Ashhtayy's Planning Thread - Azul Fives - June 7, 2016

[TinkerSofi]

@@ashhtayy I'm so excited!! It still feels like a dream hahah

[calgarybride2015]

A dress, suit and 2 BMs dresses may be a lot for one bag.

 

Is there anyone coming who has a travel steamer? Thankfully my friend brought one as we needed it. Even hanging my dress it was wrinkled. So we did all 5 dresses.

 

Since we knew we'd be steaming dresses my BMs just shoved theirs in their carry on lol. My husband's was more casual than a suit so he just ironed his in Mexico.

 

Another suggestion, as said above, is asking your WC for a quote to steam everything upon arrival.

 

Glad everyone is getting perks!

 

 

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[ashhtayy]

@@calgarybride2015 travel steamer is a great idea. mike is going to freak when i say we need to buy one. about 6 months ago i said we NEEDED a steamer. we bought a pretty good one...and have only used it a few times when we got it and then for both my gfs weddings (for the bridesmaids dresses). should have bought a travel sized one to begin with! no way we can travel with ours lol

Edited July 15, 2015 by ashhtayy

[calgarybride2015]

@@calgarybride2015 travel steamer is a great idea. mike is going to freak when i say we need to buy one. about 6 months ago i said we NEEDED a steamer. we bought a pretty good one...and have only used it a few times when we got it and then for both my gfs weddings (for the bridesmaids dresses). should have bought a travel sized one to begin with! no way we can travel with ours lol

 

LOL sounds like the juicer we had to have and have never used   Thankfully you are getting some use out of yours, but yes that would be quite large to pack!

 

Before you buy one I would seriously ask your guest list!   You would be surprised who owns what or knows someone who would lend it to them! Could save you some money!

[ashhtayy]

The ‘Save the Date’

After finding a deal that we didn’t think we’d be able to beat, we began the search for the perfect STD. I knew I wanted to do a post card and include a photograph from our engagement shoot. The main reason for including the photograph of us was because I still didn’t have a colour scheme or theme. I searched many sites and finally found a template on zazzle.com that had a similar calligraphy to our wedding website.

 

I SHOULD have done more research as we certainly paid too much for our STDs (more so too much for shipping rather than the actual STDs). We only required 85 postcards even though our guest list was close to 200. We sent one per household; some groups of four only received one STD. Our STDs were $1.00USD each with a discount of $21.25USD for a total of $63.75USD. The shipping came to $45.64USD. Total for STD and shipping was $94.39USD.

 

The second I hit submit on zazzle.com I realized I had placed the order for the WRONG STD. I had many different templates saved and most looked identical. I ordered one with the incorrect date and old wedding website. I could not believe that this had happened. After I wiped the tears from my eyes I frantically emailed zazzle.com 4 times stating PLEASE CANCEL THE ORDER. It was a Sunday night, no one was on email and their phone was not being answered because of the day of the week and time. As soon as their offices opened Monday morning I called and was told it was too late – they hadn’t checked their email and the STDs had been sent to print. Someone was looking out for me that day though. Zazzle.com acknowledged that it was their error as they could see I emailed them less than 5 minutes after I had placed the order. They told me to push through the order for the correct STDs and they would reimburse me (STDs and shipping costs) once I received the incorrect STDs in the mail. They were true to their word and reimbursed the $94.39USD to my credit card. They didn’t even want me to send the incorrect STDs back.

 

Side note: although promising to reimburse both the STD cost and shipping, the first credit only included the cost of the STD. When I called they apologized and put through a credit for the shipping as well. Outstanding customer service.

 

This was 100% my mistake so had they not of credited me I would have understood but I am happy to say customer service is important to them and they did everything they could to make this right for me.

 

It total our STDs were $122.96CAD and $85CAD for the stamps which we bought in a 100 pack from Costco.

 

STDs with shipping and stamps = $207.96CAD

 

The front included our picture and names. The back of the post card included the dates our guests would be traveling, the name of the resort, our wedding website and a brief note that said “Details on the resort, travel arrangements and booking deadlines can be found on our website”.

