Themes - Part Two

Bird, bird, bird...  bird is the word!

The Northern Flicker via the Audubon Society

Yep, that's the other theme I alluded to.  Any mention of this theme between myself and the FI is accompanied with light arm flapping on my part...  It's sort of become a joke that represents the silliness associated with all the crazy wedding planning bird bride brain stuff.


But, all joking aside, birds really are going to be part of our wedding day.

Our venue was the main driver for this secondary theme to our wedding day.  It is the newest reserve of the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania.  I don't know how many birds live on the estate, but I have to imagine there is a good number flapping about.

Another driver is the apparent reaction women have to things with birds - buy, buy, buy!  I recently read about this phenomenon on wedding bee and had to laugh because it is SO true.

My first bird related purchase was a set of stamps:

Cavallini Birds & Nests Set from amazon

I plan on using these to help make our stationary a little more cohesive.  Maybe an embossed bird on the invitation envelopes and a stamped bird on the directions/map insert?  I know they will be featured heavily as I get my paper crafting on.

My next bird buy (ah, alliteration) comes from an article in a wedding magazine (for some reason, the FI came home from the grocery one day with two wedding magazines for me - so sweet).

marthastewartweddings.com

The Baby Elephant Folio by the Audubon Society used as a guestbook, brilliant!  It fit so perfectly with our venue, I couldn't believe it.  I feel like this is a unique guestbook that will 1. incorporate both of our themes (vintage + birds = win) and 2. be a beautiful coffee table book that we can enjoy for years to come.  Plus, I sort of like the idea of something informal and "rule breaking" like writing in an actual book.

I haven't bought the book yet because the price tag is a little daunting, $115 seems to be about the going rate depending on the site.  But, I'm pretty much convinced that this will eventually be our guestbook.

Does it seem strange to have more than one theme for a wedding?  Are you planning to combine any unusual themes in your decor or stationery?

Themes - Part One

After picking a venue, the ideas for ceremony and reception decor became a bit overwhelming...  The 1830's farm house at the Conservancy screams for vintage touches.  It has bright, airy spaces that lend themselves well to so many of the vintage wedding pictures I've seen online.

From One Way Street Production

Seriously, it makes me want to buy a bunch of vintage furniture and have flowers in vases all over my house...  That would never actually work because my cats LOVE chewing on plants and knocking things over.  But, I think we can manage to make the look happen for a day (especially if it's not at our house).

So, vintage it will be.

But, what kind of vintage?

Flowers in mason jars or tea tins?  Bunting?  Lace?  Mix matched china?  Vintage luggage?

Vintage Suitcase Card Box from 100 Layer Cake

Some of these were instantly appealing to me - I won an American Tourister Tiara round train case on eBay and I can't wait to set it up with some lace and other small additions as our card box.

Other than that, I was kind of lost.  Then, I realized that I could combine the "vintage" with some of the Mexicana aspects I'd hoped to include.

I love the way papel picado looks strung up for a reception area.  It is delicate and simple and a nice way to incorporate traditional Mexican decorations.

From Painting Bunnies

Next, I saw some pictures of loteria cards used as escort cards.  I loved the colors and youthful feel to this.  And, the FI remembered playing loteria growing up - he was on board with this idea right away.

From Green Wedding Shoes

I stared scouring the web for loteria cards.  But, none of the ones I found felt right.  The colors weren't what I'd hoped for.  They were too bright and new.  Definitely not vintage.

From Amazon

Then, I turned my attention to etsy.  I found this gorgeous set:

From rowan tree design

The colors were perfect and the style of pictures was awesome. I bought a copy of the files and I'm so happy with them.  I reduced the size of the cards to 85% of the originals, put five images on a page and had them printed as invites by vistaprint.  The minimum number to order was ten and there are eight guests per table; so it seemed like a good solution.

I think they look great (personal pic)

Now, I just have to finish cutting the cards out and decide exactly how to present them at the reception.  I'm thinking about vellum envelopes with guests names stood up individually with mini clothespins.

Those are the first few items I've decided will incorporate our first theme: vintage Mexicana.  I still have a long way to go but I'm feeling better now that I have some direction.

Next up, our second theme and why it has become a bit of an inside joke.

Do you think a wedding needs a theme?

The Modern Bride

a.k.a. The Marriage of Technology and Weddings

(sorry)

Ahem, anyway, technology has taken over my life.  It's taken over many of our lives.  But, as a woman planning her wedding, I must say that technology has become my newest lover and fiercest enemy.

