Modern White Houston Wedding

Aug 23rd

by: Lauren

I thought I would go outside of the norm today and post a little bit of prettiness to go along with all of the tips and education of Stationery Week! Of course it’s perfectly fitting for the aforementioned prettiness to be a Texas wedding, as my husband and I are driving to Texas today! This modern white wedding from Mustard Seed Photography is a gorgeous one, and I know y’all (I HAD to say it, I AM in Texas after all…) are going to love it! The beautiful bride, Jessica, has been kind enough to share some insight into the planning of her wedding, so let’s get started with the pretty!

What (or who) helped you most in your planning process and/or on your wedding day?

I did all the planning and design details. I am an interior designer so this was right up my alley! With a florist background as well, I did all the reception centerpiece arrangements. I did however have a florist make mine and the bridal party bouquets and boutonnieres. I created our save-the-dates, invitations, place cards, menus, table numbers, favors, programs, designed flower girl dresses and baskets, etc!

What was the most important thing to you when deciding who to work with for your wedding?

For me the most important thing in selecting vendors was their ability to carry out my vision for the wedding. I knew what kind of look and feel I wanted aesthetically. From there it was just looking for a match!

What was your inspiration for your wedding details and/or design?

My theme for our wedding was Modern Vintage. I was inspired by 1920’s glamour…feathers, pearls, tuxedos. I wanted our wedding to be classic and timeless with a modern edge. For example, my dress had very intricate, old-world layering lace technique but had a modern cut along with my purple heels!

What was your favorite thing about your wedding?

My favorite thing about our wedding was getting to the Grove where our reception was and seeing all my design efforts come together! My two good friends from college helped set-up the reception so it was a nice surprise when we arrived.

What is your best piece of advice for other brides?

My best advice for other brides is to enjoy your fiance before taking the next step! Brides can get so involved in the planning that they forget to reflect on their fiance and what the two of them are about to encounter in marriage.

Aw, I definitely agree with Jessica’s advice- don’t forget about the reason you’re planning a wedding! :)

I love the modern elegance of the white and blush together. What do you all think of the modern style and using all-white? Are any of you having a wedding incorporating either of these elements?

Vendors who made it all happen…

Photographer: Mustard Seed Photography / Reception Venue: The Grove / Flowers & Decor: Boyd's Blossoms / Cake Baker: Cake's By Gina / Makeup Artist: Angela Cantu Make Up / Bride’s Dress: San Patrick / Bride’s Shoes: Enzo Angiolini

Stationery Week: Wedding Invitation Wording

Category: 1 Comments

Aug 23rd

by: Lauren

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Today we’re continuing on with Stationery Week with something that EVERYONE needs to know about when it comes to wedding invitations- the wording! It’s a common question that comes up, and today Caroline of Caroline Creates is here sharing her insight on invitation wording with us!

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You’ve set the date, booked the venues and now its time to work on the invitations! But how do you go about inviting people to your wedding? More importantly… how do you word the invitations?

Wedding invitation wording can cause undue stress with many brides. You can really get bogged down with the details and how to convey your wedding on paper. Here are some things to think about when deciding how to word your invitation:

How formal or casual is your wedding? The formality of your event needs to speak through the wedding invitation design and the wording. Your guests should be able to tell what kind of wedding they are attending by how they are invited.

Who is hosting? Who the host of the wedding is helps determine how you structure the wording of the invitation. For example, if the bride’s parents are hosting, their names should be above the actual wording which invites the guests.

Be sure to “invite”. Don’t forget to include an inviting phrase or sentence. Some examples are “request the honour of your presence,” “join us,” “invite you to the celebration of,” “You are cordially invited,” etc. Pick a statement that matches the kind of wedding you are having and your personality.

Who, What, Where and When. Be sure to include all these “Ws” and you will be set!

So now that we have a few guidelines, let’s look at some examples that I tend to see most:

Traditional

Mr. and Mrs. Donald Rutherford

request the honour of your presence

at the marriage of their daughter

Cynthia Ann

and

Mr. John Quincy Smith

son of

Doctor and Mrs. David Smith

Saturday, the twenty-fifth of August

two thousand eleven

at four o’clock

St. James Catholic Church

Fort Worth, Texas

This is the epitome of traditional. Notice, both parents are listed here and every detail is literally spelled out.

