You're Invited!

Even if you're not actually invited to my wedding, you are invited to take a look at my invitations!

For some reason I really obsessed over these. Funny, since most people will just throw them away. But I'm an avid scrapbooker and thus a paper-person, so the invitations were important.

I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted, and I had the ability to DIY them (and actually did quite a bit of research, prototypes, etc.), but I was in the middle of graduating from college and just didn't have the time to physically make them all myself. So I searched long and hard to find someone who could pull off my vision for a reasonable price, and I found my invitation angels through Etsy. Thus began my fairytale vendor relationship with Moncher Designs.

I can't say enough wonderful things about Monica of Moncher Designs. She's the most professional Etsy vendor I've ever worked with (by far!). Her prices were way better than anything else I could find, she gave me unlimited revisions on her designs (and boy did I take advantage of them!), she responded to every revision/request within just a few hours, she sent me as many samples as I wanted, she finished my invites exactly on time, and she even assembled them all for me. If you want pretty invites, contact Monica. DO IT.

Without further ado, here they are:

My mom and I hand-addressed them all. We didn't have enought time (or monetary resources) to send them to a calligrapher, so we just made do with our less-than-stellar cursive. It worked.

Pre-printed return address (to my parents). Cute "Jeff and Katie" seal.

Look! The post office hand-cancelled them and I didn't even have to ask! Also, I love those cake stamps!

Oooh, look! That ribbon is a little more burgundy in person. I looooove the metallic navy pocketfold. Love love love.

Belly band close-up!

The inside! Florally swirly goodness! How it pains me to blur this out...stupid online identity protection guidelines.

Main invite. You can't tell in the picture, but the cream cardstock is a little shimmery as well.

Again, HATE the necessary blurs.

I thought about the wording for the main invite for a long time. I wanted to be clear that my parents were hosting, but I really like Jeff's parents, so I wanted their names on it too. We came up with this:

"Dr. and Mrs. Katies Parents

request the honor of your presence

as their daughter

Katherine Middlename

and

Jeffrey Middlename

son of Mr. and Mrs. Jeffs Parents..."

We also wanted to convey that we were getting married in a Catholic Church, something that it important to both of us. We see our wedding as a sacrament, and we wanted the invitation to reflect that. However, we're not having a full Mass, so we couldn't use the regular "Nuptial Mass" wording. We went with this:

"...as their daughter (Me) and (Jeff), son of (Jeff's Parents)

are united in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony"

There was some more deliberation over the wording of the date and time. According to my extensive research, the year should be written WITHOUT dashes ("two thousand ten"), and so should the time ("half past four"). Here's what ours says:

"on Saturday, the (date) of July

Two Thousand Ten

at half past four in the afternoon

{location info}

Reception to Follow"

  

See how clear and perfect the printing was? Did I mention I love Moncher Designs?

RSVP card and pre-printed envelope. Monica even stuck stamps on all of these for me. She rocks.

Wording: "We would be honored

by your presence at the wedding of

Katie & Jeff

on July ##, 2010.

M___________________

____ Accepts with Pleasure

_____Declines with Regret

Number Attending _____

Kindly Respond by the First of July"

We included the RD invites in the pocket for the people who are also RD guests. I think this card is my favorite part of the whole invitation suite...I just love navy and cream.

Here's the Reception Card. This is also a little more burgundy in person.

And here's the whole thing all together! Click to enlarge.

So, what do you guys think? Do you agree with me that Moncher Designs is the best ever? If you don't agree, be nice anyway...I'm a little protective of these invitations. :o)