I love this guy, but marrying him better not be the high point of our lives:

Don’t get me wrong, I am so excited for our wedding and I know it will be a very special day. It might even be the best party I ever attend, simply because I’m going to be surrounded by all my favourite people (and a couple strangers!). However, despite how excited I am and how much effort I’m putting into the wedding I really don’t want it to be the best day of my life.

I sincerely hope that one day Mr. Knitting and I will have professional successes that make me even happier and more proud of myself and my husband than our wedding day. I firmly believe that we will have happier moments with our future children and I suspect that becoming parents may in fact be one of the best days of our lives. Who knows, it might even be a completely random day that ends up being the best day of my life.

Basically it comes down to the fact that while I expect my marriage to be an integral and very precious part of my life, I do not expect or want my wedding day to be the best day of my life. It will be a day, it will be amazing, it won’t be the best.

Where do you stand on this?

This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.

(*I was going to say “aesthetic motto,” but actually, this applies to our ceremony choices, too. Putting our personal touch on tradition.)

Mood: something old, something blue
Palette: brown paper, cream, faded Tiffany blue

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Top row from left: photo of oak trees with Spanish moss by Liz Banfield, photo of boy in seersucker suit by Sarah Rhoads, blue cardigan with vintage brooch styled by Shana Faust
Row 2: miniature pecan pies and red velvet wedding cake with sugar magnolia flowers both from Martha Stewart Weddings
Row 3: blue chairs via Oh Happy Day, magnolia flower photo by Alicia Bock, black and white photo by A Bryan Photo, vintage Mississippi stamp
Row 4: photo of vintage blue car by Thayer Allyson Gowdy, photo of vintage guest book journal by Jenny Liu, blue and lace ring pillow and paper-wrapped grits favor both from Martha Stewart Weddings

Make sure to stop by later for a beautiful wedding in the English countryside!

This article was originally posted onSnippet & Ink.

Like this:

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I mean, it’s beautiful… but it’s so fancy! It does not at ALL fit in with the theme of our wedding – fun, cheerful, and slightly whimsical. So, to be honest, I figured that the FG basket was something I’d just forget about until a week before the wedding and then I’d just cave and buy a fancy one.

I tried to think of an alternative, but I really wanted our flower girl to be able to throw petals, and I just couldn’t think of a cute option to hold the flower petals that would actually fit in with the rest of our wedding! There’s no such thing as a cute, non-fancy flower girl basket, right?

WRONG! A few days after Easter, Mr. C and I were in Hobby Lobby, and when we walked through the door I saw a huge display of Easter stuff, on sale for 50% off. We decided to walk through the aisles and see if we saw anything fun, and then, I saw this:

It’s cheery! And yellow! And fun! And only FOUR DOLLARS! I hadn’t really thought I would find a cute Easter basket that would work, because most of them are pretty large with ridiculously long handles, to fit all of the Easter loot. But not this one! It’s the perfect FG basket size, with a proportionately sized handle to boot!

I’m so glad we decided to check, and I’m ecstatic that I actually found a flower girl basket that I like!

Did you have any wedding items that you didn’t think you’d be excited about, only to fall in love with something?

This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.

Mood: Hawaiian casual
Palette: sand and surf, red and yellow

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Top row from left: surfboard photo by Thayer Allyson Gowdy, vintage surf postcard, tropical fruit wedding cake from Martha Stewart Weddings
Row 2: tropical orchid bouquet by Matthew Robbins, photo by Thayer Allyson Gowdy, beach wedding from Martha Stewart Weddings
Row 3: beach and palm tree photo from Real Weddings, popsicles via Ruby Press, red and yellow hibiscus in bud vases by Nancy Liu Chin via Green Wedding Shoes
Row 4: pink Hawaiian quilt from The Quilt Complex, ukelele photo by Dave Robbins, signature cocktails with dried pineapple garnish from Martha Stewart Weddings, surfboard and food truck photo by Ericka McConnell

This article was originally posted onSnippet & Ink.

Very “Tuscan Romance” dontcha think?

The little food icons are Mr. Jelly’s favorite part of our invitation suite

Accommodations/Website card

Here are the additions I made:

Cardstock backing:

I really liked the look of cardstock backing, but I wanted to save money so I decided to DIY this part of the invitation. I Googled “burgundy cardstock” and came across Paper-Papers.com, and it looked like they had the perfect burgundy shade. I emailed them asking for a sample, and it matched our invites perfectly! I proceeded to order 3 packs (100 sheets each) so we could use it for menus, programs, place cards, etc. Overkill? Maybe. But you don’t find the perfect share of burgundy every day!

