It was a really long process of designing the card itself, and then an even more dramatic process when we went to address the envelopes. Long story short: my handwriting and my vision were not exactly insync. And, since the sending of the save the dates is supposed to take place around the nine month mark and we were teetering on the edge of five months, I felt like I needed to do what I could, call it a day, and get them mailed. So, I did. r
In addition to the anxiety I encountered from designing and addressing the save the dates, I was surprised to discover a significant amount of stress that mounted from deciding where to send them. That's right: we've got barely five months to go and we don't have a set-in-stone guest list. Ahhhhh! We chose a style, and a venue, that best lends itself to an intimate affair, but when it comes down to it, there are a lot of people we love. So we pulled out all the acceptable "rules," regulating plus-ones, putting priority on including our families, limiting guests that we haven't both met, etc. In the end, we decided to send save the dates to family and idal party members only. [Read between the lines there: bought ourselves more time.]
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So less than a week off sending those out, it feels a little surprising that today, we have an appointment with a professional (thank goodness) to discuss wedding invitations. This both elates and terrifies me. First of all, once we print these guys, that's it for big changes. No more time changes, venue swaps, theme reconsideration. Once these things are printed, it's on. And what a whirlwind of emotions that day is going to ing. I'm going to have to ace myself.... Plus, we'll have to offer up a guest list. Eek!
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But secondly, I am inclined to believe that any true DIY ide will create her own invitations. That's not to say that stationary vendors aren't invaluable, because I believe whole heartedly that they are. And it's certainly not to say that every ide is even capable of the task. These designers are experienced, creative and talented, and while we all have our strengths in life, creating beautiful stationary is just not on the resume of every DIY ide. But we've all seen the adorable invitations in magazines, on blogs, everywhere in the weddingsphere, with the caption that says "DIY ide so-and-so personally design and hand painted each perfectly intricate piece of her invitation." Yikes! Those are quite the something-blue designer shoes to fill. And I've seen enough of my friends do it themselves that I feel like unless I inflict (a carefully chosen verb) that task upon myself, I've not worked hard enough to fall into the DIY Bride category.
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Enter the concerned fiance. Mr. Right has convinced me that because I plan to DIY so many other elements of our wedding, I can consider delegating this part a little treat to myself. At that suggestion, I packed my bags, jumped right on that train of thought and am currently chugging my way to Relaxation Station. From what I understand it's just a couple of stops before Loseyourmindville and Crazytown. (Although I secretly think this might be some sort of U-turn amidst a round trip...) Choo choo!
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So this meeting today has me about as tickled as I was the first time I visited a venue. My sweet niave wedding-planning excitment has found its way back to me and I am so looking forward to checking out our options and discussing fonts and colors and other ideas, with no pressure.
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With any luck, I'll fall in love right away-- with the vendor, and with the options. Have any of you created your own invitations? DIYers: Where did you draw the line? And non-DIYers: How did you decide on invitations? What did you choose?
