Ardenwood Wedding Photos

With a wedding at Ardenwood, wedding photos will be cherished forever, thanks to an impressive location.

What is Ardenwood?

Ardenwood is a historic preserve in Northern California, named after a forest found in a Shakespeare play. Founded by George Patterson, a gold miner turned wealthy farmer, Ardenwood has remained frozen in time for generations. Visiting the acreage, you can explore a 19th century mansion, take a walk through the gardens, and witness horse drawn carriages and women in Victorian dress. Most importantly, it has become a premier spot for weddings and receptions.

Ardenwood Wedding Photos

While the historic preserve itself does not offer photographers as part of their wedding package, it is simple enough to find a person who knows how to effectively shoot this gorgeous locale. Visiting a website such as My Bay Area Wedding, or Hagop's Photography, can provide you with expert photographers who are accustomed to photographing in the area.
When looking for the perfect person to shoot your Ardenwood wedding photos, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Have you seen his portfolio? You should have some sort of proof he/she has shot at the locations he claims. You don't want your wedding day to be his rookie run!
• Does he specialize in weddings? A portrait photographer is extremely different from a wedding photographer. Make sure he has experience in the genre of photography you need.
• Has he shot nature? Ardenwood is full of gorgeous landscaping and nature-based locales you will want to capture for your wedding album. If your photographer looks cross-eyed at a farm or forest environment, it might be time to move onto the next contender.

Once you find your dream photographer, be sure to make a list of places you would like him to be sure to take photos. This list can include pre-wedding snapshots, ceremony and reception requests, and post-wedding memories. Some distinct areas and features of Ardenwood you may want to have on your list include:

• Historic Patterson mansion
• Victorian Bridal Suite
• Various garden areas
• Wooded reception setting
• Horse-drawn carriages throughout the property
• Ceremony gazebo
• Mansion lawn

Trial Run

Consider visiting Ardenwood a few times before the big day, observing the lighting and features of the area during the same time frame as when your wedding will be taking place. Is there a tree that silhouettes perfectly in a sunset? Do you love the idea of your flower girls playing in the wooded gardens? Whatever you see that catches your eye, jot it down and give it to your photographer so you can make sure your Ardenwood wedding photos are exactly what you hoped for. If you are hoping to get a lot of photos of your guests, consider placing disposable cameras on each reception table. Your photographer will be busy with you, your wedding party, and key moments of the reception and ceremony. Allowing your guests to be their own Ardenwood photographers will provide you with even more special memories to cherish.

Ardenwood is a picturesque wedding venue, and by choosing the right photographer with appropriate experience and giving them tips about what you would like your Ardenwood wedding photos to include, you can be sure you will have lovely images to spark memories through many happy anniversaries. 

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Chic bridal shower invitations to end your single life

A bridal shower is usually hosted as a watershed from a girl to a wife. And it is always expected to be funny and creative to leave an unforgettable memory to both you and your friends. Generally speaking, a bridal shower is traditionally gathered a few months prior to the wedding, as a way for female friends to celebrate the upcoming nuptials with gifts and games.

Just as wedding invitations, bridal shower invitations also play an essential role in the process of bridal shower celebration. And the following are some invitation tips and ideas you can take as a reference when confront with any problems.

It is thought as a priority to get creative and have fun when choosing bridal shower invitations since they are more relaxed and casual than the formal ceremony that you could think of. Actually, bridal shower doesn’t have to reflect the wedding or the wedding theme at all. So never get worry you can’t have fun in a bridal shower in that they are completely separate event.

As long as you make decision about the date, time, place and the bride’s name as well as the host, you can opt for any design, however creative or restrained, to complement the bride. You can also employ a theme to the shower; the left to be done is to try incorporating the theme into the invitations with relevant elements. You can achieve your goal when planning the color, pictures or other decorations. For example, if you are trying to apply beach theme to the shower, you should attempt to put some beach-related elements into the invitations, like ocean, sea shell or even add sweet pictures of your two to make the invitations more attractive and full of live.   

There are actually so many themes available for bridal shower invites which enable you not to break your budget preparing for the less important items. So when you are choosing an invitation, be sure that they are in budget instead merely focusing on the designs and styles. 

