INTRO!! :D

[contradictz]

Name: Ruby
Wedding Date: March-May 2014
Bride/Groom/Other: Bride
Age: 25
City/State/Country you live in: Sydney, Australia
Your song/First Dance song: No song, no dance.
Wedding Colors: Red and Gold (because I don't have a choice), Hopefully I'll be able to sneak some purple in!
Formality: informal
Theme (if you have one): Chinese themed because

Comments

[sliveredlight]

Congrats! I suggest checking out Offbeatbride and Pinterest for budget-friendly ideas (this is a goal for me too). No help on the Chinese traditions :/ but if you join the Offbeatbride community, maybe someone there will be able to help. :)

[sliveredlight]

Also, my sister handmade her invites and they'll end up costing her about $30ish plus postage.

She got plain a white card/envelope set from Michaels, which IIRC was on sale for $20.

She got stamps and black & gold ink (she did a black Mason jar and a gold flower) and handwrote the invites using a fine-tip pen. I believe she also got some printing help from friends. ;) The invites are simple and cute and they were a relative steal. Hope this helps! :)

[contradictz]

Thanks! The Offbeatbride is helping a bunch! Spent pretty much all day on there!
Handwriting 100 invites? DEDICATION!

[colada83]

Congratulations on your engagement! That is a beautiful ring. I wish I could help you with Chinese language/tradition, but I'm unfamiliar with both (although I do have a few Chinese friends that I could relay your questions to). If you ever need to have someone to talk or vent to, you can talk to me. :-)

[colada83]

I just want to add that my now-husband and I made our own invitations. Here is what we did:

1. We bought blank cards from a brand called Papyrus. It was 50 cards and envelopes, along with sealing stickers, for $25 but we got them on clearance at $10.

2. We printed out the invite on thick parchment paper (think resume paper), and worded it the way that suited our personalities.

3. We trimmed the edges with edging scissors (I'm not sure of what they're called, but they're scissors that cut fancy designs; if you have trouble locating them, I can send you a pair).

4. We glued the invite in to the cards. Pictures are below. The invite looks casual, but that's because we chose to keep it looking that way; you may embellish yours any way you like.

I forgot to take a picture of the front of the card, but that doesn't really matter since there are so many different designs that you could just choose one that suits you.

[contradictz]

WOOT Your comment totally reminded me I have those fancy craft scissors too that I can whip out from storage!
Might head down to an art shop and check out prices.

I don't know why I'm stressing about invitations at this point in time because the wedding's not til 2014! I think I just picked one thing to stress about and that was it! The FH doesn't understand that the STD cards, invitations and TY cards neeed to match!

[amme5832]

First of all, congratulations

[amme5832]

(sorry for the novel)

[contradictz]

LOVE the novel!

I thought buying magazines might've made me calm down a little...but maybe not! XD

There's actually quite a few things we're not going to be needing any more because we're cutting the entire formal ceremony out of the picture (minus the formal tea ceremony - but that's just for family).

Definitely need to start putting away more money for this shindig!
Let me know if the "panic" eventually shows up! I'm hoping my stressing 1.5years in advance will help me not stress closer to the date

[contradictz]

I've been Googling like mad! But some of the things I don't want to follow! hahah...so I will have to talk to my mom when she "comes around" to this whole thing! The red & gold are kind of a must, same with the chinese banquet and tea ceremony, but i don't mind those because honestly Chinese banquets are WAY cheaper than 'normal' food. I always wanted a purple theme and thought it'd be okay if I don't have a traditional-ish Chinese wedding..but I can't bring myself to have one! */inner turmoil*

I can't even pick a place yet because we don't have a date. :(

[colada83]

Yes, I agree with all of these suggestions. What about a nice Chinese restaurant that serves food family style? You know, those places that have huge round tables and are mostly used by Asians for banquets. There are tons of those here in California, but I'm sure they exist in Australia, too. Those places are already decorated, and you could just have purple flowers at the centerpieces. Buy vases in bulk at the discount stores, and get the flowers from the supermarket because they cost less, or order from a wholesaler.

[the_samosaurus]

Congrats and welcome! Good luck sneaking some purple into your wedding! Maybe in the form of earrings, a necklace, or something equally subtle. :) I used vistaprint for my invites. Good price, great product. We just started sending them out to guests and they've been a huge hit!

Good luck!!!