Update Feb 19, 2009
For all you DIYers here’s a little something I put together for my invites. It cost me blood sweat and tears and lots of cuts but I finally got them out this week. I am by no means the first person to attempt the passport invite but I took it a step further. My invite consists of a passport invite, 1 boarding pass and a luggage tag RSVP card. I wanted the cover of the passport to be leathery if not suede. Curious Collection’s by Arjowiggins “Touch” paper provided me with that (limited colors). The paper is awesome!!. Word to the wise it doesn’t feel as leathery or nice if you print full color on the paper I believe the printer ink flattens the texture a bit. I wanted my ticket holders to be metallic; I found another little treat at Curious Collection. It is called the “Translucent Irridiscent” paper and it changes in the light. They have that in a range of colors. Curious paper is on the pricey side and you have to find a retailer that will sell you letter-size if that’s what you’re looking for but I believe I found an alternative for the “Touch” paper at http://www.marcopaper.com/touche.htm (you can also get samples here—don’t remember if they are free). Remember this is all cover weight!! To test in your printer I suggest you call them up and ask for a sample they are free! For my boarding passes I used Xerox glossy on both sides 80lb paper. I also used this for my luggage tags. The template for my passport was done in Photoshop (I am a Graphic Designer so this was within my scope). I made the stamp seals and the regular stamps myself and put it together. All I needed were exacto knives, (cutters never worked for me but they may for you) a self healing mat, lots of replacement blasé, a single hole punch, a long reach stapler, a steel ruler, a corner rounder, a pair of scissors, a steady hand and patience. It was so well worth it I got compliments all around and saved myself a ton of money doing it and printing it myself. I did 150 of these and I have no regrets. To get them where they were going I used http://www.zazzle.com/custom/stamps to make my custom stamps. It was so easy and it added a personal nice touch—for those with monograms you could use that on your stamps. I got my envelopes (both RSVP & my Invite) at https://www.paperandmore.com/cat-metallic-envelopes.html and I use metallic chocolate-bronze (a beaut—-I love metallic). They were pretty reasonable and the shipping to the US was $3.99 once you spend over $15 (not sure about Canada). My labels were my icing on the cake. I got them from Staples but you can find them online and any office supplies store. Because I had such a dark envelope I couldn’t use the clear labels I had wanted originally so I opted for gold foil labels and put the same logo for my stamps on them. They came out awesome. The fonts I used here especially in terms of the dingbats (picture fonts e.g. palm trees) were courtesy of http://www.dafont.com. I have put together some pics to show you the end product. Never be afraid to try stuff on your own—you’d be surprised at what you can come up with. There are all kinds of templates out there you just have to look for them. I hope this helps some of you in your planning. Till next time….happy planning!
Next up my save the dates…I know I am going backwards! lol
NY Bride w/ Jamaican wedding is back!!
So I guess I should start with how my journey began. I have no experience in planning a wedding and no women who have gone through the process to guide me either. It is especially hard when planning a destination wedding. I have to rely on the internet, bridal magazines and great vendors like Jewel Marsh (my Wedding Coordinator) and Judi Tutton (my Floral Specialist). I read articles on the knot and joined several bridal forum boards. The brides on these forums are so talented and so willing to share their ideas and help in any way they can. I got inspired 20 times over so that after a while it became like info overload. My initial trepidation in planning my wedding faded. There were so many answers to so many questions I had. I found info on everything from tips on insuring our wedding rings and changing my name to hotel recommendations and online and in store coupons.
To start planning you have to have at least an idea of what you want your wedding to be like. I started with a travel theme. In my case, I wanted my destination wedding to be like a party away from home so I decided to make it a week of celebration. My fiancée and I are different cultures so we wanted everyone to get to know each other before the day of the wedding. I decided to have my wedding on the Friday of the “wedding week” so that everyone could have the day to relax after the wedding before heading back home.
