Inspirations & Creations - Elizabeth Anne Designs: The Wedding Blog

Letterpress Invitations! (squeal!)

kelly — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:00:40 +0000

I realized I haven’t posted pictures of our invitations yet! And I wasn’t even paranoid about wedding crashers. Anywho, I really wanted letterpress invitations more than anything else and it was my big splurge. But really, not that bad. I used someone local, Jenny Barry from Press Charming, and I brought in some art nouveau books I’d bought to try and figure out a design. Jenny sent me back so many possibilities and this is what we finally decided on!

We got a 5×7 invitation with a postcard size reply card (saved on postage for the envelope and the reply! One regular 44 cent stamp was enough for the invitation (we liked the king & queen so that worked out) and we used polar bear postcard stamps for the postcards (not my favorite but we didn’t really have an option and the colors didn’t clash).

One annoyance with the reply cards was the post office. Their machines consistently tore off parts of the card on its journey to us, I’m guessing because of the paper used. It was pretty thick but you might need to ask for an especially hard or thick paper to avoid this if you choose letterpressed postcards. Oh, and I didn’t hand cancel the invites because it would’ve been an extra 20 cents each, I couldn’t do it myself, and the 20 cents would have to be added as extra postage. No thanks.

The reply card says

__Let us eat cake

(We’ll be there)

no. Attending ___

__Off with our heads! (We can’t make it!)

I didn’t hear any complaints and we definitely had a few people that were tickled by it. When Garrett’s mom was planning the Friday night BBQ her friends mentioned having a tagline of “let us eat BBQ”.

The envelope liners. They really made the invitation in my opinion, since they added some color and pizzaz, but they were a little bit of a pain to print. Note to all who undertake such a thing: make sure you have a printer that lets you replace the ink colors indvidually. Otherwise you will end up with a bunch of ink cartridges with just magenta and cyan ink left in them, a thinner wallet, and a frowny face. Jenny was so helpful though, she designed the page and cut them for me, I just had to print and place in the envelopes. I used one of those mini adhesive dispensers (works much better than a gluestick and you get in a rhythm so it’s easy).

I wish I had a picture of the addressing, but I did it myself with an ink pen (I thought about using a calligraphy pen but I liked the look of the script I chose with a pen better) and it’s probably better not to let you see what I was willing to send out.

The invitation itself was a double whammy. We waited a while to order the invitations (and I’m so glad we were able to get them in time to send out 6 weeks in advance!) and so by that time we knew we’d be getting married in San Francisco and wanted to include it so that people wouldn’t feel slighted or think they just weren’t invited to the wedding. So, it reads:

Together with their families

Kelly Scott Merrill

and

Garrett Barton Cummings

Joyfully announce their marriage

Thursday, August 13, 2009

San Francisco, California

Please Join them to celebrate

Saturday, October 3, 2009

7:00 PM

The Summit Club

Birmingham, Alabama

Cocktail Attire

Plenty of people asked about cocktail attire because apparently it’s different in everyone’s mind but Garrett and I were wearing a wedding dress and suit, our mothers were wearing standard mother of the bride dresses, and my bridesmaids were in knee length silky wrap dresses. So I felt like something you would wear to a cocktail party would suffice. We didn’t want people to be formal or in jeans, and I didn’t see anyone inappropriately dressed. So we win. Oh, and usually you announce separately but we wanted to save money and time and breaking the rules is more fun. And it was such a tiny way to break the rules.

So, I couldn’t be more pleased. We got custom, not too expensive (I think it was 3.75 for each invitation?) letterpress invitations and they were lovely! Jenny even let me crank a few because I have a not so secret crush on letterpresses.

How did you decide on your invitations?

You Can Wear It Again

mo — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:30:31 +0000

Does anyone ever really wear a bridesmaid dress again? {Crickets chirp}

I thought so. Please feel free to prove me wrong in the comments. :)

I hope that even if my sisters don’t wear their dresses again, that their photos don’t end up in a book like You Can Wear It Again by Meg Mateo Ilasco. (Despite how loud these dresses are, you really can’t deny that there’s something incredibly festive about them all! I think this book would make a great addition to a thank you gift for the maids.)

[Where has the hat gone in bridal fashion?? Photos from You Can Wear It Again by Meg Mateo Ilasco, published by Chronicle Books]

I {think} we have finally come to a compromise and chosen dresses to order! If you recall, I was on the hunt for green dresses and trying not to turn my sisters into props.

I recently fell in love with this dress and this dress but both got lukewarm reviews from the sisters. Some weeks went by, lots of Internet surfing happened, and then I saw this dress from Saja. Saja was the first place I had tried on wedding dresses, and is also where my sister almost bought her dress. So I already knew it might be a winner.

