Find Your Font-Mate Friday ~ Christmas Wishlist Edition

I'm obsessed with fonts so it's no wonder my Christmas list is jam packed with tons of lovely little letters! Here are just a few of the fonts that I'm hoping to add to my collection this Christmas!

Chalk Hand Lettering

 

 

 

 

Taiga

 

 

 

 

Mercury Script

 

 

 

 

Mishka

 

 

 

 

Alana

 

 

 

 

Aquus

 

 

 

 

Guadalupe

 

 

 

Azola

 

 

 

 

Breathe

 

 

 

 

Aranjuez Pro

 

 

 

Happy Wishing!!

 

 

Paper Primer ~ The Proper Way to Assemble Wedding Invitations *FREE PRINTABLE*



Your wedding invitations have arrived! You eagerly open the box only to find piles and piles of different pieces! Oh my goodness....how in the world are all these supposed to go together?? It's like an invitation puzzle!

 

Assembling wedding invitations for mailing is probably something that most couples will have to do themselves whether they are custom designed or ordered online. Here is a handy little guide on the proper way to put your invitations together with several tips and tricks to ensure you assemble like a pro.

 

 

Download the 8.5 x 11 size printable guide HERE. Perfect for your wedding planning notebook:)

 

 

5 Tips for Working with an Invitation Designer



Most people are pretty familiar with the idea of a wedding planner...but an invitation designer?? I didn't even know that existed when I planned my wedding many, many...many years ago! And if I did know about designers..I wouldn't have had the slightest idea about what to expect when working with someone to create my invites. Well, things have changed a little over the years and it's safe to say that now I know a little...or A LOT about working with an invitation designer:) So...if you have decided to go meet an invitation designer for your wedding (wise decision!!) here are 5 tips about working together on your project.

 Start Early

Don't let your invitations be an afterthought. Remember, they are the first impression your guests will get of your big day! And while a good designer can create something for you pretty quickly, the more time the designer has to work, the better! Greatness takes time after all! Plus a designer has so much more to offer than just invitation design. He or she can also design fun save the date cards, bridal shower invitations, ceremony programs, place cards, table numbers, menus and more! Take full advantage of their expertise and really make paper work for you!

 

Bring Inspiration Pictures to Your First Meeting

Bring all the pictures you have collected for inspiration. Yes, even pictures of dresses, centerpieces, everything! It doesn't have to be pictures of invitations to serve as inspiration to your designer. In fact, I would much rather see pictures of everything else! These pics give your designer a GREAT idea of the look you are going for and your invitations will reflect that. Plus, designers just like pictures:) 

 

 Gather All the Correct Information...Promptly

Invitation designers will rely on you for a lot of the information that will be used in the design. Be sure to collect information like your parent's names, the location of the event, guest's full names and titles, and even the information you would like and anything else he or she might request as quickly as you can. Deadlines depend on it! Legibility and clarity is always a plus too:)

 

 Be Honest

The design process is going to involve a series of concept reviews. This is the fun part..when you actually get to see your ideas come to life in the designs! You will also be asked to provide feedback on the concepts. PLEASE be honest with your feedback! Don't be afraid to let the designer know how you are feeling. It is the designer's job to create a design that you like and the only way he or she can do that is for you to be honest with your reviews. little note...there is a difference between being honest and being mean:) Constructive feedback is preferred!

 



Don't be afraid to ask Questions

While some of us designers like to think that we are mind readers...sadly we are not! If you don't understand something or just want to know more about the process please speak up! One of the greatest advantages of working with an invitation designer over choosing invites from a book is the ability to ask the expert as many questions as your little heart desires! There is alot to know when it comes to wedding stationery and we are more than happy to share!

 

 

Are you working with an invitation designer to create custom wedding invitations?? Have you learned anything that you wish you would have known before getting started??

