An Update (+Ugly Kitty Review & Invitation Construction)
So the invitations arrived at our front door yesterday (well actually a note was in our mailbox when we got home from the library and I chased the mailman down)! I figured since I know someone you are interested in gocco printed invites I would review Renee from Ugly Kitty (http://www.myuglykitty.com).
Review:
Of course I wanted letterpress. I LOVE letterpress in every way imaginable, but it was way out of our price range (the whole wedding is costing around $10,000 for reference). I had spent weeks ogling over Renee's photo-stream on flikr thinking she too was out of our price range. Finally Jared told me to go ahead and jut see what the price range of her invites were before I completely compromised and went with a laser printed invite.
I emailed Renee and told her what we were looking for an what we were looking to spend and she was absolutely accommodating and wonderful. She sent over some pricing sheets for us to look at and we were able to figure out what we could spend and how we could get the most for our money. We ended up getting 80 sets consisting of 3 color invitation, 3 color return card, 2 color printed return envelope and 2 color printed outer envelope. We stayed right on the edge of our budget and decided to go for it, after all they do set the tone for your wedding.
We paid the $50 deposit and I warned Renee that I was a designer with no time to do it on my own so I might be pickier than many clients. She assured me she understood and it would be fine. After a week or so she sent the first round of drafts, 3 options, all very different from each other. They were all gorgeous and we fell in love with design that featured hydrangeas, our wedding flower. This was around a year and a half out from the wedding so things were not yet fully hashed out design-wise for the wedding. After a couple months I looked at them again and while they were still beautiful, they didn't quite fit the wedding style anymore. I emailed her and asked what we could do. She sent me draft after draft after draft, tweaking the graphics, the fonts, the layout, etc. I was probably a nightmare, but she was so laid back and accommodating with making the adjustments. Eventually we reached a point where is was perfect. The right fonts, graphics and layout.
When late May rolled around I signed off on the final proof and she went to work. Within two weeks she had finished printing them and sent me the final images. I really couldn't have been more pleased. They were everything we had wanted. Of course the true test was seeing them in person. She shipped them for free and they got here in a few days. They were packaged beautifully and she had enclosed a wonderful and personal note. The invitations were even more beautiful in person. The handmade quality, every one is a little different, the return envelope bird in semi-transparent ink. I am so excited to send them out! Renee was worth EVERY PENNY. I highly recommend her if you are looking to go the gocco route.
Here are the invitations:
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Now time to work my magic:
Of course I can't leave them alone. I am incapable of leaving things as they are. We still need to address them, do an invitation for our second reception in Ohio and package them. I found this that are serving as our inspiration for the rest of the invitation journey:
I ordered a bolt of baker's twine (I love it! I use it on all my gifts!) in brown to hold the parcel together from a seller on etsy:
And I also ordered kindergarten cursive writing paper (newsprint with the blue lines for practicing handwriting) which I will be using my handy-dandy Martha Stewart edge scaloper to add the lacy edges too. Those invites will be printed with a regular printer and have the URL to our website where they can RSVP for the second event and get more info.
I'm working on my envelope lining this week. I picked up some books from salvation army that are so beat up there is nothing left to do but turn them into envelope liners. I'll be using the wonderful tutorial by out own anniedankie from her blog: http://gluegunannie.com/?p=109
Finally, I hope you've all seen the new stamps at the post office:
They couldn't fit in any better with our invitations! They will look lovely on the envelopes. My grandma (who is a calligrapher) will be addressing them with me (not in calligraphy, but in her beautiful handwriting). I'll be sure to post photos of the finished product.
A few other things to update on today. It was a good week for mail. Lots of lovely things arrived for the wedding (my desk and craft area is an absolute mess of packaging and wedding things).
Napkin fabric arrived. Time to start cutting. I'm picking up my sewing machine from my dad's house next weekend so I can start hemming these babies. Wish me luck! There are a TON of them.
Jared's custom tie from toybreaker on etsy arrived. It look awesome peeking out from under his vest. He's going to look like a million bucks. He's camera shy, so no pictures of the full ensemble until the big day is over:
Purchased Jared's wedding gift! HE always tells me we're an odd couple because I'm such a pirate and he's such a ninja. So I asked Goosegrease from etsy if she would do a checker set for us. She did and I was FINALLY able to purchase it from her. It looks like it's going to be addorable.
Either she or myself will also be painting the top of the wooden box like this (the beige part would be bare wood and the circles will have a ninja face and a pirate face in them):
I will be packing with a note I have started to embroider on a piece of muslin notebook paper which he will probably wear as a pocket square during the ceremony. My inspiration came from Twigs and Thistle:
http://www.twigandthistle.com/blog/2009/05/sew-in-love/
I also received my Bonzie bolero in the mail and it's BEAUTIFUL. I haven't had time to take photos yet. But I will try and post those soon. It was also totally worth the money and is something I will certainly wear again.
