Wedding Invitation

Today I'd like to talk about the wedding stationary.
My fiance and I have decided to skip the "save-the-dates cards", and instead send the actual invites. I mean, who said you HAVE TO HAVE save-the-dates? Sure, they can be nice, but they also cost money. And we are trying to save some here, aren't we? ;)

There are a few ways you can go about the invitations:
1) DIY - there are many tutorials available out there on how to create your own invitations. This works great if you are handy, and want something a bit more personalized. It would be great if you already have the cardstock on hand that you are going to use. If not, then Michaels, JoAnn, A.C. Moore, Hobby Lobby (I'm sure there are other stores that would apply to this point) and their coupons are your best friends when it comes to saving money.
~ Here's a simple and lovely DIY-tutorial for a wedding invitation which I absolutely adore!

2) Print your own - you can find many stores that sell sets of cards and envelopes. All you need is a working computer that is hooked up to a printer. I have seen the sets in stores like Michaels, JoAnn, A.C. Moore, Walmart, Amazon. Again, coupons are great when trying to save some money. Majority of the craft stores give 50% off coupons. Sometimes they also have sales, if you are lucky to catch them, and find a set that you like.
~ This is the route we took. The invites came out lovely, and we did not spend that much money on them. This could be time consuming as we worded the invites ourselves, chose the font, and did a few trial runs on regular paper before printing the actual invitation cards.

3) Order online - many stores can print the invitations (and other stationary) for a pretty cheap price. I have found a big variety to choose from already existing designs at vistaprint.com, bweddinginvitations.com, einvite.com. David's Bridal and Bed Bath and Beyond also offer such services.
~ I love that eInvite offers all-in-one invitations. This is such an amazing idea! Here's one in white and gold that I really liked. And here is one from BWedding of a simple lasercut design, but very elegant.

4) Digital invites - I have not gone or explored that route because I wanted physical invites, something that you can hold in your hands (I'm old schooled). However, this is another option for the invites. I can only think of one website that can be used for this - evite.com, and they have a big enough selection of FREE invitations for you to choose from. I mean, how adorable is this one with your own photo?


Whatever option you find works best for you, make sure to double check the wording, address location and date before clicking the button to order, print or send!

What to figure out first when starting to plan the Big Day!

So you are at the beginning of planning your Big Day. Where do you start?

I have read many articles online on wedding planning when I started to plan my own wedding. There are many helpful articles out there. While they may be helpful for some, they may not be very helpful for others.

There are three main points that should be figured out first in order to move on.
1) Wedding date. Start with year, then season, then month, then day of the week. Keep in mind that some months and days of the week are going to be cheaper than others. Day of the week will also determine availability of vendors. Pick a few dates, but be flexible about them. Make sure you consider important events, and give yourselves enough time to plan the Big Day.

2) Budget. Use only the money that you currently have. Not what you are going to have, or credit that you might want to take. It's not a good idea to go in dept because of the wedding. It might mean that you will be working with a small budget. But that is when I am hoping this blog will come handy!

3) Guest count. Make a list of the guests you want to invite. Start with closest family and friends, then extended family (who absolutely have to be invited because they are family and there is no way of getting out of not inviting them), then people whom you'd absolutely love to see at the wedding. Stop right there! No, you don't need to invite that girl who invited you to her wedding! Or your co-workers, unless they are your best friends! Go over the list a few times to make sure you have not forgotten anybody, and cross out the names of those that can be not invited (I doubt you are going to have any if you followed the formula above, but as you go through the list you might realize that you are no longer bffs with that girl from high school), before sending the invites. Remember, the guest count is going to drive your budget. Do plan as if everyone is going to show up for your wedding!

It's OK to go back to those three points and make changes as you go. Just remember to be flexible where you can. Flexibility is going to help you stay sane!

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We got engaged in July of 2015, and thought of having a wedding in Spring or Fall time of 2016. Keeping times flexible allowed us to look around for a venue. We based our search on price and size. We knew we wanted to have our wedding on Sunday to keep the costs down and not forcing anyone to take a day off of work. Once we had the venue down, we went with an open date - just asked the venue which Sundays in fall and spring they had open. Spring season kind of fell off, and we went with a date in fall. On a side note, our date was not that flexible as once we had the open dates from the venue, we picked a date that was a lucky date according to Chinese calendar (hubby's family insisted). But it all worked out in the end! ;)