 



Paper Primer ~ Hand Cancelling Your Wedding Invitations

photo via Pinterest

What in the world is hand cancelling?? If you are anything like me when I was planning my wedding you are probably asking yourself this question. Well, grab one of the zillion pieces of junk mail that you get and take a look at the envelope. You will notice a stamp at the top with several squiggly lines that run through the postage as well as a couple lines of text telling your where the mail originated. Then at the bottom of the envelope there is a barcode and sometimes a series of numbers. The primary purpose of these markings is to prevent the postage..aka the stamp..from being used again. These traditional cancelling marks are put on the envelope when they are sent through a sorting machine at the post office. Hand cancelling accomplishes the same thing but it is done by hand which means no extra barcodes and no scary sorting machine.

So....why should you hand cancel your wedding invitations? Well, for one..having one cute little round stamp over your postage looks ALOT nicer than having your envelope marked up all over the place. Especially if you've gone through the extra effort of finding pretty vintage postage stamps (here's how to do that..) and having a calligrapher address the envelopes. The second reason to be pro-hand cancel is to protect your beautiful invitations from the sorting machine. These machines have a little bit of an appetite for paper and you would hate for them to snack on your invitations!

Here are a few tips on having your invitations hand cancelled....

• To have your invites stamped by hand, simply request that they be hand cancelled when you mail them at the post office.
• Call ahead to the post office and find out when their "slow times" are. Hand cancelling takes a little longer and they might be more willing to accommodate your request if they aren't busy.
•  Be nice to the attendant! I've heard that some post offices will still tell you that the USPS does not hand cancel but that's not true! Sweet talking the attendant goes a long way in ensuring your invitations are handled with care.
• Think about sending a test invitation to yourself to see if the invitation is correctly hand cancelled.
• Consider sending your invitations to a city with a lovey dovey name to have them hand cancelled. It's a small detail but imagine having your invitations arrive from a place like Romance, Arkansas. To do this, simply place your stamped, addressed envelopes in a large package with a note requesting that they be hand cancelled. Send them addressed to "Postmaster" in the city and state where you would like them stamped. Tracking your package as well as calling ahead to the post office are both excellent insurance policies if you choose to do this. Check out Martha Stewart Weddings for a list of cities with pretty names.

A tiny word of warning......
No matter how sweet you are toward your local post office attendant, your invitations will eventually leave that location and could still find their way into the sorting machine. Hand cancelling does not guarantee a safe arrival for your invitations but I still think it's worth the tiny extra effort. Hey, it's one thing that won't add a cent to your wedding budget!

*Guest Feature* Tyler Adams ~ Invitation Wording

As promised the wonderful Tyler Adams of The Girl Tyler is back for another Wed-iquette lesson. This week she is going to chat about invitation wording which we all know can get a little tricky! Have no fear! She breaks it down into easily understood bits that will have you on the right track in no time. If you missed her great post on the anatomy of an invite from last week you can check it out here. It's a great reference to keep on hand as you navigate your way through the world of wording.

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There is etiquette for everyday and then there is something extra special that I like to call “Wed-iquette.” Let’s be honest, your wedding day requires a whole new set of language and rules for proper correspondence. What used to be the right way to word an invitation and it’s enclosure cards has since gone out the window and branched off into endless options for the modern couple. I know there are those that might cringe at some of the wording out there today, but weddings as a whole are no longer the same celebrations our parents had decades ago.  Couples are having all sorts of ceremonies and receptions these days – from big formal bashes to small destination beach weddings. They are also putting on their big day in a variety of different ways – everything from the bride’s parents hosting to everyone chipping in to support the happy couples. Overall, people are also putting more personality into their weddings, which means they need to put their personality into how they invite their guests too!

 

Design by The Girl Tyler. Photo by Bit of Ivory Photography

 

 WORDING YOUR INVITATION

The paper goods you’ll need for your wedding aren’t only just about creating pretty pieces, they are essential for communicating the who, what, when, and where to your guests. A great place to begin your “wed-equitte” education is invitation wording.

Start planning your wording by considering the formality of your wedding day, which is typically dictated by location along with date and attire. Is your big day happening on the beach in flip-flops with a casual cookout style reception or will it be at your house of worship with a seated dinner in a grand ballroom?  Thinking about this will help you determine how traditional or casual you can be with your wording.