It all started with the engagement...  How soon is too soon to flip the switch on our facebook status?  How many people do we need to call personally before we can make it public knowledge?  We waited a day.  (As a side note - I'm so glad my fingernails were in reasonable shape at that time b/c that first picture of the ring on my hand will live forever, thank you timeline.)

Then, the research, oh the research.  WeddingWire became my first source for any potential venue and continued to be a help throughout the search for photographers, wedding planners, dress shops... pretty much everything.

The list of wedding blogs grew from occasional visits to Weddingbee to constant checking of an entire list on a very regular basis.  Want to see some of my other favorites?  If you must...

The Wedding Chicks
Offbeat Bride
Style Me Pretty (recently featured my venue, so they're even higher up on my happy list)
the Knotty Bride
Para ti Novia (a source for more traditional Mexican weddings)
Sparkle & Hay

And, while it's not a blog, what day would be complete without several visits to Pinterest?  I mean a lot of visits and a lot of random searching when one of the pictures on my home page flips a switch in my mind and leads to other trains of thought which would never have otherwise occurred.

Then, there are the shopping sites I've "favorite"ed.  If I didn't know me, I may look at the ridiculously long list of shopping sites and wonder what in the world kind of wedding this was?  A royal wedding perhaps?  Must be something spectacular to require all this stuff.

Finally, there is all the technology I have been using for personal stuff.  This blog, iDo Software (for guest lists, checklists, budgeting, etc.) and Wedding Window for our wedding website.  (Not to mention that we'll probably use some sort of online services for gift registry and all the honeymoon planning.)

Whew!  That's a lot.

It's easy to become distracted by all the shiny things like dreaming of what our wedding will look like online, etc.  So, that's the ugly side I guess...  Gotta stay focused on the important stuff (like ending up a married woman) and let go of the online crazy...  Well, maybe just stop comparing everything I decide with the things I see other people do and limit web visits a bit.

Who am I kidding?

*opens new tab*
*types in wedding related address*
*sighs contentedly*

Matchy Matchy

Does anyone else hear Heidi Klum’s voice in their head when they read those words?  Maybe it’s just me…

As I’ve turned my attention to invitations and stationery, I’ve been contemplating the whole idea of “matching sets”.

from letters2teampurple

I look longingly at the beautifully coordinated sets of invitations photographed and sent out by other brides.  I spend hours browsing letterpress and stationery sites for ideas and find myself drawn to invitations that match an overall look of a wedding.

from Wedding Paper Divas

I imagine my guests opening their heavily stamped envelopes and pulling out a "sneak peak" of our wedding day…  They will look at the gorgeous invitation, map, rsvp card and whatever else I manage to stuff in there and know that THIS wedding will be different, amazing, unique and the best ever!

(Seriously, I never really believed in “bride brain” until I started having imaginary visions like this on a regular basis.)

Then, I step back, take a deep breath or two and realize that I’m not the kind of person who will ever be able to pull that off…  I mean, I’m lucky if my clothes aren’t terribly un-matched in the morning (just ask the FI).

So, my goal, when it comes to creating the right set of items for that magical envelope, is just to get the overall feel somehow in the right neighborhood.  We’re trying to tie in some Mexican traditions like loteria and papel picado and have a very loose theme – but without an overall color scheme, the paper products have been a bit overwhelming.

As a last resort, I handed the FI a pile of samples from Cards and Pockets over the weekend and told him to pick the ones he liked.  He picked four colors.  I ordered two, have plans on using a third for the envelopes and haven’t quite decided on using the fourth (brown?  eh.)

This may seem somewhat random, but I did hand select those samples from the impressive selections offered awhile ago.  And, maybe those selections were based on a long ago abandoned color scheme from the early days of the engagement (when I still thought I could be normal enough to have a set of colors I could list off when people asked).  But, the colors were based on something...  hmmm.  

Anyway, the order shipped today and I’m hoping to get some serious proto-types started as soon as the package arrives.  

And, once I get over the delusion that I'm the kind of bride who could create a unified vision (a la the above inspiration board) AND manage to pull it off (without pulling out most of my own hair) I think I'll be ready to make more progress on our version of an "invitation suite".

Did you pick out a matching suite?  Or, were your ideas a bit more eclectic?  Did you want to DIY or were you hoping to spend less time on this part of the plans?

Hibernating

It hasn't been much of a winter so far.  I'm not complaining; I hate driving in snow.  But, the lack of winter weather has made it difficult to focus on all the wedding DIY projects I'd planned for my months of hibernation.

