CasaSugar

Would You Send Wedding Poster Invites?

CasaSugar — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:00:15 -0700

Unless Someone Like You, who designs and sells wedding poster invites like this one, says, "For my wedding I wanted something really different, so we sent out 11x17 posters in tubes instead of an invitation." She suggests you "frame and mat the poster with no glass, and set it out at the reception for friends and family to sign the mat with their blessings and best wishes." What do you think of this idea? Would you send your invites in poster form? To see all of our wedding coverage, check out IDoSugar.

Wedding Planner: Vertallee Press

CasaSugar — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 11:00:06 -0700

When it came time to print my wedding invitations, which had been designed by a friend, I knew that I had to have letterpress invitations, budget be damned. Letterpress printing is printed with movable type, and the surface of the type is then inked and pressed against a smooth substance, such as a note card or envelope. Letterpress was the go-to source for printed matter for over 500 years, but since it is so time and process intensive, letterpress has become a specialized art and rather expensive as well. While I knew that in theory, I wasn't prepared for the price of letterpress invitations for my wedding. After frantic searching and re-evaluation of the budget, I stumbled upon Vertallee Letterpress, which basically saved my wedding budget (and life).

Owned by husband-and-wife team Kat and Brad Murph, this full-service letterpress and design firm operates out of a shop in Austin, TX. They roll out their designs on a tabletop Hohner letterpress as well as a Heidelberg. They're happy to design everything from wedding invitations to business cards, and are just as willing to work with other designers as well. They also provide finishing services such as scoring, die cutting, perforating, folding, and trimming.

Working with Kat and Brad was a dream - they answered all of my emails in a timely manner, were up front and on budget with estimates, and were just darn nice. Their work is stunning as well. Take a look at the gallery for some images of their work and press. You can also check out more of their cards and invitation work at their Etsy shop.

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The Card Shop: Cynthia Warren Wedding Invitations

CasaSugar — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:00:19 -0700

When it comes time to plan your wedding, Cynthia Warren may be the perfect woman to design stunning, bespoke invitations for your big day. The Bay Area-based artist has designed for events of all sizes, from small, intimate weddings to gala fundraisers for Alice Waters's renowned restaurant Chez Panisse. Warren will work closely with you to translate your story into an artful design that's not only elegant but memorably unique, and one that reflects your personality and taste. Leave it up to this Jill-of-all-trades to design everything from invitations and menus to individualized keepsakes and candy boxes for your event. With a background in illustration, calligraphy, and typography, her hand-drawn lettering and imagery give your wedding a sense of history, before your marriage even begins! See more of her work when you read more.

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The Card Shop: Hello! Lucky Wedding Invitations by Joel Dewberry and EIEIO

CasaSugar — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 08:00:40 -0700

As if weddings weren't exciting enough, one of my favorite stationery companies, Hello!Lucky, has just launched two new collections of wedding invitations designed by the talented textile designer Joel Dewberry and decorative paper studio EIEIO. Each collection includes an average of six different designs, with varying colorways and the option to order the works: RSVP cards, save the dates, wedding announcements, thank-you cards, accommodations cards, reception cards, directions cards, menus, place cards, and seating cards.

Additionally, all of the materials can be printed either digitally or by letterpress - I'd go with the latter if I were you! My favorites are Sparrows by Joel Dewberry and Chandelier by EIEIO, each $97.50 for 25. So chic and elegant, but a bit contemporary, too. Check out all of the Sugar network's wedding coverage here!

The Card Shop: Papeterie Bridal Shower Invites

CasaSugar — Wed, 06 May 2009 09:00:44 -0700

At home, I'm a modern woman with the décor to match. But when it comes to weddings, I'm a traditionalist. No matter how laid-back (or wild and crazy) a girl may be, I'm all for elegance and sophistication on the big day. That notion applies to the bridal shower as well. Papeterie's Bridal Shower Invitations ($33.75-37.50 for 25) fit the bill when it comes to elegant stationery. Choose from an array of beautiful designs inspired by textile patterns, including antique roses, flower toile, garland, scroll, Moroccan patterns, and more. Beyond that, you can choose from 18 different colorways to fit your gal pal's personality. Since they're digitally printed, you won't pay the price of letterpress, but you'll still get the look, and that's key!

Wedding Planner: A Letterpress Program For Your Big Day

CasaSugar — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:15:31 -0700

As you may have noticed, I'm a big fan of letterpress, so it's probably not a surprise that my fiancé and I are considering using letterpress programs for our wedding ceremony. While not often used at more casual weddings, programs are always a lovely keepsake for guests. Traditionally, wedding programs are a small booklet featuring the couple's names front and center, although it's becoming more common to use a single sheet of paper explaining the basics of the ceremony. As I made the local rounds of letterpress printers, one company that definitely caught my eye was Hello!Lucky.

