My Best Friend’s Wedding: Shower, Part One

Thus begins a new series here on Little Miss Wedding Planner:  My Best Friend’s Wedding!

My BFF Michelle is getting married this year (whoop, whoop!) and I am her maid matron of honor.  So, you’ll be getting a behind the scenes sneak peek at my life as a bridesmaid.  First up, planning her shower!

[Note:  Michelle, on the off chance you are reading this post, please stop now.  I want there to be a few surprises for you!]

We decided to go with a “Bee” theme because that’s Michelle’s nickname. In fact, I don’t even call her Michelle, so from here on in, she’ll be known as B.  It all started back when I first met her.  Her little sister, Emily, was only three at the time, and she couldn’t say “Michelle.”  She always called her “Bichelle.”  It caught on with some of our friends, and from there it spiraled from Bichelle to B-chelle (emphasizing the B part), and then just to B.  Now we call her Beezus or B and I can’t imagine calling her anything else!

Anyways, back to the shower.  The bridesmaids and I plus B’s mom and future mother-in-law are all planning it. As I’ve said, we decided to go with a “bee” theme to commemorate her nickname.  I sent the invitations out this week and thought you might like to see how they turned out!

I designed everything in Word using fonts from Dafont.com, then printed them out on regular computer paper.

Then I backed them all in black cardstock, popped them in envelopes, and away they went!

B’s mother-in-law had suggested having each guest bring their favorite spice for B. We thought it was a great idea!  I am planning to put together a cute basket for all of the guests to drop their spices in so she can easily take them all home with her.

Address label front:

And back:

I used double-sided tape to attach these labels and so far, no problems from the post office that I’ve heard of.

I also designed some labels for the food table at the shower that will match the invites, plus a few other surprises to tie everything together. I can’t wait to show you how it all turns out!

Have you ever planned a shower?  Share some tips and ideas in the comments!

Wedding Project Revisited: Advice Cards

Remember those advice cards I made for everyone to fill out at the rehearsal dinner?

(Photo by Sarah Immel Photography)

Well, we still have ‘em and we LOVE going through them when we hit one of the milestones listed on the envelopes.  I thought you might like to see how we’re storing and saving them!

We keep the unopened cards in one of the baskets we used for our “Tears of Joy” tissue packets at the wedding.  Man, I love these little baskets!  They’re so stylish and the envelopes fit perfectly inside them.

As for the cards we’ve opened? We keep those in a simply black photo album.  They fit perfectly!  And since there’s usually two cards to open for each occasion, this little album works great.

We store the album and the unopened cards underneath one of our side tables in the living room.  You can see we’re using another of those baskets to hold all of our coasters.

The cards have been SO fun to read.  This was the list of occasions we used (the ones that are bolded are cards we’ve already opened):

On Your Wedding Night
On the First Night of Your Honeymoon
On the Night You Come Home from Your Honeymoon
On the Night of Your First Married Fight
On the Night One of You Burns the Dinner
On Your First Night as Homeowners
On Your First Anniversary
On Your Fifth Anniversary
On Your Tenth Anniversary
On Your Fifteenth Anniversary
On Your Twentieth Anniversary
On Your Twenty-fifth Anniversary
On Your Fiftieth Anniversary
On the Day You Find Out You’re Expecting
On the Birth of Your First Child
On the First Night Home with the New Baby
On Your First Child’s First Day of School
On Your First Child’s High School Graduation
On Your First Night as Empty Nesters
On the Birth of Your Second Child
On the Night One of You Loses Their Job
On the Night One of You Leaves Their Job
On the Death of a Parent
On the Death of Your Animal

Some of the cards have been funny, some have been heartfelt, and some have been a mixture of both.  My favorite one so far came from my dear friend (and one of our ceremony readers!), Jordan:

(And such a lovely reader she was, too!  We actually fist-bumped
through the air across the church from each other when she was finished. 
It was awesome.)
(Photo by Sarah Immel Photography)

She wrote On The Night One of You Burns the Dinner…

“Throw it out and order a pizza…on me!”  She included $20 in the envelope.

And Jordan, we did just that.  Thanks, doll!

