Save the Dates, round two!

Sorry in advance for the blurry pictures... these were quick last minute cell phone snaps...

this is what the "Europe" stamped version looks like (I chose the Dahlias)

this is the "Germany" stamp

look at the cute heart!!!

And here they are, slipping away into the maily world of the post office!

With Germany's incredibly efficient postal system promise, the Germany residents should definitely get their cards by Christmas! (Tomorrow evening, to be exact). The process was LONG but also fun, and we're really happy with how they turned out. And boy am I glad I had a "dry run" of sorts before attempting the invitations. Now I know a few important things:

1) Order lots of extras, especially envelopes, for potential (and probable) mistakes, especially if you are stamping anything! (takes some practice)

2) I recommend ordering German postage online through http://www.post.de/ . Unlike US post offices, here they don't stock most pretty stamps, so I had a much bigger selection online. And shipping was super quick (1 day).

3) Sit down and do one step in one sitting. Don't try to do 50 things at once like I did, especially when you are dealing with three different languages in five different countries, where everyone gets different labels, etc.

4) Use post-its to mark envelopes that are still "blank" because you are waiting for an address, etc or sort everything neatly into piles that mark which "stage" they are at

5) a damp sponge placed in a shallow bowl is a great way to wet your stamps and seal your envelopes! (Germans haven't picked up on the peel n' stick trend..)

So, that's about all for now! Once I get the last of the stragglers in the mail, I'll post a thorough account of my trials and tribulations. Until then, ta ta!

Invitation Inspiration

So I just wanted to say that I so excited, because while stumbling around my wedding blogs the other evening, I came across this entry from Miss Lamb of Wedding Bee about the etsy shop:

thispapership.etsy.com

So I bumbled on over and what did I find? This package:

NOT SO PLAIN JANE

$4.50 EACH

Our most basic invitations package, a great way to save money and still come away with something memorable for you and your guests!

This package includes:
- Custom design motif
- Detail card
- Matching A7 envelope
- R.S.V.P. postcard (or traditional card with matching envelope)

What?! Custom designs and all kinds of fun stuff, for such a price? I was intrigued. Very intrigued. Plus, who could resist their adorable designs, like this card:

They got back to us right away (always a plus for an etsy seller) and were even EXCITED at the prospect of producing an invitation suite in our three languages, English German and Polish. In fact, Ashley told me that Joel actually speaks German fluently!
Etsy, my love affair deepens!!

We can't wait to see how our invitation process develops. So excited.

Programs - an Inspiration Board

I have been rifling through my huge collection of sorted and saved looks for different wedding aspects lately. I'm really glad I did, because I forgot about all the wonderful inspiration! My system had to be simple, or I wouldn't keep it up. I simply created tags for different categories in my google reader, and went crazy! To create this one, I flipped through my "programs" and "stationary" files for inspiration. BTW, I create all these boards in Mac Pages and simply save the links to the photos as I go as comments, that way sourcing is no problem! So here are some ideas for our program (which will also have to be multi-language, ayay!) Even though I collected these so long ago, they all basically fit our color scheme, and the bottom right program even has our initials! Coincidence? MAYBE...

Sources (from top left, clockwise):

holy matrimony, love, cara & andrew, a + e, sewn on, folded, fan

So much fun stuff. Which look do you like? Any ideas on the language front?

Going postal (ha ha ha)

I really want to show you my Save the Dates… I really do! But they aren’t sent, which means that they aren’t received – and I want you receivers to be surprised! So you’ll have to wait again.

But I feel I can show you my stamp choices!
For US Save the Dates:

and

Bleeding heart and carnation, both pink. Alas, those were really the only pretty ones available! but I think they’re nice and even if they don’t include our colors, they are certainly wedding-ey. (PS: while searching the websites for photos, I did find more that I liked - but i'll just have to remember that for our invites..)

For the Poland/other Europe Save the Dates:

Either two of these:

Or

and

and

Or I could use the 70 cent carnation from above. Thoughts?  Maybe there are other options.. must investigate...

For the Germany Save the Dates:

or

Cute, right? I really like those little hikers, and the nice lady reading her mail.

I am happy with them. I do hope that the post office comes up with some new designs by the time we send our invites! We will be shipping those babies in the spring, so hopefully there will by something floral and cute, at least.



What do you think of my stamps!?

Save the Dates, Part 1

OOPS, a week with out posting!

This is the first post relating to our Save the Dates.

These turned into quite a saga, for some reason, even though they were supposed to be simple and easy. I actually now realize that Save the Dates are HARD because they are the very first piece of stationary that you have to produce and it's so early in the process that so many things are up in the air! I changed my colors halfway through the design! And I had a million competing visions.

We had following "extra" challenges:

- We couldn't write "Save the Date?" because we will be sending the same card to multiple nationalities with different languages.
- We didn't know how to write the date! European-style with the day first, American-style with the month first, all written out???