Comparing to the bridal shower invites, wedding invitations have more restrictions. It is true that wedding invitations are not restricted to formal ones, but the fact is that it takes you more time to choose and decide which design to apply to your invitations in that the choices are numerous.

You definitely hope what you send to your friends can be saved as keepsakes and be kept for memory. To achieve this goal, you’d better the invitations you choose match the theme and are really creative and chic. Whether you want traditional ones or invitations with your personal touches, you can always achieve the effect with considerable efforts.

Once you set your mind on the invitations styles, it time to opt for right embellishments to make your wedding invitations more charming and appealing. Anyway, you should try your best to make your invitations chic and interesting so that people can have much expectation about the coming wedding and it also will be a great memory both for the guests and you. So search on the internet if you are not sure about what to choose and make sure what you choose are great.  

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A Tale of Menswear

Once upon a time when Mr. and Miss Pony started upon this wedding planning journey, Miss Pony told Mr. Pony that he could have full control over his wedding day attire. Knowing that Mr. Pony has solid fashion sense, she relinquished control over this decision and waited for Mr. Pony to show her some amazing fitted suits that would show off his long and lean figure.

Ludlow Suit via J.Crew

Meanwhile, Mr. Pony made the lazy easy decision to rent tuxedos from a national chain store without so much as entertaining the idea of what the Pony wedding colors are or doing any form of research whatsoever.

Wilke-Rodriguez Tuxedo by Men’s Wearhouse

While she knew Mr. Pony would look dashing in a tuxedo, Miss Pony’s heart was a little broken that the men in their bridal party would not be sporting custom fitting suits. It’s not that tuxes don’t look nice, Miss Pony just knew that when it came to her long and lanky man, the standard tux typically makes him look kind of boxy. But, seeing as she decided long, long ago that Mr. Pony called the shots on the menswear, Miss Pony kept her mouth shut and nodded in agreement with his decisions.
One day Mr. and Miss Pony trotted over to a national store that carried a variety of menswear, including tuxedos to rent and a variety of suits so that the men of the Pony wedding could be outfitted. After looking at the choices for tuxes to rent, Mr. Pony was unimpressed both by style and cost. And, for what he did find, Miss Pony could not hide her displeasure; colored vests reminded her more of high school dances than a wedding celebration and it simply had to be stopped. Miss Pony ever so subtly hinted that a gray three piece suit would be a perfect alternative to the tuxedo Mr. Pony had previously desired.
And then, in a moment of clarity, Mr. Pony decided that suits were the way to go. Not only were they better suited (tee hee) for his figure, but for the cost of a rental, the Pony men will get to keep their suits and wear them well into the future.
The final suit choice, modeled by Mr. Pony:

Mr. Pony: “Seriously, another picture?”

The groomsmen’s suits will be accented by a lovely deep red tie similar to the one worn by Mr. Pony, while he will wear a green and white tie to stand out from the pack.
With the suits purchased and sent to the Pony groomsmen, the Ponies can live out their menswear lives happily every after. The end.
Was your menswear decision a tall tale or one for the ages?


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Free Wedding Invitations

Worrying about all the aspects of your wedding ceremony is a traditional thing.  Most people will always find that something will always go wrong concerning their wedding preparations. Perhaps it is even unavoidable. However, whatever the situation may be, you have to be prepared to deal with all of the aspects of these wedding preparations.

One of the interesting and the important part of your wedding preparations is definitely the selection of the wedding invitations. It is essential for you to make sure that the wedding invitations are prepared according to the expectations of your guests.  Of course, in order to get it perfect, you will need to make lots of adjustments and changes. One way to make your life easier would be by using diy wedding invitations.

Diy wedding invitations (DIY means Do It Yourself) can provide you the means to create the best wedding invitations ever. The reason for this stems from the fact that you can re do your wedding invitations as many times as you want with the various diy wedding invitations templates that are available online.
This way, you can sort through these wedding invitation templates until you find something that you really like. This can take some time, but in the end you will take the advantage of having custom made wedding invitations. Of course, as an added incentive, your wedding invitations will be completely free.

