Crafting the Save-the-Dates: The Finished Product

After much trial and tribulation and a few frustrating Adobe Illustrator moments where I was sure I was going to throw the computer into the sun, I have completed our custom save-the-dates! In my last entry I mentioned that I was inspired by save-the-dates which feature simple silhouettes which I thought added personalization while incorporating our 18th century Versailles/Marie Antoinette theme. Without further ado, I bring you our save-the-dates:

This is the "edited for Weddingbee" version. The original version obviously has our names, wedding date, address, and wedding website. The real version also has a full bleed area around the edge so it doesn't look cropped so close to the sides. 

We are having them printed from Moo because I've always been really impressed with the quality of their products, specifically the Moo MiniCards that so many previous Bees have utilized in their invitation suites. I realize I am jumping the gun by sharing the design before having the finished product, but I was so excited about finishing this project to wait any longer! Considering I started it over Thanksgiving break, it certainly has taken me some time to put together. Thankfully I think I've mastered enough challenges that when I start on our invitation suite I will work much more efficiently. 

The intricate trim on the front of the postcard was taken from a Ladurée macaron box because I'm a little obsessed with Ladurée macarons and I wanted to infuse some of that Parisian flair into our paper goods. Whether it makes a reappearance on our invitation suite remains to be seen! The wreath graphics on the front and the bird/wreath graphic on the back were from a Dover ornaments book which were scanned and vectorized by me. The fonts used are Mardian (the cursive) and Brain Flower and both were downloaded for free at dafont.com.

I made the silhouettes myself. I took profile photographs of myself and Mr. C and traced them on Photoshop. I have a Wacom tablet which made this process a lot easier. I then imported the graphics into Illustrator and vectorized them. In order to give it a more worn, weathered look I used a watercolor texture behind the graphics. 

If you are not familiar with graphic arts or Illustrator, vectorizing a graphic is essentially making it a graphic that can be resized without ever losing any detail or quality. It only really works with graphics or fonts.

Well, that's about it! I hope the postcards look great when they arrive and I hope our guests enjoy them! 

Crafting the Save-the-Date

When we first set out on our wedding planning journey I was adamant about creating all of the paper goods and stationary myself. This was inspired partly by the need to save money and partly by my stubborn desire to have total control over the creative process. Our first challenge arrived in the form of the all-important save-the-date cards. Mr. C and I knew we wanted something unique and personalized, but let's be honest, that usually costs a pretty penny.

Never one to back down from a challenge, I took this task into my own (in)capable hands. Never mind the fact that I am not a graphic designer. Or the fact that, at the time, I had no idea how to use Adobe Illustrator. I've been using some iteration of Adobe Photoshop since high school. But Illustrator? It's a different beast entirely. I find Photoshop intuitive but Illustrator takes training, practice, and patience. I was lucky to have the help of a friend who happens to work as a graphic designer. Some one-on-one training supplemented with a few YouTube tutorials and I was on my way. But even after finishing this project, the pen tool and I are not friends. "Oh, you just need some time to get used to it," my graphic designer friends have told me. No. The pen tool is evil and should be destroyed.

But before we can get to my trial-by-fire experience with Adobe Illustrator, I need to start with the inspiration. With the overwhelming diversity of save-the-date options, colors, and designs out there, it was hard to narrow down exactly what we wanted. We started by deciding the most important aspects we wanted to incorporate into this project.

1) Incorporate the Look / Feel of the Wedding: 

The save-the-date is really your guests' first taste of your wedding style and theme. As such, we knew that it was important to incorporate a some of our wedding colors as well as images that evoke a feeling of Versailles or Marie Antoinette.


2) Size Matters: 

I have seen a lot of adorable save-the-dates. Everything from origami, animated flip books, "mix tape" CDs of music, mini calendars (like Mrs. Green Tea's!), and more! Mrs. Duckling made her wedding date into felt numbers that are pulled out of a tiny envelope. Who could forget a date that adorable? Mrs. Eagle designed her own save-the-date magnets. Check out this adorable save-the-date where the couple asked their guests to "pencil in" their date. Adorable but not very cost effective, unfortunately.