At any rate, as soon as Wenda at Tucci Paper Co. sent me her first design, I knew something was missing. After a consultation with Mr. Schnitzel, we made a list of desired changes and sent this sketch:

She responded with a proof that we thought was so-so. Then, we picked our new color scheme and asked her to redo it in our blues and greens, plus we changed a few aspects. GREAT! After a few minor tweaks, everything was ready for printing.

What arrived in the mail yesterday was a package of postcard size cards printed on linen paper with magnets on the back, and matching envelopes. At the price of $1/card (not including envelope), you can't beat it for a custom design! We are really happy with them!

Next up: corner punching, printing and addressing the envelopes (and a few other language related challenges..)

I've got Mail

Today was a long day. But there is nothing better than a long day and then coming home to MAIL. Today I was extra lucky. I got TWO pieces of mail. The first was very exciting for me, which perhaps only other wedding planners will understand:

this blurry picture is due to the fact that it is late and that paper is reflective - i had to turn off the flash!

A............... CORNER ROUNDER PUNCH!

I know, collective sigh of relief. Because these babies are HARD to find in Germany. I ordered mine over amazon. Thank goodness. Behold the amazing rounded corner junk mail.

I rounded almost everything in the house. Mr. Schnitzel had to keep me away from the books...

The SECOND thing that I got in the mail was this:

Our flower mädl answered our letter! And look how amazing her card is! Look at the picture she drew of us getting married and her as a flower girl!   It looks exactly like ours!!!  So, one big YES from her... I can't wait to dress her up in her Dirndl...

How did YOU ask your Flower Girl?

The Invites

So now that our Save the Dates are ordered and on their way across the ocean, we are on to our next big stationary task - the invites! There are so many amazing things out there, so it's really hard finding the perfect one! Here are some of our ideas:

Something light and flowery, like this Invite KaBloom (with blue flowers, of course) by Merit Hanson Weddings

something bold and colorful, like this (in blue and green, of course) - from papeterie

something watercolorey and light, like this one from wedding paper divas

or something even bolder.... like this gem from wedding paper divas

There's such a world of invitations out there. How did you go about choosing the perfect one?

a crisis of vision

I had my first sort-of "oh god i'm not a professional and I don't know how to do something like 'maintain a vision' or decide on a specific look or feel and be consistent" moment.T he thing is, I like so many things! I can't decide on just ONE! I guess I understand why people have wedding planners and designers and stuff. That's what they're there for! But then again, the process is exciting (right?!)

This "crisis" arose when I got the first draft of our save the date. I liked it, but it didn't wow me. I was picturing something different. Actually, I was picturing a thousand things. How was I to tell someone that I just wanted them to design exactly what I wanted, without me telling them what that is!?

So I sat down with Mr. Schnitzel. And wow, was he helpful! He seems to have a much better sense of design and vision than me, and had some amazing ideas. I wrote them all to poor Ms. Wenda over at tucci paper- and I sure hope I didn't overwhelm her! I'm SO excited to see what she comes up with.

So, the moral of the story: just ask the boy for help!

the story of the save the dates continues soon...

The Bridesmaid Letters

So, I can FINALLY introduce you to the (long) process of producing my bridesmaid's letters. Basically, I bought these amazing heart-shaped papers that fold up into cards - they are so neat, you just fold all the edges together and the tip of the heart becomes the envelope flap.

Then, I set to work on the text for the letters. Like many of you "modern" blog age people, writing comes faster and better to my when I type. It may be sad, but it's true. So I typed up the text for the letters, and set off with a ruler and a silver pen writing the text on the hearts! I had to be really careful, because it barely fit. I embelleshed the hearts with these adorable gold foil edelweiß thingies that i glued in random places, including the flap of the envelope.

I'll tell you, my hand is not used to writing that much! I got quite an ache and used up almost an entire silver gel pen. But they turned out (I think) really nicely.

I packaged them up and got appropriate stamps (i wanted flowers but I ended up with an african-themed painting for most of them, but it was pretty too) and sent them off! And happily, they all arrived at their destinations unharmed (or so I hear AND most importantly, I convinced all the recipients to say YES! Shortly, I'll introduce you to the "gang", one by one.

On the way..

So I haven't written in a while, and this is because I haven't had much to write about, wedding wise at least! Ever since deciding on our photographer and officiant there hasn't been much "big" stuff to take care of, and plus we have been focusing on enjoying oktoberfest :)

But there are some pretty purple letters with silver writing flying over the ocean at this moment and pretty soon I'll be able to blog about them and their surprise contents... until then... ta ta!

Asking the Bridal Party

Just a quick note (sorry for the total lack of photos lately! They will be coming soon, as soon as I can reveal them)? I am working on finishing my Bridesmaid and MOH letters! After meeting with Oliver, we decided on the bridal party and I set to work. Let's just say they involve a beautiful piece of stationary from one of Munich's many amazing stationary shops, as well as some handwritten loveliness (well, as lovely as my handwriting gets). As soon as they are out and in the hands of their happy recipients, I will post here (I want to surprise them!)

I asked Mr. Schnizel how he would be asking his Best Man/ Groomsmen and he said "I'll ask them over a beer". Well, I guess that is the male equivalent of purple stationary with silver writing?