Retro or Vintage postcards for your wedding

If you're considering vintage postcards at your wedding, this post is for you.  I was inspired by a page of vintage linen postcards featured in the summer travel issue of Martha Stewart Living (pg 81) and one of our dear destination wedding clients.
I found a couple sites for you to resource:

Zazzle has an outrageous collection of postcards.  Although, I can't say if they're truly vintage. But if the look is what you're going for, this could be right up your alley.

Finally, if you wanted to have something off the charts amazing- have your own postcards commissioned. I love illustrator Jenny Medved for projects like these.  We recently had her design the cover to one of our guest guides (for the welcome bags) and she is absolutely brilliant to work with.

What is on a destination wedding response card?

This is the number 1 question I get from our destination wedding clients when it comes time to plan their wedding invitations and stationery suites.  Of course, there are so many options when it comes to how you request your responses both in the style and wording that you choose. However the one thing that you'll want to do is to collect as much information as possible. Trust me on this - you don't want to have to get (or guess) these answers a week or days before your wedding.

1. Full names of each guest. There's nothing worse than having to guess the name of someone's date.  Well, maybe just knowing her 1st name. How ridiculous does this look (see right)?: 
2. Arrival date. You'll need to know this so that you can have a good list to give the front desk with the welcome bags.
3. Accommodations: Knowing where everyone is staying is important for several reasons.  You'll know where to deliver welcome bags and you'll know where you'll need to provide transportation. Also, if at all possible, clarify what name the reservation is made under.  Friends rooming together can get tricky for deliveries.
4. Which events they'll be attending. Ask for each event individually!  Its fine to have separate invitations or separate cards for each event, but collect all the responses on one card if possible.
5. Dietary needs and meal selections (if applicable): Ask for your guests to initial which entrees they are selecting.  Why?  Tell me this.  If one person places a mark next to the chicken and one person marks the beef, who gets what?  With initials, you'll know exactly who is having what.

Ready to see some fantastic destination wedding save the dates invitations?  Check out Ceci, A Deux, and Minted

Destination Wedding Invitations (Gorgeous ones)

I just felt like sharing some pretty.  I confess to stalking the Ceci New York website. But do you see why?

Oh, and of course, there's also the love for pretty much everything on the Martha Stewart Weddings website too.

Quick tip: Put as much information in your wedding invitation as you can or (I like this idea best) send a "looking forward to seeing you" package when you receive a yes rsvp from your wedding guests. The package can include more details about the events you're hosting, as well as local places to shop, dine and tour during their time away.

Destination Wedding Invitations by a deux

Bespoke bridal paper.  Sounds pretty doesn't it?  These stationery suites are even more luscious than they sound.Stunning does not even come close to describing. I was fortunate enough to meet the owner and designer, Kelli Parker at a recent luxury wedding summit and was enamored with her style and passion for her craft.  Here are just a few images from her website below.  I would highly recommend that you browse her website to see all the loveliness she has created.

 When it comes to your wedding invitations, consider that this is the first insight into what your guests will be experiencing at your wedding celebration.  If you received one of these beauties from a deux bespoke bridal paper, what would your reaction be?

Vintage Victorian & Retro Invitations

I was so excited when I came across this invitation & paper details designer today.  Pretty much, Bnute is brilliant from my point of view.  I stumbled upon her Etsy shop via @celebrateathome and I am so glad that I did.  These are so unique and look genuine- that is what I love about each piece.  All her pieces seem to fit into those three categories that are all the wedding rage at the moment; vintage, victorian, and retro.  She has a blog too, check it out here.

Save the date a different way, t-shirts

Honestly, I think I might just squeal a bit if I got this in the mail.  Then I would promptly head to Kayak and book my flight.

Save the date t-shirt for Captiva Island

You can expect to spend about $8-$15 a t-shirt, depending on the quality, style and screen printing design.  I like to order from Skyline Outfitters because they have low minimums and, well, they're our really nice plaza neighbors.