Hello!Lucky is an eclectic, artistic letterpress company owned and operated by sisters Eunice and Sabrina Moyle. They can design your wedding stationery, or work with designs you have in mind, and will produce everything from save-the-date cards to the menus. For a video of the ladies of Hello!Lucky explaining how letterpress printing works, read more.

Hello! Lucky from bliss productions on Vimeo.

To order wedding letterpress program or reception cards from Hello!Lucky, check here. Do you plan on using a program card for your wedding? If you did, what did it look like? Tell me in the comments below!

The Card Shop: Vegas Bachelorette Invites

CasaSugar — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:00:41 -0700

I must preface this post by saying, "Yes, this invite is rather kitschy." But, Vegas is kitschy too, so I whole-heartedly embrace it! Despite the rhinestones, the Beyond Design Custom Vegas Bachelorette Party Invitation ($4.75) is actually well-designed, affordable, and seems to be good quality. The custom invitation includes the invite with ribbon, poker chip and matching envelopes, and you have the option of having custom poker chip necklaces made for an additional $12. But, honestly, I'd save the extra 12 bucks for the slot machines! Would you send this for a friend's Vegas bachelorette party?

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Casa Interview: Destination Wedding Planner Alison Hotchkiss (Part 2)

CasaSugar — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 09:00:47 -0700

Alison Hotchkiss, the creative director of Alison Events and the author of Destination Wedding Planner, has plenty of smart advice on planning destination weddings. If you, or a couple you know, are planning a destination wedding, I highly recommend Alison's new book to lend a guiding hand in your planning process. You can read the first half of the interview here. Alison has more great advice in the second half of this interview.

CasaSugar: When you plan a destination wedding, do you try to use local artisans, caterers, and other services?

Alison Hotchkiss: I definitely try to use as much local support as possible. It’s cost-effective, puts money back into the community, and is a positive way to support the area. I will sometimes hire a local planner to serve as my eyes and ears locally, and then I have someone to help us when we’re there. Especially in smaller beach communities, a lot of negotiations and contracts are over a handshake, not a formal agreement, so it’s important to respect the way that the local community does business.

To see Alison's advice on everything from wedding favors to organizing activities, read more.

CasaSugar: What’s your take on wedding favors? Have there been any that have stood out? Have there been any alternatives that were creative or impressive?

Alison Hotchkiss: One of my favorite favors was from my Costa Rica wedding. All of the guests were given Holga cameras preloaded with film, so everyone was able to take photos throughout the ceremony. There was a big beautiful glass bin where everyone could drop their film and they could reload throughout the evening. At the end of the evening the bride took all of the film, processed it, and put it on the Pictage website, so everyone could see all of the photos that were taken.

Another trend I’ve been seeing is people paying it forward by offsetting people’s carbon footprint for travel. This is often seen on the bottom of the menu or program. Other couples have donated to schools or children’s community shelters. I’ve seen a lot more of that than people purchasing favors. I think it’s a waste of money to do a favor these days when there are so many other things you can put your money towards.

CasaSugar: How do you deal with gifts at a destination wedding?

Alison Hotchkiss: I rarely see gifts at a destination wedding. Most people know to not bring gifts and to ship them in advance. If somebody were to get gifts they’d have to pack them and bring them back. You’d have to arrange for shipping, and oftentimes if you’re staying at a hotel that’s something they can execute for you.

One other great story is that some of my clients, in lieu of wedding gifts, the client included a notecard in the invitation asking everyone in lieu of gifts to “pay it forward” and do something for someone else, be it a family or an organization in their name, and then to write it on the notecard. Then, when people got to the wedding, the guests had the same card that had their name and their table numbers on it, so they replaced the name cards with the pay it forward card, and we had this really awesome display of what people had done to pay it forward. They ranged from deep, meaningful stories to really silly stories, such as “Oh, I paid for the person’s toll behind you,” and someone else said, “I rescued a bird off the side of the road.” That was a really cute idea and a great way to say, Let’s not focus so much on material gifts, and focus more on giving back to the world.

CasaSugar: Once guests get to the destination, have you found a fun way to organize activities? Do you let guests know a schedule beforehand, or spring it on them as a fun surprise? How would you say is the best way to organize this?

Alison Hotchkiss: I’d say the majority of people these days are creating their own wedding websites, which is the best way to communicate all of the information that can happen. It can have directions, wedding activities, local things to do and see, all of that. Or, rather than asking people to sign up beforehand on the web-site you can have people, during the rehearsal dinner, sign up for the following day’s tours. We have used a chalkboard so it was more fun than writing it on a 8.5x11 piece of paper. Different activities we have done are a snorkeling adventure, massage, or horseback riding. It’s nice to not have to determine things so far in advance.