Image via: Style Me Pretty / Photography by: Pen / Carlson  / Planning + Design by: Birch Design Studio 

Then you have the standard photo postcard that many couples opt for these days. This is a very simple and painless way to create your own save-the-dates. The best part is that your friends and relatives will have a great photo of you and your fiance to display on the fridge. There are loads of examples available, but I love our own Mrs. Turkey's! Unfortunately, ever the overachiever, this seemed like the easy way out to me. Also we may have been slacking on having our engagement photo session. Whoops!

Honestly, the decision here came down to money. We didn't want to spend a lot of money on elaborate save-the-dates or the postage required to mail them. A simple postcard made the most sense to us, plus it meant that maybe we could spend more money on the invitations down the road. Mrs. Snow Cone gave some great tips on how to save money when ordering postcard save-the-dates.


3) Personalized: 

Incorporating cameo-like silhouettes was my idea on how to personalize our design without including a photograph. I was really inspired by these two save-the-dates, one from Minted and the other designed by the groom of a wedding I spotted on SMP. They do double duty in adding personalization along with a little 18th century flair. It seemed like the perfect solution for us!

Image source via: Minted

Image source via: Style Me Pretty / Photography by: Stephen Jerkins / Stationary by: Nick (the groom)

I'm still tinkering with the design, but I'm nearly finished with our save-the-dates. It only took me, oh, two months to sit down and finish them. I've been slacking Hive, it's true. I hope to reveal them to you soon along with the details on our wedding website which I've also been working on. Since our save-the-dates will have our wedding website address, that needed to be completed before we put our save-the-dates in the mail.

What was your save-the-date inspiration?

The Burden of Planning

Hello Hive! I would like to wish everyone a very HEALTHY and HAPPY 2013! May all your wedding planning go smoothly. May your big day be perfection. And if it's not perfection, I hope that you still leave the party with a huge smile because you just married an amazing guy. Maybe you got engaged over the holidays or maybe you are knee-deep in the planning process (like me) and just need a  quiet little reminder, so here it is: Breath in and out deeply. You can do this.

I tend to become easily overwhelmed when starting a new project. This was something that plagued me in college and graduate school. At the beginning of each semester I would receive a course syllabus rife with assignments, projects, and due dates. I would panic which would often lead to a total emotional meltdown. Eventually this panic runs its course and I am calm enough to talk myself into a "can do," problem solving attitude. I start by breaking the project or assignment  into smaller, more manageable tasks. I also like to make to-do lists where I ask myself, "What can I cross of this list today?" I remember to always take things one day at time. To sum this up in a pithy quote: The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. You will never take that first step if you are too busy being emotionally crippled by everything that must be accomplished along the way. 

The same advice holds true for wedding planning. I think many women are initially overwhelmed with the amount of planning and decision-making that comes along with throwing a wedding, myself included. You have friends, relatives, coworkers, and complete strangers offering up all kinds of advice or recommendations. To make matters worse, you are immediately bombarded with a thousand minute (but seemingly huge and important) decisions. Everything from wedding colors, to cake flavors, favors, venues, music, vows, and more. There's lots of weighing pros and cons, rationalizing, and second guessing yourself. But one of the best things you can do is to make a decision and then come to peace with that decision. Walk away from it. We all want to make sound, well-researched choices. Unfortunately there isn't always time or energy to make the perfect choice every time, so sometimes the good enough choice needs to take precedent. And you need to be okay with that!

