Bride-to-be Blogger Alyse: Our Save-The-Dates!

Alyse & Kevin's save-the-date.

Picking wedding stationary seems to be one of those things that brides either really get into, or could care less about. Some may just pick out a template and colors and go with it—but not me. I think there are times when I have day dreamed more about color and font selection than I have about walking down the aisle. What can I say? I love paper products.

The first step was picking an invitation designer. I am very fortunate to have a friend with a cousin who designs invitations and other stationary. She did all of the paper products for two of my friends’ weddings, so I knew I liked her work. And, let’s be honest, I knew that the less formal process of dealing with someone I knew, rather than a stuffy invitation shop, was exactly what I needed to make my wedding stationary dreams come true. Christina from Caio Bella Invitations couldn’t have been easier to work with.

When I met with Christina in October, she showed me several different colored papers and samples of her work. I told her that I plan on making the invitations a little more formal, but for the save-the-dates, I wanted to do something cute and fun. For those who have never picked out invitations (or even given a second look to an invitation they received), you would be shocked about how much goes into the process. There’s color, font, paper weight, and shape, for starters. And each of these decisions means different prices. I found out that the square shape I liked so much was slightly more expensive because it requires a higher amount of postage—but I just couldn’t give it up. I thought about promising myself that I would never again spend more money or effort on something that only I would notice or appreciate … But then I remembered that I took a calligraphy class in the hopes that I would be good enough to address invitation envelopes, so I decided to just accept myself for who I am.

The real decision about the save-the-dates was the wording. I wanted to say something cute about Kevin and I and mention that the church was important to us. After a few brainstorming sessions with family and friends, I decided to go with “Alyse & Kevin, first grade, first kiss, first dance, first love, Please join them where it all began, St. Monica Church, 07.07.2012, for the start of all the rest.” After I sent my final thoughts to Christina, she sent me a PDF of some samples. She got exactly what I was saying about the modern look. I am pretty sure I squealed when I saw the first one.

I received the package of save the dates and envelopes (addresses printed; I am still perfecting my calligraphy skills) last Wednesday night. I recruited Kevin to stuff and lick envelopes with me and had them stamped and mailed during lunch on Thursday. There have been a few events along this wedding planning process that make things seems more “official” than others. Buying my dress was the first big one, and sending-save the-dates was definitely a close second.

Did you take a different approach to your save-the-dates than to your invitations? What was important to you when it came to designing them? Did dropping them in the mail make you, too, realize how real this is?

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