Fab * Blog by InvitationConsultants.com

My Cousin's Big Fat Buddhist Wedding

My family has never been all about tradition. I guess maybe some members, but for the most part I would like to think that we all dance to the beat of a very unusual drummer. So when I went to my cousin’s wedding in the fall of 2006, I was not surprised to find the ceremony was done in Buddhist tradition.

The wonderful woman that my cousin married has an uncle who has studied Buddhism for years. This particular uncle ran the ceremony which involved lighting of incense and several other traditions. Not to exclude the Catholic part of her family, some members stood up and read traditional Catholic prayers. All of this was topped off with a Jazz band in the art department of a local university.

Not only was the the most unique wedding I have ever been to (and believe me I have been to many), but it also screamed unique and hip (which is their style). Being a Client Relations Coordinator here at IC I get a lot of questions about etiquette and tradition. Most people are very concerned when it comes to these two things. However, if tradition doesn't exactly fit you, there is nothing wrong with having a funky wedding (perhaps funky is just your style). Even if you decide to do something that isn't exacty tradition, you can still tie in threads of your family (like having Buddhist and Catholic elements in your ceremony). Perhaps you can be the forerunner of a new tradition in your family!

Featured invitations from left to right: Potteries of Design and Garden Blue Shimmer.

To view some of IC's unique and modern wedding invitations click here.

Semi-Annual Baby Sale

"Boo" Yah! I love this Holiday..

Probably the one holiday out of the year that deserves just a little more attention than it gets. Ghosts, Goblins, Pumpkins, Fake blood, Candy, Spider webs, really awesome costumes...Of course I'm talking about Halloween! What other holiday can you pretend to be dead and knock on your neighbors door? I miss the days I would come back from trick or treating with my pillow case so full that it left dark bruise marks on my hands from the weight of about 2000 tootsie rolls and Reese's Pieces peanut butter cups. I'm so excited for the future when children are in my picture so that I can relive all of those moments without looking like the creepy guy that seems a bit too old to be asking for candy. I'm trying to be patient. I'm just glad there are still some people out their that enjoy a good Halloween costume party so that us "older" folk can still have some fun. I'm also grateful that I have a wife that often shares in my silliness. That's us dressed up as ninjas. The year before that we were high ranking members of the catholic church and I think the year before that we were "southern people" (I'm trying to not offend anyone). So we've been to and have thrown some fun Halloween parties. But we've never the pleasure of sending or even receiving a decent Halloween Invitation. Which leads me to introduce Halloween Invitations into all of our ghoulish lives. We plan on having a Halloween Partaaay this year and I'm certain that we will be sending invitations. The specific invitations have yet to be decided but these few are definitely in the running. Which one would you pick? From top to bottom: Spider Tales, Spooky, Going Batty

I am a California-holic

I must admit it. I am a California-holic. You ask, "what does this mean?" My definition of a Cali-for-nia-hol-ic (noun) is someone who loves everything about the state of California (except the smog, of course). Why is California such a great place? There are so many reasons, and I will name a few. 1. It is the best place to have a wine tasting party. Simply head to Napa or Sonoma to taste some of the world's best wines. Or try other wine locations like Solvang. The movie Sideways was filmed in this area. Rent a private room at a winery and invite your closest 25 friends to a wine tasting paired with the finest cheeses. Hint: If you would like to have this party and you do not live in California, find a local winery or a friend that has a wine cellar, or local restaurant with a wine room or cellar. First off, make sure to choose a wine tasting invitation that makes you look like a connoisseur. 2. My second favorite place is Pebble Beach (first is the Big Sur) which is the perfect back-drop to have a golf outing. How can you find a better array of golf courses, than ones that overlook the Pacific and Mountains, and there are no mosquitoes! Golf outings are perfect for weekend getaways, corporate gatherings and schmoozings, and bachelor party weekends. Invite your golf pro friends with a golf themed invitation to strike up the excitement. Hint: If you do not live close to Pebble Beach, have your golf outing in Florida, Arizona, or South Carolina. 3. My favorite thing to do besides blog, is shop, and California has all of the trendy stores. If I lived in California, I would throw the coolest bridal showers and bachelorette parties for my friends. It would be a weekend of indulgence, where we would shop on Rodeo Drive and Roberston in Beverly Hills. I would choose the perfect fashion inspired invitation for this party that would start at the Grove and end on Melrose Avenue. Hint: If you do not live in Cali, find the trendiest shopping area in your city, usually close to a Nordstrom. 4. I love the movies and Los Angeles is the best place to find anything or anyone movie-related. What better way to spend your birthday than at the movies or at a studio tour. I would throw a great birthday party at a backlot with not only a tour for my friends, but the hopes of seeing a screening. Since this would be an invitation only event, I would send my friends an admission ticket invitation or movie themed invitation to my movie themed party. Hint: If you are nowhere near LA, rent out a theater at your local movie theater and have a mock red carpet event there. California has it all, that is why if I owned a second home, it would be there (in Carmel). I didn't even get a chance to discuss California cuisine (and my love of avocados)! If you love Cali too or are a California-holic, let me know what your favorite place is. Invitations shown: Black Dress,The Coming Attraction, Golf Bag,

Guest Post: Wedding Advice from an Expert!

I am very happy today to share some wedding planning advice from wedding planner extraordinaire, Melissa DiStefano. Melissa is the head of MasterPiece Weddings, and has tons of experience that helps her understand the best ways to deal with pre-wedding stress. Check out her tips below and leave her some comments or questions! Then, head over to her blog to read some of IC's advice for wedding invitation wording!