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Wedding Invitation Etiquette

Wedding definitely involves a lot of planning and organization. Since, wedding solidifies the bond between two families, emotions tend to run a bit high. You are likely to hurt the sentiments of your friends or family, if you do not follow a proper wedding invitation etiquette. Although, wording forms the most important part of the wedding invitation, there are several other issues that need to be
addressed.

Right Time to Send Invitations
Ideally, you should send the invites at least 6 weeks prior to the event. This will give your guests an ample time to work on their schedules and clear the day for your event. The replies should be sent at least 3 weeks before the wedding day. This enables the host to make seating and catering arrangements, well in advance.

Wedding Invitation Wording
Choose appropriate words and frame your invitation in the most genuine way. You can issue the invitation yourself or you can issue it in the name of your parents, if they are the ones, who'll be hosting your event. There are several formats of issuing the invitation. Go through a few templates available on the Internet or at the card shop and choose the one that suits you. You can give a personal touch to your invitation by composing original wedding vows or wedding poetry for your guests.

Whom to Send Invites
Invites are sent to those people who you genuinely want to be present on the big day. However, if the groom stays too far from the venue, it is less likely that many people from his side would be attending the wedding. So, should you send invites to people who you know, may find it impossible to attend your wedding? In such situations, you should definitely send them invitations and let them decide for themselves, if they wish to attend your event. You may even consider about a separate reception at groom's town, so as to invite those people who could not make it to the wedding.

Envelope
Many people think about getting the address of the recipient printed in a fancy font, but the etiquette goes against it. It is improper to type or print the address on the cover. Instead, you can ask a family member or a friend to write down the address in beautiful writing. Also, it is a good practice to include your address on the envelope, so that it comes back to you, in case not delivered.

Addressing Issues
Addressing your recipients is a tricky area and you could end up hurting people if you don't give it a thought. Earlier, it used to be addressed to the families with the names of husband and wife and their children, if any. But the social changes have reflected in the address etiquette, as well. Wedding invitation etiquette, for addressing guests has become more liberal to include divorced couples, unmarried couples living together, gays and lesbians.
Here are a few tips on addressing your guests.

• Unmarried couple living together should be addressed in the same way as a married couple.
• Conventionally, a widow should be addressed with a title 'Mrs.', however, you can talk to the person in question and ask her how she would like to be addressed.
• A divorced woman, who has retained her marriage name, should be addressed as Ms.
• A married couple who technically does not stay together should be sent separate invites, however, you can also send a single invitation to either of them with their names in alphabetic order.
• A gay couple staying together should be sent a single invite, with their names written separately.

Wedding invitation etiquette should only be used as a basis for your invitation. There is no need to adhere to a stringent wedding etiquette, instead use some courtesy and let your common sense prevail, while sending wedding invitation.

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Channel-Set Baguette Wedding Ring

If you want an elegant diamond wedding band, consider a channel-set baguette wedding ring. Classic baguette diamonds paired with the modern channel setting create an ornate wedding band that is also functional. Learn the history of this ring style and get ring shopping tips.

Baguette Diamonds in Wedding Jewelry

The baguette diamond cut is a step cut that creates a long, rectangular shape with sharp corners. The diamond cut got the name "baguette" after the French word "long loaf of bread." The cut originated in the late 19th century, and was popular in both Art Nouveau and Art Deco jewelry, primarily as an accessory stone for elaborate rings that featured multiple stones.
The use of baguette diamonds in wedding ring designs is fairly modern. They became popular after the emergence of channel settings. Channel settings hold a row of diamonds within the ring band secured by two small metal lips. This type of ring most commonly uses round brilliants or baguette diamonds, or a combination of both in wedding band designs. The long rectangular shape of baguette diamonds goes well with other diamond shapes, such as round, oval or pear.
Many brides and grooms find channel-set baguette wedding bands ideal because the setting is quite sturdy and good for active people because the metal lips hold the diamonds securely within the ring band, and there are no prongs to catch on things.

Shopping for Channel-Set Baguette Wedding Rings

When shopping for baguette diamond wedding rings, you will find that diamond flaws are less obvious in the channel setting for wedding bands, allowing you to buy more affordable rings if necessary. Baguette cut diamonds range between long, tapered rectangular shapes with sharp corners to long rectangular shapes with more square corners like an emerald cut.

