An often irreverent look at weddings from an industry insider
I just ran across this and had to share.
Take it Personally is launching a new line called Hugs and Kisses and you can win a set of 50 Save the Dates and 50 flat invitations.
To win you have to register by midnight January 19th on the Fan Page
Custom Cartoon Invitation
Once you register, hop over to Christine’s website to check out the rest of her too cute for words personalized invitations and stationery.
I absolutely love her custom cartoon invitations.
I mean they take up the same amount of space on the plate??
That is just about as ridiculous of a statement as the one I heard today from a wedding planner. She was talking to a good friend of the Dish about how expensive her bride’s bouquet was going to be.
Yes, this bouquet was a bit pricier than most, BUT, that had to do entirely with the flowers the bride insisted on using.
Two of the most expensive flowers you can use are Lady Slipper Orchids and mini Calla Lilies. The bride wanted both, with the callas in two different colors. Two different colors means two entire bunches no matter how few you are actually using in the bouquet. ~sigh~
As wedding professionals, we are running a business. Our intention above and beyond making our clients outrageously happy and their day all they have dreamed of is to make a profit while doing so. That is why we are in business. If we don’t do that, we won’t have the opportunity to make clients happy for long.
As a bride, there is nothing, and I do mean nothing; no product or service, that you cannot have. With one little caveat: you have to pay for it.
Do you want your florist to store, transport and arrange the hundreds of votive candles you bought online instead of from them? No problem, 
as long as you compensate them for their time.
Do you want the calligrapher you hired to address the invitations you bought online to also fold them and stuff the envelopes? Same thing, expect to compensate them.
Do you want your caterer to cork and pour the cases of Two Buck Chuck you picked up at Trader Joes? Same thing.
Have to have coral peonies for your arrangements? Great but they won’t be in season for 3 weeks. How does $6 a stem grab you?
My point is two fold. First and foremost, work with your wedding vendors to find compromises that work with both your budget and desired outcome. For instance, with today’s bride’s bouquet she switched to a different orchid, one color of callas and replaced the other with cream roses. Your professionals know how to make things happen.
The second point is that if you are not willing to compromise, be willing to pay for the privilege.
I don’t often talk about one of my clients on the Dish but Tear Drop Designs has me so tickled pink I just have to share!
The wonderful Holly Hatam has created the most unique line of stationery products I have run across in a long time. An artist in the true sense of the word, Holly creates for her couples wonderfully whimsical caricatures for their stationery. Adorable little couples that her clients become so taken with that they want to keep them for ever.
In talking with Holly I encouraged her to let them do just that. Today she has launched a whole new idea called LifeCycles. Holly will take your characters and create invitations and announcements for all the moments of your life.
“At TearDrop we realize that your wedding is just one experience in your cycle of life. That is why we have carried our character designs from our invitations to our baby announcements. Now you can carry your illustration of you and your spouse into the next cycle of your life! We will customize the characters to follow your unique personality and physical changes throughout the years. We make customized changes like adding glasses, making your hair shorter or longer, even adding a cat or a dog. We want our designs to totally reflect you and follow you throughout your life.”
Way to go Holly! I think you have a winner.
A while back I stumbled on the amazing cupcake wrappers at Paper Orchid Stationery and I finally had time to explore some of their other products. LOVE THEM!
Paper Orchid is the leading pioneer in laser cut technology. Now they are pairing with the wildly talented Kat Beilfuss of KatBlu Art & Design Studio to create a new line of couture wedding and special occasion papers. The combined efforts of Kat’s mad design skills and Paper Orchids tech has created something very new and exciting.
In addition to the cupcake wrappers, Paper Orchid carries a complete line of imprintable invitation suites and some very cool filigree favor boxes.
If you are a regular reader of the Dish then you already know my philosophy on DIY projects for your wedding. I think they are a great idea as long as you do them in moderation. DIY is a great way to add a very personal touch to a very personal event. Where the trouble starts is when brides bite off more than they can chew and end up more stressed than necessary or they go bridezilla and turn everyone around them into indentured servants. So the key is to pick one project you love and give it your full attention and leave the rest to the pros.
Today’s project is invitations. Here is the breakdown of the national averages spent on the paper wardrobe according to TheWeddingReport.com.
That is a sweet little chunk of change and because it can all be done well in advance of the big day, unlike flowers or food, it makes it a perfect place to put your DIY skills. That is if you have any graphic skills, or at least it used to require that.
To the rescue comes PashWeddings.com and their free dowloadable wedding templates.
How cool is that? There are already several available and PashWeddings.com plans to add more designs on a regular basis. In addition to the basic invitation each design suite includes the following elements:
Save the Date Card
Wedding Invitation
Wedding Party Card
Reception Card
Response Card
Program Cover
Placecards/Escort Cards
Table Card
Menu
The templates are all ready to edit and print on your home computer. How easy is that?
Now take all that cash you saved and put it towards something that is a lot harder to DIY, like say flowers.
Here are just some of the wonderful things I have found on the blogs this week.
First up this from Ariel over at Offbeat Brides. Some really cool, taffeta free wedding websites and matching invitations from Nearlyweds.
How to write a thank you note from Style Me Pretty.
What really makes a bespoke invitation from Oh Happy Blog
Filigree cupcake wrappers courtesy of Something Old Something New
Finally this from Miss Peppermint over at Wedding Bee on just one of the more unusual pitfalls of DIY
That’s it for this weekend as I am off to paint, decorate and the universe willing, move into my new office. Wish me luck.
