more pattern love

here are a few more designs i put together:

these two were inspired by an indian'y cushion i saw the other day:

it's monday.. i have a headache.  meh.

a night in paris..

lately i've been wanting to throw a wine tasting party. not that i truly like wine.. i'll still choose beer over wine if given the choice. maybe it's my need to feel a bit more grown up than i feel i am. or perhaps i need a fun project to work on. who knows. anyway, if one day i were to throw a wine tasting party, i've got the invitation made.

you know, a beer tasting party would probably be even more fun! as far as the food is concerned, make pub food style tapas? it could work..

my dream invitation..

i saw this invitation set for a double wedding which i fell head over heels over! the invitation's presentation was so creatively thought out, i really do wish i had done the same for our wedding.




had i seen this about a year and a half ago.. i would have been inspired to make this our invitation:

outside wrap - front:


outside wrap - back:


inside sheet - front:


inside sheet - back:


*sigh* now i need to go figure out how to build a time machine.

from oh so beautiful paper

bowties or butterflies?

bowties are a popular theme for baby showers if they're expecting a boy, and butterflies for girls.. but what about those who don't want to know what they will be giving birth to?  bowties or butterflies would be such a cute theme!  seriously.. someone in my family needs to get pregnant.

curvalicious

i saw the curvy border on many michael's ads and remembered it's a typical border for invitations!  this turned out really cute..

groom + bride + mandap

i saw this save the date and thought it was so cute!

and then i indian'i'fied it..

from weddingphotography.com.ph

Here are links for the different options:
Printable
Printed cards with envelope

giraffe baby shower invite

i was experimenting with different invite colours, and these colours seemed most appropriate for a baby shower.. why can't one of the bhabhis have a baby soon?!

indian mango - invitation set

so i had an idea for a "logo" of sorts, writing around a common indian shape - the mango! it worked out pretty funky, so i decided to run with it and try making an invitation set around it.

invite card (front & back), rsvp card (front & back), envelope

that turned out pretty good..

branded candy

i see these and all i can think about is, wouldn't it have been awesome to do this with our logo for the wedding? and hand them out with all the kankotris?


from wonder how to

stamps

i picked up my stamp yesterday! i had one custom made with our logo. way cheaper than i thought it would cost. i'm going to become an embossing fiend i think with this thing!

i ordered it from bizzy b stamp & scraps. only took a couple of days to be made :) i wish i thought of ordering it before.. could have used it on the save the dates and invitations.

oh well.. i'm still really excited to use it! lots of projects..

SPAM

so it occured to me today that i should have been checking my spam folder for emails.. i would check it regularly, at least once a week.. the past few months i've been neglecting the folder though. and it's really the wrong time to do so! i should have been checking it from the first day we sent out invites!

oops..

well, i had one email caught by the spam filter. i'm hoping none were filtered into there before april 30th :S

rsvp code

so previously i found it funny that people were putting their rsvp code in their rsvp email when it was really only meant to be used when rsvp'ing online.

well i just found out why it was even good for people to give me their rsvp code - yesterday i got an email from someone saying he and his wife will be attending both the wedding and reception. now he just gave his first and last name.. he didn't give his wife's name or the city he lives in. there are two people on my list with the same first and last name, so i have no idea which one rsvp'ed :S

oops! oh well, hopefully they reply with the wife's name or the city they live in..

rsvp chase..

tomorrow's the last day to rsvp! well.. for my invites at least.. kiwi's invites were sent out a bit late, so his deadline's not for another two weeks. as of wednesday, my parents and i have the joy of making phone calls after phone calls.. *fun*

we used the built in rsvp system on the website to give an easy option to guests to let us know if they're attending. it's great because the guests can input the names of the people attending; which is way better than assuming it's the parents will be there.

the website assigns rsvp codes to each invitation sent out. so on my invite, i have a list of ways to rsvp:

parents
[parents' home number]

brother & bhabhi
[our home number]

email
[my email address]

online
[website address]

rsvp code #####

i guess the space left for the rsvp code was a bit too far from "online" because a few people emailed me saying they're coming, and then proceeded to give me their rsvp code in the email! i haven't gotten a lot like that, maybe 5-6 or so..

the other type of email i got was that the rsvp wasn't working online. the system requires you to input your rsvp code as well as the last name.  now it says in small beside it (bride or groom's last name). it seems a few people didn't catch that and emailed me their rsvp saying it didn't work online.. (later finding out it was the last name issue.. they were putting their own instead of either mine or kiwi's).

i guess the whole thing isn't completely intuitive.. especially since i've only seen one person use an online rsvp before, so it's not very common yet.

oh well, the whole thing's not bad considering the use of the website and rsvp system was so cheap! would i recommend using an online rsvp system? i would. especially if you went through the effort to put together a wedding website.. it almost forces people to wander through, so your work isn't completely wasted.