Caring for Channel-Set Rings

Caring for your channel-set wedding ring is easy but it can get dirt embedded in the setting without regular cleaning or if the ring is worn during gardening or heavy chores. Here are some tips to help you keep your ring looking its best for years to come:

• Carefully clean the ring with a soft jewelry polishing cloth regularly.
• Only use a mild solution of soap and water to clean the ring when it gets dirty and requires more than a jewelry polishing cloth to get clean. Never use harsh cleaners or chemical polishers. Only use diamond and gold jewelry cleaning solutions provided to you by your jeweler specifically for your ring.
• Store the ring in a satin jewelry pouch or jewelry box when not worn.
• If the ring gets extremely dirty with dirt in the crevices of the setting that can't easily be removed, take it to a jeweler for professional cleaning.

With the right care, your wedding ring can look beautiful for a lifetime.


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Fall Wedding Invitations

Getting the wedding invitation ready on time is an important pre-wedding task. Although wedding invitations do not have to be all that elaborate, selecting a sober wedding invitation is important. The card gives people the first insight of your wedding and a well done card always leaves the guests impressed. It leaves them waiting eagerly to attend your big day! If your wedding is in fall, what better than incorporating the seasonal theme into your wedding. Fall wedding invitations add warmth and charm to your wedding celebration. Moreover, you get inexpensive fall wedding invitations, which do not burn a hole in your pocket.

Fall Wedding Invitation Ideas

Before selecting the design for the fall wedding invitations, one has to select the wedding theme. Pumpkins, fall leaves, pears, vineyard, etc. are lovely fall wedding themes. If you want to confine the theme to a wedding color theme, you could have deep red, burgundy, chocolate brown, cinnamon, orange, etc. which are great fall wedding colors. Fall wedding invitations should emanate an earthy feel. Moreover, there are different embellishments that you can add to your card, thereby granting your heart's desire of having unique fall wedding invitations. Let's have a look at some interesting fall wedding invitations.

Petal Impressed Invitations
People who are interested in making homemade fall wedding invitations can get handmade paper with petals already pressed into the paper. You can even print the wordings on a transparent paper and place it above the petal paper. The card looks fantastic. The pressed flowers give a warm and fresh appeal to the card. You can then print the wedding invitation wordings on the card. Adding a sash will also give a nice look to the homemade wedding invitation card.

Silk Flowers
Inserting small silk fall flowers at the top of the card will surely accentuate the theme. The tiny delicate flowers are lovely additions to the wedding invitations. In order to add a unique touch to the card, you can add crushed cinnamon potpourri into the envelope. This is good for those who wish to have unusual and different wedding invitations.

Fall Leaves
The vibrant hue of fall leaves is simply lovely. It gives a warm and cozy feel. Choose the type of leaf you want to have on your card. A straight leaf invitation with the leaf of the season impressed on the paper and a transparent paper with the wordings on it, will look great. Falling leaves designs are also good for fall wedding invitations. You could also have the entire card shaped in the form of a maple leaf and have the wordings printed on it.

Ribbons
A small satin bow at the top of the card or a ribbon spreading across the midsection of the card also adds an interesting touch to the wedding invite. You can also have a gold or transparent ribbon tied around the envelope.

Charms
Flower and leaf charms are pretty additions to wedding invites. Golden fall leaves, pumpkins and flower charms impart an interesting look to the wedding card. Include a map card along with the wedding invite or on the rear of the invitation. This will help guests locate the route to the wedding site.

Make sure you make up your mind about the fall wedding invitations quickly and place the order well in advance. Time in hand is especially useful when certain errors take place during card printing. Rectification may take time. Moreover, enough time in hand gives you the privilege to peruse through different wedding card sites before placing your order, thereby enabling you to get cheap fall wedding invitations that go easy on your budget.


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My Last Day as a Miss

I feel a little bad admitting this, but I hardly saw Mr. Jaguar on the day before our wedding.
Two of my best girlfriends were arriving into Sydney for the wedding, so I kissed him goodbye and headed off to meet them on the Friday morning. I spent the day with them (and my mum and Maid of Honour) getting our nails done at the salon.

