Invitations: The guts

Every day after work, I rush into the apartment hoping to find more RSVPs waiting for me. It's like having mini presents to open everyday. Well kind of. It's exciting regardless.

We got 5 RSVPs in one day! This was the third day in a
row that we had them in the mailbox. No stalkers please.

Now that I think everyone has received their invites, I think it's time to share them with the internet. You ready for the reveal? First up, the envelopes. They are kind of plain on the outside, but it's what's on the inside that counts right? I had grand plans to embellish the envelopes but got lazy. Names and addresses were printed on my Epson R1900. The font is Monterey BT.

We didn't print, stamp, or use wrap-around labels for the return address. Instead, we used our handy-dandy address embosser. I was a little bit afraid that if an invitation had to be returned, it would get lost in the mail. But, so far so good.

You ready to tear into the envelope yet? Guests were greeted with a red and white polka dot liner. Want to know a secret? That liner is wrapping paper that I cut up and glued in. Our invitations were strategically placed so that the backside was facing up. I did this for two reasons. 1) The envelopes were kind of thin. I didn't want the embellishments potentially causing a tear. 2) So that the "please recycle" message was received.

Turn the invitation around and you get, personalization. Each invited guest had their name printed on the invite. The embellishment I mentioned above is the baker's twine that I used in lieu of a pocketfold. The goal was to minimize paper and weight of the total invitation package.  

Let's take a closer look at the details, shall we?



 

The names are in Kon Tiki Enchanted. See the faint outline behind the names? That is actually an embossed stamp of the graphic we picked for the wedding. You can kind of see that the twine is flush with the edge of the cardstock in the photo below. A edge paper punch was used to make just enough of a notch to keep the twine in place.

Now for the real guts of the invites: the actual invitation, the information card, and the rsvp card. Sorry for not posting a close up of the invitation card itself. Not much to see after bluring out our names and dates. Our names are in Kon Tiki Enchanted and everything else is in Century Gothic.

More embossed craziness.

The information card. Since most of our guests are from out of state, we chose to make our wedding a weekend affair and invite everyone to all the events. We are hoping that this will give us more time to catch up with folks rather than trying to squeeze it all in the day of. Headers and website are in Kon Tiki enchanted and details are in Century Gothic.

RSVP cards and return envelope. Since it was just coming back to us, I decided not to add embellishments.

The card is folded card. I have never been a fan of traditional rsvp card verbiage for names. I also tend to think that people get confused by M__________. So I changed it. It's pretty straight to the point if you ask me. Let me tell you, printing this card so that the graphics bled to the edge of the paper was a big pain in my backside. I fiddled with my printer settings for a good two hours before it came out right. Let's not count how many test sheets of paper I had to use.

The entire suite together.

Everything you see here was handmade from blank cardstock, with the exception of the envelopes.

Next up, the cost breakdown. I'm curious to see how much it actually cost me us.

50 days.

Bowls

This is one of the BIGGEST/BADDEST rage in the wedding biz: Paloma's Nest ring bowls. They were first introduced in 2007 and have been tugging at the heart strings of brides ever since. Bride's have been using them as ring pillows during the wedding and then reusing them as a place to keep their rings post wedding.

via Palmoa's Nest



They are beautiful, but they aren't "us". Why am I talking about this when I already have my ring pillow? Well, I am kind of a bad fiancé. I do not wear my ring regularly. GASP!

I wear it mostly just in public. Altho, I have been known to run errands and have show up at family functions without it. WOOPSIE! I do a lot of things with my hands. Baking. Cleaning. Dishes. Assembling furniture. Disassembling furniture. Rearranging furniture. You get the picture. When we moved into our place, I was assembling lamps (with my ring on). Let's say, metal and metal is not good. My ring lost. Since then, I am super careful not to have it on. 

When am not wearing it, my ring ends up in all sorts of places. It does have a "home" in my bathroom (yes, we have separate baths). Sometimes, it just doesn't make it there. Other times, it is there and I just have a panick attack because I don't remember placing it there.

Anyways, for the last year or so, I have been trying to come up with cool, but safe things I can use as a ring holder. Here is one (genius) idea from Weddingbee blogger Mrs. Hot Wings:

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Mrs. Hot Wing's rings reside in a soy sauce dish (via Weddingbee)


Awesome. BUT. I don't like the idea or sound of metal on ceramic. I want something softer than my ring. If I am going to do damage, I want it on the holder, not my ring. At some point in time, I booked marked this find:
 

via The New England Trading Co.