What fun projects have carried over from your wedding plans? 

Invitations: The Big Reveal!

At long last, I can finally show you our invitations!  I really love the way they turned out, despite the issues we had with our vendor (which I’ll get into later in the post).  For now, though, let’s take a look!

 
So here’s the envelope our guests saw when they received our invitations in the mail.  And for those of you who asked, yes, we did invite the President and Mrs. Obama to our wedding.  Usually, you get a nice letter of congratulations back from the White House, and I thought that it would be a fun keepsake!

Close-up of the return address. 

Let’s open it, shall we?

Oh, what’s this?  A lovely ribbon pull-tab and a square pocketfold? 

Why yes, it is! 

Here’s what the guests see when they pull out the invite.  Pretty standard wording.  We wanted both sets of parents to be included, since all of us are sharing the hosting duties. 

Guests also received a reception card, which had information about the reception as well as a note to check our website for hotel information and directions.

And here’s the response card.  If you’ll remember, we decided to serve Tuscan Chicken and Shrimp Cavatappi…holy yum, I can’t wait for the food!  We’ll also have kids meals available and a vegetarian option if need be (we decided to handle those on a case-by-case basis…we’re leaving it up to our guests to notify us if they have a food allergy or issue).  

And here’s the whole shebang!

I am really happy with how they turned out.  They include all of the elements I wanted…a pocketfold, sparkly paper (which you can’t see too well from these photos, but all of the paper is metallic), and high level of formality befitting the event. Even though it definitely cost us more money, I am happy that we decided not to DIY these. It was one less thing for me to worry about, and when it came to the invitations, there was definitely plenty to worry about.

I booked our invitation vendor in June, with an August 1 deadline for mailing the invites (I realize this was a Sunday, but it was a good deadline for us).   Two months is plenty of time, right?  We paid our deposit, and waited.  I emailed, wondering where our proof was, and was told it would be to me within the week.  I waited.  I emailed.  I called.  I waited.  I emailed.  I called.  Suddenly, it was mid-July and we still hadn’t seen a proof.  Finally, a few stern voicemails and emails later, our invitation vendor called to apologize.  She had taken on a freelance job and forgotten to send over our proof…which left us with, oh, two weeks? for editing and approving the proof, getting the invites printed, assembled, and having the envelopes addressed.  Needless to say, I was pissed.

She offered to assemble the invites for us and promised up and down that they would be ready by our deadline.  And they were, almost.  I picked them up on August 2 and after spending two days numbering our RSVPs, applying stamps and putting everything together, they were mailed on August 4.  I love them, but this is supposed to be one of the most reputable invitation vendors in Milwaukee.  Instead, she struck me as a scatterbrained person who doesn’t really know how to handle her business.  Her work is beautiful, yes.  And we are truly happy with the way the invites turned out.  But we paid her a pretty penny and I don’t think her services matched that.  Not only did we have the late proof fiasco, but she also mislabeled several of our envelopes during the addressing process.  Some envelopes were double-printed, causing some of the other addresses to not get printed at all.  Also, some envelopes were missing zip codes or had double-printing on them (a full address printed but then someone else’s address started printing on the same envelope). 

I’m not going to name names here but if you are a Milwaukee bride who has questions about my invitation vendor, please contact me.  I would be happy to share with you my thoughts and experiences regarding this company.

Regardless, all’s well that ends well.  If this is the only problem we have with vendors, I’ll be a happy camper!  So, enough about that…tell me what you think of our invites!

*All photos by me.  As I always say, don’t rip ‘em off, ok?

Quick & Easy DIY

Alternatively titled, “What Happens When Amy Becomes Obsessed with Envelopes.”

She makes tipping envelopes!

 
These are the same type of envelopes I used in our rehearsal dinner invitation suite…and I just LOVED that they came in many different colors.  So, I decided to do a quick and easy DIY and make tip envelopes.

I didn’t take pictures of each step because these are just too easy.  Design your design in Microsoft Word.  Print, attach to cardstock with spray adhesive.  Cut cardstock to fit envelopes (or buy pre-cut cardstock, if you want!).  Measure the slits to hold bills or checks (I used a $20 bill for demonstration purposes here).  Cut the slits, and you’re done!