I then cut 2 backings per sheet of 8.5″ x 11″ piece of cardstock to use as backings on our 5″ x 7″ invites using my handy guillotine paper slicer. I made sure to save the leftover 1″ x 8.5″ strips of paper, as I would later turn them into belly bands.

Next, I had to figure out a way to adhere the invites to the cardstock. I thought about double-stick tape, Zots, or even using my Xyron, but it all seemed too pricey and time consuming. Mrs. Snow recommended 3M Super 77 spray adhesive, and I’m so glad I listened to her!! This adhesive is inexpensive ($10 for a can), extremely tacky and very easy to use. I glued about 175 invitations in only a couple hours, with the only downsides being a minor headache and a sticky kitchen floor as a result (both can easily be avoided by working outside.)

Belly Bands:

Next, I took the thin strips of leftover burgundy cardstock, and used them to make belly bands that would hold together the various components of the invitation. I scored each strip of paper with my bone folder, folded each belly band over its respective invite, and then sealed the belly band with a gold wax seal (yes, this was as time consuming as it sounds).

Wax Seals:

For the seals, I used glue gun sealing wax, as it is much easier to manipulate than the old fashioned drip kind. I bought a “D” seal from Michael’s, ordered some Antique Gold wax sticks from www.letterseals.com, and followed the tips from this thread to make my seals.

So, are you ready to see the finished product? Here’s what you would see as a guest to the Jellyfish wedding:

Gorgeous calligraphy done by my very talented Bridesmaid Lauren (or done by me, if you’re an OOT guest – sorry guys, you kinda got the short end of the stick )

No envelope liners for this gal. After doing them for our thank you cards, I’d had enough.

Little bundles of joy.

The full invitation suite. The Welcome Dinner/Farewell Brunch invite is printed on the reverse of the wedding map (which was designed by my designer/photographer extraordinaire Bridesmaid Amy – what would I do without her?!)

Getting the all-important Stinson seal of approval.

So there you have it, the Jellyfish invitations. They were a lot of work, but I’m very happy with them and we stayed within our budget nicely. Were your invitations a labor of love? Anyone else buy their invitations, but then add DIY touches?

This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.

Hello. We’ve been working hard and after a week of cutting liners, gluing backings, learning to tie twine, our wedding invitations are officially in USPS’ hands for guests to receive after the hot holiday weekend!

No line at the post office, what??

Before I do the reveal, I want to give a big shout out to Derek at 4fifteen who created a design that perfectly suited my tastes and our wedding style. He walked me through every step of the way and took care of things I am unfamiliar with including finding a reasonably priced letterpress printer! If only the Internet had feel-o-vision:

Mmm, letterpress

I shared most of the paper details in my previous post so we’ll just get to the pictures:

Initially, I wasn’t sure if 1 spool of twine would be enough. But it was more than enough even after using over 2 feet per invite (I made 100).

twines

my work station

My wonky printer made it so that I had to hand feed each envelope with a post-it to avoid printer dashes.

Annoying dashed lines!!

A 100 card backs and 100 invites? No problem with some double stick tape and World Cup soccer in the background.

In case you’re interested, a twine tying pictorial:

Cross your twine, twist it, flip it over, tie a bow, and cut to length.

Upon opening the envelope, this is what the guests will see:

Then this:

And the main invite:

Finally, the full invitation suite:

Printing the envelopes was the most time consuming and stressful part of this process. After that was the twine tying. While most guests won’t even bat an eyelash before untying the sucker, I still *had* to do it.

By the time the last invitation was sealed, I was soooo over these invites. And yet I still found it difficult to just drop them in the mail. I asked one of my bridesmaids, “should I go get them hand canceled? or just get over it” to which she responded, “just let it go, girlfriend.” LOL. But I couldn’t…

So early on Saturday morning, I made Mr. Lobster accompany me to the post office for a proper send off after he informed me that the first 50 were free and 5 cents thereafter. The postal worker kindly counted out my invites, put them in a bin, and said OK, they’ll be delivered in 2-5 days. What? I don’t get to hand cancel them myself? I didn’t get to say a proper goodbye…

Did you find it difficult to “let go” of your invitations? What was your favorite or least favorite part about the invitation assembly?

This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.

