Tip of the Day: Fall Wedding Decor Ideas

Posted by Khris in Crafting Advice

Happy Autumn, Northern (oops! not, Western) Hemisphere readers!

For those of you planning a Fall wedding, get your behinds to your local magazine racks. September is prime Fall decorating time with the major shelter magazines: Martha, Country Living, Better Homes and Gardens, Southern Living, etc., who nearly always have fun, unique, and gorgeous ideas for centerpieces, favors/treats and decor.

Real Etiquette: Complex Invite Wording

Posted by Khris in Real Etiquette

Kimberly writes in the following situation:

The bride’s parents are hosting the wedding.  The groom’s mom passed away a few years ago and the groom’s father may or may not be at the wedding. The bride & groom have a daughter together (almost 1 yr old) and the groom also has 5 other kids (2-3 of them will be present @ wedding).

How do they include everyone on the invite as all are especially important to the couple?

Strict etiquette dictates that whomever is hosting the event is included on the invitation. Why? Because you really have no right to send invitations to a party you’re not throwing.

But we Real Etiquette-ettes get where you’re coming from. It’s a family thing. You love ‘em and want them all to feel as though they’re a part of this grand day. No harm in that. The problem here is that you’re wanting to send an invite from 11 people for an event to celebrate 2.

First of all, don’t list everyone’s names on the invitation.

Your best bet is to use family-oriented wording that tells the guests that the bride’s parents are hosting but the immediate families of the bride and groom are involved. However, the best spot for honoring your family is in the text of a wedding program or at the speeches during the reception.

Together with their families

Bride’s Name
and Groom’s Name

request the pleasure of your company
as they celebrate the union of their families

Saturday, the eleventh of May
two thousand and nine
at half past four in the afternoon

Saint Whatever Church
1245 Main Street
Your City, State

Reception to follow

OR

Mr. and Mrs. Jack Smith
request the pleasure of your company
as we bring together our families for a joyous day of celebration
at the marriage of their daughter

Jennifer Smith
to
Lucas Jones

Son of Mr. Mark Jones and the late Elizabeth Jones

Saturday, the eleventh of May
two thousand and nine
at half past four in the afternoon

Saint Whatever Church
1245 Main Street
Your City, State

DIYers, do you have any simple wording suggestions for Kimberly?

Contest: Win a Ron Ben Israel Cake

Posted by Khris in Contests

Well-Spun Weddings is hosting a contest for a lucky couple to win a cake made by master cake guru, Ron Ben Israel. Pop on over to WSW and enter before 12/01/09. And do check out Well-Spun Weddings’ vintage wedding films. Truly, they’re among the absolute best videography companies I’ve seen.

Fab Finds Friday: Mari Robeson + Priscilla of Boston

Posted by Khris in Fab Finds Friday

Fab Finds Friday is a weekly showcase of some of the fabulous resources available to the wedding community. This week’s wedding goodness comes to you from Mari Robeson + Priscilla of Boston. Products for FFF are chosen based on their merit and are never paid endorsements. xoxo.

I’m a sucker for a good ring pillow. So many are just a bit too precious, if you know what I mean. May I present to you this lovely personalized pillow from designer Mari Robeson as a sophisticated alternative to the lace and bow cookie cutter options?$90.00 at Mari’s store above.

Custom Pillow by Mari Robeson

If you’re looking for an utterly gorgeous gown and you’re on a real girl’s budget, high priest(ess) of glam gowns, Priscilla of Boston, is having a 5 day sample sale at all of their salons beginning 9/17/09. Get thee to a salon! Bridal gowns, bridesmaid, and special occasion gowns are marked down on select styles of course.

Priscilla of Boston Gown (may not be representative of sale gowns)

Library Card Save-The-Dates

Posted by Khris in DIY Projects & Tutorials, Invitations, Programs, + Stationery

I love, love, love incorporating everyday places into a wedding theme. Museums? Great. A favorite diner? Neat. A school cafeteria? Utterly adorable.

If you’re a book nerd like me, then you’ll get a kick out of using library cards as save-the-dates (or even invitations).

To get you started pop on over to the Catalog Card Generator, where I made this:

How cute is this? Very cute, I say! Keep playing with the generator and you’ll find different card styles and colors come up each time. Nifty!  Unfortunately, the generator only outputs files into low-res graphics. They’re 72 dpi which is great for online viewing but doesn’t work so well for printing (you need at least 150 dpi for a decent print; 300 dpi is preferred.)

Now, if you’re wanting something printable head over to Chia’s Rubber Stamp Art and snag these bare bones templates:

As an alternate, Ez at Creature Comforts, has this lovely set available to you.

You need fonts now, right?

I like MAILART font to mimic rubber stamps (great for the date).

One of my favorite typewriter fonts is Traveling Typewriter and it goes quite well with MAILART above.

ALL of these things are FREE, by the way. If you decide to download any of them, please give a big thanks to the creator(s) for their generosity and talent!