WEDding WEDnesday - paper goods: eco-friendly and cohesive

There are a handful of wedding items that have become basic or expected items, that I agree are necessary and practical.  I.e.: the Save the Dates, Invitations, RSVP cards, all for obvious reasons: to get the word out!  Brides must remember not everyone has a computer, so you cannot expect everyone to go on your website and click "RSVP" just to save paper/money...

There are inexpensive ways to produce these items yourself, like I did.  First: skip the fridge photo magnets.  They're pricey, not everyone has a magnetic fridge facing, and even if it is magnetic, many folks are anti-magnets. I'm just sayin'... I get that it's a cute idea, and I'm not putting down those who send them out, this is strictly a DIY post to inspire alternative methods.

Below are bitmap versions of these items I created, either in Microsoft Word or Excel--super simple stuff, friends.  They were as easy as fitting into the 4- or 8-card postcard templates, printing, and detaching at the perforated lines stamped on each sheet of paper, with an additional design element thrown in here and there... [refer to previous posts for paper type]  

For the Save the Dates, we made them on 4-card postcards, printed front and back, with the photo of us in 'washout' so as to use less ink.  One postcard was sent per household, with our return address printed on the reverse side (censored for blog), and a heart where the postcard stamp would go.  Bonus! Postcard stamps are significantly cheaper than normal postage.  We printed out mailing label-stickers for the recipients on Avery 30-label sheets in Word, which also acted as a general database for storing everyone's addresses for wedding related mailings and future needs.

For our invitations, we used the unbleached recycled 4-card postcard paper, and again, printed on front and back. The front informed guests of the basics, and the back had a simple map and specified that the ceremony and reception would take place at the same location.  I used a silver metallic marker to draw a cute heart at the top of each invitation above the "Boy met Girl" line.  

Honesty is the best policy, so be honest and remind yourself that rarely do guests save the invitations, or any paper good from weddings for that matter, so it doesn't make any sense to spend money on calligraphy/glossy hi-res color photos/embellished invitations that will likely be in the waste bin the day after your big day.

We printed the RSVPs with each guest's name typed on the lines under "Invited Guests," and the response options made it easy for people to give us a simple answer.  Many people even wrote us fun notes on the remaining lines, which made receiving each one that much more fun!  On the reverse side, the card looked very similar to the Save the Dates postcard mailings, and of course we stamped each card with a postcard stamp.  These were packaged along with the invitations in a postcard-size envelope, and the cost per packet was less than a dollar, including postage! 

 

The table markers were printed out on 4-card postcard paper, using yippy skippy font--same as our comment cards--and trimmed with a Martha Stewart paper edge cutter.  We then glued each number to the inside cover of vintage books, a collection we picked up from Goodwill for a buck a piece.  

The book covers matched our color palette, and we used the pages of the books to make petal cones for the ceremony!  Each aisle chair had a cone full of petals (donated by our BM's mom from her abundant rose garden), attached with a straw ribbon loop.  This project was practically free, and is one of my favorite, since we were able to be so resourceful to pull it off.  They also contributed to my favorite photo from the ceremony:

 not sure who wore that lipstick better, me or him...

Using the 8-card postcard paper, I printed out the notices we received from our honeymoon registry when people purchased gifts for us, which I showcased on our gift table 'honeymoon board' at the reception.  By the way, the little orange man thumbtacks were a wedding gift from my MOH from CB2.  Love!

Lastly, I know I wrote about the favor labels in a previous post, but I wanted to show you the trick I used on the 8-card postcard paper.  I carefully measured and placed two asterisks on both sides of the labels, so that anyone helping me attach each one to the jam jars would know where to punch the holes for the hemp twine.  It's the little details that, if overlooked, can cause frustration.  Anyway, even with all that careful planning, things out of your control can screw with you, like my printer frizzing out on the second-to-last label each time...

Doing what you can on your own, such as projects similar to these that I am sharing with you, not only cuts down on costs, but waste and stress as well.  Oh the stress and pressure of putting these projects in someone else's hands, even if they are professionals! 

...But that mainly speaks to the control-freak Virgos. ;)

.More to come next week.

...all professional photos taken by Scott Fischbein of Fischbein Photography....

I'm not usually heavy...

...as in subject matter.  However, after reading this, I cannot help but express the flood of emotion I am feeling at the moment.  A fellow blogger, Marija, was killed in a car accident this past weekend while driving home from an out-of-state antiquing trip. Her husband has posted a very touching story, which took a lot of courage and care to do for his wife and her community.  I'm not going to curse bad drivers on the road, or question the purpose of this tragedy, but rather commend the community we all belong to.  If you are reading my blog right now, you are part of my community, either through personal friendships, family, or what I like to call the Design-blog World.  It is so moving to read about random strangers expressing sorrow, joy, luck, success, understanding...on a daily basis.

