The Otter Invitations: Design Time

So if you'll remember where we left off, I had found a few bits and pieces to incorporate into our invitations, but nothing that I was completely in love with. With that in mind, I ventured on over to Pinterest, where I had been collecting ideas for... a really long time.

And just like that - there it was. The invitations that we would buy! They were unique, they had the wrap around labels, and while there were a few things, I didn't love, I thought I could work with designer to change it up a little to further customize them for us.

Photo via Impressed Inc. / Invitation design by a friend of the bride

But alas, these invitations weren't for sale. I even commented on the post, asking if the designer had an Etsy store or some other means of comment so that we could talk about these invitations. I wasn't the only commenter - many others felt the same way about these invitations, but as recently as a few weeks ago, there was no update made regarding the mystery designer behind the invitations.

So what's a girl to do!? Create our own, of course. When MOH Cubbie generously offered to do the design work for us, for free (!), I took her up on it and about an hour later we had a preliminary design. This also gave us the opportunity to change the things that I didn't love, like the "I do" "Me too" bubbles. Actually saying "I do" is a big deal to me, so I wanted that to be reflected on our invitations. Cubbie also made a graphic for us, the interlocked anchors with a heart, so we could incorporate those into our paper items. I was pretty set on having the black invitations with hot pink writing, like our almost-color palette for the wedding.

Cubbie and I chatted for about an hour, and then she sent this proof on over to me:

Personal image / Design by MOH Cubbie

Okay... so that looks very similar to what we were going for, but along with this, Cubbie had sent her own version of the invitation which customized it even further. A completely different color scheme, as well as some design changes that Mr. O especially fell in love with. Now, while I can't reveal the invitations until they're actually sent, let's just say that we didn't end up going with the proof you see here... ;)

Any guesses about how our invites may turn out?

Save the Date: Our Reveal!

It's time! I've finally gotten notice from our guests in sunny California that they have received their Save the Dates, so I can officially share them with the Hive!

Now, before I share, I have to caution those of you who, like me, are excited to place your order and therefore, may not be thinking logically. When I revealed the two STD designs that we didn't use, I said that we got a great deal for the 200 cards we ordered. 200 cards... If you're smarter than me, which I'm sure most of you are, you're probably already connecting the dots but, in case you didn't figure it out (like me) - we did not need 200 cards. 200 is our guest list total. There are households with as many as eight guests in them.

Yes, Hive, I ordered a card for every. single. person. Sigh. Thankfully, since we did get a great deal, it isn't as big of a deal as it may have been if I did this with invitations but needless to say - I have learned my lesson, and I now have a list of guests invited by household.

Moving on: the reveal!

Personal photo - the front side / Design work by our photographer, Valerie Carnevale

Personal photo - the back side / Featuring a custom stamp from AngeliqueInk on Etsy

While we had three beautiful choices from Valerie, both Mr. O and I instantly liked this option the best. We nixed the first option because, as much as we love our Wolverines (go blue!), the color scheme didn't really fit with the wedding. That put us down to two, and we just loved the simplicity of this option. It incorporated our love of typography without being too over the top, and it used one of our absolute favorite photos from our e-pics. 

On the back side, we made the four line design so I could hand address our STDs (which took much less time than I anticipated!). We also took the opportunity to use our custom stamp, which I loved! It not only saved me a ton of time in writing our address over and over, but I think it gave the perfect touch to offset the horrible stamps. ;) 

So, what do you think of our final choice!? 

Save the Date: The Stamps

Hive, I never thought I would be that bride. That bride that cared about stamps. Especially the STD stamps! I just assumed that when people received our STD, they would note the date in their planner/phone/etc. and then toss the STD.

But then, there I was, standing at the post office to purchase postage and suddenly... everything seemed to be in slow motion. I watched as the employee pulled open the big binder of stamps. I watched her flip, flip, flip through the pages and start to pull out several pages. What did I see, you may be wondering? I saw these:

Personal photo, unfortunately.

I saw ALOHA stamps staring back at me. And a variety of Hawaiian shirts. Now, if I were having a destination wedding? Sure, toss the ALOHA at me. But for our rustic, romantic, light and neutral colored wedding? No. These simply did not fit the bill. 

Slowly (and sadly) the post office employee flipped over our postcard and noticed that it was a save the date. She looked at me apologetically and said "this is all we have left." With a heave and a giant sigh, I asked for the proper amount, paid, and pathetically exited the post office.

I know, I know - they're just stamps! Nobody will notice! But I noticed, and they drove me crazy right up until I sent them. And now that I recognize that I do care about the stamps, I have to also consider what stamps we're going to be using on our actual invitations... 

Mrs. Genie cared about stamps. Miss Beanstalk cared about the stamps. So at least I'm in good company! Tell the truth: did you care about your stamps?