I am so excited that Invitation Consultants asked me to Guest Blog for them! I know how stressful it can be to plan a wedding, and the sheer excitement that you feel as soon as that ring is on your finger, and the wheels start turning about that big day!

But, now you do have a ring on your finger and you’ve been planning your wedding since you were 5 years old this should be easy, you’re only getting married. You’re only planning a party for 200 of your closest friends and family, and there are only 972,000 books to tell you how to get it all done , and you are only trying to please everyone, while remaining calm and pretending that you have it all together… What did you get yourself into?

There is this strange phenomenon that occurs during the wedding planning process, it is yet un-named, but basically, during the planning of a wedding, something happens that drives even the sanest and sweetest brides to the brink of despair.

It is not unusual to feel exhausted by the sheer amount of labor and emotional negotiating that goes on around planning a wedding. It’s supposed to be the happiest time of your life… and you want it to be, and it can be!

Don’t worry! Take a deep breath, it’s going to be amazing, I promise! If you follow these 5 steps and your life will be so much easier, I promise!

1. Keep all of your wedding related “stuff” in one place. All of those magazine clippings, keep them in a file {one file}, don’t have a pile in the kitchen, one in the bedroom, and one at the office. And try to keep all of your favorite blogs, or wedding pictures you like online, in one file as well. Then, once you start to dwindle those down, don’t feel like you need to delete them, you can just find another folder to keep them in, or just throw them out. Once you know what you love, stop buying wedding magazines, you’ll drive yourself crazy!

2. Listen to what your family has to say. I am not saying to follow every tradition that Aunt Martha or Aunt Phyllis has to inform you of. But listen politely, and nod your head graciously. Let them know that you appreciate their advice and you’ll talk to your fiancée about that. Don’t go postal on them, but take a deep breath and listen.

3. Know your budget. Frankly every bride has a budget, whether it is $5,000 or $500,000, there’s always a number. Make sure you know where you need to be. That will determine what vendors you use. I’d hate for you to fall in love with a photographer that starts at $10,000 and your budget is $15,000, that would totally ruin your day. {maybe your week}

4. Take some YOU time. Take time for you and your fiancée, be together, remember you are getting married, that is the important thing. It’s all about you and the person you love being together forever. The details you are planning are going to be amazing, but keeping in mind that you both are each other’s biggest fans, and if you are stressing out too much, you can add pressure to your relationship.

5. This is going to sound totally cliché, but hire a wedding consultant. You can’t be in 300 places at one time on your wedding day, so whether you have someone to help you on your wedding day, or through the entire planning process. Having someone there to talk with your wedding vendors, be your advocate in case something comes up (the flowers are the wrong color, there is the wrong starch on the buffet) Those are things that you or your parents don’t need to worry about on the day of – let someone else handle the details, you enjoy your wedding day!

Thank you so much for allowing me to be here! Invitation Consultants has some great advice over at my blog too, so feel free to check it out!

Welcome Back...to School

For those of us in Florida, it is that time of year again when people come out of nowhere, and the roads become congested because school has begun! Every year is a new beginning and so we wish all of you an exciting 2008-2009 school year. And check back in January for our really cool 2009 graduation invitations and announcements collection!

honey, we can't afford those.. huh!?!!?

So the topic of how expensive invitations are came up the other day within my stellar circle of friends. I was really glad to be able spread the word that anyone can totally get really awesome, excellent quality invitations with their wording printed on them for a surprisingly low price. I, myself was impressed with how inexpensive invitations can be. There are many budget wedding invitations right around $100 for 100 invitations that are extremely nice. For couples that are either on a tighter budget or have just decided that they are doing things a bit smaller for their wedding, these invitations can really make someone happy for a minimum price range. One thing that I tell all of my friends is that they need to order samples in order to appreciate the quality of some of these less expensive invitations. I've picked some invitations from some different areas of interest. From top to bottom. New Life New Love, Natural Palm, and a more traditional Lovely Letters.

Wear Your White Shorts

Fashion alert! White may be going out of style after Labor Day, but not in the world of stationery. Wear your white shorts for the next two weeks, but  then find your summer clothes box and put them away!  However, pull out any white traditional stationery you have. Our customers are using white stationery in so many ways, they are now dressing them up with custom stampers and seals. So make a clean fresh statement with white paper, and go buy some brown shorts!!

Trash the Invitation

What do you do with your Wedding dress for an interesting photograph? You trash it! Wedding invitation? trash it! Leftover Wedding cake? eat it (of course)! All over the country brides are being photographed in dirty and disgusting wedding dresses and calling it part of the "Trash the Dress" movement. Our very own Reilly has taken part in this. With a little convincing, I am hopeful she will one day share this photograph with all of us! In the contemporary spirit of Trash the Dress and Wreck this Journal, we would like to introduce Trash the Invitation! Click here to see our first official trash the invitation photoshoot on flickr. We will be updating this as fresh (or shall I say trashy) ideas inspire us so stay tuned! Images (clockwise) Trash the Invitation; Trash the dress on flickr; Wreck this Journal on Amazon

Etiquette Flash!

I had a customer ask about something I see on invitations quite often the other day that I thought I would share.

Question:

How do you word an invitation where both the bride and groom’s parents are helping with the wedding, but the bride’s parents are divorced. The bride’s father is remarried and the mother is not.

Answer:

Mr. and Mrs. Tomas Kling
and Jane Kling
invite you to share in the joy
of the marriage uniting their daughter
Ashley Marie
to
Patrick Everett
son of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Langston
on Saturday, the eighth of April
at eleven o'clock in the morning
San Bay Yacht Club
42 Burgundy Drive
Los Angeles, California

For more invitation wording samples click here.