 

A “LINE BY LINE” BREAKDOWN OF THE INVITATION WORDING:

Host Line –  Who is helping to throw the grand (or intimate) affair? These days it could be one set of parents, both, split parents or just the bride and groom. The “hosting” line on invitations is a way of acknowledging this support so you’ll need to think about who gets included and how that gets worded.

 

• Formal: Dr. & Mrs. Peter M. Price
• Casual:  Peter and Cindy Price

 

Request Line – Asking for the guest to join you at the celebration! Consider the wedding location – religious or secular will determine how you word this. Typically use “honour” for religious venue and “pleasure” for a secular space.

 

• Formal: request the honour of your presence at the wedding of their daughter
• Casual: requests the pleasure of your company at the wedding of

 

Bride & Groom Line – Where your names go! You can choose to be formal and include your full name or go more casual by using only first and last, even simply what people call you (ex. your name is Katherine but you go by Katie)

 

• Formal: Katherine Anne to Mr. James Ernest Smith, son of Mr. & Mrs. Charles F. Smith*
• Casual: Katie Price to Jimmy Smith.

 

*two things to note here:

1. since bride and her parents have the same last name, it does not need to be listed again here

2. Formality can also include an acknowledgement of groom’s parents

Design by The Girl Tyler. Photo by Bit of Ivory Photography

 

Date & Time – List the date of the wedding and time the ceremony will begin.  Choose to go formal with the numbers spelled out or be more casual and use actual numbers. Another piece to consider here is if your events be held over a holiday. If so, you may want to work that into the wording by mentioning both reasons to celebrate! It’s also a factor to consider in when to send out Save the Dates and Invitations… but paper timelines are another post all together.
 

• Formal: Saturday, the thirty first of December, Two Thousand Twelve, half past four in the afternoon
• Casual: Saturday, December 31^st, 2012, 4:30pm in the afternoon

 

Location – List where the ceremony will take place, include name of location, street address, city and state (no need for zip code).  If you are having the ceremony and reception in different locations, you will need to provide the reception location either in the line to follow or on a separate reception card.

 

• Formal: Christ and Saint Luke's Church

                        Norfolk, Virginia

• Casual: The Sanderling Resort & Spa

                        1461 Duck Road

                        Duck, NC

 

Reception Line – What will come after the ceremony? This is a newer addition to the invitation as previous sets typically included a Reception card.

• Formal: A dinner reception will follow at the Chrysler Museum of Art
• Casual: Dinner, dancing and merriment to follow

 

Other things to remember when wording your invitations, is the importance of titles (for example doctors, lawyers, military)… but we’ll do another post on that when we address, well addressing!

 

 

 

 

Great sources to get you started on wording your invitations:

• Emily Post - http://www.emilypost.com/weddings/wedding-invitations-and-announcements (they have their own “etipedia” to help you too)
• Martha Stewart Weddings - http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/228634/wedding-invitation-wording/@center/272440/wedding-etiquette-adviser  (will walk you through the anatomy of an invitation suite)
• Hello! Lucky - http://www.hellolucky.com/wedding-advice/wedding-invitation-wording-samples.html (some of my favorite invitation designers who also happen to be etiquette sages)
• The Knot - http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/wedding-invitations/articles/standard-wedding-invitation-wording-examples.aspx?MsdVisit=1
• Off Beat Bride - http://offbeatbride.com/2007/12/wedding-invitation-wording-that-wont-make-you-barf
• Invitation Consultants - http://www.invitationconsultants.com/sw-main.aspx
• Wedding Paper Divas - http://www.weddingpaperdivas.com/wedding-invitations-sample-verses.htm

 

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Thank you Tyler for another great lesson!!

