RSVP Organization!

Sending out & subsequently receiving 120 of anything requires a tad-bit of organization.  When the RSVP cards first came in we simply threw them into "yes" or "no" piles, which was organized enough at the time.  Then it dawned on us that beyond yes/no it breaks down further into their entree choice.  Even beyond that we need to record names.

And so, yet another spreadsheet was born.
This one with three tabs.

Invitees is merely the original invite list but color coded by responses: red for regrets, green for yes.

Headcount and Meals takes all the green/yes responses from the first tab and next to their corresponding number (we'll get to that) marks their entree choice.  It also includes names.

The Count breaks down how many yes and no cards received, how many are still lurking about, and goes even further to show how many people reported yes or no.  This is because some invitations went to house where two or more people were invited.  Some invites went solo.  It is the mighty head-count and card-count.


Once we tear open the purple envelopes they go into a giant pile.

Then from that pile they go into the "yes" or "no" bag.

But not so fast, first they are entered into the spreadsheet by number.
On the back of each card on the upper-right we wrote in pencil the number next to the guest on the spreadsheet. 

This helps immensely when you receive cards with no names on them.  And yes it happened once (but obviously not the one pictured above).

My favorite part about the RSVP cards is when the guest takes a moment to write a message on the back (like the one pictured above), or anywhere on it!

LOVE IT!

 So. much. fun!

(Now please send in your RSVP cards if you have yet to do so!)

RSVP or Else

Ladies and Gents, as our RSVP deadline of May 4th approaches we have 66 of 120 cards returned.  That's only about half.  And as a realist (not a pessimist) the first thought which comes to mind is, "the people who are not coming are waiting until the last minute to send their replies."  This is probably totally not true. maybe.

However, opening the mailbox after a day of work and finding our small purple envelopes provides such simple joy!  Since most people did not affix a return address label (come on now, folks! what if it gets lost?), we play a game of "whose RSVP card is it?!"  There is an added surprise of who the card belongs to and whether or not they are coming.  Mike and I try to wait for each other to come home to share the opening festivities, but some days you just tear into your little pile of excitement.  

Our guests have five remaining days to deposit the lovely purple pre-stamped, pre-addressed envelope in the mail.  That gives me about a week to wonder who is actually coming. 
A trusted post-office liaison named Cousin Laurie pointed out that the clear labels on the dark purple envelopes are tricky to read.  This does not make for easy delivery.  Not the best choice on our part.  So maybe the guests are not wholly to blame...

If by May 4th, or maybe even the 7th, we have yet to receive those indicators of attendance?  Then we send a polite email, followed by a rushed phone call (which we might punt to parents), ending with a Facebook wall post threatening your first born gently reminding those guests we want them to come, but need to know if we are to prepare a place setting for them!

It really is fun to watch the cards pile up!

Stay tuned for the next post, with an explanation for how we organize those RSVP cards!

Hebrew Shebrew?

In yesterday's big wedding invitation reveal, I showed a picture that focused on the Hebrew writing at the bottom of our invitations:

This is the famed Hebrew lettering that almost caused my nervous breakdown.

I realized, I never told you what it says or means to us!

Taken from Songs of Solomon, the beautiful letters translate to mean: I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine.

Mike and I are not the most strictly observant Jews around (although we are observant in our own ways -- post for another time).  Regardless, this verse spoke to us.  The wedding crowd finds it quite popular due to it's simplicity and focus on love.   Also Mike likes that his last name bears resemblance to "Solomon"  -- overall it fits well!

The font and image we found perfectly fit onto the invitation.  The sizing and space perfectly lined up.  The drippy effect matched seamlessly with the watercolor peacock.

And boom, our invitation has Hebrew on it!

I found some other people who fancy that phrase, too:

Red Letter Words, Etsy

Sketch and Etch, Etsy

Simag Jewelry, Etsy

Do you have a favorite verse?

Our Wedding Invitation Reveal!

I almost want to keep the invitations a secret for just a while longer, because I love them so, So, SO much.  They are by far my favorite part of the wedding so far.
Seriously.

They are the most decadent non-edible item I ever laid eyes on.
I luff them so.
And so what if people just throw them away before or after the wedding? I will always remember how absolutely gorgeous and stunning they are.

So, you can see I'm a bit obsessed with them.