But, this morning, I woke up to SNOW!

And, it makes me feel like this:

Bears hibernating from wikipedia

I love when it's snowy and cold on the weekends (because I don't have anywhere I really need to be).

I plan on spending my day working on our invitation design.  Right now, I'm using this as the main inspiration:

Weddings by VIP

Since we plan on using papel picado in our reception decor, I thought these would be a great tie-in.  Plus, it's allowing me to make use of the Pazzles die cut machine I bought when we got engaged...  Eventually I plan on making a list of all the things I've bought with the hope of using them for wedding projects.  (The list will be longer if the Yudu screen printing kit stops being out of stock anytime soon...  screen printed OOT totes please.)

But, before I settle in to work on my design, I decided to make a hearty, cold weather friendly breakfast: Baked Oatmeal with Cranberries and Almonds.  I've been seeing a lot of these recipes posted on Pinterest (guess everyone is craving comfort food these blustery days).  I ended up using a recipe from Annie's Eats with a few modifications.

I used cranberries and almonds.  Plus, I replaced the maple syrup with agave nectar (when I realized we are out of maple syrup...  how did that happen?).  The cranberries definitely made it a bit more tart, but I love that kind of taste.

My breakfast...  Not sure the pic communicates the level of yumminess.

Now, back to wedding stuff...

... Kind of Different

That is the phrase I find myself quietly mumbling to anyone who asks about one of the traditional aspects of a wedding that we decided not to have.

How many in your bridal party?  None...
What are your colors?  We don't really have set colors...
What flowers are you having?  I don't know if I really want any real flowers at the wedding...

It's going to be...  kind of different.

I didn't realize the impact of some of my decisions until over the weekend.  I was at my mom's house, catching up on life and, of course, the wedding plans.  The subject turned to the cake.  I pulled up an example of an ombre buttercream cake I love (not sure about the color, but I love the idea).

from brides.com

She did NOT like it.  She asked about all the fancy tiers, columns and frosting flowers from the picture she obviously had in her head.  And followed up with a "how will people know it's wedding cake?".  Ok, people will know it's a wedding cake because they will be at a wedding.  But, the rest of the expectations?  I didn't foresee such an emotional reaction from my mom... about cake.

Similarly, she was upset that there would be no prayers at any time during the day.  (That one I expected.)  But, that was a decision that required a lot of debate between myself and the FI.  It was already made and I have no intentions of opening up that can of worms again.

The way I have viewed wedding planning is that there really are no rules anymore.  We can do whatever we want.  No one will care.

Apparently, that is the wrong attitude.  Apparently, our families have some ideas of what they want to see at our wedding.  Who knew?

So, my mom ended our conversation with a sentiment close to this "you can break these things to me...  just do it one at a time and let me have some time to recover before the next one."  But, how in the world am I going to know which decisions I've made go against her imaginary "my daughter's wedding" pictures?

I guess the moral of the story is that I should tread a little more lightly and not assume that everyone is on board with our less than traditional tastes.

Were you surprised by family and friends' reactions to your wedding plans?  Do you find yourself less traditional than you thought you'd be?

STD's for Everyone

Our Save the Dates will be going out this week!


All of a sudden, things feel extremely real.  It's like a pre-invitation...  People will know we're getting married (ok, they already know, it's not a big secret).  It's weird that something like sending out postcards can feel like such a big deal.


Maybe it's all the steps that go into each item.  For the STD's, we had to
1. hire a photographer (who included engagement photos in their package)
2. schedule and have an engagement shoot
3. wait for the pictures to arrive on CD (anxiously stalking photographer's blog for pics to show up)
4. design and order the STD
5. wait for the STD's to be delivered (anxiously tracking the package from the moment it ships)
6. pester parents for final guest list
7. order new printer because ours won't work on 4x6
8. wait for new printer to be delivered (should be today)

9. print addresses on STD’s (because the FI is against address stickers…  he picks the oddest things to have serious opinions on)

10. buy stamps and get those things in the mail.

That’s a lot of work and, more importantly, a lot of waiting.

So, without further ado, here is what we’ll be sending out soon (before the stamp prices go up, hopefully):

The FI did a great job on adding text to the front and I’m so appreciative of his help (even if he only did it because watching me struggle with Adobe Photoshop was driving him nuts).

Vistaprint did a great job on the printing and it was an amazing value – especially since I had bought a $60 for $15 Groupon a couple months ago just for this use.

I can’t wait for our friends and family to see them!