 

 



 

 



*Guest Feature* Tyler Adams ~ The Anatomy of a Wedding Invite

Today we welcome the wonderful Tyler Adams of The Girl Tyler with the first in a series of guest posts all about wedding invite etiquette or Wed-etiquette as she likes to call it:) Tyler is a multi-talented designer/photographer whose love for paper is evident in everything she creates and I'm delighted to have her be a part of Paper Wedding!

This week Tyler has put together two great graphics outlining the different parts of a formal and casual wedding invitation. Then stay tuned for next week when she will be back with the ins and outs of invitation wording along with lots of great resources for more information! Keep these posts handy and you will be all set for your own wedding invite wording adventure!

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Check back next week for more Wed-etiquette from Tyler!

*Guest Feature* Molly Jacques ~ Tips for Working with a Calligrapher

Today we have the ultra-talented illustrator and calligrapher Molly Jacques as a guest. She is here to give us the inside scoop on working with a calligrapher for your wedding invitations and event pieces. Her gorgeous work has been featured in Martha Stewart Weddings magazine and on blogs like  Oh So Beautiful Paper, Design Work Life, and Paper Crave. She even has a fabulous online shop full of little lettering beauties for you to buy!

Welcome to Paper Wedding Molly Jacques!

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Hi everyone! Kate recently asked me if I could share a little info with her readers about working with a calligrapher to create beautiful, hand written pieces for a wedding or any special event. The process can seem a bit overwhelming, but hopefully with these few tips, you'll have no problem finding and working with a calligrapher that fits the overall aesthetic and budget of your big day! Here are a few steps to get you started...

 

*FINDING A CALLIGRAPHER*

 This is definitely the tricky part of the whole process as you want to find someone who fits your event's aesthetic and budget. Pinterest is a great way to find calligraphers with pricing at all different levels. Whether you want something traditional, modern, or whimsical, there's a calligrapher out there that specializes in one or all of those styles.

For example, my portfolio really highlights a modern, whimsical vibe. I love working with moving baselines and funky calligraphy styles, creating an image that is clean but also innovative.

 

 

*BOOKING*

 Next, you'll have to book time in your calligrapher's schedule. The earlier you contact him or her, the more likely he or she be able to fit you into their schedule. To be safe, contacting your calligrapher 6-10 months in advance is always a good idea. When contacting, be sure to include whatever amount of this information you can:

-What type of project is this (envelope addressing, invitation design, place cards, etc.)?

-How many will you need?

-What color is your paper and what color ink do you want?

-When will you need everything finished?

-Any information regarding a style of calligraphy you'd like (most calligraphers have a signature style that they are known for).

Most calligraphers can also work on a rush order for an additional fee.

From that point, your calligrapher will most likely take a 25-50% deposit to secure your place in their schedule, and voila, you've created a wonderful partnership!

 

*MATERIALS*

Be sure to send the paper materials to your calligrapher for him or her to receive on or before the date scheduled to begin. I usually ask for 20% extra materials in case of any added on names or spelling errors.

*SUBMITTING THE ADDRESS LIST OR NAMES*

 When the time comes for working on envelopes (or place cards, or other day-of paper materials), you'll need to submit a list of names and addresses in the same wording that you'd like them to be written out. Most calligraphers ask for a typed, alphabetized, numbered list as a PDF or Word Document. I always make sure to remind brides that I despise working from Excel sheets.

 *FINALIZING ITEMS*

 When your calligrapher is finished, he or she will ship everything back to you.  At this point, you'll let them know if there are any spelling errors.  Next, you'll send out your invitations and wait to hear back from your guests!

 

All photos via Molly Jacques

 

 For more information on the calligraphy process or to book time in my schedule, please visit me at (link to my website - htpp://www.mollyjacquesillustration.com).  Thanks so much Kate for asking me to contribute!

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Thank you Molly Jacques!

 



4 Things to Consider When Choosing Paper for your Wedding Invitations

Photo by Kate Marie Paperie LLC

With all the fabulous paper choices available these days it can get a little overwhelming deciding on what to use for your wedding invitation. Here are four things that will help you navigate the sea of paper out there to choose the perfect type for your invitation.