[Saja bridesmaid dress in jade]

And {woohoo!!} it was! Both sisters have agreed to get the dresses from Saja, they just need to choose a silhouette of their liking. Both dresses will be in that gorgeous green and shoes will be left up to them.

I’m also super excited to have found this photo from Grace Bonny’s wedding in Martha Stewart. I just love how the flowers pop against the bright green dress!

The best part of this all is that my sisters like what they will be wearing. Even if they will never wear the dress again, I can be comforted by this fact.

Have you ever had to wear an indescribably ugly bridesmaid dress? Can you wear any of your dresses again?

Save the Date Sneak Peek!

juel — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:00:02 +0000

Got our save the dates in already! Not sending them out until January, but I won a contest and had to get them printed by the end of September. One less thing to worry about!

On the left is the original, and then on the right is the final version after I used the corner punch (Fiskars “something old, something new”, purchased with my michael’s coupon of course!)

My mom did the drawing! The orange tree was meant to play off the whole Spain thing. I love what she did and I love the fact that my mom designed it!!

My friend Julie designed the back that has the actual Save the Date info. She’s a graphic design student and I’m so lucky to have her helping me!

{ photos by me }

So, the area on the right will be where I put the addresses. Do you think I should do anything fancy with how I write the addresses on the right? Or just write it with my neat teacher handwriting?

Here’s to getting things checked off the list!! :)

Real Weddings: Kacie + Darby

elizabeth — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:21:40 +0000

I’m a South Carolina girl at heart, so I simply adore Kacie and Darby’s wedding, set at one of my favorite venues in the world, the Inn at Palmetto Bluff, and photographed by the incredible Nashan Photographers.

Guests were welcomed to the lowcountry with beautiful jute gift bags and lovely palm fans.

The ceremony took place in Palmetto Bluff’s Waterside Chapel - a simple and stunning small chapel with wooden pews and loads of sunshine. Each aisle was decorated with lush pink and green florals in glass vases, tied with ribbons to the pew.

In true lowcountry tradition, a gospel choir performed during the ceremony. If you haven’t ever experienced a ceremony with a choir, trust me, that moment… it’s just one of those magical ones.

In the reception, Kacie and Darby complemented the natural beauty of their venue with baby blue linens, place cards set on beds of wheatgrass, and beautiful, lush, pink and green centerpieces by H.B. Stems of Beaufort. The event was flawlessly coordinated by Katie Huebel from WED in Charleston, SC.

The cake by Jim Smeal added a whimsical touch to the event!

Favorite shot - fireworks on a warm South Carolina night completes a perfect party!

Vendors
Photography: Nashan Photographers (their photography is so classic and timeless! Lots of inspiration to be found.)
Venue: Inn at Palmetto Bluff
Planning & Design: Katie Huebel from WED
Cake: Jim Smeal
Floral: H.B. Stems of Beaufort
Calligraphy: Elizabeth Porcher Jones

Melanie, thank you so much for sharing Kacie and Darby’s beautiful lowcountry South Carolina wedding with EAD!

Let’s Talk about Location

abby — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:11:40 +0000

No, I’m not talking about for our wedding, I’m talking about after the wedding. Here’s a snapshot of our background:

Abby
Pennsylvania -> San Francisco, CA -> Boston, MA-> ?

Ger
England -> Ireland -> Pennsylvania -> San Francisco, CA -> Boston, MA -> ?

As you can see, we’ve been around! We both met in college in Pennsylvania and moved to San Francisco and Boston together. It was important to us to live in new and different cities that offered cultural enriching experiences. This not only helped us grow but also helped us gain independence.

Although we wouldn’t change our experiences, we miss our family and looking to settle down. Seems simple enough, right? Not so fast. How in the world are we going to decide where we are going to settle when each of us are from a different country? Perhaps we never can?

Here are the options that are the table right now.

Option #1

Pittsburgh, PA

{via Flickr }

Only about 1 1/2 hours from my hometown, it would be very close to my family. The cost of living is much lower than what we are used to and we are closer to most of our friends. However, this would be farther from Ger’s family and more of a challenge for him to fly home.

Option #2

Dublin, Ireland

{via Discover Ireland}

In Dublin, Ger would be close to his family and finally back home after 7 years. We could travel easily through Europe which would open up a lot of great experiences. To state the obvious, I would be that much farther from my family and would have to adapt to an entire different lifestyle.