all yellow

this weekend we went around to deliver invites to family.  it's been a weekend full of juice and food.. at every single house we went to.  saturday morning, bhabhi's stomach was getting upset at the thought of all the food we were going to be eating! :S

when delivering an invite to each of your mum's relatives, they give you some turmeric to use for the pithi ceremony.  i guess this goes back to the whole idea that weddings are a community event, not just an event for the bride and groom.  because weddings can be a huge financial burden with all the different rituals that need to take place, everyone pitches in.  considering the cost of tumeric and the amount you would need to coat a person from head to toe, it actually makes sense.

the pithi ceremony is where turmeric, oil, and sometimes rose water are mixed to form a paste which is slathered all over the bride and groom (in separate ceremonies) to "beautify" them.

turmeric is a natural exfoliant, so it's basically softens and slightly lightens your skin (like most exfoliants would..)  turmeric powder can be really, really potent.. some of the tumeric people were giving were really stinking up the car while going from house to house.  i sat there thinking, "this is what i'm going to smell like for two days.."

a few years back, one of my banevis explained to me another reason for the pithi.  back in the day, you would be married when you were kids.  the turmeric served as two purposes: an antiseptic if you were to cut yourself from horsing around.. and as a way to prevent a child from horsing around.  i remember so many people saying after a few hours of getting the pithi applied, they would feel pretty tired and would take more naps than usual.

i suppose i should be excited for all of this.. after all, they're going to turn me into my favourite colour: yellow!  hopefully i don't look like i have jaundice on the wedding day though..

rsvp cards

for the invites, dad didn't want to put number invited right on the invitation itself.  instead, we made space for it on the rsvp card.

i really like how this rsvp card is worded:
"we reserved ______ seats for you"

wish i had seen this before! it's an easy way to make the people you invite to your wedding feel just that little bit special.

from oh so beautiful paper

save the dates!

the save the dates arrived at kiwi's doorstep last week.  they're small magnets designed with just the essential information on them.  and a picture of our hands.. yup, no faces.  i kind of won that battle.. faceless magnets.

anyway, i wanted to dress it up a bit and make a holder for the magnets.  kiwi suggested maps of toronto.  so i printed a cartoon'ish map on cardstock, cut them down to slightly larger than business cards, and cut slits on either end to slip the magnet through.  it turned out .. okay.  not how i thought it would look in my head.  ah well, it'll have to do.  if i thought it through properly, i would have made the map to be just slightly smaller than the envelope which would have looked a lot better.

one of the initial ideas to house the save the dates were origami hearts.  they would have been interesting, cute, and wedding appropriate.  but there were problems.. the hearts would have had to be huge to fit the 3.5" x 2" magnets, so then the envelopes would have had to be oversized.  some uncles and aunties may not realise you have to open the heart to see what's housed inside unless there was a label that said: OPEN HERE. with the paper being a map printout, i can't imagine that label standing out..  so i nix'ed that idea completely.

mad love

i love madlibs.. i loved madlibs as a kid, i love madlibs as a pretend-grownup, and i envy this person for thinking of such a fun way to get people to rsvp!

[your name(s)] [will/will not] attend the wedding, and will most likely [verb] [adverb] on WEDDING DATE.  we are [adjective] for BRIDE & GROOM.  they are the most [adjective] [plural noun], and we wish them nothing less than [adjective] [noun] for the rest of their lives together.  my best advice?  don't forget to [advice] before you [verb] and [advice] after the [noun]!

CUTE!  i'm totally stealing this idea for an activity during the cocktail hour but redo it to relate to the theme and make it not so rsvp.

from the broke-ass bride

going postal

i often see calligraphy as an important part of someone's wedding stationary. it has that classy prettiness to it. the one thing i don't get though are the envelopes. i agree, it looks ridiculously awesome all the curved lines and swirlies, but how are you to guarantee your invites get delivered.. to the right address?

the only reason i ask is because at work, the postman is .. well crazy.  his instability often shines through when he flings the mail because he's offended by the fact no one is at the front desk waiting to take the mail from him.  or when someone is at the front desk, he brightens that person's day with musings of serial killers and his anger towards puppies.  anyway, the point is, i can see this postal postman looking at this envelope, grunting at the sight of swirls and girliness, then chucking it out the window as he drives to the next postbox.

initially..

we both want a monogram for the wedding.  there are so many different routes to go - classical, romantic, contemporary, or cutesy?  here are a few i came up with..

i like this because it's classy and simple.

a hint of cuteness.

it's pretty while incorporating his last name.

the reason i actually like this is his last name is hidden in the heart. the way our initials intersect creates a k. it's totally not obvious and one of those things that you'd have to point out to the majority of people (if we choose to do so..)

this is the same as the one above except not as much cuteness and the k is a focal point.

so much fun. i really have no other words to describe it.

this is just plain and simple and i actually kind of like it.






what to do.. what to do.. i'll just let him decide.