Modern

Together With Their Parents

Cynthia Ann Rutherford and John Quincy Smith

Invite You to Join Us in a Celebration of Marriage

Saturday, the twenty-fifth of August

two thousand eleven

at four o’clock

St. James Catholic Church

Fort Worth, Texas

This example shows how you don’t always have to list the parents if you so choose. Modern wording on invitations can really be anything that fits your wedding. If you want to say “Come watch us tie the knot” then go for it. However, if you want your wedding to be a black tie affair, that type of wording may not be the best choice. Remember, the wording helps determine how causal or formal the wedding will appear in your guests’ minds.

In summery, remember my guidelines when working on your invitation wording. If you are working with a custom designer, be sure to convey what you want your invitation to say: wording and design go hand and hand. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Your invitation designer/supplier will be able to help you navigate and choose the best wording for you. My biggest piece of advice is to do what you are comfortable with and what makes the most sense to you and your wedding! Happy inviting!

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Such a huge help, knowing these tidbits and seeing examples of the wording! A big thank you to Caroline Creates for sharing her expertise with us- be sure to go check out more of her work in ELV! How are you thinking of wording your invitations? Traditional? Modern? A unique mix?

Stationery Week: RSVP Card Insight

Category: 5 Comments

Aug 22nd

by: Lauren

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Today we’re continuing ELD’s Stationery Week with a post all about RSVPs from Alicia of A&P Designs! From the general format of the RSVP card and what you should include, to envelopes and postage, Alicia is covering everything you need to know about the all-important RSVP cards!

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As a stationer, I am often asked lots of questions about the proper etiquette behind wedding invitations. The response card (or RSVP card) always accompanies the invitation in the wedding stationery set. The response card does exactly what it says- allows a guest to formally respond to the event.

FORMATTING YOUR RESPONSE CARD

Have you ever noticed a response card, seen just the response date in the top center of the card, and think, “Wow, they really messed up and didn’t provide that much information”? Well believe it or not, that is the traditional way of sending a response card. In the past, it was proper to respond to a wedding invitation by writing a handwritten note to the bride and groom. The response card would be as simple as “The favour of your reply is requested before {date}”. This would allow guests enough room to send a hand written response back to the bride/ groom.

In today’s day and age, because of the lack of understanding of social etiquette, this tradition has disappeared. And now, most response cards are formatted with a space for guests to simply write in their name and a check box to accept or decline.

When formatting the response card, brides and grooms need to think about what information they need to know about the guests that are coming. Do you need to know what they are eating? Do they have food allergies? How many guests are planning on attending? Etc.

RESPONSE DATE

It is proper to ask your guests to respond 4-3 weeks prior to the wedding date. When choosing your caterer, please make sure you know when you need to provide them with the total head count for your wedding and factor that into your response date.

FAVOUR vs FAVOR

Both are correct. Its really just a matter of personal preference. If you are using “honour” in your wedding invitations, then use “favour” on your response cards.

MEAL SELECTION

When it comes to meal selections, if you are having a seated dinner with meal selections, it is best to provide your guests with the meal selections and allow them to indicate which meal they would like. There are several ways they can indicate which meal selection they would like. If multiple people are responding on one card, they can initial next to their meal selection, or we can create a line for each guest to write their name and select their meal choice.

NUMBER OF PEOPLE ATTENDING

Many brides opt to have “Number of Guests Attending” with a blank for the guests to write in. This can be tricky and provide a larger headache then attending. While it does allow you to have an accurate account of how many guests will be there, it also can give your guests the idea that the entire family is invited. If the envelope is addressed to just Aunt & Uncle and they see the space, they might think that they can bring their 5 children as well. To avoid this, you can simply omit “number of guests attending”.

If you are worried about your guests not knowing that only Aunt & Uncle are invited, we can add a line that says “We have reserved ___ seats in your name”. This will tell your guests exactly how many people are invited without any hesitation, but this process is also time consuming as you would have to write in exactly the number of seats for each invitation.