CasaSugar: Given the economic climate right now, if you were going to recommend one area where guests can squeeze their budget, what can be downsized?

Alison Hotchkiss: I’d say music. We always tell people to go with a DJ vs. band, it’s thousands and thousands of dollars for a band. A band can run from $2,000 to $10,000. That’s one area. Another is limiting favors. You can also choose beer and wine instead of an open bar, or limiting the time of the open bar. Pick your battles and consider what’s most important.

Another area is the flowers. Instead of doing flowers, consider using a combination of herbs, flowers, succulents, and fruits. We did a wedding recently in the tropics and cut bougainvillea petals from the local branches and made a carpeted aisle for the ceremony. It was so vibrant and so colorful, and it was free. Use what you have locally.

CasaSugar: What would you have at your destination wedding?

Alison Hotchkiss: All I know is I want it to be somewhere tropical (with good surf), laid back, and I would be totally happy with fish tacos, a DJ, and local beer, Oh and I think I am going to wear a short dress and lose the shoes!

CasaSugar: That sounds excellent.

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How-To: Register For Your Wedding

CasaSugar — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 07:00:15 -0700

Planning your wedding can be stressful, but the fun part is registering for gifts! Unfortunately, some people get carried away at the thought of all the presents coming their way and register spontaneously, not methodically. You have to remember that you're going to live with these gifts, and your friends and family are spending real money on them, so you better like them! Beyond that, you should think about what you need, not what you want, so you can really "set up house" - that's kind of the point. I have a few tips that will make it all easy for you. To hear them, read more.

Consider your timeline. If you're having any sort of engagement party, try to register by the time the invitations for that party go out, making sure you've covered all the price points. Many of your friends and family will want to buy your engagement and wedding gifts as soon as they hear about the engagement and get it out of the way. Don't feel rushed; you can always go back and add more items later on. If you're not having an engagement party, about nine months before your wedding day is a good time to register; it doesn't make you seem as if you're either rushing or procrastinating.
Do your Spring cleaning, and take note of what you already have and what you need for your home.
Then, get together and make a list of things you both want for your home.
Before you start checking boxes, cruise around to a bunch of stores and decide which one or which few suit your tastes the most. Stick to three stores or fewer to keep things uncomplicated, and make sure one of them is a national department store like Bloomingdale's or Macy's.
Most major stores have some sort of registry system, if not an online one. However, if you love a certain boutique or specialty store, they may not. But most will be more than willing to work something out with you, so just ask!
Go through all the questions. Figure out what kind of return policy each store has, how shipping works, whether they take phone orders, whether they have an online database to track orders, etc. Your older generation of friends and family may only want to shop by phone or in store, so there should be something available for them. And it's ideal to be able to track the orders as they come in, so you can add more items at different price points, or remove items if need be.
Use our downloadable registry guide to make sure you've covered all the bases for your housewares, and go ahead and register with each store, giving as much detail as possible to make it easy on guests. Choose size, color, brand, etc.
You can also use MyRegistry to register online from a variety of sources, giving your friends and family a central place to shop for you.
OK, so let's say you already have all the table runners and Le Creuset pans you could ever want. What then? Nowadays it's not uncommon to have an alternative registry. If you'd like, you can register with a charity or even to pay for your honeymoon. Although it's not the most proper of moves, if you really need help with your finances, you can even register for stocks or cash for big ticket items you may need.
Once you're registered, there's some etiquette you should follow for getting the word out. It's a bit taboo to send your registry information out with your invitation. If you have a website for your wedding, you can post it discreetly there. It's also common to have your maid of honor send out the details with the invitations for your bridal shower, and the same for the bachelor party. You can ask your family members to pass the word along to the guests as well. And, if your guests ask you up front where you are registered, go ahead! If you are sending out a package to your guests with other details about the wedding (maps, hotel information, etc.) apart from the invitation, you can slip in a printed card with the registry information.
Most registries remain active for at least a year after the big day so guests can make purchases after the fact. And many stores will give you a discount on the items that weren't purchased, so that you can buy them for yourself.

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Link Time!

CasaSugar — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:00:08 -0700

Check out Caroline Lubbers' dreamy home.- Design*Sponge
Let's talk greenwashing.- Daily Danny
Buy furniture for you and match it to Fido's.- Shelterrific
Explore some smart ideas for decorating a nursery.- Making it Lovely
Create an elegant, kid-friendly garden.- AT:SF
Would you welcome a tattooed table to your home? - PointClickHome
Make your own wedding invitations.- Craft