Here's a tale that might ring true with my fellow DIY warriors. My dad (who generally gives the best advice) has something he calls the 90%. Essentially his philosophy is that all the extra time and energy you put into making something 100% isn't usually worth the investment, nor is it outwardly noticeable to anyone but yourself. Most of the time 90% should be good enough. If you are familiar with economics this is basically the concept of diminishing marginal returns. He came up with this idea while vacuuming dog hair out of his car. I really like to imagine my dad tediously vacuuming up dog hair while pondering life's big philosophical questions. I am the type of person who will run herself into the ground in an attempt to reach 100%. I could spend hours or days on a lesson plan that is over in 50 minutes and which my students do not appreciate. I have to go above and beyond, when really, 90% would have sufficed and no one but me would have known the difference. I guess it's all about knowing when to pick your battles. And some battles just need 90%.

My brother and me hanging out with dad, giver of great advice and proponent of the 90% rule.

Another important piece of advice, which I inherently understood and yet initially failed to follow: stop trying to do everything on your own. I wouldn't necessarily call myself a control freak, but sometimes it's hard for me to delegate tasks to others. I guess I like knowing things are done right the first time and it's hard for me to trust other people to complete tasks that are up to my standards. Well guess what? That's irrational and silly and creates extra, unnecessary stress. Let your eager friends and family help out (but don't turn them into indentured servants!). And that means your fiancé too, that poor guy who might not have any idea what he's gotten himself into. 

One night I was up late, tossing and turning in bed when I glanced over at Mr. C. He had passed out the moment his head touched the pillow and was sleeping peacefully. Why was I the one up late worrying about wedding details while he was soundly sleeping? First of all, I think that women are terrible about taking their worries and troubles to bed with them. I think men are better at shutting out the mental noise that stirs in our brains and causes worry and anxiety. Secondly, at the time Mr. C did not have my massive wedding checklist floating around his mind. He was blissfully unaware of all that needed to be accomplished in order to throw the wedding of our dreams. That's because I was the one who was scrolling through wedding blogs making my mental wish list. I was the one on The Knot trying not to freak out when I saw the massive wedding checklist. I was the one with the inspiration folder of DIY projects just waiting to be started (or finished). To be fair, we made all of the big decisions together, but I was starting to become overwhelmed with the details, especially since I've also undertaken designing the save-the-dates and invitations.

He had no idea I was feeling overwhelmed until one day I had a mini-meltdown. "I can't do this by myself!" I cried. Mr. C was taken aback by this sudden deluge of emotions. He had no idea I was silently obsessing over these details. I had let the worry pile up and pile up until I couldn't hold it back anymore. I told him I felt like Frodo carrying the One Ring into Mordor. I was carrying this massive burden on my own. I was the one having nightmares about a wedding with missing chairs, bad food, and absent bridesmaids. I was the one stressing about vendors and hair stylists. And really, that was my fault. I hadn't showed him the checklist.  I hadn't communicated my expectations. I hadn't assigned him any tasks. He didn't know a thing about scouting out rehearsal dinner locations, out of town guest baskets, escort cards, or booking hotel room blocks. As soon as I communicated my frustrations to him, he immediately asked what he could do to make the wedding planning burden easier. So I did something I should have done weeks earlier: I assigned specific tasks to him.  And you know what? The world did not end. He completed them and he did an awesome job. That's because I'm marrying a very capable and responsible guy who I wasn't giving enough credit.

I sit and ponder why I didn't enlist Mr. C's help earlier.

Well, that's about it on advice from me (for now, anyway). To be honest, I enjoyed writing this out because I am often the one who needs to listen to my own advice the most. I need to stay calm and focused and continue taking this wedding planning journey one day at time. I need to remember that I'm not facing this journey alone but with an awesomely supportive guy by my side. I need to remember that in most cases 90% will just have to do. I need to be okay with that. Actually, I am keeping that in mind right now as I'm finishing up our save-the-dates which I can't wait to share with you!

Did you feel overwhelmed when you first started planning? What is your go-to strategy for staying calm and focused when you are feeling stressed and overwhelmed? Did you have trouble enlisting the help of your friends, family, or even your fiancé for your wedding? 

The Engagement Photos Are In!

Hello Hive! I hope everyone has had a very enjoyable holiday season. I'm back to share our engagement photos with you! I just received these and I couldn't wait to share them with you guys.