Close-up of the design:

(The envelope is a melon orange, not pink like it looks in the photo!)

I made six of these, two of each color combination.  We’ll be using them to distribute tips to various vendors on the wedding day!

And here’s a new photo favorite of Dr. Groomy and I, at German Fest on the lakefront here in Milwaukee a few weeks ago:

 
What are some quick and easy DIY projects you’ve done?

*All photos by me.  Once again, do not use without my express written consent.

Our Invitations…

…are in the MAIL!  And all I have to say is this: 

WHAT A FREAKIN’ RELIEF!

I love how they turned out, but they were definitely NOT without their trials and tribulations.  I’ll go more in depth about that later this week, but for now, here’s a sneak peek:

(Photo by me.  Don’t rip it off without my permission, mmmk?  Mmmk!)

I am so happy with them…but I think I am more happy that they are out of our house and on their way to our guests!

Were you as elated as I am to get your invitations the hell outta here?!

Rehearsal Dinner Revisited

Well, kids, I’ve had the “four-month-freak-out,” which means a lot of sudden spurts of DIY!  Remember this post, where I talked about the advice activity I wanted to do at our rehearsal dinner? Well, I completed the component parts last night!

Since our rehearsal dinner guest lists tops out at around 50 people, I decided to do two envelopes for each life event.  Here are the life events I used:

On Your Wedding Night
On the First Night of Your Honeymoon
On the Night You Come Home from Your Honeymoon
On Your First Night as Homeowners
On the Night of Your First Married Fight
On the Night One of You Burns the Dinner
On Your First Anniversary
On Your Fifth Anniversary
On Your Tenth Anniversary
On Your Fifteenth Anniversary
On Your Twentieth Anniversary
On Your Twenty-fifth Anniversary
On Your Fiftieth Anniversary
On the Day You Find Out You’re Expecting
On the Birth of Your First Child
On the First Night Home with the New Baby
On Your First Child’s First Day of School
On Your First Child’s High School Graduation
On Your First Night as Empty Nesters
On the Birth of Your Second Child
On the Night One of You Loses Their Job
On the Night One of You Leaves Their Job
On the Death of a Parent
On the Death of Your Animal

I wanted us to be able to open some right away, but save others for years!  It will be fun to open them throughout our marriage, I think. 

This project was really quick and easy.  Using our rehearsal dinner motif, I made labels for each of the envelopes that listed the life event on them.  On coordinating, pre-cut cardstock, I glued a piece of regular paper, again in our motif, that says “Please Share Your Advice, Wishes, or a Special Message on this Life Event.”  Here’s what the coordinating pieces look like together:

(Sorry for the use of the flash—I took these pictures at night and just could NOT get enough light on them!)

And some close-ups:

Open the envelope, and…

 

 Knock another one off the DIY list!  I also recently finished up the other paper products for the rehearsal dinner.  Behold:

Nametags drying…

And our “Thank You” Banner for the table where we’ll put our wedding party’s gifts!

I finished the invites, too, but you’ve already seen those.  Up next is finishing off the menus, centerpieces and favors…and then the rehearsal dinner will be all done.

What’s been your easiest DIY so far?

All photos by me.

Invitations…Make Me Nervous!*

Invites are not something I thought would be an ordeal for me.  I love paper products, so the idea of finding/buying/and/or making invitations really appealed to me.  However, now that we’re actually into the perusing/buying stage (if you’ll remember, I decided I did NOT want to DIY after I made our Save-the-Dates)…I am feeling really overwhelmed!’

I have gone to two local invitation stores here in Milwaukee, and both times I did not get the customer service I was looking for.  Without going in to too much detail, I’ll just say that customer service is a BIG deal to me and if I don’t feel right after meeting a vendor, I won’t hire them. 

So, after TWO failed meetings with local vendors, I began to peruse the internets for invitations.  I became quickly overwhelmed by all the options on Etsy and other invitation websites.  Then, I found Minted, an online invitation store where I think I finally feel at home!  I love their wide selection and their ordering process seems to be relatively easy.  Plus, they offer things like drop-in envelope liners and matching address labels, which appeals to someone like me, who still wants to infuse DIY details into the invitation suite without all the fuss of DIY. 