One more thing, if you didn't catch my guest post yesterday about how we almost had to reprint all the invites, please go check that out now.
Then you can fully appreciate the depth of my love for these pieces of fancy cardstock.

Ok one last thing, promise, before the photo montage.
Huge, deep appreciation goes out to Sugar of DIYva Designs (& Nar, her partner, too!).
Sugar worked with my needy self, made countless changes to the proof(s), and is the genius artist extraordinaire behind the design.

So here they are.
(Be still my heart)

outer envelope holding inner envelope with belly-band holding reply card

Belly-band with wax fleur-de-lis detail

inner envelope with reply card

outer and inner envelope - the invitations are inside the inners...

the invites!

(please excuse the removal of our last names for privacy)

the two reply card versions (since Kosher was not available for all)

the late addition Hebrew

(aka my heart attack)

Needless to say, I'm more than happy with how they turned out.
And coupled with gold ink calligraphy on the purple envelopes?
Simply gorgeous.

The only thing better will be marrying Mike!

What do you think of them??

Situation Normal...

Ladies and Gentlemen, not all is smooth sailing when it comes to wedding planning...and the proof is over at After Nine to Five.

While Ashley is off getting married (whohoo!) I guest blogged for her about our biggest wedding SNAFU to date, and the lovely resolution that followed.(Hint: it involved the invitations!)

So go check it out, will ya? please?
And then tell me I'm not crazy! :)

Happy Monday!

Going Postal

Last week I dropped a whopping $200 on stamps.
Postage stamps!

But the best part about it? The post-man at my post-office is my new bestie.  Since I casually laid the wedding invitation on the scale, he bent over backwards to not only get me the cheapest rate to send my envelopes to the calligrapher but to find me 120 matching stamps for our response cards, and for the invitations themselves.

And then when I walked in the door again two days later with my inner envelopes, he didn't laugh at me much when I explained I forgot to include them in my initial shipment to the calligrapher.
Bonus: He had 140 wedding cake stamps waiting for me.

But the icing on the cake? (Pun intended)
Postage rates are rising.  A good friend (Hi,Corinn!) posted a link to a USPS article on my Facebook wall about this. While I can't really understand all the legal mumbo-jumbo in their charts, the one thing I do take away is that postage rates are on the up-and-up again.
And just in time for our invites to go out and RSVP's to come back.
Luckily, we already bought our stamps and they are being put to use before the April 17th hike.  Also it seems, although again I can't understand the darn charts, that regular $.44 stamps will stay the same.  Let's hope so, because if not, many of our RSVP's won't find their way back to us without the help of additional postage that we did not supply.

So friends, if you get a wedding invite in the mail, please do the noble thing and after April 17 remember to add extra postage to your reply card (if it needs it, if you can figure that one out)!

(Bee Tee Dubs, yes! this means are invites are close to traveling to other houses!)

Wedding Invitation Inspiration

It's about time for us to settle in on an invite!

Here are a few of my favs from the internet:

Credit where due:
(from left to right)

Top: Miss Print Design, The Inspired Note

Middle: Peacock Invitations, Lauren Alexa

Bottom: Peacock Invitations, DIYva Designs


I can't wait to incorporate the peacock color scheme into our invites!
What do yours look like? Or what do you envision them to look like?

Peeaaa Essssss: One of the invites pictured above is ours.  Don't try to guess which one, because they are all fabulous... just wait for the surprise to be revealed! 

Engagement Party Invitations!

I love working at an elementary school with involved parents because every once in a while you can call in a favor...a favor such as engagement party invitations!  Jackie Vann is an awesome graphic designer.  She is currently trying to shift her business from corporate work to more custom design - such as fun invitations - so there is no current website.  However, I'm in the know - get in touch with me and I'll hook you up with her fabulous talents!

I told her I wanted something "peacock inspired," gave her the party deets' and then she created 4 amazing options:

Gaaaahgeous, no?

I fell in love with all of them.  It was so hard to decide which one to choose.
Ultimately, we went with the third option, because it's funky and fun - very party like.
And the first one? If thermographic/embossed printing works out and doesn't cost an arm and a leg, that will be our wedding invite! Squee!!! Of course it will say something different, but you can see the beee-ut-iful graphic.  We shall see!

Oh so you might also be wondering why we chose to have an engagement party almost 11 months after Mike popped the question. That reason behind that has to do with my niece's birth, all family being together for the holidays, and ease of planning.  I'm really excited to celebrate with my parents, in my hometown, with all our family friends.  I'm just thrilled they are throwing us an engagement party AND a wedding!