As you can see, we used a couple of the engagement photo session trends I mentioned in a previous post.

Just hanging out on top of hay bales, looking very stoic, like ya do. 

Using the letters I created during a DIY tutorial in a previous entry. 

I am so incredibly impressed with the skill and patience of our amazing photographer Christopher Helm. When searching for a photographer, Mr. C and I knew we wanted someone with true, raw skill -- not just someone who uses vintage effects in post-processing. After browsing Chris' portfolio I could see that he captured amazing photos in a variety of settings and light conditions. His photos are classic and timeless. Plus he's a really fun, friendly guy who put Mr. C and I at ease the moment we met him. He spent four hours out with us to capture these images from sunlight to sunset and gathering dusk. We're so excited to be working with him on our big day.  

I have to tell you guys that I have browsed hundreds, if not thousands of engagement photos online in the past. This is partially due to my addiction to wedding blog browsing. This addiction may or may not have existed prior to being officially engaged. I walked into this venture knowing exactly what to expect, or so I thought. What I didn't expect was that the first 30 minutes of this photo shoot was incredibly, painfully awkward for Mr. C and me. Thankfully Chris was able to help us feel more at ease and relaxed as we worked together. I guess my warning to you ladies is prepare for a little awkwardness at the start! (that's what she said) 

Was your initial engagement photo shoot a little awkward?

The Best Day Ever

I want to tell you all about the best day ever. Do you have a best day ever? A day when everything, in spite of all odds, somehow turns out perfectly? My best day ever is the day Mr. C proposed to me. And it wasn't just about being engaged, it was everything else in the universe aligning to make the most amazing, absolutely perfect day.

But first, let's start at the beginning.

One day last February I was home from work and wistfully scrolling through images of Versailles on my computer. I was showing Mr. C some images and talking about how much I wanted to return to Paris. I was trying to convince him that we should visit Paris in November when I knew we'd have a week off for Thanksgiving break. Suddenly Mr. C bent down beside me. He had a puckish twinkle in his eyes. "What if we went to Paris for spring break?" My heart stopped. I stared at him for a moment. Mind you, spring break was only around four weeks away at this point. The idea of hopping on a plane and making a spontaneous trip to Paris was both exhilarating and terrifying. Really only terrifying in a very mundane adult sort of way: How much would it cost? Where would we stay? Can we really do this? Should I feel guilty about spending this money (when I really need a new car..)?

Now, to be fair, it's a little cheaper for us to travel than for most people. My dad is a pilot for Delta Airlines and I fly standby for a discount. The catch is that I only get on a plane if and when there is an open seat. I have higher priority than Mr. C, who flies on a buddy pass. Buddy passes are like the dripping pond scum of the airline world. Buddy passes are practically useless these days if you don't want to spend hours or even days waiting in the airport to fly somewhere. This makes planning vacations very stressful. So while flying to Paris would be relatively inexpensive, we also might never end up in Paris--or we could end up in Paris a day or two behind schedule. This in turn makes it nearly impossible to make hotel reservations. It is always a gamble.

I spent the rest of the night thinking it over. A few months earlier Mr. C and I had had "the talk." You know, the one where you talk about getting married. We'd also recently been scouring both the internet and local antique malls for the perfect antique engagement ring. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to go. The idea was taking a deeply rooted hold in my mind. I could be in Paris in a few weeks! I could see Versailles again! I was giddy with excitement. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep that night.

In a few short weeks we were off to Paris. It was our first international trip together and Mr. C's first international trip ever! Due to some airline miracle we had zero problems getting there and we arrived at Charles-de-Gaulle, the most ill-conceived airport in the world, on March 12th. I had checked and rechecked and triple checked the Paris weather for weeks. I felt like an outdoor wedding bride as I obsessed over weather forecasts. Paris is a walking city. You spend a lot of time outside, especially on the grounds of Versailles and the Petit Trianon. A few days of bad weather could make the whole trip quite miserable. But the weather was perfect. It was a little humid and chilly, but it did not rain. The sun was shining. The sky was blue. The cherry blossoms were in bloom. It was Paris in (almost) springtime.

