Earth Day: Green Weddings

Today is Earth Day. Take this reminder to view how you are planning your wedding, and how you can care for our planet in the process. Here are some tips to keeping your wedding green:

1. Earth Friendly Invitations: Earthly Affair has the most beautiful invitations that are gentle on our planet! Other places to check out:

Obligation Paper + Press

(I have mentioned this company before and have heard rave reviews!)

Bella Figura

Botanical Paperworks

Green Printer

InviteSite

2. Organic and Local Food and Wine: Many restaurants and caterers now offer local options. Be sure to ask when you are inquiring about services. As for wine, check out: The Organic Wine Company and Organic Wine Journal to learn more!

3. Green Gifts: From wedding registry to favors, you can go green. Check out Beau Coup for great green favors and Sweet Earth Chocolate for edible treats. For your registry, consider items like organic bedding and bath towels, bamboo for your kitchen, and Energy Star for any major appliances your nuptuals may require!

4. Sustainable Dress Options: Visit my Save Money post about wedding dress options. And, check out this post from Style Me Pretty!

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Wedding Inspitation

I love inspirational quotes, powerful verses, and beautiful prose. Over the years I have been gathering these words for their possible use some day. Well, I have decided to share them will all of you. Hopefully you will enjoy them as much as I have. Perhaps you will even find a good use for them!

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”

― Thornton Wilder

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Real Couples: Sara and Caleb

Do you remeber all the way back to October when I shared the calligraphy I did for my friend Sara's wedding? I even gave you a Sneak Peek of her photos in January! Well, about that sneak peek...I am just now, in April finally giving you a few of their wedding photos! Here are the pictures Sara sent me of their beach front photo shoot:





Their wedding was an absolute blast! It encorporated Sara and Caleb perfectly, from their laid back style, to their love of the outdoors and travel. Their cake topper was a pair of hikers! They had dancing, a candy buffet and a make your own sundae station for dessert. They invited guests to sign their skim board, and collected cards in a lobster trap. I was so greatful to be able to join them for their special day!

To see more of their wedding photos visit: Kristen Dawn Photography

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Nautical Wedding Invitations

I am working with a bride on creating a nautical invitation suite. I will do the design calligraphy and then we hope to have it letterpressed. We are very excited, but the wedding is a long way out so we are only in the brainstorming phase. I love the ocean. I love the color blue (can't you tell) so this has been a blast.

Here are some of the designs I found that have been inspiring me so far:

Photo Credits, clockwise from top: Square invitation from eInvite.com, Navy blue Vera Wang invitation from finestationery.com, Sand castle invitation from Exclusively Weddings, and finally my own creation which was inspired by several invitations on Wedding Paper Divas.

But amidst all this fun, I have yet to see exactly what I am looking for to meet this bride's needs, which is why I will be creating something of my own. In my searches, I did find some additional nautical eye candy on Flickr. Brass Paperclip has wonderful ideas in her photo stream that I am currently loving!

I hope you enjoy browsing through this as much as I have! Oh, and if you have any additional "nautical" ideas, send them my way! The rain in DC has dampened my creativity...

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Stamps Increase 2¢ on May 11th

Once again, the price of stamps is going up. On May 11th, the price for basic mail will increase from 42¢ to 44¢. What does this mean to the bride? You need to think ahead.

- Are you wedding invitations going out in the next month?
- Do you have reply cards that will be returned around May 11th or later?
- Have you already purchased stamps?
- Will you need extra postage?

There are a few styles of new stamps out there – but cutes ones aren't available yet.

So for now, here are your options: Use the Forever Stamp, the one with the liberty bell – they only cost you 42¢ right now, but will be valid long after your wedding date. (Psst...this is the most affordable option, but make sure that it is sufficient postage for your entire invitation suite)

Make your own custom stamps: There are many options availaible, but I would recommend you try USPS or Zazzle.com

Add a 2¢ stamp to the postage you have already purchased.

Go above and beyond! I have shown a few "extra postage" options in the image above because they are pretty and would get the job done with little extra effort. I particularly like the dragonfly 62¢ stamp. There is also the 59¢ heart and the 72¢ purple landscape.

But even after you have considered all of this don’t forget, weight and size are important. Make sure to bring one full invitation suite (translation: the invite and all the extras you plan to stuff in that envelope) to the post office to be weighed and measured. These days there are loads of invitations that are an odd size or extra weight requiring extra postage. Be sure you cover the charge or else you will be faced with the nightmare of 100+ invitation stamped: Return to Sender!

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