First up: Save the Dates. Since the wedding was happening in New York and half of our guest list did not have a NY mailing address, we thought it would be fun to create a vintage-style postcard to get them excited about visiting New York. It was totally fun and did the job of announcing our wedding date. What's even better is that all the photos included on the postcard were taken by Ed or I on one of our many ventures into the city.
Once the Save the Dates were out, it was time to focus on the invitations. I think we went through 35 renditions before we settled on the look. Then there were about 167 versions of each element of the invite which included not only the official invitation, but the response card, the reception card, the hotel information, the directions and both the inner and outer envelopes (don't even get me started on the Great Envelope Debate of 2009). That's a lot of paper, but in the end, they looked gorgeous and really expressed the chic, classy type wedding we were going for.
And they paved the way for the look of the rest of the paper goods including the church programs....
....and the escort cards. These puppies were one of the most labor intensive DIY projects. Not only did all the white paper have to be printed and cut, but also mounted on the black backing and folded. You would think that cutting a straight line with a paper cutter would be easy! Not so much.
Another paper item had to do with our Wish Jar. In lieu of a traditional guest book, we decided to go a different route and have our guests offer us wishes and advice on business card sized note cards. We personalized each card with our names and the date and provided purple and black pens so our guests can share their well wishes. One of my favorite post-wedding activities was reading these cards - we actually just did it again when deciding on which to include in our Wedding in a Box.
Once our guests shared their wish and picked up their escort card, they were greeted at their table by fabulous vintage looking frames with the table number (got the frames for a steal at Century 21), the custom menus outlining the 3-course meal, and their hand made party favor, a donation to the American Diabetes Association along with a uber-trendy ADA red rubber bracelet.
The paper trail followed our overnight guests all the way to their Four Points Hotel room. We put together a New York-themed bag inclusive of black and white cookies, Wise Deli potato chips, water with Advil, an I heart NY pencil, an NYC map, a City Walks walking tour card, and a welcome note on an actual vintage NY postcard. I loved the bag so much that I made one for our own hotel room!
Since we had so much going on post-wedding (uh moving to VA, finding a new job, buying a house, etc.), we took a break from our DIY paper projects for the Thank You note. Plus, the notes were part of our photographers' package so all we had to do was pick the photo and he would do the rest. Well...almost ~ if only they addressed and mailed each envelope! :)
So that is the paper-side of the wedding story. Only 1 day away from the 1 year Anniversary!!!
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