Invitation Mock-ups

With yesterday's and today's snow days I was able to make some real headway in regards to our invitations. I played around with many different design ideas and formats and have ended up with two top choices. One is more simple and classic, the other is more modern. I like both but am drawn more to one and Andy is drawn to the other. So now I have the dilemma of picking one and refining the design. Which ever one we choose we will also use the design on all paper products: programs, table numbers, photo sharing cards etc...

Here are the two designs we are deciding between. Keep in mind these are rough mock-ups so yes the cutting is crooked and they aren't printed on ideal paper. The invites will eventually be sent to a printer and printed on a ivory card stock. We also are going to be deciding whether or not to just mount them onto the purple card stock like in the pictures or to use the purple card stock to create a gatefold. In each picture is also possible reply cards and escort cards that coordinate.

Let me know which one you like better and any other suggestions!

Here are some of the many other designs I made and rejected.

Veil Mission

I think I have decided to attempt to DIY my veil. At first I thought this was something I would want to do. Then after shopping for veils I was second guessing myself seeing how different tulle and styles laid differently. But after looking at other pictures of DIY veils from other brides and realizing how I could make my own for about $25 instead of spending ridiculous amounts, I am going to try it.

See how good these turned out! I think I can do it also, at least I am going to try. Pictures taken from ChiMonique and Katelaff.

Snow Day

Today we had a snow day, which means I had extra time to finally play around with invite design ideas. I have to say once I got started it wasn't so scary after all and I had some fun. I am in the process of making multiple mock-ups and then will decide which design I want to go with. I will be posting some of them later.

Planning Anxiety

Lately I have been thinking about throwing my hands up in the air and saying screw it. I have been feeling major planning anxiety. For the past 8 months I have been inundated with the unlimited possibilities and now have a few months to finally put into plan all of the ideas I haven't finalized.

Yep I am indecisive and unable to make important decisions in a timely manner.

Often I peruse magazines, blogs, and other resources to gawk at perfectly planned and executed weddings that are coordinated from the toe nail polish of every bridesmaid to the 20 point folded napkins. Most likely even if I quit my job, my life and focused solely on the wedding I still wouldn't be able to pull off this type of event. Not that I am trying to. But currently I feel completely and utterly immobilized by my lofty vision and inability to make a decision.

Marriage Planning Begun

Today was our first day of marriage preparation. To us it's just as important to make sure we plan for our marriage along with the wedding. Our first session went really well and I am excited to continue on this path. Some people might shy away from confronting concerns and issues thinking that it might cause more problems. Instead it can help to bring you together and make your foundation stronger. We recieved homework which was to take personality tests that we will compare to each other and use for further discussion. I am looking forward to going back, finding the results of our tests, and having further discussion.

Envelope Lining?

In my invitation quest I have been procrastinating by thinking about possibly lining our envelopes. Yes I know I shouldn't be creating another project for myself until I check a few off my list, but I can't help it. I think I might have found a possible option, especially if we put the invitation on a purple backing. If we use this I'm not sure if I can go with an ivory envelope. Just another thing to add to my list to consider.

Vintage Shoes

I am going to be Maid of Honor in a vintage inspired wedding in a couple of weeks. I lucked out in that I am the only person in the bridal party on the bride's side, so we were able to just go to the mall one day and find a dress that suited me. My dress is a nice simple black sort of swingy dress. I need to accessorize the dress to feel more vintage since Lauren, the bride, will be full out vintage in a slinky cowl neck dress, feather in hair, birdcage veil and fur wrap. I found these t-strap shoes which I think will help take me back a few eras.

Menu Table Numbers

Yesterday, I again sifted through many different invitation types and graphics trying to get ideas to become inspired to design our invitations. I have yet to be able to make myself sit down and just do it. However I came across this inspired idea to join the table number and menu into one piece. I have often thought that I wouldn't even bother with menus since. To me menus are just another extra piece to hassle with and I am pretty sure my guests can wait 20 more minutes to find out what they will be eating. With this idea I might just change my mind and post a menu.

6 months

I meant to post this yesterday but never got around to it since the wedding is really 6 months away from yesterday. While 6 months is a lot of time, in wedding planning time it really isn't that long. Especially since we have already been engaged for 8 months and that time has already flown by!

Flower Girl Dress

It's time to start looking for flower girl dresses. I like this one without the flower, which is removable. It's simple but still dressier than just a plain white dress.

Geri has a new blog!

Even though I have already picked an amazing photographer, Geri Ciulla, I still regularly look at many of the local area photographers and a few well know national ones. There is something about photography that I just love. Looking at all the pictures is inspiring and well just fun. I am very excited that our photographer has a new blog and I will get to see more of her pictures on a regular basis! Check her out over at http://www.ciullaphotography.com/blog/.

NYC

If anyone has any good NYC accommodation recommendations that are affordable we would love to hear them. We had intentions of taking a trip to the big apple for our honeymoon but when I went to go book the hotel the great deal I found was no longer a great deal. I don't want to book plane tickets only to be stuck having to book a super expensive hotel in this volatile economy when we aren't sure what our employment status will be in six months. So anyone with a creative idea is fully welcomed!

Brooch

Over the holidays I was able to do some searching on ebay and bought a brooch to use to make my faux haute bride bracelet. I didn't want anything gaudy so I bought a smaller one which I think is going to work really well. Now I have go to buy some pearls and make the bracelet. If it ends up being too small then I will start the search over but I think when all is said and done it will turn out really well.

We Did It!

We finally picked a bridesmaid dress, or at least picked a seamstress to make the dresses! Panic mode was in full force but I can happily check this off my to do list. I was able to find a seamstress in town, with fabric choices in the purple I was looking for, within our price range. The fact that we were able to meet all of our requirements is amazing. All of the girls dresses are going to have the same skirt and it is going to be up to them to either all have the same bodice or different ones. Either way I am excited about the prospect that the dresses will all be made for their different bodies and ideally will all look fabulous! The only issue now is coordinating four schedules to be able to get together for measurements and fittings.

The year of weddings

I am weeks late on this but Congratulations are in order for my sister and her now fiance who got engaged a week before Christmas.

UMM Tiffany we need a new picture. I went through all of my pictures to post and this is the most current picture I could find of you and me from December 2006. We have both had many different hairstyles since then.

It seems that this is the year of weddings. First will be Lauren's wedding in four weeks where I will be maid of honor, and we are currently gearing up for that event. Then there will be Andy and I in July and then Tiffany and Tom possibly in October. 2009 is going to be very busy.

Flower Girl Basket

Today I was catching up on reading some of my favorite blogs since the holidays are over and "normal" life has resumed. Earlier this week on Vintage Glam, Amanda, posted about a flower girl basket that would fit perfectly in our wedding. The "basket" uses only lavender stems and ribbon. Since we are going to have a lavender toss as we leave the church the use of lavender during the ceremony seems like a natural choice. Instead of cream ribbon I could use orange. This project seems simple enough and is really making me reconsider my original choice for the flower girls.

This idea has also gotten me thinking about the candelabras that will be at the end of every third pew. I had thought about tying bows on the candles and calling it a day but maybe we could also include a few stems of lavender along with the ribbons.

Hello Gorgeous

Enough Said.

Picture taken from Simply Timeless Photography

Happy New Year!

2009 is finally here, the year we are getting married in, and no longer off in the far distant. Even though I have been talking about the wedding, posting and thinking of ideas, actual wedding planning needs to resume since I haven't done a tangible thing since September. The two biggest items on my to do list are to pick bridesmaid dresses and begin designing invitations.