Here are our top contenders so far:

Love the Chandelier design—so formal and speaks to the grandeur of our venue.  The reply card to match is white with a black chandelier, and I love the contrast between the two!

I liked this one when we first ordered samples, but it’s just so-so for me now.  Plus, the matching response card is black with white writing, which will be difficult for guests unless they have a white pen!

LOVE this one.  This is my top choice, actually.  It’s formal and lovely, and I love how the other elements (response card, etc) match it.

Like this one too, but it’s very similar to a wedding invitation we received this year (Hi, Jill!), so I’m not sure I’d like to use the same style as our dear friends.

This one is actually Dr. Groom’s top choice.  I like it, but I am not a fan of the tulips, actually. It looks much sharper in color, but it’s not available in any colors that would match our scheme.  Evidence:

 
Way cooler in color, no?

I like this one too—it’s more modern than the other ones, but still lends a formal feel, I think.

(All of the above photos are from Minted’s website!)

You’ll notice that all of our choices are black and white—and that’s on purpose.  It will be easier to pull off a more cohesive look with our reception paper products if we are working in black and white, rather than colors, which can’t always be matched exactly.   I love the cardstock options from Minted, too—their signature paper is nice and thick, but they also offer the option of using pearlescent paper, too (which I love).  We’ll be narrowing down our choice and ordering soon, me thinks!  Which one do you like?

And tell me:  did anyone else feel really overwhelmed with the invitation process?

*So, the title of this post is actually an inside joke that 99.9% of you won’t get unless you’re from Wisconsin. You see, we have this amazing singer/songwriter/comedian named Pat McCurdy, whose is a very famous character among the college-age crowd in the upper Midwest (think Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago, Green Bay, & Minneapolis).  His shows consist of just him, his guitar, and a lot of audience participation and improv.   He sings a variety of comedic, brash, and outright inappropriate songs (example:  a song about vibrators called “Electronic Friend”), but his most famous song is the one he ends every show with:  a classic Wisconsin drinking anthem called “Sex and Beer.” One of my personal Pat favorites is a little diddy called “Nervous.”  You can listen to one version of the song (the lyrics often change depending on his audience) here.  Be forewarned though:  Pat is a comedian, peeps, so he’s not always politically correct.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

*NOTE:  Minted has no idea who I am and I am not being reimbursed to blog about them.  I just really like their site and I think we will likely order our invites from them!

Jill & Noah’s Guest Book

You might remember my friend Jill—I just attended her bridal shower a few weeks ago.  While we visited, we were discussing our various wedding plans.  Jill mentioned to me a cute idea for a guest book, and that she was going to pay an Etsy seller close to $30 for it. 

(insert record scratching noise here)

WHAT?!  I immediately told her absolutely not—I would make it for her!  She was skeptical (admit it, lady—I know you were!), but sent me the link.  Today I finished the mock-up for it and without further ado…here it is!

The guest book is based on this inspiration photo:

(Source)

Jill wanted to have cards that the guests could write advice and well wishes on.  After a guest completes a card, they will drop it into a vase filled with dried green peas to complement their color scheme.

This is my version:

 

Some close-ups (please note, the green is much more muted in real life.  It looks really bright in these photos!):

And the card that guests will print their well wishes on (E is their last initial):

Everything was designed in Word.  The script font is my old favorite, Chopin script, and the typed font is Copperplate Gothic Light.  We are still working out some details—type of paper, possible addition of ribbon, etc.—but all in all, I think it looks great.  Plus, it’s made with love and much less expensive than buying it on Etsy (read: it’s free, since I made it for them)!  (No offense to all of the wonderful Etsy sellers, but why buy when you can make?)

Hmm, now we have to figure out what to do for our own guest book…

Are you having a guest book?  What are you using?

The Downside of STDs

Or, “How Sending Save-The-Dates Can Create Major Guest List Drama.”

Save-The-Dates are very popular in wedding culture.  One quick Google search for “Save The Dates” yields 21,800,000 hits.  I’m not quite sure when they became popular, but it’s clear from the millions of ideas and etiquette surrounding them, they are one wedding trend that is here to stay.

