Save the Date and Invitations! (3/14)

Once we decided on the location and the date for the wedding, I began focusing on the save the date and invitation.  I knew I wanted to make them, but how?

Lucky for me, I have an amazing husband who is also extremely thoughtful and creative.  He had a vision for the save the date before I did. As a Bob Dylan aficionado, he wanted to play around with an existing Dylan album cover, Oh Mercy!

We used photo shop to take out Bob Dylan from the top, and put in our names. We chose a color for the back (red) and added all the important information needed. We printed it, added hand drawn lines into our names to make it look more like the original album, collaged magazine letters and numbers in for the date and words (save the date and are you ready?).. and finally, scanned it back in for printing.

Then, in a wonderful gesture of kindness, his oldest childhood friend (who works for a printing company) printed them for us on beautiful thick, glossy paper..for free! Amazing. Still to this day, I love that Save the Date!  We worked together to make something original, fun and totally us!  We even sent them out with Simpsons stamps!  In case you didn't guess, we both absolutely love the Simpsons...woo-hoo!   

One of the carving ideas.

Next up... the invitations.  I knew I wanted each invitation to be a handmade work of art.  I thought printmaking would be the best way for everyone to have an original handmade invitation.  After carving many linoleum blocks of different designs, we chose the one we liked the best and then spent time thinking about the colored inks and papers we would use.

I found a great site called CutCardStock. They have a variety of fun colors in card stock and envelopes. We ordered a number of samples for $1 to feel out the colors and sizes. We chose a chartreuse paper for the card itself, emerald blue for the envelope, and deep purple for the ink.

Then we got to the making!  It was so so special because we did the entire thing together!  I printed the block onto nice paper that had words my wonderfully poetic husband wrote, "between our lips rest forever." This line was repeated in different fonts as a way to add an element of texture to the background.  It also connected his words and my art together.  He glued the information inside the card, and later when all was dry we stuffed and labeled the beautiful blue envelopes. 

The printing station set up.

My hottie gluing the information inside.

A stack of completed invitations!

Ruby watching while we stuffed and labeled!

As far as the labels, I just used standard sized white mailing labels, downloaded a funky font for the save the date and a pretty one for the invitation, both free. Then I cut some of the the labels after they were printed to give them a custom feel. I think the white labels added an element of design to the front, and allowed for easy viewing!

We did not have an RSVP card inside, instead we asked for our guests to RSVP via email or phone.  This saved money and paper!

PS- Who knew that square envelopes cost more to send!  Yikes.  How we got around this, since both our save the date and invitation were square, is we sent the save the date in a rectangle envelope..(loophole!).. and my artful mom found these so so me and so so lovely butterfly stamps!  The greatest was they had just come out especially for square envelopes! It was meant to be!

the Location (2/14)

Walk through the field to the ceremony by the stream.

We decided early on that the location for the wedding had to be the first thing we figured out, as our surroundings would be a major factor in celebrating who we are as a couple. We knew we wanted to be outside, and as Sara would say, we wanted to Tye the Knot in a Meaningful and Memorable Way (Without Losing Our Savings or Sanity).  We love being outdoors, and wanted to get married in the area we fell in love during college.. the Catskill mountains!  After looking at a number of places from the Catskills through the Adirondacks together, we found a lovely place called Full Moon Resort.  When we walked into the resort for the first time, we were welcomed with colorful paintings on the wall and Led Zeppelin playing in the background.  We knew right away this was our place!  (Our first visit was in the middle of the winter and covered in snow. These pictures were taken on our second visit during our tasting.) We also knew we did not want to make this a one night event, and at Full Moon there where weekend options available, as well as a fire pit, a rolling stream, pond, and an amazing view!  It allowed for all our guests to stay over night in a shared and welcoming space.  It had BBQ options, breakfast buffets and a party barn!  It was in line with who we are, had lots of DIY possibilities, and was reasonably priced. 

Fire Pit and Pool Barn

Finding such a beautiful place and a date allowed us to move forward with the planning!

Rewind--Our DIY Wedding! (1/14)

When we got married (almost two years ago!)  I planned to document all the fun and creative things we did for the big day..so for a few posts I will be blogging in rewind to share some of the DIY elements that I believe made our day so special.

When we got engaged we had already been in love (and living together) for 8 years. I imagined eloping in the NYBG Rose Garden, but my soon to be husband had a different plan...a wedding! I never pictured having a wedding, and planning one seemed incredibly daunting.  Very quickly I came to the realization that I needed to make this fun.. that I needed to make this something that I could get excited about! I quickly realized that meant I needed to make it something creative, maybe even an art project!!  Honestly, I never heard of a DIY anything in 2009, but I came across this blog, and was immediately smitten.  I loved it!  It showed me that a wedding didn't have to look like all the typical weddings I had been to.. or for that matter, be expensive.  I did not need to wear a big white gown, or have bridesmaids.  Our wedding could be whatever WE wanted!..and that it was.

Happy 4th of July!

We walked down to the river to see our town fireworks last night.  I've been spoiled, because I think the NYC fireworks are the bees knees.  Needless to say, we were impressed with what our new locale had to offer in the night sky!  The weather was serene down by the pier, not too crowded and the fireworks were dynamite!  On the actual holiday we had a lovely (and hot!) BBQ.  Games, food and good old fashioned family fun.  I will still watch the NYC fireworks on television tonight...but it's nice to know that our local flavor will offer us some great future 4th's! O boy do I love the colorful concoctions in the sky!  Hope you were able to enjoy some too!

Sunny San Diego

Although I had never been, when I used to think of San Diego, I thought of Anchorman and the San Diego Zoo.  Last week I had the opportunity to travel to San Diego for the ISTE Conference.   Now when I think of San Diego, I will think of amazing weather too! I'm talking blue, blue skies everyday I was there!

 You stay classy San Diego.

June

In June our butterflies hatched, our flowers grew, we ate delicious meals, played outdoor games, took walks, planted an herb garden, went to Muscoot Farm, saw movies, ate ice cream and enjoyed life.

What were some highlights for you this June?

For the Love of Life

Oh, I love I love I love! I cried inside myself. So many people, so many things! Music and stars and snow and weather! Oh, if one could always feel this warm love, this excitement, this glory of the infinite possibilities of life!    ~Madeleine L'Engle