Melissa and I popped into their shop to see what they had and I also liked the idea of the groomsmens swim trunks and bridesmaids bikinis (cute welcome bag additions!).  Both of which can be embroidered.

Of course, then you have to wrap it up cute to mail:

Map wrapped save the date for an island destination wedding

Unique Invitation idea for the "other parties"

One of my favorite things about getting married is that there are usually several parties leading up to the big day.  I love the styling and planning behind all of them.  I was away from the studio the last couple weeks freshening up and taking a short break and of course I've come back with a million ideas.

This 1st one came to me in the check out line at Ikea.  I know, kind of odd (normal for me).  But you never know where you'll find inspiration.  So I found this set of wooden serving utensils at the "gotcha" bin; you know that bin that's impossible to pass up.  How cute is this set I turned into an invitation to a seaside potluck picnic lunch? Perfect for a casual affair, perhaps a picnic or brunch.  Or even a dinner party.  All you need to do to make it a bit more formal is replace the packing tape with a beautiful silk ribbon and mail the set in a pretty box.

Super Simple DIY:

1. Buy the utensil set
2. Use some ultra fine point sharpies to decorate and write on all the info
3. tape together with cute packing tape from Michaels
4. Bring to post office to have weighed and pick up the stamps
5. Mail just as is, no envelope or box required
6. Get ecstatic phone calls when the invitees receive their ridiculously cute invitations

Need a venue for your "other" parties? Check out this article I contributed to for Brides Florida magazine

No, it is NEVER okay to do this.

There are rules that can (and should be) thrown out the door. There are rules that are okay to bend. There are rules that I think should be written. But there is one rule that will never ever ever be okay:

It is not, under any circumstance, appropriate to include where you are registered at on your wedding invitation. NEVER.

And yes, I put that in caps because I am screaming it.
The end.

Monique Lhuillier Fine Paper CollectionI am in love.

The UPS man came today and I was giddy with excitement as I saw him walking towards the studio with the big white box in his hand. "It's here, I know that's it!" To preface, I am nearly as addicted to fine paper as I am weddings. This book is one I have been waiting to receive for what seems ages. Monique Lhuillier has been a favorite of mine since I believe 2005 when Sarah wore one of her stunning gowns down the aisle at her Sanibel Island wedding (that was a gorgeous wedding). So naturally, when I found out that she had a line of wedding invitations, I jumped at the opportunity to carry the line for my clients.

Grab your tissues (if like me, you begin to druel at the sight of exquisite stationery).

Letterpress makes me happy

A touch of beach, right up my ally

Hello lovely thick soft paper, hello.

Perfect for 3 day affairs.

Could you just die? Love seals. Love love love them.

Remind you of something?

Wedding Bee Classifieds and other Blog and wedding website stuff that's cool

This morning I am catching up on blogs and wedding sites that I love. I thought it would be a good day to mention some of the really cool and fun things I find. I hope you think they are cool too:

Wedding Bee- they have a classified section! I found everything from paper lanterns to wedding dresses for sale. Pretty good deals too.

Plain old good advice from Anne at From I will to I do: Delegate. Thank you Anne, from where ever you found this.

Flower finder: I found a link to this Brides.com tool on Bridezilla. For those who are not in the know of flowers, this you will love. I also love Bride & Bloom magazine.After planning weddings all these years, I know my fair share of flowers but this magazine really opened my eyes.

Got sunlight? If you do then you can also have some very cool outdoor evening lighting. Check out these lanterns I found on Junebugs blog. I also found an ad from Good Taste events.Jody is a friend of mine who is absolutely as hilarious as her website. If you want a wedding planner in Seattle with a funny bone- call her asap.

The other day I posted about my celebration reception timeline. A few months ago Liene at Blue orchid answered a readers question about her wedding day timeline. Here is her very good advice.

