Moving Right Past Baby Steps....

...that's right. Goodbye baby steps. We're now within a 7 week countdown until the wedding. Know what that means??

....Invitations went out!!! Yay!!! 

I've mentioned invitations before on my blog, like here and here and here. Well, to catch you all up to speed....a while back I listed a request on Etsy's Alchemy. The request was for my wedding invitations. Lots of bids came in for my invitations (probably around 30)...but one really stuck out. The designer was very enthusiastic and really seemed to share the same design style with me...plus, she loved our colors. The designer's name is Lindsey of Lindsey Ryan Design (and I highly, HIGHLY recommend her!). She sent me her portfolio, then a few mockups of what i had in mind and then she continued working with me on mockups. Honestly, we probably made at least 10 before I ever decided that this was the designer that I wanted to work with (what?? I told you i'm indecisive!!). She was sweet and patient and very receptive to my little tweaks and changes. We've been working on these invitations since mid-January! And finally, FINALLY, I get to show these to you!! I didn't want to ruin the surprise for our guests and show them before they went out....so now that I've gotten word that guests are receiving them, I can show them to you all!!

Here's a pic of them all addressed, stamped (both with the postage AND a silver stamp that I hand stamped on each envelope) and ready to go:

Ruby shimmer envelopes

*note - I blurred out parts of names and addresses for privacy*

Mark's Mom (my future mother-in-law) addressed ALL of the invitations for me with her lovely handwriting!! She is so sweet! :) BIG thanks to her b/c if I would have had to address these then they wouldn't be nearly as pretty!

Black Linen folio with aquamarine shimmer belly band

The main invitation!! (again, stuff blurred out for privacy)

It's printed on shimmer paper

The inserts! Travel info and RSVP set

printed on shimmer paper and the RSVP envelope is the aquamarine shimmer

The Whole Set!! 

So...what do you guys think?? I LOVE how they turned out!! I really wanted to build on the kind of "individualistic" theme we kinda have going.... You see, I love for things to coordinate but not match EXACTLY. For example...the bridesmaids dresses that are all the same color and length but all different styles; the vintage glass bottles that are all the same color but different heights and designs; the invitations which are all a form of a damask design...but none of the designs are the same throughout the invitation; the silver stamps on the outside of the invitations that are all the same stamp but placed in different locations on each envelope. I realize that people might not notice these tiny little details...but I do, and I love it! :)   Thanks again to Lindsey!! :)

Quick Decisions

okay, more on our invitations later (I promise!)...but for now I have a bit of an emergency decision to make.  [and yes, I might be blowing this WAY out of proportion...I realize that]

I've been working with the absolutely fabulous Lindsey from Lindsey Ryan Designs  on custom invitations. We've been working on these for a while now and she's been SO patient with me and my indecisiveness. Well, everything has been working out perfectly until just now....we hit a snag. The pocketfolds that we planned to use for the invitations are now out of stock and will not be back in stock for another 2 1/2 weeks. Um, yeah. My original deadline for invitations is next Monday (which we totally would have made had it not been for this little hiccup). So...now I'm faced with making a quick decision so that we can keep everything on track.... 

The pocketfold we planned on using was going to be a matte black. The invitation and inserts are going to be a pearl white (shimmer) and the aqua bellyband and aqua rsvp envelope will be a shimmer as well. Well, now the only in stock pocketfolds are either a shimmer black or a linen black. I'm afraid that the shimmer will just be TOO much shimmer (i liked the matte black pocketfold that was to balance everything out) and I'm afraid that the linen black will be too textured and too much of a contrast and a different tone against the shimmer. 

I NEED HELP!!!  I have to give a decision to her by tomorrow morning so that we can order the materials and get this show on the road! So which would you pick??

THE LINEN:

HERE'S A CLOSER UP PIC OF THE LINEN (ALTHOUGH NOT THE SAME POCKETFOLD):

OR THE SHIMMER:

Opinions Please!!!! Professing the fact that I'm crazy and making WAY too big of a deal out of this counts too!!! ;) (it's just that i've spent so much time tweaking every little detail of this invite and now when it comes time to put it all together one of the biggest pieces has been altered...ugh.)

Also, there is, actually, an option 3..... We could wait until April 9th when the matte black comes back in stock and then have them ready to send out April 13th (this would be MAILING them about 6 weeks out from the wedding).... technically, people are suppose to be receiving them 6 weeks out from the wedding. What do you guys think?? Chance it and go this route or settle for one of the alternatives???

Invitation Envy

This is one of the most beautiful invitation sets I have ever seen:

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I might have mentioned before that I love damask. :) I do! I can't help it! Another thing that I love ALMOST as much as damask is chandeliers. They're so beautiful and intricate and classic....plus they sparkle, and who can resist that?!? Taking it a step further, I even love the image of a chandelier...just it's curve and detail and the pure elegance of the image. So yeah, this invitation set combines two of my loves....and one of my not so much love, the price tag! ;) I'm honestly not sure what this invitation set would cost, but I am sure that it's out of my budget! The pocket for the invitation is a laser cut damask pattern. How cool (and unique) is that?!? I also just love the particular damask pattern that is used (there's lots of variations of this pattern out there) and I love it's printed in a silver foil on the dark paper. I also adore how they used different colors, but tied everything together. That's also a favorite thing of mine (as witnessed by the bridesmaids dresses)...to have things coordinate, but not match exactly. The font used on the actual wedding invitation is gorgeous as well. Very elegant and classic. That's what I'm going for....elegant, beautiful, romantic, classic, vintage with subtle modern twists. This invitation basically sums all of those up into one. 

Here's a couple more detailed shots to oohh and ahhh over...

This invitation suite was created by Lisa Hoffman of Ceci New York. 

Now...how do I translate this into something that is cost effective and feasible?!? And who do I get to do that? Or do I venture out and try to do it myself? OR...do I buy a simple invitation and jazz it up? AH! I don't know!! Help??

The Search for Invitations

disclaimer: this post is all about the pictures :)

I'm currently in the beginning stages of  searching for invitations, and I've come across a few possibilities. I want to keep these relatively inexpensive but stylish, so there were a few different sites that came to mind...

The White Aisle:

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Blush Paperie:

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Wedding Paper Divas:

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Etsy:

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So what do you guys think? Which of these are your favorites? Any suggestions for other places to get invitations? Where did you get your invitations?