WWW - Our Save The Dates - revealed!

I can finally share with you all our Save The Dates! I ordered them from Minted.com months ago, and have been waiting until after the holidays to send them out. After several hours of assembling and addressing, they are all out in the mail, so now it is safe to post! I ended up having Minted do a custom order for me. There was a holiday card that I wanted to use as the template because it allowed me to do the photo grid on the background as well as add rounded coroners (shapes weren't yet available on the wedding products).

Customer service was so helpful and got me all set up! I basically just contacted them, told them I wanted to use the "Be Joyful" photo card (because I liked the old-time photo feel that the white border added) and wanted to use it as a save the date. They added the order to my cart and from there I could customize it how I wanted. They also removed the logo from the back, because you don't want a logo on your STDs.

{photos by Charlotte Elizabeth Photographer}

{website has been removed because it contains personal info}

I absolutely LOVE how they turned out!! Any of Minted's designs are customizable, don't hesitate to ask if they can do something and don't feel like you have to use a design within a certain category. I will note that I uploaded the front picture with the font already on there. I downloaded a font from the internet and added it to the picture in photoshop. But, Minted has 100s of fonts to choose from, so this really wasn't necessary.

In order to add a bit of our main wedding color (pale blue) to the Save the Dates, I decided to add the "modern swag" slip-in envelope liner to the envelopes. These are DIY, and kind of time consuming, but I love the end result. It definitely adds a little something extra to the overall feel.

Rather than having the return address printed on the back, I ordered this embossing stamp from Neiman Marcus. I figured I could use it on the wedding invitations as well. I chose to leave the name off and only include the 2 lines of the address (I read somewhere this was proper?!). For $24, I'm really happy with that purchase...plus it will get use all the time, not just wedding related things.

And finally, I am no calligrapher, but I addressed the envelopes by hand. This took a very long time. They didn't turn out perfect, and some were better than others. I free handed them, but used a scripty font as inspiration. I downloaded "Pea NJH Script" (love all their hand writing fonts!) and copied all the names from our invitation list to a word doc in that font and used it as a guide. I'd suggest writing it in pencil or thin black ink and then going over that with a sharpie marker to give you a more defined line.

That's it! I sent them off into the world...they are either in the hands of their recipients or on their way there. Mark that off the list!

WWW - to-do list update

Ha, I haven't really accomplished much, but I have decided that a few things are not getting done at all!! I should have florist, videographer, baker and save the dates completed by the end of the month! Actually I suppose the guest list has to be finalized before save the dates go out, so that will be complete too!

Overall:

1.     Set a date

2.     Book a venue

3.     Book photographer

4.     Engagement photos

5.     Book videographer (if it is in the budget)

6.     Book band

7.     Ask bridal party to be in wedding

8.     Create wedding website (working on that currently)

9.     Book florist

10. Buy wedding dress

11. Select bridesmaid dresses

12. Select and order groom & groomsmen attire

13. Find veil

14. Book cake baker

15. Buy cake knife and server (put this on the registry & mom is buying as gift)

16. Order save the dates

17. Finalize guest list

18. Antique cake stand

19. Cake topper

20. Ring pillow

21. Order stamps

22. Send save the dates. Order guest book (I want to do something different with this)

24. Register

25. Reserve hotel room blocks

26. Hire a calligrapher

27. MOB & MOH dress shopping

28. Find wedding shoes

29. Choose wedding jewelry

30. Find garter (I've decided not to do this)

31. Clutch for bride (not going to do this after all, just don't need)

32. Sash or belt for bride (included with dress purchase)

33. Something old

34. Something new

35. Something borrowed

36. Something blue

37. 6 pence

38. Make day-of emergency kit

39. Going away outfit (just going to leave in my dress and save $$ or wear a white dress from a shower)

40. Book makeup artist and hair stylist

41. Wedding favors (monogram cookies or monogram suckers maybe?)

42. Getting ready outfit for bride and bridesmaids

43. Menu tasting

44. Cake tasting

45. Hair and makeup trial

46. Get measured for dress

47. 1^st /only dress fitting

48. Order invitations (get custom artwork finished)

49. Send invitations

50. Bridal party gifts/groomsmen gifts

51. Purchase wedding bands (for him & repair Grandmother's band for me)

52. Put together picture list for photographer

53. Get marriage license

54. Book transportation for wedding party

55. Welcome bags

56. Gift for Groom

57. Music selection for band (1st dance, father/daughter etc) and for ceremony

58. Playlists for cocktail hour

59. Book wedding night hotel room

60. Order thank you notes

61. Tips and thank you notes for vendors

62. Engagement announcements in paper etc

GET MARRIED!!

Ceremony:

1.     Book musician

2.     Book church

3.     Pre-marital counseling

4.     Wreaths

5.     Yard/directional sign

6.     Programs

7.     Confetti

Reception:

1.     Book caterer (included at the country club)

2.     Order rentals (dance floor, lighting, any linens)

3.     Decorations for bride and groom’s chairs

4.     Candles

5.     Bar menu sign

6.     Family wedding photos and silver frames

7.     Cocktail music etc

8.     Monogram table runner, and monogrammed linens

9.     Escort cards and table number signs

10. Make table assignments and seating charts

11. Painting for over the fireplace

12. W (moss) for over bar area

13. Monogram cocktail napkins and/or drink stirs

14. Flip flops

15. Accessories for the bourbon bar (cigars etc)

16. Sparklers 
17. escort cards (calligrapher)
18. escort card display (DIY)

Rehearsal Dinner:

1.     Book venue

2.     Rehearsal dinner music

3.     Rehearsal dinner décor/flowers/cups

4.     Rehearsal dinner caterer (still need to place order)

5.     Rehearsal dinner rentals

6.     Order invitations

7.     Send invitations

8. Rehearsal dinner dress

9. Monogrammed napkins, cups OR koozies (depending on keg or cans)

Excetra:

1.     Bachelorette party

2.     Bachelor party

3.     Bridal showers

4.     Book honeymoon

5.     Honeymoon shopping

6. Hostess gift for all my showers

7. Dresses for showers

PS I found this Wedding Weekend Timeline & Checklist for Bridesmaids that is pretty comprehensive - 
thought I'd pass it along to you all!

WWW - Seating

I foresee this whole seating chart deal giving me a headache or two down the road! But, I absolutely hate it when you get to a wedding and have no idea where you are supposed to sit. A seating chart takes care of that chaos. Another thing I hate is people standing in line for dinner. Especially when the band/dj announces when it is everyone's turn to go through the line...this isn't a freaking all-you-can-eat buffet at KFC. With that said, we will either be doing a plated dinner, or stations.

I suppose if you do a plated dinner, you don't have to assign seats, just assigning tables is sufficient. Is that correct? I'd like to get by with assigning tables - having escort cards and table numbers. I've been searching for escort card displays that I like, and I think I may go with a simple ivory card with gold calligraphed names, hung from ivory grosgrain ribbon (or maybe pale blue). Here are some images I'm drawing inspiration from.

How did you display your escort cards? {you can find these links on my pinterest board}

On a side note, I really need to learn how to do calligraphy! It would save me a small fortune! Or heck, maybe I will scrap the whole "dinner" all together and just make the reception one big cocktail party!