And then it started. When would he propose? I mean, he was going to propose, right? We were in Paris, the most romantic city in the world. If it wasn't happening there, then it wasn't happening. But it didn't happen at the top of the Eiffel Tower. It didn't happen on a sunset boat cruise on the Seine. It didn't happen on the Champs Elysees as I greedily consumed my Ladurée macarons, or at the Louvre, or in the lovely Jardin de Tuileries. I was beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, I had gotten my hopes up about nothing. Maybe Mr. C really did just want to go to Paris for the fun of it. I started to feel a little bit silly. 

On our last full day in Paris, we visited Versailles. It was my second time at Versailles and I came prepared. I had read not one, but two different biographies about Marie Antoinette. I read a book specifically about the history Versailles. I also somehow convinced myself that I needed a giant Versailles coffee table book which I studied carefully for days. As soon as we made the decision to go to Paris I booked a special tour of the private apartments of Louis XV and Louis XVI. They only offer these tours to prearranged groups who have purchased tickets in advance. I wasn't going to miss out on the opportunity! In fact, if you have a chance to go, make sure to check the Versailles website to see what tours they are offering. You get to see parts of the palace that are inaccessible to other visitors.

The tours were to begin at 9:00 am, but we were running a little behind schedule. I remember sitting on the train from Paris to Versailles and staring at my watch, silently sweating despite the chilly morning air. We weren't going to make it. We'd never get there in time. When the train finally stopped at the station we sprinted off for the palace. I will forever remember the morning that we ran halfway across the town so that we would not miss a tour of Versailles. Mr. C was running behind me laughing, "We'll make it! We'll make it!" Turns out we burned off those buttery morning croissant calories for nothing! The main palace gates didn't even open until 9:00 am and the tours started 30 minutes afterwards. We made it in time after all!

The tour began and as I was floating through the glowing, gilded rooms of the private apartments, I knew it was an awesome day. Maybe the best day ever. Surrounded by history, touring the palace with my very best friend beside me--it was absolute heaven. It was also a beautiful, uncharacteristically warm day, the nicest weather we'd seen all week. We even had the rare opportunity of seeing the royal opera which is often closed for performances. Everything was perfect.

After the tour I wanted to view the rest of the palace, but it was packed with tour groups who arrived via bus in droves for a quick morning visit. Instead we decided we would visit the Petit Trianon and the Queen's Hamlet before the crowds shifted out into the gardens.

On our way to the Petit Trianon, out in the parterre near the Fountain of Latona, I noticed a young couple trying to take a "long arm" picture of themselves and I offered to take the photo for them. Mr. C then asked if they wouldn't mind taking a picture for us. Actually he said, "Could you take a couple of pictures?" I passed my point-and-shoot camera over and moved into position beside Mr. C. Suddenly he got down on one knee and pulled a ring box from his pocket. I froze. Everything suddenly felt like it was moving in slow motion. I keep thinking, is this really happening? I mean, I knew it could happen, I thought it might, but it really was happening. Mr. C opened the box and inside was a gorgeous antique ring, so delicate, sparkling like mad in the morning sunlight. I can't really remember what he said, I was too shocked. The girl with my camera was snapping away, a crowd of French school children were cheering.  Everything was very surreal. We were at Versailles and it was the most perfect day and the man I loved was on one knee with a delicate, elfin antique ring presented before me. I said yes.

Then it was suddenly very awkward. What had just happened? There's a sort of strange, quiet moment afterwards where the enormity of the moment begins to seep into your consciousness. We embraced, he slipped the ring on my finger. I thanked our makeshift photographer profusely (she even took a bit of video, with zero prompting from us!)