 

If I were to do this again I would:

1. Pay less for our STDs or make them myself if time had permitted that (it didn’t because when I ordered them our 90 days had already started)
2. Order locally (Canadian supplier)
   1. Yes – zazzle.com has a zazzle.ca but they didn’t offer the STD I wanted
3. Have asked people to RSVP
4. Include our booking deadline date on the STD (few people read the website)

Nowadays if people don’t do something right away, they forget. Our STDs likely made it on to a few fridges, maybe into a junk drawer or a friends keepsake card box, and people didn’t even realize they had to act fairly soon. I take fault for that because I didn’t articulate the right things on our STDs.

 

Our STDs were sent late April and our booking deadline was June 18^th. It was EXTREMELY important to us to give our guests a year’s notice. We wanted everyone to come but knew that wouldn’t be possible. We hoped that with enough notice, more people could make this happen.

 

 

Edited July 15, 2015 by ashhtayy

[TinkerSofi]

Lovely STDs. We were kind of on the same boat. We sent them as soon as we made our reservation so people would have time, but I guess no one understood and no one put their deposit at that time haha. Only when we sent our invites two months later people started asking how to put down their deposit. I also wish I had used different STDs and included different information on them. In the end it all worked out though

 

We bought a travel steamer a few months ago, maybe it was just a bad one because we returned it after trying it a couple of times. It wasn't very good, but maybe another brand might be better. I'll ask first and see if anyone has one

 

 

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[calgarybride2015]

We realized the steamer had to touch the dress to work - or work quickly lol - and it didn't ruin the dresses. We tried on the flower girl one first as she had many layers you couldn't see just incase

 

Love your save the dates. I totally agree we learn a lot after the fact. Glad their customer service was awesome too. Had an issue with vistaprint and in the end got two orders for the price of one.

 

 

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[ashhtayy]

LOL sounds like the juicer we had to have and have never used   Thankfully you are getting some use out of yours, but yes that would be quite large to pack!

 

Before you buy one I would seriously ask your guest list!   You would be surprised who owns what or knows someone who would lend it to them! Could save you some money!

 

@@calgarybride2015 as i read your reply i remembered one of my bridesmaids has one. i'll definitely check to see what state it is in and if she thinks we will be able to bring it to the wedding. must save money wherever possible!

 

Lovely STDs. We were kind of on the same boat. We sent them as soon as we made our reservation so people would have time, but I guess no one understood and no one put their deposit at that time haha. Only when we sent our invites two months later people started asking how to put down their deposit. I also wish I had used different STDs and included different information on them. In the end it all worked out though

 

We bought a travel steamer a few months ago, maybe it was just a bad one because we returned it after trying it a couple of times. It wasn't very good, but maybe another brand might be better. I'll ask first and see if anyone has one

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

@@TinkerSofi we had like 10 people book right away and then maybe 30 the week of and then the other 14 or so were after our fake deposit due date but before the real due date lol NO one read the website. absolutely should have put the booking deadline on the actual STD.

 

i'm actually thinking of not sending formal invites. i feel like if you've put your deposit down, you're coming. we do want to send something to everyone, but it won't be a formal invite like my save the date suggested (by suggested i mean said).

 

like @@calgarybride2015 said, one of your guests probably has a steamer you can borrow. fingers crossed anyways. have you looked into steaming costs at AF? i don't have a clue how much it is.

We realized the steamer had to touch the dress to work - or work quickly lol - and it didn't ruin the dresses. We tried on the flower girl one first as she had many layers you couldn't see just incase

 

Love your save the dates. I totally agree we learn a lot after the fact. Glad their customer service was awesome too. Had an issue with vistaprint and in the end got two orders for the price of one.

 

 

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@@calgarybride2015 yes! the steamer does have to touch the dress to work. it's scary the first time you do it because the dress gets water on it and you think you've ruined it (at least i thought so the first time). rookie mistake.

 

SO grateful zazzle.com made up for my silly mistake. glad to hear vistaprint was good to you too!

[vancouverpetunia]

@@ashhtayy You should double check with your resort. Our resort includes steaming/pressing of the bride's and groom's wedding garments. Can't hurt to ask...

[ashhtayy]

@@vancouverpetunia I'll email tomorrow. thanks!!