Ah, pampering. I usually have fairly average length fingernails, so I decided to splurge on the day and get french tipped acrylics put on. I also snuck in a pedicure while the girls had some fun things done to their nails. And then we waited for everything to dry!

Pretty nails in tow, I headed back to our apartment to pick up all of our wedding goodies and the dress. I gave Mr. Jaguar one last cuddle and made him walk down to the car with us to help us pack it all in… and then we drove away, with him waving us off.
I can’t even tell you how strange it felt leaving him behind. It was seriously weird. The girls drove me to my hotel room for the evening, and we settled in there for a few hours.

Showing just how much space there was in the hotel room.

We had dinner at a beer hall near the hotel, having met up with my little brother and some other wedding guests who wanted to celebrate my last night of Miss-dom.

And after that? Well, we got girly. We chatted. We lazed about. We posed with giant sunglasses.

(Bridal confession: those awesome props? I completely forgot about them on the actual wedding day. Other things I forgot about: our message chalkboards, our toasting champagne for mimosas on the morning of the wedding day, and lots of posed pictures that I didn’t request. Bride brain: it’s a real thing.)
This kind of light heartedness was exactly what I would’ve wanted to do on the night before the wedding. The girls kept me distracted, encouraged my random bouts of giddiness, and made everything perfect.


this article from weddingbee!

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How To Browse Wedding Invitation Samples

A wedding is something important, especially for the bride. Every aspect of the wedding must be planned so that it can run smoothly and the couple can have the celebration that they have always wanted. One of the things that are given a lot of thought when preparing for a wedding is the design of the wedding invitation.

There are many types of wedding invitations to choose from. Couples choose the wedding invitation design according to the theme of their wedding. They must correspond with the color motif of the celebration. It can be a hard task choosing the best wedding invitation to use as there are so many creative designs to choose from. In order to help in the decision making process, it is useful to browse some wedding invitation samples to get some inspiration.

Here are some websites where you can browse some wedding invitation samples:

• weddingpaperdivas.com - Wedding Paper Divas is a website where you can browse different types of invitations. They have holiday invitations, party invitations and of course, wedding invitations. You can browse the wedding invitation samples by category. The categories that you can choose from include the signature collection, letterpress collection or thermography collection. You can also view the invitations by color or by style.
• invitationstyles.com - Provide affordable printed wedding invitation samples so that you can see the final products and choose the best wedding invitations for your wedding before you place the actual order on this website.
• wedding-needs.com - Wedding Needs is another website that you can visit if you are looking for wedding invitation samples. It is also easy to browse their samples because they are arranged in categories. The categories that you can choose from are modern, casual, monogram, photo, simple, ribbons & bows and more. You can also view the invitations by theme or by color. This website is for the couples who are looking for cheap and affordable invitations but at the same time classy.

These are the different websites where you can browse some wedding invitation samples. Browse these websites and take note of the invitations that you think will be best for your wedding. Afterwards, you can narrow down the selection. If you do not find an exact wedding invitation that you want to copy, you can just use the samples that you see as inspiration.


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How To Make Elegant Wedding Invitations at Home

You can make beautiful wedding invitations at home so you can channel your wedding budget into other important stuff like flowers, catering, reception venue, and of course, your all-important wedding ensemble.

Several months before your wedding, you should already be sending out a “Save-the-Date” wedding invitation prior to your “real” wedding invitation.

Your “Save-the-Date” wedding invitation can be sent out via a non-traditional platform called social media. Since a wedding eats a chunk of your savings and nest egg, you should be able to tap and maximize the availability of this platform. Just compose your message with your pre-nuptial photos, post it on your Facebook, Myspace, or email account and send it to your network of friends and relatives. You can also use your cell phone to send picture messages along with your text message for this purpose.

Now that that’s done, you can buckle down to making your own elegant wedding invitation. The basic set included in a wedding invitation is your Invitation which tells your guests about your wedding details, the RSVP or Response Card which will allow your guests to tell you if they will or won’t be at your wedding, a Reception Card which directs guests on a different location separate from the wedding ceremony, and lastly, a Map Card which gives your guests clear directions on getting to your wedding ceremony and reception venues.

