Saturday, July 23, 2011

DIY Save the Dates: Assembly

So, I realize the last post I wrote about Save the Dates was in January, but, as I started to move on to sharing my invitations with you guys I felt like the right thing to do would be finish off my STDs. I'm just going with a "better late than never" attitude on this one, and besides, it is on my list of things to blog about before we get our pro pics, so I'm finally getting back to it.

Where we last left off, many moons ago, I didn’t choose an STD, then I designed a million save the dates, and then we finally decided on one, and then realized I needed a postcard to put that sucker on, and then I finally shared them with you.

I never shared the assembly or budget, though, and I've always wanted to let you know how we put them together because it was so easy and simple; so, finally, our STD assembly!

To refresh your memories, here are our STDs (the bottom two photos are digital mock ups).




Okay, so basically, we had a post card and a business card sized magnet. We stuck the magnet to the card, put them in an envelope and sent them on their way.

It all started with trying to figure out how to put our magnet on our postcard, which led to me looking up how Bees before me did it.

I think I've should've pulled a Sewing here. That genius thought to mention "MAGNET!" right on her postcard. At the time, I hoped our guests figure it out . . . because I know Grandma G didn't when I showed it to her. Oh well! I think the difference between the matte postcard & glossy magnet were difference enough.


Mrs. Sewing used re-positionable tape for her STDs, and we were going to, but we found something better when we got to Michaels.
Yes, that's right: Glue dots.

Mr. G and I had been looking at sticky squares, and decided to use adhesive photo corners (even though I think they're a pain) because it seemed like it might work better than our original plan on tape. This was when we were in the scrapbook aisle. We had to make it to the other end of the store to get something else, and we happened to see Glue Dots in another aisle.

And, let me tell you, they're wonderful. They're cheap and they come in a pack of 200 (which was way more than we needed). They also come in a mini size if you need it, and, most importantly, the ones in the green box are removable (which is important because our guests had to be able to remove their magnet).

Oh and did I forget to mention that they're in a dispenser? So the Glue dot literally just rolls on, and you don't even have to worry about peeling and sticking it yourself? Yeah, they were made for this project I think.

After having the magnets and postcard printed through Vistaprint, we got to work.

I started with lining the envelopes. All I did was make a template our of paperboard, trace it onto wrapping paper, cut, and repeat.
Then, I tucked a cut out liner into an envelope, and because I'm lazy, only glued the top half down. As long as no one used a letter opener, the bottom half of the liner wouldn't fall out. . . And if then did, I'm over it :-D.
Then Mr. G stuck on a Glue Dot, and stuck a magnet to it while I stamped the fronts and back of our envelopes (or, if I wasn't paying attention, stamped the fronts of our envelopes twice, which only happened twice, thank you very much).
I realize I cut off Mr. G's head in this photo, but I wanted you guys to see the Glue Dot dispenser, which is the neon green thing by Mr. G's hand.




After that, we simple stuck our postcards into their envelopes, and they were ready to be sent on!

I still love how these turned out, many months later, especially. because of what the guests saw as soon as they (painstakingly carefully) opend the envelope.

And that's it! I hope the world's easiest assembly was worth the wait :). Tune in for the budget breakdown.

Did you DIY your STDs? How did your assembling go?

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Very Sashing Details

Sashing? Dashing? Close enough, right?

This is so strange, but it's true. For some reason, when I made the easy decision of picking out my dress, I decided I had to have a sash. In fact, I got my heart all set on it. I'm not 100% sure why I had to have one, but I think the artist in me was drawn to the pop of color, and the opportunity to use it to coordinate our wedding colors and make them even more cohesive (... because I was a crazy bride like that).

If you look back at the image of my dress that David's Bridal provides, you'll see something around the waist.

Just so you guys know, the sash in that photo doesn't come with the dress (included is a length of 2" white ribbon, there's even two teeny loops to hold the ribbon onto the dress), but they suggest it with the dress, as well as a thicker, fancier sash, like the purple one in the photo below.

I know, it's a lovely sash. It's kind of hard to see in the photo, but there's all kinds of pretty embroidery at the bottom.

Naturally, I had to have it.. . .But then after I tried it on in the store, in the color Pool (as seen below), I found out that it wasn't offered in baby blue (or the DB color "capri").

Long story short, I was crushed.

What's a girl to do? Well, I maybe have been a little mopey after mucho Googling couldn't find me a sash I wanted, but then I got my act together. At this time, etsy's alchemy was still around, so I started the hunt for some one who could make a sash for me, in the color I wanted, all for the price of $50.

I discovered seller BusyBeeHolidays (was the 'Bee' in her name a sign?), who hadn't made a sash before, but definitely seemed up for the challenge.

She started by sending me fabric colors and embroidery options to choose from. I ended up choosing one that I loved (yay!), and then I gave her another $5 because I chose an option too big for her embroidery hoop, so she'd have to get a new one. Not a bad deal, I'd say.

Then BusyBee began sending me photos of my sash as she made it, step by step. Watching the whole process come together was so exciting (and such a relief, actually, after I was super worried that I wouldn't get the sash I dreamed of). The more photos I saw, the more excited I got to see the real thing in person.

And, because a photo's worth 100 words, here's the story in photos.
Photo of me with the sash that I posted on Alchemy for reference.
The option I chose for embroidery.
A sample of the embroidery for me to approve.
Ah! Coming together - embroidery on my sash.
Then some pearls for good measure. Now all it needed was a hem. . .
Perfecto!
Love!

I'm not going to lie, this was one wedding project that was pretty easy because I just had to sit back while someone else did all the work :-D.

Dying to see the real sash in action? Me too! I can't wait to share the pro pics with you all in the future.

Did you having something custom made for your wedding? Scale of 1-10, how awesome was it?

Monday, July 18, 2011

A Dress for a Giraffe

Just to clarify by "a Giraffe", I mean me.


I realized I've never told you about my wedding dress/dress hunt. Why, you ask? Well, it's not really a good story.

Really. It's just not much of a story at all.

Here's what happened.

Mr. Giraffe proposed, and that night I bought 3 wedding magazines. I flipped through one, saw an advertisement for a dress, and decided I wanted that one. A month later, I was home from college for Thanksgiving, I headed to store, tried on that dress, and was sure I wanted that one. We set a date 2.5 years in the future. Then 1.5 years later, I headed to the same store, tried on the same dress, and bought it.

That's really it, the whole shebang. I didn't cry, but I was happy and wanted that dress. When I first went to try it on, another girl was in the dress I wanted, so to kill time, I tried about 5 other dresses. I wasn't planning on even trying other dress, but by doing so, I confirmed I had what I wanted.

It may sound like a boring dress experience, but it was pretty much how I roll. I hate hate hate trying on clothes normally, and don't really getting excited about big shopping ordeals so I pretty much did what I normally do when shopping. Find something, pick it out, buy it. I would've hated a big fussy dress ordeal, so I'm glad it worked out the way it did.

I don't like fancy or frou-frou things, so I automatically knew what I was looking for. . . or, more like I knew what I wasn't looking for: no lace, no beads, no bling, no train, nothing tight, nothing too fancy.

And I'm sure you're all wondering what this dress is, eh?

But, let's be honest, you want to see who really makes that dress look good?!





Anybody else have a super easy dress hunt? Really?