And the best part? We shipped the engagement party invites directly to my parents' house.  That means no buying stamps, figuring out addresses, printing labels, etc. Nada for me.  I wash my hands of that nonesense! Just get me to the party!

{parts of the invitation removed to protect my privacy.  No stalking, y'all}

The B List

Being honest with you, our venue can "only" hold 170 guests.
Our invite list has, well to be exact, 220 names on it.
And then we have a little something called "The B List."

It's exactly what you think:  It's our backup list, or even- people who didn't make the cut.

It's not that we don't care about B-listers enough to invite them. It's more like we know too many family members who supersede them in the invite-necessity category.  Tthe people on the B List are largely my friends who didn't make the cut. Which if I stop to think about it, is pretty crappy we don't even have enough space to invite my friends. The bride.  However, I'm going to avoid going bridezilla over this issues and enjoy the guests who are able to attend. Even though it is my/our day. Right.

So my fingers are crossed that perhaps, maybe, some guests who we are not as close to, regretfully decline and I can actually invite the people I work with and see everyday.

But for us to even make it to people on The B List would involve 50+ regrets, first.
A girl can hope, right?

Has anyone else had success with a B list?

 Today's post, brought to you by the letter B.
{image source}

My First "No"

I hope everyone we invite to our wedding RSVP's with a big, fat "yes" followed by sixty exclamation marks.  Hell, I'll even settle for hoping the majority of people say "yes" and accidentally forget the punctuation.

Coming back to reality, I realize not everyone will be able to share in our day, but I still hope the people who mean the most to us can make it.  Ok, I will even take the necessary invitees' attendance along with approximately many of our closest, as well.

Invariably the "no's" will come in.
We'll sigh, understand, and pine for more of the opposite responses to show up.
It's never the people you want to come, or the ones you can live without, with the responses you want.

But, I didn't expect my first "no" would come so soon and from someone so close.
My Save the Dates still clutter our kitchen table!  There are no formal invites purchased or remotely close to chosen!


Still, life is busy happening and beyond my control.

A quick email came my way last week, one sentence, asking for the date of our wedding. I'm not gonna lie - I blushed and kicked myself for not sending out the Save the Dates, yet. {Sidenote: We are SO close to mailing them. I even bought stamps!}

A couple days later, while this friend and I were chatting, she shared beautiful news: her family is growing! How exciting and wonderful to welcome baby #2! I'm honestly thrilled for her!. I squee'd with joy and then my face fell a little bit, as I got selfish.  While honored to hear the news so early, I realized quickly why.  Her due date is right before my wedding.  She won't be able to make it, despite planning and having a huge desire to be there.

I totally get it. I mean, how could I not?
It's not like I'm going to stammer out: Yes, you must come with your newborn.  Sure babies can fly at 3 weeks.  Of course you'll be rested and ready to party.  Better yet, leave the babe at home.  It can totally get by without you.
Um, no.
I'm not an ass.

I love that she took the risk of sharing such precious news with me before disclosing it to the rest of the world.  It's not a matter of why she can't come.  It's just that I'll miss having her there, as I would any of my besties whose company I cherish at any event.  Our paths have yet to cross since college, and how wonderful a time and place to reunite.
Sadly, Mike and I were unable to make it to her wedding either.  Mike lost his job around the same time we received her invite, around the same time we started paying a mortgage for the first time.  The stars were not aligned.

And again the stars fail to fall into the right place at the right time.
So fouey.
I think this just means I need to get my butt out there to see the new babe, post-honeymoon!
And only "yes" responses from now on, ok?!


How do you process news you can't change, but wish you could?

Wedding Plans, thus far!

To put things into perspective for myself, and for my new followers who might need some catching up on the plans, here's what we know so far (with lovely little links to related posts!):

Date: June 19. 2011

Location: The Carnegie Institution

Time: Evening, 5-10:30 (tentative)

Attendants: 4 on each side, with the cutest flower girl ever

Ceremony: Jewish, lead by a Rabbi

Reception entertainment: Time Machine Band (10 piece!)

