Wednesday, June 11, 2008

the summer of love

This summer we have been invited to no fewer than five weddings. Five. It all kicks off next weekend with my big brother Drew getting married to a lovely girl named Jamie. Then in July we have one wedding, in August there are two and then in September there is one. My mailbox has been stuffed with those big envelopes with double postage and nice stationary that just scream "wedding" invitation.

I have a theory that wedding invitations can tell you a lot about a girl. I had a hard time finding ones I liked and ended up making my own because I didn't want hearts and castles on them. And I wanted something more than just a simple glossy border. So I conned about 10 friends to come and help me assemble my complex beaded invitations. Yes, I said beaded. They were time consuming and beautiful and we needed 275 of them. Yup, you heard that right...we needed 275 invitations. We invited 767 people. (Pick yourselves up off the floor please!)


Here is what they looked like. I saw them in a wedding magazine and thought they were so neat and unique. My husband, computer wiz that he is, figured out how to print them and then we assembled them and wired the beads. I had two "bead parties" in which I fed my friends dinner and we sat around and made them. They stood up pretty good to mailing, and we only heard of one person that received on with smashed beads. I was happy with how they turned out! ( I am only showing you the part that doesn't have any last names, so don't whine about how you can't see the whole thing!)

Anyway, invitations really tell me about someone and what kind of style they have. Simple invites, fancy invites, flowery invites, ones with golf foil or raised letters, invites with many little cards tucked inside. And yes, those tacky ones with the bridges and castles. I apologize if you chose those and if you loved them, no, I'm sorry, I can't apologize too much. I just don't like them.

Now, some of these invitations we received were from friends of Charlie's. Some are family and some are friends. Some are people that we don't really know all that well and others are people we would say are family.

I don't know why I am telling you all this, but I thought you would find it entertaining that we will be headed to the alter several times this summer. I may wear the same dress each time, or I might buy something new. You never can tell with me and my closet.

Anyone want to make an invitation confession? What were your wedding invites like? I certainly must know if you were a castle invite girl!

7 comments:

Caroline said...

OOOOOOhhhh goody, I'm your first commentor. We did NOT have castles, but we did go to Staples and buy the boxed invitations that you print yourself. They really came out beautifully and looked professional. We just got the ivory color with a very simple satiny-ish border. Less is more, I always say.

Heather said...

I did order mine, but they were plain white with embossed white flowers and lavender ink. Plain, but fancy.

I LOVE yours!! The beads are so original!

Anna Howard said...

I'm with you on the castle thing... Hi, btw, I'm a new reader, and I now don't remember how I found your blog... through some massive blog link clicking, I'm sure!

We ordered ours, but as I couldn't decide between two, I ordered the invitations in one, and the response cards/reception invites in another... The main invitation was a white card with a pearlized scrolly border, printed with navy blue ink. The others were this cool textured navy card, that we printed with white. We then had fun seeing what people came up with to actually rsvp, because the only thing that would really show up was white or silver ink... some used red or a pencil and that was readable if you tilted it the right way!

Hunny Bee said...

No castles here. Ours was very simple black and white, folded in half (up and down) with the torn edge at the bottom. Just our first names were on the front. We actually got complements on the simplicity. We're not frilly folks though. IMO less is almost always more.

Kimba said...

I just loved my invitations. They were simple and tailored. A little more than a glossy border but no castles.

Yours are just beautiful. I love the beads! Great idea!

Unknown said...

We also went with the embossed flowers...burgundy trim and ink. Classic Late 80's early 90's order from the flower store variety! I saw the castle in the same catalog!...right next to the pair of wine glasses.
Oh but the dresses...I still apologize to my bridesmaids 14 years later!

Jennifer P. said...

Mine were simple and white. The worst ones were the ones with the bride and groom that looked like babies, holding hands and walking in a meadow. I think they may even have had diapers on along with their top hat and bridal veil. Really people? Babies--getting married? Ah well!

Enjoy all your wedding cake!~