You will need the following:

• Paper cutter
• Scissors
• Ruler with a straight edge
• Pencil
• Clear paper glue
• 81/2 x 11 sheet of wedding paper that you will be using for printing
• Two sheets of two-tone decorative paper
• A set of matching envelopes
• Bow/Ribbon
• Pre-nuptial photos (recommended but optional)
• Stamp

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Print your wedding details on an 8 ½ x 11 sheet of wedding paper.
2. After printing, place your wedding paper on the paper cutter and start trimming the edges and cutting the invitation in half at the center.
3. After cutting the invitation piece, you should have two pieces of wedding paper in your hands.
4. Take the sheets of decorative paper, take your ruler and pencil to measure it against the wedding paper then cut it to form the middle and top backing on your wedding paper. Then, glue these to the back of your invitation. You now have the paper where you have your wedding details on and two decorative sheets as backing to make it pretty.
5. Take the set of matching envelopes and use it as your paper to print your guest’s name and address. Use the Calligraphy typeface for this purpose.
6. When you’re done, line your envelope with the same decorative sheets of paper by tracing its shape with a pencil and cutting it just wee bit smaller so it easily slides into the opening of the envelope.
7. Once your lining is inside the envelope, take your glue and glue the decorative paper to the flap of the envelope.
8. Finally, after placing your invitation inside the envelope, you can use a pretty ribbon or bow and you’re all set to send these to your guests!

Congratulations on your wedding day!

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What Do You Really Need Wedding Invitations?

Traditional invitations, at least in America and most of Europe, have always been white or ivory paper printed with black ink, and always engraved or embossed. (You should see an expensive Indian invitation, though - they're delivered in boxes and include some remarkable things!)
Brides often still want the elegance and formality of the traditional invitation, but many others want something a little, or a lot, different.
Remember, the invitation is the first thing the guest sees for the wedding. It sets the tone of your big day, and gives the guest a clue as to whether the wedding is formal, semiformal, or casual.
1. Anatomy Of A Wedding Invitation
Wedding invitations traditionally include:
- The outer envelope or mailing envelope
- Invitation
- Reception card
- RSVP card for invitation and reception
- An inner envelope to mail back the RSVP card
- Map, driving directions, and important phone numbers; also information on where to stay while in town for the wedding.
Some more elaborate invitations also include an engraved card and a second inner envelope to hold the invitation - bringing the envelope total to three. Do you need all this? It's up to you. In a very casual small wedding, just an email can be sufficient; in the aforementioned Indian invitation, a hard wood box contained all the above material in brilliant red in a cloth-lined pocket, along with photos of the bride and groom under rice paper, stationery, and even a pen! To cap it off, when you opened the box by untying a red ribbon, it played Indian wedding music.
2. Wedding Invitation Types
There are several types or styles of wedding invitation you can send your guests...
- Engraved or embossed: This type of wedding invitation involves stamping the card in a mold to leave an indentation or imprint. Engraved invitations take the longest to prepare; six weeks or so should be allowed after you approve the design and content. They are required for the most formal weddings.
- Thermographed: These wedding invitations are printed with the same process used to create raised lettering on business cards. These are somewhat less formal than engraved, yet still elegant. You can print in colors besides black.
- Calligraphed: These handwritten wedding invitations look old fashioned and elegant, but also take quite a while. You should never try to do this if you've never done calligraphy; it takes a special flair, and the ink smears easily.
- Hand Colored or Personalized: Making your own wedding invitations is a new trend, adding a personal touch to your special day. For my brother's wedding, I helped him print out rose-based invitations that opened like double doors in the middle; the doors were tied with a ribbon matching his wedding colors and the whole card was delicately edged with shimmering gold paint, like old-fashioned books. Creativity and your personality will dictate how your personalized cards look.
- Boxed set wedding invitations: These pre-prepared invitations can have personalized messages printed on them by inkjet or laser printer; with the proper equipment, you can even print in metallic leaf with a laser printer. These sets are fast, easy to use, and can be a perfect choice.
3. Addressing Wedding Invitation Envelopes
It's not considered proper to use labels on your envelopes, but you do have a choice between the cramping of hand-lettering envelopes yourself, the expense of hiring a professional calligrapher to do it for you, or using calligraphic fonts on your computer to print all the addresses for you.