Save-The-Dates are great because they allow your out-of-town and extremely busy guests to plan ahead to attend your wedding.  They’re almost certainly not necessary, but they are definitely a fun project to include in your wedding plans if you can. 

We sent our Save-The-Dates around the 7 month mark.  We didn’t send them to everyone on our eventual final guest list, mostly because some of the guests we weren’t sure we would end up inviting.  The cardinal rule of thumb with STDs is that anyone who gets one should receive a formal invite as well.  We kept that in mind, and if we weren’t sure yet about inviting a particular guest, we didn’t send one. 

That being said, most of our guests and family members did receive them.  Imagine my shock and surprise then, when I learned that a certain family member* who I am not very close to had called my father to question why her adult children were not invited to the wedding.  Um, last I checked, we hadn’t sent invites yet…so how do you know they’re not invited?

Said family member assumed that because her children had not received a Save-The-Date, they were not going to be invited.  Now, I am not here to argue the semantics…or even to debate the fact if they are going to be invited or not.  I am simply here to share my experience and thoughts on this, as it has turned into a sticky family situation.  With that, here is an open letter to wedding guests:

Dear Guests,

It is not appropriate to question a bride and groom—or their parents—regarding the guest list.  This is never appropriate.  EVER.  Regardless of whether so and so got a Save-The-Date or an invitation or not.  Although it is a gathering of many family members and friends in one place, a wedding is NOT a family reunion.  It is  a celebration of the couple, and their love and commitment to each other.  Yes, there is a ceremony, and it is the most important part of the day.  However, when all is said and done, a wedding, in essence, is a party, and the hosts will invite who they see fit.  If that means they will not be inviting children, so be it. If that means they will not be inviting distant cousins, so be it.  Would you call your best friend to complain that your little children are not invited to her adult cocktail and dinner party?  No.  Let me repeat:  THIS IS A PARTY, not a family reunion.  So, no—everyone does NOT get to be invited.  And I am—truly, I am!—sorry if you, as a guest, have your feelings hurt, because someone close to you who you feel should be invited, is not.  If you feel it’s too egregious an error, then by all means, please don’t attend the wedding or party you were invited to.  But it is NEVER, EVER OK TO ASSUME that someone is not invited based on a Save-The-Date.  Why?  Because assuming makes an “ass” out of “u” and “me.”  And assuming creates so much more drama than is ever necessary for a wedding.  This is a happy time in the bride and groom’s life, and it is not a time for you to be making them feel bad about who they choose to—and can afford to—invite.  But the most important reason not to assume?  Because a Save-The-Date is not an invitation.  It is an indication of invitation.  That doesn’t mean other people aren’t going to be invited.  Either way, it is not your place to question the bride and groom.  Certainly, there are merits to your arguments, I’m sure.  And certainly, there are instances when a bride and groom may, in fact, have made a mistake in not inviting someone.  But these instances are rare, and they are not for you to question.  Please, please, please…don’t be that guest who causes the bride sleepless nights because she is in a fit about the family dynamics surrounding who is invited and who is not.  Be a bigger person than that, and understand that there are many factors that go into planning a wedding and deciding who should attend.  If you are lucky enough that the bride and groom want you there, be gracious and kind and supportive.  Because that’s why YOU’RE invited—to bear witness to the commitment they will make to each other, not judge them for who they didn’t invite.

Sincerely,
Little Miss Wedding Planner

(Source)
Hmm, maybe I need a copy of this book!

So, my dear friends, if you are experiencing or have experienced guest list drama because you’ve sent Save-The-Dates, please know that you’re not alone.  I’m told that this is a rite of passage for most brides, and that we all deal with this at one point or another.  So I am hear to tell you to hang in there.  This too shall pass.  And your wedding will still be wonderful and you will still be surrounded by those who love you and want to support your relationship. 

Have you had guest list or family drama?  Share your story in the comments!

*Said Family Member doesn’t actually know about the existence of this blog, so this entry falls on deaf ears, anyway.

Rehearsal Dinner: Fiesta!

