Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda...

Nine months. Can you believe it's been nine months since our wedding? It feels like yesterday I was still stamping out-of-town bags and collecting jars for our centerpieces. No matter that married life has taken ahold of us, I can't stop noticing wedding-related goodies--and I'm feeling the need to share. Here are a few things I kinda, sorta wish I had when I was in the planning process.

For the decor...

A wedding planner. Not just a day-of-coordinator, but someone to design the event for you. I had fun DIYing, don't get me wrong, but it would've been fun to have had a life the summer before my wedding too. Who would I have chosen? More than likely, local Santa Fean Jessie Abrams Baca. Just get a look at this eye candy.

Photos from jessieabramsbaca.com

For the invitations...

Paperjules.com. I just stumbled across this stationer and her work is adorable. It reminds me of summer in all of its carefree, fun-loving spirit. Not only does she offer custom invitations, she also has custom e-invitations for eco-friendly weddings!

Source: PaperJules.com

Source: PaperJules.com

Source: PaperJules.com

For the bridesmaids...

Sample gift certificate from Joyofspa.com

Joyofspa.com. I so wish I'd known about this option when I was handing my ladies their gifts. If you're like me, your bridesmaids--and I had five--are spread across the country. I had two in Los Angeles, one in Boulder, Colorado, one in Upstate New York and one in Brooklyn. This website lets you buy gift certificates towards spa treatments, no matter the location of the recipient. They have a database of spas across the country (even in tiny Santa Fe) that participate in accepting their gift certificates and the cool thing is that most of the spas are independent so, by buying this, your also supporting your bridesmaid's local economy.

Did you find anything after your wedding you wish you'd done? How about something you just can't go without on your wedding day if it hasn't happened yet?

And, They're Off...

I debated for quite a while before doing it. The time had come to mail my invitations. Should I skip over to the post office on my lunch break or wait until the weekend when there is no time limit? I was zig-zagging between hand-canceling my invitations and just handing them over.

I pulled up to the post office, 45 minutes left until I was supposed to be back at my desk, stuck a few quarters in the meter and made my way inside. My invitations were all stamped. I'd taken them to two post offices prior to make sure the postage pricing was correct. $1.39 sounded like too much the first time but indeed, it was the same at the second post office. I could've easily dumped them in the big blue bin on the sidewalk since they were stamped but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

In line, inside, I continued to zig-zag in my head. Should I tell her I want to hand-cancel them? I had done it to my save-the-dates only to find that the ink takes at least 45 minutes to dry once you stamp them and you might get a parking ticket in the process because you didn't expect them to take that long. I couldn't find another excuse, though, to explain why I'd waited in line. Why I didn't want to part with my beautiful, paper lovelies. Hand-canceling them seemed like a way to prolong the process, make it a heartfelt, lingering send-off.

But, once I got up to the counter, I could only squeak out that these were my wedding invitations and I just wanted to make sure everything was okay with them. She weighed one. Asked me how much postage I'd put on each. $1.39 I dutifully reported, the taste of vintage stamp gum rising on my tongue.

So took my two boxes, stacked high with thick, filled envelopes and took them...somewhere. I'm not sure where. And that was it. Now I can't wait for RSVPs!

Did you have trouble handing over your invitations?

The Whole Round-Up

Our invitations came in two parts. Mainly because our stationer had to skip out of work for a week to attend her sister's wedding. So, hey, I can't complain right? Weddings, as we all know, are a very valid excuse for most anything.

Since they came in two parts, I've been staring at the first bunch (about 90% of the goods) for almost two weeks and trying to find ways to "play" with them. I stamped the RSVP envelopes, I numbered the RSVPs in case guests forget to write their names and I tied and re-tied the raffia once or twice. Today, I received the second part, our handkerchiefs. The portion of the invitations that will display our home-drawn map (Mr. CB's drawing, not mine. Luckily). Ready for 'em? Cuz I am.

The whole suite (including our rehearsal dinner invites, bottom right):


The invitation, itself:


The hang tag, featuring our website:


The RSVP card and its return envelope:


Our return address on the main envelope (my favorite part):


The map Mr. CB drew featured on a 14" x 14" handkerchief. Surprisingly, this adds no weight to our $1.39 postage.


The suite, once more.


Ta-da! What do you think? I love gocco! And, I love these.

Designing the Invites (Part IV)

As I mentioned before, the Cowboy Boot invitations will have five parts: the invitation card, the RSVP card and envelope, a map, a rehearsal dinner invitation (in some of them), and a hang tag to tie the whole thing together. We plan on using one of the various illustrations you've seen on each piece.

Next up, the hang tags--you know, the little tag that the raffia is tied through to bring it all together. Since we're using the birds on the invitation and the barn on the RSVP, the hang tag seems like the perfect place to feature Mr. CB's horse sketch (the one that adorned our save-the-dates). Give me your vote:

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

Option 5 (This is a circle, by the way)

Vote below!

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

Option 5

Or, tell me which shape you like best? And which design is your favorite? Or how you would do it differently?

Designing the Invites (Part I)

We loved our save-the-dates so much, that we decided to hire Sarah Parrott to design our invitation suite as well. After stumbling across her blog, A Homegrown Wedding, I feel like she gets our vision even more now. We have very similar taste. Now, onto the invitations...

They will have about five parts to them. Five! I know, that's a lot. 1) An Invitation Card, 2) A Map, 3) An RSVP Card + Envelope, 4) A Hang Tag attached to raffia, and 5) some will have a Rehearsal Dinner invitation.

In designing these, I really want them to seem connected to our save-the-dates and feel similar to our inspiration stationary. One of the ways we're doing this is to include another drawing from my very talented husband-to-be, Mr. Cowboy Boot. If ya'll remember, he drew the horse that adorned our STD postcard. This time, the drawing is of a barn since that's what our reception will be. 

Mr. CB's barn drawing

And, while I tried to get Mr. CB to pen some barn swallows and more horses, illustrating wedding invitations doesn't make him very excited. Thus, I turned to Ms. Parrott to find some coordinating images to use throughout our suite. Here's what she came up with:

Image 1:

Image 2:

Image 3:

Image 4:

Image 5:

Image 6:

Image 7:

Which are your favorite? Which do you think go best with Mr. CB's barn?