Option #3

Boston, Massachusetts

{via Flickr }

As you know, this is where we currently live. Boston is a great middle ground. It has a lot of history and soul. We love that is it so close to a lot of great cities. The downsides still reside with its high cost of living and lack of both of our families.

We have no idea what we are going to do. We both want to eventually move back “home” but don’t know how to do that.

Do we live in each of our own hometowns for a few years and never feel completely settled because we are constantly moving or do we decide on one place and feel settled but have one of use miss out on having our family close. Going into a marriage it’s definitely something we want to sort out and make sure we are on the same page. It is definitely one challenge of being a “internationally-mixed” couple!

For those of you that are in the same situation, how are you deciding where you are going to live after you get married?

Umbrellas and Our Chariot

emily — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:00:14 +0000

Following our ceremony, we greeted every guest with a hug, and then we climbed the stairs and walked through the pool house to the lawn where everyone had gathered.

There were lots of hoots and hollers as we walked by our family and friends, and I didn’t hesitate dragging my dress through the mud. As we reached the bridesmaids and groomsmen, they popped open their red and tan umbrellas and waved them above us, forming the most fantastic arch. Again, it was a moment we couldn’t have planned, and it was one we won’t forget.

{photo credit to a guest}

Here is my most favorite photo of the day. The smiles on our faces reveal our pure happiness. (And Nick is pumping his fist!)

Then we climbed into our horse drawn carriage. I felt like a princess in a chariot. With my Prince Charming, of course.

Our guests wanted to see a kiss, so we happily obliged. (I love this photo because you can see the raindrops. My grandmother said it was like diamonds falling from the sky.)

{photos credit to Robert Winton unless otherwise noted}

(The “Just Married” sign was a last minute DIY project. Simple and classy!)

The carriage whisked us away for a wet and bumpy ride. We looked at each other, and it hit us. We were married! There were tears and kisses and squeezes. We cherished the moment alone before returning to celebrate.

Bella Figura Election Day Sale

elizabeth — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:00:05 +0000

Today is a pretty exciting day in the world of letterpress wedding invitations! Not only are we hosting a fabulous giveaway with Don’t Press Me right here on EAD, but Bella Figura is having an amazing Election Day Sale you can’t miss. In honor of Election Day, Bella Figura is offering 25 free invitation sets when you order 75 on orders placed before November 30. All you have to do is get out today and vote and send Bella Figura a photo of you at the voting booth when you place your order. Visit the Bella Figura blog for more details.

Don’t Press Me Letterpress Invitation Giveaway

elizabeth — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:30 +0000

I am so excited today to partner with the wonderful letterpress shop Don’t Press Me to give away 75 sets of letterpress invitations!

The lucky winner will receive 75 one-color letterpress invitations and reply cards, printed on 100% cotton paper by Don’t Press Me.

So how can you win? First, click on over to the Don’t Press Me site to see some of their fabulous custom design work and drool over what you have the chance to win. Then come back here and tell us in the comments why you love letterpress but aren’t able to fit it into your wedding budget. Don’t Press Me will choose one lucky and deserving winner to receive 75 sets of custom letterpress invitations. Contest closes Friday Nov 6th at 12pm central.

And for extra credit, follow @dontpressme on twitter and link to this post. Don’t forget to @dontpressme and @amiatead in your tweet!

Good luck!
E.

Proposal Caught on Video

elizabeth — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:00:56 +0000

When Brad from Shaking Hands Productions (he’s a fabulous Virginia-based videographer, go have a look!) emailed me with his proposal story, I knew I had to share it with you. While Brad’s girlfriend Lyndsey was modeling for one of his videos Brad surprised her by proposing and Adam Miller caught the moment on video. I teared up watching!

My proposal to Lyndsey from Shaking Hands Productions on Vimeo.

Tim Gosnell was on hand to take photos of the proposal - I adore the shocked look on Lyndsey’s face.

Brad’s account of the proposal can be found on his blog - he and Lyndsey are so in love and excited about getting married. This is exactly why I love weddings you guys!

Here is the full trash the dress video, starring Lyndsey!

Trash The Dress | HD | Super 8mm from Shaking Hands Productions on Vimeo.

Tell me your proposal story. Did your husband-to-be surprise you?

DIY Wedding Details: Almond Favors

elizabeth — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:00:04 +0000

I have a blog crush on the lovely Rebecca’s Clover & Bee. Her blog is filled with seasonal and homey ideas like these eco-friendly sugared almond wedding favors created by McMaster & Storm.

{created by McMaster & Storm for Clover & Bee}

Such a charming gift or favor idea and I especially love the use of natural coffee filters trimmed with pinking shears to line the cylinder box!