Moo contest on Brooklyn Bride. Ya'll, if you haven't been introduced to Moo cards, you haven't been reading blogs. They are every where and there is good reason for that- they ROCK. So go get some. In fact, go get some for free (win the contest) or at least at a discount (see Vane's left sidebar).

Seriously, this is way cool. A DVD invitation that isn't ummm, dorky. Be careful, there are dorky ones out there. But Darcy at Martha Stewart doesn't do dorky.This invite from Reel Invitations is PERFECT for a destination wedding. Perfect as in, I am calling them 1st thing tomorrow morning.

Style Me Pretty. Oh how I adore this blog. The whole blog. But the part I think you all need to know about? The Little Black Book.I know that so many bloggers are adding "books" to their blogs- and they are awesome resources. But I believe Abby and Michelle were the Lewis & Clark of the wedding resource "books". I know for a fact that they really worked hard to only get the cream of the wedding crop in their book. I'm flattered to have been chosen to be listed in their Black Book the last year and hope Weddings by Socialites will always be included. Here is what you need to know about the Black Book: you can trust these are the really good vendors. They didn't just buy their way into the book. I need to do another post about this kind of thing- someone remind me. It's a hot topic.

On a totally separate side note. Yesterday I was driving through the rampage of Hurricane Gustav (yeah, it was far away and we still felt it) and my cell rang. The caller id said it was Mark Kingsdorf of the Queen of Hearts in Philly. He's a great planner friend of mine in the Philly area. He knows tons with the extensive background that he has. Anyhoo- I pick up the phone and I hear a girls voice, "Kelly! It's Susan Stripling!" Perplexed I was. Susan is a beyond phenomenal photographer whom I have adored the work of for, ummmmmm, ever. Susan used to be a Floridian, now she travels from the big NY to everywhere. Well, it turns out she was helping another photographer in Philly at a wedding that Mark was coordinating. I just called Susan like 3 days ago to book her for one of my upcoming weddings (lucky bride!). They put 2 and 2 together and realized that they both knew me. Small world. I must say, that bride & groom that had both Mark & Susan onsite- SUPER lucky. Susan's Blog and Mark's Blog

Sarah Hanna. Yes, you need to know her.

Because she's the coolest calligrapher I have ever spoken to. No really, I wanted to go have lunch with her after talking to her for 10 minutes. And after looking at some of her work- wow. I don't think it will be long before she's uber famous, so get your name on her books now. Oh, and she does do all that fun calligraphy art stuff like custom parasols, maps, etc. You can check out Sarah's work at SarahHanna.com

What do you use calligraphers for? Let me count the ways: Invitations, Escort Cards, Placecards, Menus, Buffet & Station Labels, Pretty Signage, Table Numbers...
I could go on and on, but I have to order some invitations to get calligraphed!

Like Mother Like Daughter

I often find that most of my brides have very similar tastes as their moms. Which is great- it makes everything easier when it comes to designing their wedding. What moms and their daughter brides don't usually agree on- etiquette, tradition, and guest count.
Well, same goes for me and my daughter Maddy. No, she isn't getting married anytime soon, but she did just have her 9th birthday party.

Etiquette. Madeline thought it would be okay to show her entire class the invitation to her party. Even though only one classmate was invited. Boy did we have a long talk about that.
Here is the invitation:

Tradition. Madeline wanted to serve steak from Outback Steakhouse(her favorite) at the tea party. I quickly explained that traditionally, its sandwiches at a tea party. I won this battle. Here's the kid friendly buffet we created:

Guest Count. Madeline wanted to invite everyone under the sun of course. I said we had to limit it to the number of kids we could fit at one 6' banquet table and 2 36" round tables end to end. Here's the table:


For fun, the kids decorated their paper mache purses with all kinds of colorful items. For the few boys in attendance, we had foam visors to decorate. Here's the decorating station:


It was a great party. Did you notice Maddy picked both our favorite colors for her party? Like mother, like daughter. Happy Birthday Maddy!