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Why is careful consideration of wedding invitations important?

Wedding invitations set the tone for the rest of the wedding and establish a motif or theme that can be carried throughout the rest of the wedding décor, from place cards to table numbers to programs, favors, and food packaging. Some of the best weddings we've been involved in designing are full of these personal details, and it often all starts with the invitation.

Why not just use plain invitations?

While it can be more economical to purchase off-the-shelf invitations from a stationery or office supply store, there are several things to keep in mind. First, the quality from some vendors can be poor, as many print-at-home invitations are made to be both extremely affordable, and printable on any (read: the bottom-of-the-line) home printer, which means that the paper can be quite thin, and you might end up with slight perforation marks where, say, an RSVP card is punched out of the template provided.
In addition, it's important to keep in mind the time, expense, and design limitations that can result from printing invitations at home. You'll need to factor in layout time, as well as the cost of ink cartridges and custom fonts, if desired; and note that a typical word processing program has less flexibility in terms of typesetting than professional design program.
Given that digital printing and online ordering have recently made custom invitations more affordable than ever before, it's important be aware of the pros and cons before making a decision.

Can custom invitations be affordable?

Absolutely. Recent developments in digital printing technology mean that you can now get a high quality, full-color print on nice, thick paper in very little time at all (standard turnaround times for custom digital printing range from three to seven business days from proof approval).
Many wedding invitation retailers (particularly those on-line) offer a huge range of designs to choose from, so even if you're not getting something designed especially for you, you can typically find a design that matches the color scheme, look and feel of your wedding. What's more, since most invitation designers offer so many customization options (colors, fonts, etc.), it's unlikely that your wedding invitation will look the same as someone else's, even if you start with the same template.

When should invitations be ordered?

They should be ordered at three to four months before the wedding. Allow up to six months if you are getting your invitations custom designed, artisan printed, or if your invitations involve hand-applied details.

• 12 to 16 weeks before: Order invitations. Remember to allow a few days for proofing, at least a week for printing, and a week for shipping (assuming rush service is not requested).
• 11 to 12 weeks before: Address and assemble invitations. Allow an extra week or two if you are using a calligrapher.
• 8 to 10 weeks before: Mail invitations. Invitations to destination weddings can be mailed as early as 12 weeks before.
• 4 weeks before: RSVP deadline date.
• 3 weeks before: Follow up with guests who haven't responded.
• 2 weeks before: Assign guest seating and get place cards, favor tags, welcome bags, and the like printed.

What else should be ordered with the invitations?

It is often a good idea to order thank you notes with invitations, as you may receive gifts as soon as the invitations are mailed, if not before.If you are working with a boutique stationer that is able to provide hands-on service, it is a good idea to get a quote upfront for the rest of your wedding day paper needs, such as programs, menus, and place cards, so you can budget and plan accordingly. Have the stationer keep the quote on file, and initiate the actual ordering of these items one to two months before the wedding. Remember to always confirm final quantities, as these may change as the wedding day approaches. Many stationers offer discounts to wedding invitation customers who return for their day-of wedding stationery.

When should the invitations be sent out?

Invitations should be mailed out six to eight weeks before the wedding, 10 to 12 weeks if it is a destination wedding.For small, informal weddings where the guests are mostly local, it is acceptable to send wedding invitations out six weeks in advance.

Keep in Mind

What are some rules of thumb for choosing wedding invitations?

• Choose one or two fonts, and stick with them throughout all your wedding paper.
• Be careful to choose fonts and ink colors that are legible. Make the words big enough for elderly relatives to read, and always print text in a dark ink color.
• Inner and outer envelopes, while once the norm with wedding invitations, are no longer necessary. Save paper and money by sending your invitations in single envelopes.
• Never use office labels to address your invitations. Hand address them (setting aside time to do so), hire a calligrapher, or find a stationer that can print custom designed labels for you.
• Remember to weigh your invitations. Keep in mind that square invitations and invitations with a hard element (e.g. button closure, charm, etc.) are subject to additional postage charges.
• Be sure to leave yourself enough time to order your invitations, particularly if you are ordering a custom design or artisan form of printing. Mistakes happen when you (or your printer) are in a rush.
• Be creative, and don't be too literal. If you're getting married at a winery, don't feel like you need to have grapes on your invitation. Instead, use a motif, monogram, or typefaces that are fitting to the venue and set the appropriate tone, but are slightly more personal or unexpected.