I like to make a splash with everything I do so I decided to make my save the dates the same way. My sister’s fiancée sent her a “Message in a Bottle” when they first started dating. I thought it was so cute so I decided to send out “Invitations in a Bottle” for my “Save the Dates”. I went online and did my research they were so expensive and I really didn’t care for any of them. I decided to make my own from scratch. Due to my Graphic Design background the artwork was easy enough but putting each bottle together was labor intensive. It was totally worth it! The looks on my guests face when they received it was priceless! You can see the finished result below.
With a “Save the Date” being such a big hit I had to come even better with my actual invitations. I have not completed them as yet but I will be sharing that with you guys as well. Again very labor intensive but so far I am happy with the results. I will share that with you another time!
NY bride getting married in Jamaica w/ Canadian florist & Jamaican WC
So here I am the bride getting married in Jamaica with floral specialist in Canada and a wedding coordinator in Jamaica. In each case I have to exhibit a lot of trust in these women which is not usually easy for me to do. Brides have to be weary of vendors period! There are so many shams out there if one domino falls your whole day could come crumbling to a big mess. In addition to that, there are so many of them to contend with; florists, videographers, photographers and the list goes on and on. So it is great leap of faith to deal with one out of country. Your personalities have to mesh, you have exhibit more trust than normal and most importantly you have to do your research. One of the hardest things I faced with my out of country vendors was communicating via the telephone while I was at work. The internet, a camera and a great long-distance plan are your best friends invest in them. I was able to find vendors who I could call when I got home after work. You have to be able to work your vendor’s schedule and vice versa. My vendors really go above and beyond in that sense. I have to give special mention to Judi on that. Not only has she given me permission to call her during off hours but she calls me as well. Another thing I had to forego was regular traditions in wedding planning, like the cake and food tastings, the meeting with DJ and the photographer etc.You have to find professionals you can trust, read everything about them and make your decisions carefully. I can only speak for myself as every case is different. If you are a bride that has have control over everything and is unable to give up on all if not some of these things then destination planning is not for you!! A classic e.g. of a sacrifice I had to make was my food tasting. The taste of my food is very important to me. I was able to arrange a tasting through my wedding coordinator in Jamaica (my sister and her fiancée did it on my behalf when they visited). I trust my sister’s taste buds more than I trust my own so that worked out perfectly.
Your vendors, whether in country or a block from your house have to be good about getting back to you. Now I know there are some brides out there that can be very demanding and they believe that they are the vendor’s only client. The trick is to find a vendor who makes you feel like that even though it’s far from the truth. Beside’s their track record and reviews, how special the vendor made me feel was an important factor to me when it came to choosing mine. I wanted vendors who made my day important to them as it was to me. I know it doesn’t seem that way now but I have to reiterate my hesitance in dealing with an out of country vendor. At least in Jamaica, I have relatives who offer me a modicum of control (which I have to believe I have) to deal with having a wedding coordinator so far away. That and the fact that I have met my wedding coordinator face to face make me extremely happy with my choice. My wedding coordinator Jewel has also shown me her work first hand when I went to Jamaica in February (she just happened to have had a wedding around that time). I met with some of the vendors she works with and I was very happy with them as well.
I really was blessed in the vendor department. I have mentioned Jewel but I must make special mention of Judi (my floral specialist) as well. What can I say about her she has been phenomenal! She is delightful my first phone call with her told me that. We hit it off right away. She listened to all my ideas and she totally got it…got me. I am so happy I decided to take that leap in calling her that day. She is so on point with everything and so accommodating. She works with my hours and she never disregards my ideas. In fact, she often improves on them without stomping on them. We have been in constant communication and she is sooooo great about getting back to me. She has a gift for taking my visions and turning them into reality. So far she has finished my bouquet—-which I am happy to say she has done an awesome job on. We are currently working on my bridesmaid’s bouquet which I am so excited to see how it turns out. I’ll probably share it when it gets done!! I will be sharing with you my gradual planning process, by sharing ideas some mine, others inspired by past and present brides.