Color scheme: peacock inspired (deep blues, teal, copper and gold - possibly with purple accents)

My gown: PURCHASED and a SECRET! ha! (still in need of alterations)


We have 11 months to figure out many details, but the latest and greatest on the table are:
-Caterers (we have two lined up for tastings, YUM)
-Bridesmaids dresses (my bestie, Meagan, is coming in town in 3 weeks to shop with us!)
-Photography (a hobby of mine, so I'm super critical about this detail!)
-Honeymoon (thinking Greece? Maybe something on a beach?)
-first dance song (our list is about 8 long, as of now)
-Save the Dates (sending out paper ones)
-finalizing our invitee list

In other news, if any married lady is interested in guest-blogging about their biggest planning 'snafu' please email me at:  CrowndVic (at) gmail.com

 {source}

My Sister's Name is Hope

{source} Inspired by Emily Dickinson


Well no, my sister's name is actually Marlo - like the famed Marlo Thomas.  And it's fitting because my sister is famous, at least to me.



Looking back on my life, when I think of a source of hope and inspiration my sister comes to mind.  Without a doubt my sister, who is eight years older than me, definitely pulled me through many a tough time. Times when I felt like all was lost, or nothing was going right, or boys confused me, or I questioned myself, these are all moments when my sister shined a light - a ray of hope - for me to see.


Take the time when I was 14 (or so?) and dealing with my period.  [This is not graphic, keep reading].  Tampons confused the heck outta me.  After 30-plus minutes in the bathroom I came out intimidated, scared, overwhelmed and just plain hormonal, and broke down in tears.  Marlo saw my pain, empathized with my frustration and pulled me into her closet with a bunch of tampons.  [again, not graphic, keep going]  She calmly told me that tampons were silly and nothing to fear.  Then I watched her literally fling one out of the package into the air.  She handed me a bunch and proceeded to rip open more packaging and shoot them like torpedoes around us.  Before long we were laughing, and laughing so hard tears streamed down my face.  My sister managed to calm my fears, soothe my worries, and make me cry again - but in a good way.  I felt hopeful about being a woman.


Another time I emailed her with my worries about dating and boys.  She wrote back what ended up being my maid-of-honor speech at her wedding.  "Tell boys they're smart and funny and repeat things they say."  I swear this advice only works on high school boys, but none the less she managed to build up my confidence and help me to see my self worth.  And it made a hilarious, yet heartfelt, speech, by the way.


Now here I am in Texas, miles away from my DC home, watching my sister and brother-in-law successfully raise their two daughters and I think to myself, There's no way I could EVER do this.  As I hold my 4 day-old niece, Madelyne, I think,  There's no way I could EVER give birth to two - let alone one - babies!  I watch her meet the needs of my oldest niece, Eleanor, and am amazed how she soothes both little-ones.
I ask her how she does (raise a family, have a great job, own an awesome home, successful overall).  How does she feel? Isn't she worried about, uh, stuff? and life? and raising her baby girls and the world around them?
She told me she, "hopes for the best."


Sometimes that's all it takes is a little hope to get you a little farther.
Before you know it, you're there.
You just gotta fling tampons and give wacky advice.
And hope.

 My sister and I, with her two daughters ...sisters!

So you want to be invited...

Can I take a moment to complain, please?  Just a quick rant, I promise. 
I'm sure I will come off as rude, and so please forgive me in advance.
That aside, let's talk guest list.
More specifically, let's talk invitees.

Yes, there are certain people who need to be invited and certain people who require an invite.  People like your parents, your nuclear family, your close-yet-extended family members, are of course invited to your special day.  Then there are close friends you always knew would be there.  We can go a layer further to your boss (if you're close), your colleagues (again, pending details) and maybe even some outlying friends. 
And because weddings are expensive, you wish your budget allowed for more invites and of course wish all 600+ Facebook friends could miraculously receive invites.
But you can't invite everyone.
You just can't.

However, I've encountered a problem.  A few "friends"  don't understand that everyone's not guaranteed an invite.  Maybe it's because they are not privy to all the planning, budgeting, emailing with caterers (what do you mean $10K won't feed 300?) and so on.
But I cannot even begin to tell you about the people, who I hope are kidding, that say things flat out like, "So am I on the guest list?" or my personal favorite "I better be invited!"  and even so far to say "I can't wait to come to your wedding" (when you full well know they are not on the invite list).
I can try to see it as flattery, that they want to be a part of our day.

Because no, if you have to ask then you are probably not invited.
Because yes, I wish I could invite you but can't.
Because maybe we are just not that close.


Has anyone else run into this problem?
How do you handle it?