Anything else you'd like to add?

Remember that your invitation sets the tone for the rest of your wedding, so think ahead to how your invitation's motifs and colors will flow through the rest of your wedding's design. Choose a palette of three to five colors (a couple of dominant colors, and a couple of accent colors) to bring cohesion to the event, and use consistent typefaces and designs.


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What are the Different Types of Wedding Invitation Envelopes?

Beach Wedding Invitation

What Should We Write Inside A Wedding Card?

For those people who are not just mere acquaintances of the bride and groom, they may want to express their sentiment in their own words when they are signing the card to give to the wedding pair on such a momentous occasion. What you write all depends upon the type of relationship you have with the happy couple.
An Easy Card to Write
The very reason you are attending a wedding is a happy celebration. You don't have to worry about writing any gaffes about age and you are free to express your joy in sharing their happiness. Beginning a new life together is quite an adventure and it is proper to wish the bride and groom numerous good wishes.
Your Wish for Their Happiness
Adding your own words to a wedding card is always appreciated by the couple and most especially by the bride as they read over their cards together. Some things you may want to wish the two of them are luck, love and happiness; the basic necessities you need to begin a new life together. You may want to wish them a life that is full of sunshine and promise as well as prosperity and joy. You may want to wish the couple a life that is less ordinary that is filled with adventure and laughter. It is always nice to wish them wealth as well as fun too.
A Poem for the Occasion
Poets throughout the ages have been able to say all the things you are feeling, and searching for a few lines from a relevant poem is another way you can wish the best to the bride and groom. There are many poets that are well known for their poems of love, so it shouldn't be too difficult to locate an appropriate verse. If you feel confident enough and think you have the skills, you might even try penning a line or two of poetry yourself.
Say What You Feel
Heartfelt sentiments can be sensed through your words, so saying what you feel is always a good idea. Don't worry if you don't sound "fancy" enough, worry that you are able to get your true feelings across to the couple whose special day of their marriage you are fortunate enough to share with them. After all, the words you write from the heart are the ones most especially felt.

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Share Your Love with Romantic Beach Wedding Invitations

 

Wording for Wedding Reception Invitations

 

Printing For Wedding Invitations

As someone who recently got married, wedding planning meant an exciting time for me. When I began the actual planning process, I realized that it would require a large amount of attention and time particularly when it came to smaller details. One of these details was the design and labeling of wedding invitation envelopes. If you're like me, it's hard not to be hands-on during planning but in hindsight, I realized that it's best to get help when you consider the quality and convenience it can give. When it comes to the wedding invitations, I recommend the services of a professional online printing company. Using their services can be efficient for the following reasons:
1. Customized Options - Online printing services provide a variety of options for choosing or even customizing envelope labels. They offer services such as ready-to-use label print templates or blank templates to make a design from scratch. Aside from these print templates, couples may also upload their pre-designed label designs.
2. Quick Convenience - Online printing companies also offer quick convenience as labels can be printed at wholesale orders ranging from 250 to 100,000 with two to six day turnarounds. All design and print order details can be done through the internet, via live chat, or, by calling a toll-free number. This can be a real time-saver for both bride and groom as it saves them trips for selection and approval.
3. Professionally Made Product - The best part about the use of online printing services for designing and ordering wedding invitation labels is the actual finished product. Online printing companies produce professional-looking printed materials that add elegance or refinement. For reliability and added value, label designs are digitally-proofed and can be emailed to the bride and groom's for accuracy and quality assurance.
For me, online printing was definitely a big help when it came to printing the names for our wedding invitation labels. Using this service not only got the job done quickly, conveniently, and, professionally, but it also gave me and my husband the chance to devote more time for other meaningful aspects like our marriage rite and our vows.

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Post Wedding Reception Invitations

 

Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer on the Wedding Wall