They are mini wooden pinch bowls. You know, the kind normally used for salt, pepper, and other spices? I also found these colorful pinch bowls by Le Creuset:
 

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via discount cooking



Who says you can't use them for other things? Since I saw them in person at Sur La Table, snatched them up. The red one is in Jake's office since he loves red. The green one is in the kitchen; I'm on some sort of green kick. The yellow one is in my bathroom matching my yellow and blue duck theme. And the blue one sits on my desk at work. Perfect.

53 days.

Red dress - almost there

We are so, so, so very close to the end with this dress!

I had two fittings in one week. It isn't the norm, but due to circumstances, we had to squeeze in a second one. Why? Well, funny story. On the afternoon of my scheduled fitting, Barbara was with her daughter when someone rear ended her daughter's car. The car was towed to the repair shop WITH the skirt of my dress in the trunk! We continued with my fitting, but only working with the top of the my dress.

I'll be honest. I didn't really know how I felt about it. I was pretty indifferent. We made a couple of key decisions. The piping color. We discussed where the piping would go, but ultimately we needed the skirt for the full picture. We worked out the arm hole sizing. And also the placement of the zipper.

A few days later, I went back. This time I saw the entire thing for the first time. I went up to the top of the stairs of Barbara's apartment like I always did. Turned the corner and walked into her sewing room. That's when I saw it. My dress on the dress form. All I could do was say "oh my god" a few times over.

I.LOVE.IT. Thank goodness the wedding isn't too far away, otherwise it would take a lot of self control not to wear it around the house pre-wedding when I finally get it in my hands.

For this fitting we focused on the fit of the dress and some minor details. A few more adjustments were needed in the bodice to accentuate my waist (aka, give the illusion that I have a waist). I decided to change the fabric on the waistband from the skirt fabric to the silk brocade. There was just barely enough material  left over. AND. We measured me for pockets! POCKETS! Well, it wasn't an exact measurement. Both Barbara and I had completely forgotten that I had requested them in the very beginning/ Good thing she reviewed the contract. Lastly, we dicussed potentially adding a light petticoat to give the skirt just a little bit more oomph. This would also help give me hips, too ;) The petticoat would be an added extra, but at this stage in the game. I just need it to happen.

I get to see it all sewn up and a couple steps away from completion next week!

OK, I suck at keeping secrets, so here is a sneak peak....



I have no idea what we are discussing here.



54 days.

Previously:

Red dress: fabric and buttons

Red dress: muslin fitting #2

Red dress: muslin fitting #1

Milestone: Red dress

Red dress - fabric and buttons

I have been meaning to update ya'll on my Chinese dress. It has been quite some time since the last post (try almost 5 months!)

I was able to bribe a friend who is currently living in NYC to pick up the fabric for the bodice of my dress. Instead of mailing it up to me, her boyfriend, who lives down the street from us, brought it home with him after one of his visits. It took awhile, but I am grateful beyond words. I could have purchased the fabric online, BUT the web prices were higher than in store. Also, I wanted real eyes to scrutinize the fabric in case of any runs, tears, etc.

Barbara was able to find red silk charmeuse that was the perfect shade of red to match the silk brocade. In addition, she picked up some black silk charmeuse and gold polyester fabric that we could potentially use as the piping fabric. Now it was decision time.

Do I want black piping or do I want gold piping? Gold is traditional and looks more upbeat, bright, and cheery. The black is a bit more versatile and elegant. At the same time, I was afraid it might be a touch goth. Aside from the piping, do I want to use the shiny side of the fabric or the matte side of the fabric for the skirt?



Silk brocade with gold trim and silk charmeuse skirt fabric: matte - bottom and shiny - right. (personal photo)



Yay for fabric!! Now for one itty-bitty, tiny-weeny detail that makes the dress: the buttons. Specifically, frog closure buttons. It is one of the most important details on a cheongsam. But as I have learned through this process, is one GIANT pain in the arse.

You see, the buttons are generally handmade to match the dress. It is usually made out of two different colors, the same as the piping (trim) used on the dress. I don't know where I got it in my head that I could just buy them. Hang on to that thought for a minute.

At first, this is the button that Barbara brought to me: 

cord frog closure via Vogue Fabrics

Its alright, but not what I had in mind. This is what I was thinking:

personal crappy cell phone photo

Beautiful right? After an exhaustive search of Boston and the Internet, I was able to find just a couple of potential sources. There are a handful of stores in MA that sell them. The first stop I made was at a fabric store in Chinatown. You would think that I would have some luck. No dice. I even asked them if they could recommend other stores. Also no dice. I called around to local fabric and button shops. They had some, but only of the one's made out of cord (like the photo above).