If you’re here for a Fitness Friday post, I am sorry to disappoint!  Unfortunately, the person who does my fit evals no longer works at my gym—something I just found out last night.  So, I have to make an appointment with a new guy to do an eval and I won’t be able to get in until next week.  In the meantime, however,  I wanted to talk a little more about our rehearsal dinner.

As a reminder, my “goal” for wedding planning is to have absolutely nothing to do during wedding week, ala Miss Star on Weddingbee.  As such, I have been trying to tackle everything and anything I can ahead of time, to continue to stay ahead of the game.  Since we booked our rehearsal dinner last week, I decided why not go ahead and plan the food, decor, and invitations right away, so that it’s all out of the way and done…so this week, I’ve been doing just that!

When we were exploring different options for our dinner, one idea we tossed around was to hold the dinner at a local Mexican restaurant.  Dr. Groomy is WELL KNOWN among our friends and family for his love of insanely spicy foods (I swear, he has no taste buds), so Mexican is one of his favorite meals to eat out.  We ended up nixing the idea, as we were afraid that authentic Mexican would not bode well for some of our guests.  When we booked our dinner at Flannery’s, though, we were delighted to see that they had an option for a taco bar!  Perfect…everybody loves tacos, and guests can customize them how they like.  Once we decided that, it was very easy to pick out a “theme” for the dinner:  we’re having a fiesta!

I was very inspired by this rehearsal dinner seen on Style Me Pretty.  Here in Milwaukee, we are very lucky to have Broadway Paper, a lovely paper and stationery store in town.  I immediately hopped over there to get my creative juices flowing, and ended up picking a color palette we both really love!  Then, I set about designing invites and other stationery to go with the theme.  Let’s start with the invites first, shall we?

I fell in love with long envelopes and decided they would be perfect for these invites:

(Front)

(Back)

I created a wrap around label thanks to some help via Twitter from these lovely ladies.  Em is even going to send me some of her labels to use—thanks girl!  Close-up:

Let’s open it up!

I am seriously in love with this color combo—it’s like an aqua and a deep red.  Perfect for a Mexican fiesta, I think!  And here’s the actual invite:

You may notice the wording is a bit different from most rehearsal dinner invites.  Well, we did this on purpose.  Since we are hosting the dinner, it felt funny to have the invite read as though we were honoring ourselves (Example of more traditional wording:  “Please join us at a rehearsal dinner honoring Bride & Groom.”).  Instead, we decided we wanted to use this opportunity to really thank—and honor—our family and friends.  We are keeping the guest list small for this party on purpose—just our immediate families & wedding party (and anyone else who is involved with the wedding, like readers and gift attendants)—because  we really want to take this time to celebrate and appreciate THEM.

You may also recognize the monogram and fonts I used:  yep, they’re from our Save-the-Date!  What can I say, I love the motif!

[Random side note:  I am thinking about rounding the corners of the invites.  What do you guys think?  Can anyone give a recommendation for a good corner-rounder?]

Because we will be giving out our gifts to the wedding party and family at this event, I decided to make a banner for the gift table.  I still need to string it with ribbon, but the letters look like this:

 

Cute, no?  I also read somewhere that to make rehearsal run more smoothly, it’s a great idea to have nametags for everyone…so your officiant or coordinator knows who everyone is and can better run the rehearsal.  Most people at this event will know each other, but I still decided to make nametags so people like my grandparents can get to know our friends.  Here’s what they’ll look like (I just used my mom’s and dad’s for example!):

I still have to laminate them and attach a pin to the back, but at least you get the idea!

And here’s the whole shebang thus far, all together:

I am so excited—this project has been really fun so far and it has brought a lot of joy back in to my wedding planning.  Not that I wasn’t enjoying it, of course, but I have been feeling really stressed about other parts—namely registering and our invites for the actual wedding.  These projects and planning this dinner have been a welcome change!  I have a lot more tricks up my sleeve for this party, including cute table decor (hot sauce bottles, anyone?!), menu tents for each table, and a super awesome idea for a cheap and easy—yet totally awesome—favor.  Stay tuned!

Are you having a themed rehearsal dinner?  What are you doing for invitations, decorations, and the like?

*All photos by me!