I did not know Marija, nor did I know her family, but as I read the comments people are leaving on her blog, bulletins people are posting on facebook, or personal stories on other bloggers' websites, I know that Marija was a friendly person who inspired people.  She was part of a community much greater in size than that of her neighborhood.  She has fans, friends, clients, admirers, people whose lives she personally touched. Reading her husband's words, for a moment, we in this community took a break from living in a fantasy land, where city-dwellers picture throwing a fancy garden party in their beautifully landscaped yard they don't realistically have, or southern-hemisphere residents daydreaming about sun-soaked beaches to escape their bleak winter weather, and we were hit with a big bag of real.

I always worry about what to say to someone who has just experienced a serious loss.  I feel like everything I could possibly say to express my feelings sounds so lame.  How many ways can one say 'sorry?'  But, you know, it doesn't matter.  The support is what counts, not conjuring the perfect sentence.  Word of this tragedy has been spreading like wild fire and will likely continue to do so.  The biggest impact will be the overwhelming sense of support and community from total strangers, world-wide.  I am so lucky to be a part of that community.

...on staycation w/ little sister...

...will return to blogging next week... :)

 [little sister, Leilani]

More Summer Style

These looks, paired with the aforementioned J. Crew models' hairdos, are exciting me more than the prospect of daily ice cream cone gorging this summer.

[Zara TRF May 2010 Lookbook]

[Elle UK mag editorial]

Love! I've had this in my files for a long time.

[THE SARTORIALIST]

[blueberryshoes on etsy]

I could likely recreate these looks, let alone the feel, using pieces already in my wardrobe...even if I have to borrow a shirt from hubby...starting with my beloved vintage eyelet babydoll minidress by Anna Sui.  I'll letcha know how that goes.

Wormley, Henningsen, and Eames, oh my!

I am so excited to share with you the super-cool event Gabe and I attended on Saturday in the South Land Park area of Sacramento.  It was the first ever Mid-Century Modern Home Tour!  I only found out about it Friday afternoon via midtowngrid, and luckily was smart and Virgo enough to buy tickets that night, cuz the event sold out.  Indeed, very sad for those last-minuters who were turned down at the registration desk the day of the event.  The entire event was really well organized, and had an unbelievable turn-out (note: we very well could have been the youngest two of the bunch).  I'll take you through the day:

Registration. Exhibits. Goodies.

There was a wall of advertisements from the mid-century era announcing the newly available Eichler Homes--a 3 or 4 bedroom custom for only $20K!  It still hurts.  There was also a small theater where various commercials ads were being shown on an old film reel.  Gabe and I stepped in to get a good chuckle out of the Pream ads.  "Pream. It's better than cream!"  Basically, if you are unaware, it's a non-dairy powdered creamer that apparently made quite an impression.  One of the ads showed huge nets dumping "old" Pream into the ocean, to make way for "new" Pream.  These days, you know that shit wouldn't fly.

I only took 100+ photos during the tour, which makes it difficult to pare down, but I will try not to go overboard.  Inside the booklet (shown above) there was a very detailed map of the homes and buildings that were part of the tour.  Furthermore, there was a cute sign prominently stuck in the front lawn of every participating home, and a handful of volunteer rockabilly-clad guides posted at each home.  Love the organization.

...seriously, every home either had a red or an orange door...

...and a car that perfectly complemented the home...

...decor that fits even in today's living rooms...

 ...adorable bedrooms that make me feel inadequate (it took a lot of self-control not to walk out with that chair in tow!)...

...and unique details, like:

...a waterfall underfoot in the foyer...

and

...built-in real wood floating cabinetry and acid-treated floors...

...this was our favorite home, but unfortunately, photography was not allowed...boo.

...the homeowners devoted just as much attention to the exteriors as the interiors...

...we were told the homes were not 'staged', but c'mon, who has Tang posters hanging on the walls of their backyard?...

...this homeowner has excellent taste...

The whole day was like stepping in to a blast from the past, and one of the coolest parts was overhearing other (much older) patrons talk about how they had grown up in homes like these, with the exact same style furniture and decor.  They joked about the fireplaces and light fixtures and how they couldn't believe they were in style again.  Personally, I was majorly geekin' out over the Eames mobiles hanging from almost every homes' ceiling, and the atomic pendants hanging over the dining room tables.  Gabe and I were right at home with this era.

We're both planning on volunteering, should this turn into an annual event.  I'd love to spend a day gabbing about Wassily and Jacobsen chairs without people giving me the cocker spaniel head tilt, like 'who? wha?' 

Since we own a mid-century home in West Sacramento, we were hoping to borrow some ideas from these homes, but we didn't really see anything that we hadn't already done.  I did however see many-a-furniture-piece I could not afford, but knew I someday wanted for my own pad.  I'm talking about you, Eames daybed.