Stamp of approval

Yesterday I was at the post office shipping out a clients invitations and I saw these amazing stamps. I was so excited! Yes, I agree, I get excited about little things all too often- but hey, the details are what makes the difference. Anyway, back to the stamps. As you know, our dear postal system woke up a few years ago and created stamps specifically for weddings. And they are lovely, yes. But they are also lavender and light green. Lavender and light green are not going to compliment every invitation. However, these cute guys...they bring a whole different meaning to the invitation. This celebrate stamp I just adore. You can't help but get anxious about the party you're about to get invited to once you rip into the envelope.

Ah, the pretty flowers. What I love about this one is that it isn't pastel. It's bright happy flowers. These would be perfect for a garden wedding, an afternoon wedding, a shower, a luncheon...I could go on for ages.

Another very cool option- photostamps. You can get as custom as you like by just uploading an image and creating your own personalized stamp. This is one great example of how to tie it all together.
Jillians mom worked with Two Paper Dolls in Philadelphia to create this amazing Save the Date ensemble for her Captiva Island destination wedding weekend.
Quick Tip- ALWAYS bring a completed invitation to the post office to get the low down on what your postage will be.
Oh- and don't forget to put some thought into your response card stamp!

Lookie here...Woohoo...WIN some Telliegrams!

These have got to be one of the coolest new things I've seen lately. Totally unique, and downright cool. I also happen to like the fact that the designers name is Kelly. Turns out Kelly is as cool as her little boxes are and she's giving me a $100 Telliegram Gift Certificate to give to one of you! If you're a wedding pro, you can give the gift certificate to one of your clients as a gift or use it for your own business. Or if you're a bride, you can use the gift certificate yourself! My favorite is the lime green takeout box with the hot pink palm tree. Go figure.
To enter the contest, go to the Telliegrams website and find your favorite product. Then come back here, leave a comment with your name and your favorite product, and you'll be entered. You have until August 1st to enter. Want to increase your chances? Invite a friend to do the same and make a deal to split the gift certificate if she wins!

It's a win-win deal here- the coupon code above is good just in case you don't win the gift certificate. Be sure to enter though- someone has to win!

Ooooh I love nice stationery

I have to say, you never know where your next blog comment will lead you. Last week I received a comment from a reader (Dawn) and when I found my way back to her blog I found stationary paradise. Anna Bella Stationery is just darling! Truly, if you have 5 minutes, check it out. I wanted everything of course, but I think my favorite was the Khaki collection from her signature wedding line. At under $10 per set- I think it's amazing.
But that isn't the end of this post! I was reading some of Dawn's blog just this morning and I read about a collaboration she had with another Florida artist, Claudine Hellmuth to do these very unique notecards. I've never seen anything like them, and that, that I just love. You'll have to visit her website to see because it's truly something you have to see to grasp. Anyway, something struck me about the post and I couldn't put my finger on it. I clicked on the link, and it all came together. "GET OUT!" I yelled. My kids and the puppy all came running to the office to see what I was yelling about. The artist is Claudine Hellmuth! I know, you're thinking, "And this is so unbelievable because..." The kids and dog weren't as excited either. It's quite exciting to me though because Claudine Hellmuth and I had an english class together our freshman year of high school. It's a small small world.

Wedding Invitation like none other. WOW.

This has to be one of the coolest invitations ever. I have to say that if I got this cherry lollipop invitation, there's no way you could keep me from the wedding. The Lollipop has a monogram on one side and the invitation information on the other. The little tag underneath the satin bow is the RSVP and the envelope for the RSVP is just under the lollipop. This super chic invitation is packaged perfectly and arrives at your door ready to be addressed and mailed, each in its own white box with your monogram on the front. Love love love it. Yeah, there's a pretty hefty price tag. But some things are just so worth it. You can order them through your wedding planner or from Wedding Graffiti.

