Belize would be that pricey, but then again it's cheaper for me to go to Vegas with airfare/hotel then it is to fly 1.5 hours to BC hahahah!

 

Good luck with your dress decision. keep us posted.

[nkavanaugh]

@@vancouverpetunia my fiancé and I spent two weeks on Costa Rica last year! And actually got engaged there, anyway we flew from Calgary to Costa Rica and then to cancun for a wedding and our flights were reasonably priced. With that being said I have traveled a bit and Costa Rica is by far my favourite country I have been to, we rented a vehicle and drove to different parts of the country by map. It was amazing. Such an awesome experience the place and the people are so beautiful I would highly recommend it! And it's definitely doable on a budget. If you have any questions feel free to ask!! I tell everyone they need to go experience that country! Ps. You are doing so well in terms of your planning!! I am feeling like a slacker! Lol

 

 

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Edited August 14, 2015 by nkavanaugh

[vancouverpetunia]

@@calgarybride2015 - Yeah, I know there will be a lot of the smaller, more detailed things that I'll have to start on late this year/early next. But seems like the big things are mostly out of the way, which is nice (but now I am bored with nothing to do but read these boards! LOL).

 

@@nkavanaugh - That's so awesome that you got engaged in CR! Who did you fly with to get from CR to Cancun? Did you have to fly into the US and then back to Cancun? That's what most of the flights seem to be. We've booked our return flight Vancouver/Cancun, so we have to get back to Cancun to get home. I'll PM you with some more detailed questions about your trip, if you don't mind