The One Where People Get Invited

It's time for the invitation reveal! I am so glad these are finally out, and it's sort of nuts that in a week we already got 50 "yes"es (and so far 0 "no"s)!

When it came to invitations I had many lofty goals. For a brief moment I wanted to design them myself, but soon decided that I just wasn't cut out to do that. Although I like designing things my design skills are still pretty basic. I also don't have the proper printer to do test-runs and didn't want to get stressed out by the little details like finding a printer, ordering paper, and well...lining up margins. I thought I would order specialty envelopes and possibly learn a little calligraphy. Reality set in and that never happened.

When push came to shove I ended up liking a design on Vistaprint. I procrastinated a little too long on whether or not to order it. I kept looking around on other invitation websites, comparing designs, comparing prices, and wondering if I was just settling on the Vistaprint design. I have to admit I was being kind of an asshole. I kept thinking, "my invitations can't come from Vistaprint. I need something more elaborate. My save the dates were even specialty made. Why skimp on the invites?"

After realizing the design on Vistaprint was really me and Mr. P's favorite I decided to get over my hang-ups. I waited a little too long for the perfect sale and things got down to the wire. Luckily, even though I hesitated on a free shipping deal, I ended up with a 50% off all items sale. The invitation sets came to under $130.00! I was shocked. We ended up ordering some extras, twine, and matching return address labels. The return address labels and stamps matched so well that I decided to just go with the white envelopes instead of spending more money on blue ones.

*All pictures are personal (obviously I need to invest in a new camera after the wedding)

 The whole simple suite

 Tied up together with twine

The corner of the return address label and the stamps we used

Ready to go!

All together with mailing labels, postage, and twine to wrap them up they only cost about $325. We sent out 99 invites (originally). That's $3.28 an invite.

They might not be the fanciest, the most original, or the most creative, but you know what- I really like them! I'm glad we went the route we did. The quality of invitations from Vistaprint are pretty good. And, the deal we got made it that much sweeter.

Did you go a simple route with your invites?

Mail Merge Mania

Mail merge was the bane of my existence this weekend. I know it might seem ridiculous that a computer-savvy(ish) person from the computer generation who has worked in an office-setting for 5+ years (ew, really?) didn’t know how to use mail merge already- but- er… I didn’t?

I knew immediately this would be an annoying freaking task, mostly because many things involving Excel/Word give me a migraine. I somehow ALWAYS miss one teeny little thing in a formula or miss a measly step in a step-by-step guide, therefore screwing myself over, shouting into the computer’s ear-less face, and having to start over.

Let me start by saying we decided not to pay for a calligrapher, and decided to go with making clear labels for the envelopes for a few lame reasons. One, I could not justify the cost of paying someone to write pretty on my envelopes when that envelope is going to end up right in the trash. I wish I could justify it because I love all things pretty paper/stationary/swirly handwriting, but I come from a world where I could never see the value in it. Two, I was going to attempt some form of calligraphy, but when I sent Mr. P a cell-phone photo of my grandest attempt, he responded (and I quote), “it looks like my 6 year old cousin wrote that.” Um, thanks. Negative five points for him! And, lastly, I am the Queen of Procrastination and we are short on time here people!

Anywho, Mr. P and I headed over to my parents after work on Friday night (since our printer has a horrendous tick- literally. It should seek medical attention or get tossed out the window.) I had e-mailed myself my Excel grid of addresses, sat down in front of Word, and brought up the step-by-step directions in the help guide. I can’t give you clearer instruction than what Mr. Microsoft himself provides. The instructions are pretty decent. But, here are a few of my fails to avoid.

FAILS GALORE:

1. My Excel grid had RIDICULOUS spaces that I made for my own brain’s logic. IE: It made no sense to have those spaces there. So, I had to delete EVERY SINGLE space in my Excel grid from hell. So, do not have ANY spaces between any rows or columns.
2. I was smart enough to make separate columns for every necessary field. For instance “Name,” “Address,” “City,” yada, yada. You get the deal. BUT, do NOT forget to make the ZIP CODE column formatted for ZIP CODES. I left this as “General” like a FOOL, and somehow in the first attempt at merging it turned half the zip codes into numbers like this: 1.34.35093.54093.03490. THAT IS NOT A ZIP CODE!! So, I had to start anew (from the whole deleting of spaces step).
3. Buy the right labels. Yea, my labels were too god damn small. 20 to a sheet. The font was the size of a baby tadpole. So, back to Staples we went.
4. When you think it’s too hard, you’re making it too hard. It’s actually quite easy. Don’t read too much into the instructions (like I did at first).
5. Do it on a Mac if you can. I have a Mac. But somehow in my idiocy I thought it would make more sense to use a Microsoft product on a PC as the computer lords intended. I went home to fiddle with mail merge again (since we couldn’t print that night because of the label sizing issue) and, bam, it worked in 9 seconds thanks to Mail Merge Manager. Why do I ever try to defy Mac? Mac knows all and laughs in the face of PCs.
6. Check your ink. Because, yes, that’s right folks, with three pages of labels to go we ran out of ink.

In all reality, mail merge is not difficult. For those who already know how to do it for years, you are probably chuckling at my spaztastic problems. The instructions make it pretty simplistic so it’s really nothing to sweat over. Just make sure your guest list is crisp and ready. That is the only place you will falter.

And, yes, the invitations are ALMOST out and ready for their reveal!

Are you a mail merge pro? Did anyone else learn mail merge for the sake of labeling their invitations?

Perhaps We Should Invite the Guests

This might be a good time to start doing likeee actual stuff for the wedding, and perhaps stop whining. Since it seems, after all the vendors are booked, there are still several hundred things to do. One of those things would be invitations. Oh, you freakin’ expensive invitations, you. How I love/loathe you and your paper goodness. And, no, I do not think it is a good idea to subject myself to a “print yourself” or a “design yourself” venture. Mostly because I hate when I toss printers across the room- there are just too many pieces of plastic to pick up afterward.

Moving right along…. I’m still unsure if I want to go the full blown peacock route. Yes, that is our “theme” and all, but we also have a blue/green situation going on. Would a peacock invitation be peacock overkill? I’m trying to stay away from having the actual bird on anything. I just like the idea of the feathers. And, I could include a feather in a twine tied-up simple blue invitation. I don’t necessarily need the peacock feather imagery on it.

I originally thought “oh, I’ll just order from wedding paper divas or the like” because that’s cheap, right? WRONG. Those online invitation sites are cheapER, but certainly not cheap. I would say their prices are pretty standard if you don’t want to go ballz out with letterpress or other more expensive design options. They certainly do beat the prices of some of these invitation shops around New York. But, the savings are certainly not SO significant that I can go out and buy a new Coach tote with the difference. (I have not bought a new purse since getting engaged, 10 POINTS for ME!). My original idea of a budget for invitations was $300. Haha, oh pre-wedding planning Porcupine, you are fun-E.

The new plan is to keep it reasonable. I have a few options so far that I love (I say I and not we because Mr. Porcupine mostly will nod and agree to any invitation I show him).

Image via Wedding Paper Divas

Image via Wedding Paper Divas

Image via Wedding Paper Divas

Image via Wedding Paper Divas

Invitations by Little Spark Creations via Etsy

I love the last one the best for obvious peacock feather obsession reasons. I didn't originally want to go the pocketfold route. I feel like it's a little too formal for the rustic look we want for our wedding. I'm still on the fence on the whole thing. I can't order anything until I know our menu options after our November tasting, so I have a few more weeks to weeble wobble.

Anyone have a great invitation shop recommendation? Is a peacock invitation TOO much peacock?