Hope planning is going well for everyone! Only 69 days out now! The time is flying by so quickly!
Review:
Of course I wanted letterpress. I LOVE letterpress in every way imaginable, but it was way out of our price range (the whole wedding is costing around $10,000 for reference). I had spent weeks ogling over Renee's photo-stream on flikr thinking she too was out of our price range. Finally Jared told me to go ahead and jut see what the price range of her invites were before I completely compromised and went with a laser printed invite.
I emailed Renee and told her what we were looking for an what we were looking to spend and she was absolutely accommodating and wonderful. She sent over some pricing sheets for us to look at and we were able to figure out what we could spend and how we could get the most for our money. We ended up getting 80 sets consisting of 3 color invitation, 3 color return card, 2 color printed return envelope and 2 color printed outer envelope. We stayed right on the edge of our budget and decided to go for it, after all they do set the tone for your wedding.
We paid the $50 deposit and I warned Renee that I was a designer with no time to do it on my own so I might be pickier than many clients. She assured me she understood and it would be fine. After a week or so she sent the first round of drafts, 3 options, all very different from each other. They were all gorgeous and we fell in love with design that featured hydrangeas, our wedding flower. This was around a year and a half out from the wedding so things were not yet fully hashed out design-wise for the wedding. After a couple months I looked at them again and while they were still beautiful, they didn't quite fit the wedding style anymore. I emailed her and asked what we could do. She sent me draft after draft after draft, tweaking the graphics, the fonts, the layout, etc. I was probably a nightmare, but she was so laid back and accommodating with making the adjustments. Eventually we reached a point where is was perfect. The right fonts, graphics and layout.
When late May rolled around I signed off on the final proof and she went to work. Within two weeks she had finished printing them and sent me the final images. I really couldn't have been more pleased. They were everything we had wanted. Of course the true test was seeing them in person. She shipped them for free and they got here in a few days. They were packaged beautifully and she had enclosed a wonderful and personal note. The invitations were even more beautiful in person. The handmade quality, every one is a little different, the return envelope bird in semi-transparent ink. I am so excited to send them out! Renee was worth EVERY PENNY. I highly recommend her if you are looking to go the gocco route.
Here are the invitations:
-----------
Now time to work my magic:
Of course I can't leave them alone. I am incapable of leaving things as they are. We still need to address them, do an invitation for our second reception in Ohio and package them. I found this that are serving as our inspiration for the rest of the invitation journey:
I ordered a bolt of baker's twine (I love it! I use it on all my gifts!) in brown to hold the parcel together from a seller on etsy:
And I also ordered kindergarten cursive writing paper (newsprint with the blue lines for practicing handwriting) which I will be using my handy-dandy Martha Stewart edge scaloper to add the lacy edges too. Those invites will be printed with a regular printer and have the URL to our website where they can RSVP for the second event and get more info.
I'm working on my envelope lining this week. I picked up some books from salvation army that are so beat up there is nothing left to do but turn them into envelope liners. I'll be using the wonderful tutorial by out own anniedankie from her blog: http://gluegunannie.com/?p=109
Finally, I hope you've all seen the new stamps at the post office:
They couldn't fit in any better with our invitations! They will look lovely on the envelopes. My grandma (who is a calligrapher) will be addressing them with me (not in calligraphy, but in her beautiful handwriting). I'll be sure to post photos of the finished product.
A few other things to update on today. It was a good week for mail. Lots of lovely things arrived for the wedding (my desk and craft area is an absolute mess of packaging and wedding things).
Napkin fabric arrived. Time to start cutting. I'm picking up my sewing machine from my dad's house next weekend so I can start hemming these babies. Wish me luck! There are a TON of them.
Jared's custom tie from toybreaker on etsy arrived. It look awesome peeking out from under his vest. He's going to look like a million bucks. He's camera shy, so no pictures of the full ensemble until the big day is over:
Purchased Jared's wedding gift! HE always tells me we're an odd couple because I'm such a pirate and he's such a ninja. So I asked Goosegrease from etsy if she would do a checker set for us. She did and I was FINALLY able to purchase it from her. It looks like it's going to be addorable.
Either she or myself will also be painting the top of the wooden box like this (the beige part would be bare wood and the circles will have a ninja face and a pirate face in them):
I will be packing with a note I have started to embroider on a piece of muslin notebook paper which he will probably wear as a pocket square during the ceremony. My inspiration came from Twigs and Thistle:
http://www.twigandthistle.com/blog/2009/05/sew-in-love/
I also received my Bonzie bolero in the mail and it's BEAUTIFUL. I haven't had time to take photos yet. But I will try and post those soon. It was also totally worth the money and is something I will certainly wear again.
Hope planning is going well for everyone! Only 69 days out now! The time is flying by so quickly!