I hit up the shop that I had originally scratched off my list. I knew they could custom make them. The shop owner informed me that indeed they could make them. But it would cost me. I was quoted $20 per button. I kept this as option in the back of my mind. I really didn't want to shell out $40 just for 2 buttons.

I had found a source for premade buttons from Hong Kong. I wasn't completely sure that the color matching would work out in my favor, but I took a gamble and ordered them anyways. I lost, but only $12. For $12, I received half a dozen buttons in red/gold shipped from overseas. Unfortunately, the red was too orangy and the gold was too metallic.

Next, I tried ordering buttons from the shop that I had previously purchased the fabric from. This would be the second time I tried ordering buttons from them. Like the first order, they called/emailed to tell me that my order could not be fulfilled. Their website apparently was not up to date. This was beyond frustrating.

I could have continued to try ordering buttons online and hope that the color would match or that items would be in stock. But decided to just have the local shop do it, since I could supply the fabric and ensure that it matched my dress. Yeah...this idea totally backfired on me. I went back to the shop, who then changed the pricing on me. They apparently when you supply the fabric and pick a color that they do not agree with, they raise the price to $25 per button. $25! HOW ABSURD!?!?!?!

I won't recount the fiasco, but this run-in made me want to curl up into a ball and cry. I contemplated having my grandma make me buttons. I contemplated sending out a swatch of the fabric to my uncle who lives in Hong Kong to see if he could have someone in the fabric district in HK made them for me. In the end, I decided that it wasn't worth any more of my time and effort. No one but me or a member of my family would miss them.

Drama over!

Up next, I get to see my dress!

55 days.

Previously:

Red dress: muslin fitting #2

Red dress: muslin fitting #1

Milestone: Red dress

Western traditions - nixed

Weddings, whether Western or Chinese, can be very cookie cutter. Jake and I are a strange compilation of modern with a touch of tradition. When it comes to our wedding, there are just some things that we are completely doing away with.

via life.health.wellness.

Nay to being married in the bride's hometown.

This is an outdated tradition. I think it stems from the fact that the brides parents used to pay for the shindig and she was leaving her parents home. It probably would have been a helluva lot cheaper if we were doing this in Oregon. Most of my friends would get to visit their families in traveling for the wedding and save money by staying with them. BUUUUT it probably would have been a GIANT pain in the butt to try and plan a wedding 3,000 miles away. And most importantly, there is no way Grandma can make that flight.

Nay to "Something old, something new. Something borrowed, something blue. And a silver sixpence in her shoe."

I am far too lazy to type out what each item is supposed to symbolize, but basically each is supposed to bring the bride luck. Almost everything I will be wearing will be new. I am still deciding on jewelry, so there maybe something old there. But it does not matter to me at all. I am all about the overall look, not fulfilling poems.

Nay to the father-daughter dance.

I can hear you gasping. Look, my dad does not dance. I do. He does not want to stress out about learning. I do not want him to stress out. AND I have always been a super independent kid. You are just going to have to get over the fact that there will be no emotional father-daughter moment on the dance floor. Silver lining; you get the 3 minutes to dance to an extra song at the end of the night.

Nay to cake cutting/feeding.

I am sure that there is a purpose and symbolism that goes with this tradition. I am a big girl and I do not need help eating cake. I can feed myself just fine. In the words of Jake, I am kind of a piggy when it comes to food. I would probably just end up eating his bite. I also do not like sharing my food with Jake? Or anyone for that matter. One last thing, we ain't serving cake. GASP!!!!

Nay to the bouquet toss.

Ugh, I hate this more than anything at weddings. Please put a giant bulls eye on me that screams "SINGLE". I went to a wedding once. I think there were only 3 single girls, maybe 2. I was one of them. I got up and went to the bathroom just before the bouquet toss started. Apparently, they had the DJ call out for me. OOPS, missed the whole thing (THANK GOD).

Nay to the garter toss.

One word: Embarrassing! Not to mention, we only have a handful of single guys on our guestlist. There are a few more but I am not counting them as they are in long term committed relationships. It is just a matter of time before they join the club.

Nay to the sweetheart table.

this isn't really a tradition, but I thought I would throw it into the mix. We have a lifetime to dine alone. I am too cheap to rent an extra table and pay for the linens that must go on it. We will be surrounded by family and friends. Neither one of us wants to be separated from any of them. Instead of a sweetheart table or a king's table, we will be seated with our immediate family. I think it is a nice touch, the two families joining together, dine together. Our wedding party members will be seated with their significant others and spread out with their respective friends.

Did you decided against "traditional" elements?

56 days.