Mood: soft and rustic
Palette: navy blue, peach, white, brown

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Top row from left: blue and white tea towels from Martha Stewart Weddings, miniature Cinderella pumpkins, rose bouquet by Matthew Robbins, rustic barn venue from Charleston Weddings
Row 2: gray and white invitation by Hammer Press, lavender sachets from Martha Stewart Weddings, navy dress from Emersonmade, photo of apricot jam favor by Thayer Allyson Gowdy
Row 3: dahlia centerpiece by Saipua, gray striped straws via lolliblog, photo of Shaker style chairs by Tec Petaja, gold calligraphy on blue envelopes by Betsy Dunlap
Row 4: white pumpkins, peach dahlia from Carter & Cook, chalkboard in a vintage frame from Blue Bell Bazaar, dahlias in a galvanized bucket from Real Simple

This article was originally posted onSnippet & Ink.

And I am so glad I did! It was beyond easy, and they have loads of cute options.

I chose the fall leaves design since that was our color inspiration, and though it doesn’t match our wedding exactly (well, really only vaguely), I’m really happy with it. You can personalize your welcome message, and add a photo gallery along with your love story.

The features alone are worth it, as it would take me hours to code my own database for the RSVP option, and it even embeds my blog as a feed!

It saved me time, added great functionality to the whole planning process, and overall was just a dream to do. Now I can tell guests I have a website out there, and they can find the link to our registry and everything. As much as the designer in me cringes that it was not hand-crafted to match our wedding, the realist in me loves the penny-free process (yes, it’s also FREE!) and breezy completion. I’ve even corrupted a fellow designer bride to use it too!

What is the easiest to use wedding website site you’ve found?

This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.

Mood: retro, bold
Palette: mint blue green, poppy red

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Top row from left: red carnation centerpiece and grapefruit mint mojitos both from Martha Stewart Weddings, photo of aqua birdcage veil by Silvana di Franco
Row 2: photo of toile dress with red necklace by Tara Whittaker, peony stem photo by Elizabeth Messina
Row 3: vintage car photo by Kate Murphy, teal wedding cake with pleated paper decorations from Martha Stewart Weddings, ruffled wedding dress photo by Duston Todd, calligraphy tag by Betsy Dunlap
Row 4: shoe painting by Janet Hill Studio via Blah Blah Blahg, Lomography Diana camera from Urban Outfitters, letterpress peony coasters by Ruby Press via Poppytalk

This article was originally posted onSnippet & Ink.

As you know if you’ve read anything about me, met me, or probably seen a picture of me, my Detail Nemesis is clothing. Luckily, I’ve got that whole wedding dress thing figured out, and my custom-made-from-Etsy suit should be arriving in the mail in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, my Detail Nemesis is more specific: shoes.

I have written many a post on shoes, and “is this one okay? How about this? Here is what I really like.” And I am always met with someone saying, “THAT IS THE WORST IDEA YOU EVER HAD,” or “They have to be white!” or “Do what you want, but I think those don’t go,” or “I’m saying they’re fine with my words, but my wrinkled forehead and sneer indicate that I have other feelings.”

I bought these shoes, because I loved them…

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and then I realized that the heels were just too much for me. Luckily my sister also loved them and she is their new proud owner.

Then I found these shoes…

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… and then I saw their price tag. Oh well.

But you guys – I finally did it. I found some shoes.

I was being stubborn and insisting that I could find one pair of shoes to wear with both dress and suit. This was hard because 1. I have no idea what my suit actually looks like, and 2. No one approved of any of my choices for both outfits.

Then, in a freak occurrence, I found some shoes that I liked and of which various family members approved:

And I was all prepared to be happy with these. They’re nice enough, they’re comfortable, they were only $30… and then I found these:

Oooh Pretty Shoe!

Shoe, I find it pleasant to look at you.

You make me feel silly and happy, Shoe.

Friends, readers, friendly or less-friend people of the Internet, please don’t tell me you don’t like these shoes. I am too faint of heart to continue my search, and honestly? I really, really like these shoes. They are a little bit oxford-esque, which I really like, and still feminine. They have the teeniest, tiniest wedge (see picture here) and they’re way comfortable. I am so happy.

So the plan is to wear these with my suit (which is dark brown and will be here in a few weeks/a month) and wear the Rocket Dogs with my dress. Though I strongly suspect that I will end up barefoot, and I am quite happy with that.

What is your Detail Nemesis? Or even your clothing nemesis? Guys, I can do tank tops, I can do shorts, I can even do dresses, but if they’re not Chacos or Keens, shoes are not my friends.

This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.