The Wedding Budget Series, Part 1: How much does the average wedding cost?

I have tried and tried to come up with a fail safe for this question and the truth is: There's no such thing as an average cost. I can tell you where to find out the average amount spent across the USA, but in no way will that hold up when it comes to your planning. Here's why; no 2 weddings are the same. In fact, I've never had 2 that were even remotely close to each other. I've planned weddings that were hundreds of thousands of dollars and I've planned weddings that were a couple thousand, and everything in between. Let me give you an example of how 2 weddings at the same to-die-for location, with the same amount of people can be so different in cost. Let's say there are 75 guests.
Wedding A:
The bride and groom decide to have their wedding on the beach on a Sunday at 11am. That way they can enjoy the gorgeous view of the Gulf of Mexico for the entire length of the ceremony & reception. Instead of a rehearsal dinner, they invite everyone out to the beach at 7:30pm, a half hour before sunset, play their favorite beach tunes on a portable cd player, and serve ice cream bars out of a cooler as they watch the sun go down. For the reception they choose a brunch buffet, which includes Salmon, Chicken, and ziti. They decide to host a consumption bar because people don’t typically drink as much during the day. For music, they hire a really good DJ to cover the entire event, but also have a soloist for the ceremony. For décor, the bride decided to stick with all roses in just 2 colors. Since it’s a Sunday afternoon, they were able to get a good deal on photography and videography coverage. The bride and all her bridesmaids had a Pina Colada-n-Papers party and made all the save the dates, invitations, and placecards.
Wedding B:
The bride and groom decide to have their wedding on a Saturday at 6:30pm. For the rehearsal dinner, they treated all 75 guests to a sunset cruise and a clambake on a nearby island. Their ceremony is on the beach with chivari chairs covered in a sheer light flowing wrap. A beautiful sunset cocktail hour with a mojito and martini bar, cigar roller, and a sushi station. A dinner under the stars is their dream. They choose a plated 5-course surf and turf meal for their guests with a five-hour open bar and wine service during dinner. For music, they have a string quartet at the ceremony, steel pan and guitar at the cocktail hour, a 12-piece band for the reception, and a DJ for the after party. For décor, the bride brings the florist a photo of Donald Trumps wedding reception and says, “I’d like this, only in my colors”. For the wedding stationary, the bride goes to a custom stationary designer and calligrapher for the save the dates, invitations, menus, programs, and place cards.

In both cases, the couple is getting their dream wedding at their dream location. So can you see how giving an average is difficult? The cost of each of these weddings- how about I let you make your best guess? Post your estimates via the comment link and I’ll post the answer and winner tomorrow. The winner will receive the next issue of Grace Ormonde Wedding Style- since it was the winner of the last survey. This is open to everybody: brides, grooms, wedding professionals…hope to hear from lots of you!

Happy Valentines Day!

Anybody get engaged today? It's still kind of early, hopefully by tonight I'll start to hear about some exciting proposals. I got engaged on Valentines day 10 years ago. I can hardly believe its been that long. It's been a great 10 years.
Speaking of engagements, let's talk about engagement photos. What are they for, and why do you get them, and should you even bother.
Personally, I think they're great. For so many reasons. You can use them on your wedding website, your mom can put them in the paper with the engagement announcement, you can use them as your holiday card picture, and there are even some wedding invitations that have photos printed right on them. It's also really nice to just have a great picture for your office desk, and somewhere in the house.
Then there's the "wedding planner reasoning". This wedding planner will tell you that spending that hour or 2 with your wedding photographer, months before the wedding will make a huge difference come wedding day. You will know how your photographer works, and your photographer will learn the best ways to get the best out of you. So then on your wedding day, its someone you know taking your photos, and everyone can be comfortable and full of smiles.
Most wedding photographers offer packages that include engagement photos. If not, just ask if its something you can add on.
Photo Credits:
Michelle Reed Photography
Gigi Hamlett Photography