ENVELOPE VS POSTCARD

It is traditional to provide an envelope for your guests to send their reply back to you. In today’s day, some brides will opt to have a postcard style response card. The postcard style saves on paper (no envelope needed) and will save on postage (you will be able to use a postcard stamp).

When issuing the address for your response card, it is proper etiquette to have them be returned to the ones that are hosting the event. For example if the bride’s family is inviting, then the response card should go back to the bride’s family.

RSVP POSTAGE

When it comes to postage, some people have strong opinions on whether they should provide postage on the RSVP envelope or postcard. Some believe that providing a stamp is common courtesy since you are inviting them. Others feel guests should provide their own stamp. I tend to go towards common courtesy and think that if its easier for guests to respond, then they will respond quicker and it will save the bride & her family time in having to call those who didn’t respond.

The best advice when it comes to invitation etiquette is to do what feels right for you. If you are having a casual wedding and you don’t want to adhere to common etiquette practices, then you don’t have to. But its always good to know the traditions behind items and then you can opt to adhere to tradition or not. When working with a stationer, they will help to answer questions and point you in the right direction that best reflects your wedding style & personality.

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Thank you so much for all of this great information Alicia! Brides, be sure to check out more of A&P Designs‘ work in their ELV listing! And remember, if you have any questions, feel free to ask and either I or Alicia will answer! :)

Yellow & Aqua Eclectic Farm Wedding

Category: REAL WEDDINGS 2 Comments

Aug 22nd

by: Lauren

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Happy Wednesday! My goodness this week is flying by! My husband and I are planning on spending today pretty much eating our way around New Orleans- you’re welcome to follow along with our travels via my Instagram! :) Oh, and make sure you’re all caught up on the Stationery Week posts… another one is coming later today!

Now let’s chat about today’s awesome wedding from Live View Studios! With handmade decor- including button boutonnieres and burlap table numbers- bright yellow with pops of aqua, and a rustic style, you most certainly have all the makings for an amazing wedding! The bride Kaitlyn will be sharing some more details about her wedding with us today, so be on the lookout for some tips from her!

What (or who) helped you most in your planning process and/or on your wedding day?

My fiance (now husband) was the most encouraging part of the whole process. Although he often didn’t know exactly how to help, he was so patient to process with me and listen to my ideas and take over the details that I just couldn’t handle. Also he was caring through all of my mini prewedding meltdowns, which is saying a lot!

What was the most important thing to you when deciding who to work with for your wedding?

Honestly, I think photography was most important to both of us! We both love photography and have dabbled in it a little bit ourselves so we knew we wanted great images! We wanted a photographer who could give us an experience from the beginning to end, one who would be fun to work with and delivered timeless images that could capture our day so we could remember it forever!

What was your inspiration for your wedding details and/or design?

Our wedding was super eclectic, kind of like our personalities. So it included a little bit of everything. As far as a consistent theme goes, we didn’t really have one! We just picked a lot of things that we liked like crafting, literature, coffee, book stores and buttons and went to town making things. Although I got overwhelmed at times, DIYing almost everything is never something I’ll regret. As we looked around on our wedding day we saw all the hard work that we and our friends put into it. It was so amazing to see it all come together to create an atmosphere that was truly “us.”

What was your favorite thing about your wedding?

Our favorites thing about our wedding was probably the toasts. We both loved that four of our favorite and most influential people in our lives encouraged us and shared our lives and our friendships with all of our guests. The ceremony was amazing too, because it was a reflection of our love for the Lord and that was something we really wanted to be able to share with our guests. As far as atmosphere goes though…we loved the mason jar chandelier from Sinkland Farms and looking through all the makeshift photobooth pictures when we got back from our honeymoon! :]

What is your best piece of advice for other brides?

My best piece of advice would have to be to plan your budget early, and then make it work from there. Plan, plan, plan. That was something I failed to do well (as i was a full time student at the time), but luckily I enlisted help early enough that all of my close friends really pitched in and helped me pull together all my crazy DIY projects….also, take breaks from planning to just celebrate with your fiance and enjoy your engagement!

I love the eclectic DIY elements that Kaitlyn did… and yellow and aqua- one of my favorite color combos! What do you all think about this eclectic style paired with a more rustic, farm venue? Would you do it?