Paper Weight: The thickness of paper is commonly referred to by weight. The simplest way to look at it is the higher the weight, the thicker/heavier the paper. It gets a little tricky because there are two different scales of weight, text and cover. Text weight paper is much lighter and similar to what you might use for your every day printing while cover stock is much heavier. For example, you can have 80# text weight paper and 80# cover weight paper but they will be completely different. Wedding invitations are generally printed on heavier cover weight papers from 90-105#. You can go even heavier if you want that ultra-luxe feel. Just be aware..if you are printing your own invitations, check your printer specifications before buying paper. Most home printers cannot handle cover stock over 80#. I always recommend ordering sample paper and giving it a trial run if you're not sure. Weight, as you might guess, can also affect the cost of postage. Once you start putting all the pieces of the invitation together, the weight can add up fast and so can the mailing cost! To keep costs down, stick to lighter weight cover stock and add the luxe with the design details.

 Paper Finish: Glossy, matte, embossed, metallic, linen...the list goes on and on! Finish might seem like a minor detail but it can make a big difference in the final product. Go with glossy if you want a modern contemporary feel and matte linen paper is perfect for the more classic, traditional invitation. While textured finishes such as embossed and linen papers can add alot of interest to your invite, they can also affect readability. Again, order sample paper or visit your printer and examine the paper. The more pronounced the texture, the more difficult it will be to print clear text. If in doubt, ask your printer or your designer what he or she recommends. You can always use the textured paper for embellishments such as envelope liners or bands. Same thing goes for metallic papers. Always have a proof made so that you can see exactly how your invitation is going to look!

Paper Color: Much like finish, color can make or break your invitation suite. Traditionally, invitations were always printed on either white or ecru but those days are long gone...thank goodness! Don't be afraid to use color! It's a great way to add personality to your invitation suite and introduce your wedding colors to your guests! Just keep in mind that darker colored inks print better on lighter colored papers. If you LOVE the white ink on kraft paper look that is so hot right now, make sure you check with your printer to make sure they can handle this! White ink is a special method that not all printers can accommodate. Likewise, your home printer will not be able to create this look. Some lighter colors might work on darker paper but it will change the appearance of the ink. Proof, proof, proof! Always do a trial run to find out how the paper color is going to affect your ink color.

 Paper Size: Paper can be cut into any size or shape imaginable. Feeling like a star shaped invitation? Go for it! The biggest things when it comes to paper size is whether or not you can find an envelope that it will fit into and budget. There are several standard envelope sizes and it's pretty hard to find anything beyond those (unless you make your own). You can download a guide to standard envelope sizes from my Paper Primer post here. Once you find the perfect envelope size, you can decide on your paper size! Keep in mind that odd shapes like square or oblong envelopes will add to your postage cost so if you are watching your pennies, choose a more standard shape. Printing at home? Check your printer specs to see exactly how to set things up to print on different size paper. You can always print on 8.5 x 11 paper and trim it down to size if you're unsure about using something different in your printer.

These four things should be a big help in choosing your paper BUT if you still have questions please feel free to send them my way:)



Paper Wedding Primer #1: Stationery Size Guide with FREE Printable!

Did you know that paper thickness is measured in pounds? Or that 4-Bar isn't the name of a local pub but a common envelope size? If you're anything like me, I didn't know a thing about paper before I got married! I would buy whatever was on sale and as long as it fit in my printer I was golden! But when you start planning your wedding, it helps to know a little more about this wonderful little product. That's where the Paper Wedding Primer series comes in! Each Primer will teach you a little something about all that is paper! From size, to weight, to color..even to what glue to use on each type of paper!

This first Primer is all about size. When you start talking to a designer or start picking out invitations, you are going to hear things like 4-Bar and A2. No, this isn't a secret code we paper people like to use, it's actually how we describe the different envelope sizes as well as the things that fit inside them. It can all get a little confusing so I put together this handy little guide so you always know just what size you are getting. You can even download it and add it to your planning notebook or take it with you when you meet your designer!

Download the 8.5 X 11 version here!