Wedding Invitations and blog practice....

I really wanted to get a post up yesterday, but you know how sometimes being a mom overshadows everything else? Even when they're 19 & 22, they still need Mommy sometimes. I guess it's good to know you're not obsolete! 

I found out why you couldn't leave comments. I think I fixed it. Let me know if you still have trouble with it and I'll ask someone who knows what they're doing. I'm definitely learning as I go!

I learned how to make my pictures all pretty. Thanks, Splitcoast Stampers! The members there are so helpful! I finally realized that I should look there for advice before wasting hours searching all over the internet. Usually someone else has asked the same question and no one makes you feel like an idiot if you don't know all the proper techie terminology. I guess they speak my language! 

Next I'm going to try something else new--I want to put a button on the left side that will take you straight to Splitcoast, but I'm not sure I can pull it off. If I figure that out I'll also have a button to the February issue of Scrapbooks, Etc. to show off my first published page.

Last weekend I had a booth at my first bridal show. Andy helped me set up. He came up with a GREAT display piece for me to use. I'd like to put up a picture of my table, but it really didn't photograph well with all the other tables and vendors in the background. There weren't very many brides in attendance, but I met several people who could prove helpful. A couple of photographers, the manager of a wedding chapel, a dj/wedding planner, and a florist either took my business cards or asked for sample books!

Autumn

These are some of the invitations I had with me. They're normally sold in sets, which include the invitation, one or two inserts (RSVPs, directions, etc.), and a thank you. The price for these sets range from two to four dollars, depending on the types of paper and the level of detail involved. 

Daisy

For example, Autumn and Daisy are the same design, but Autumn is four dollars a set and Daisy is two dollars a set. Autmn has glitter paper, metallic paper, embossing, and two punched leaves, so the supplies cost more and it takes a lot longer to assemble. The paper for Daisy is just as heavy and of the same quality, but without 

the glossy or glittery finshes, and there 

are fewer steps involved in assembling 

each invitation.

Pearl

Pearl is very elegant, and uses some of the same kinds of paper as Autumn, but since it requires fewer steps its price would start just over two dollars per set. 

I can tweak any of these designs or come up with something completely new, depending on what the bride is looking for. I'm getting ready to start an order for graduation announcements. Same principle, but with school colors instead of wedding colors!

If you're wondering where some of the names come from, it's pretty simple. 

Autumn has the colors of autumn, and Janis had an autumn wedding. 

Daisy has flowers embossed on it and looks summery. I picture a groom in jeans and a white button-down and the bride in a sundress carrying daisies.  

Pearl is made of shimmery pearl and gold papers.   

Sassy

Sassy. Ok, this one's not so obvious. When Alexis, the bride, was a little girl, she couldn't say her name correctly. It came out "Sassy" and boy, did it fit! lol    

That name stuck with her, and now, twenty-some years later, some of us still call her that!

Amelia

 Once I got Amelia put together, it reminded me of my great grandparents' wedding picture. I don't know why--it just did. My great grandmother's name was Amelia.

Cherish

I don't know if you can make it out, but the C in the middle of the label is not a monogram. The word Cherish is in there. That's a perfect spot for a monogram, but everyone's monograms don't work real well together, and I thought that cherish  was an appropriate word for a wedding invitation. (And a really pretty stamp!)

Crystal

All I could think of when I looked at this one was a winter wedding with lots of white and silver. If you're going with a winter theme you have to decorate with lots of  crystal, right?

I think that's enough wedding talk for now. I have some magazine submissions to get to work on. I'll let you know how they turn out. Thanks for stopping by!