We spent the next 20 minutes walking through the gardens leading to the Petit Trianon. I was still in a daze. I couldn't believe what had just happened and I couldn't keep my eyes off my gorgeous new ring! Finally I got my senses together and we rented bikes and rode around the gardens, visited Marie Antoinette's hamlet and the Petit Trianon. It was my first time visiting the Queen's Hamlet (it was closed the first time I was at Versailles), so being there was exhilarating. I've already shared my intense love for the Queen's Hamlet in a wedding inspiration post, but I have to reiterate what a special and magical place it is. Please visit it if you are ever at Versailles! We also rode the bikes around the entire canal. It took us a good 30 minutes or more, but it was one of my favorite parts of the day.

Before I knew it, it was already 2 o'clock and we had yet to eat lunch! Luckily we were able to grab a table at a restaurant located on the grounds of the palace. We sat outside near the waters of the canal. It was just another puzzle piece in our perfect day!

To spend such a magical day in Paris, at Versailles with the love of my life, and to get engaged in a place with so much history -- I really have no words for it. I was 100% happy and content through and through. I couldn't have asked for a better day. It's now filed away into my extremely happy, peaceful memories which I draw strength and happiness from when times are bad. Which is silly because life is actually really, really amazing.

And that was my best day ever.

Getting Married at 30

I will be 30 years old when I get married. I realize that I'm considered an "older" bride, statistically speaking. According to US census data, most American women get married at around 25 or 26 years old. I'm also one of the "older" blogger Bees, although there have been a few 30-somethings here in the past (Mrs. Cauldron, Mrs. Mink, Mrs. Snapdragon, to name a few).

Recently, you may have read awesome entries from both Miss Bat and Miss Otter on getting married young. But this one is for the "older" brides and the "older" single or not-yet-engaged ladies. Yes, I see you not-yet-engaged ladies who are lurking around Wedding Bee! No shame! I was in your shoes one year ago.

I am one of the last of my friends to get married. When I scroll through the class of '01 on Facebook I see a lot of married people and I see a lot of babies. Some of my classmates and friends are now on their second or third child! And here I am, puttering around with just an engagement ring. No mortgage or car payment to speak of, chillin' on some furniture from Target and Ikea. Do I feel behind the times? No, I don't. The idea of having children still terrifies me. I have no idea where I want to buy a home and invest in a future. Luckily, Mr. Camel feels the same way. Mr. C, who will be 36 on our wedding day, has obviously seen his friends and relatives married off and having children for years now. He often tells me that after 30, he resigned himself to a life alone. He didn't think he would ever get married and certainly not to someone he could be 100% himself around. And then along came me. Now here we are, ready to take that first big step: marriage. Marriage at 30.

Even if I was given the opportunity, there is nothing I would change about my past. I feel that everything, both the good and the bad, has happened for a reason and happened at the right time for me. As much as I would have loved to know a younger Mr. C, to have have shared in those crazy, lazy days of high school and college together, I know that we met and fell in love at exactly the right time in our lives.

I consider myself to be fiercely independent. I experienced my 20's at full throttle. I biked across France alone when I was 20 years old. I traveled across Europe, explored the life of T.E. Lawrence in England, and spent two years teaching English in a tiny Japanese town of 4,000 people. Could I have done all of these things with the love of my life by my side? Absolutely! But for me, my 20's was about reaching out to life's experiences on my own. Meeting people, going places, and finding myself along the way. There were failed relationships. There were a few regrets here and there. But for me it was never about partying or casual dating.

Relationships are about compromise. As a 20-something I was able to live my life and make decisions based on what was best for me and me alone. I realize that sounds incredibly selfish, and it is. But it was also liberating and empowering. It enabled me to move to Japan, attend graduate school, teach English in Italy for a few weeks in a study abroad program, and find a job in a town where I wanted to live and work. Yes, you can do all of those things and more while married, but those plans and decisions can become much more problematic when two people are involved. I never had to plan my life or my decisions around the man in my life. I spent over two years living on my own, doing my own thing, growing comfortable with the silence of my own thoughts. In fact, that was the hardest thing to give up when Mr. C and I decided to move in together. We live in a small two bedroom apartment and every now and again I find myself pining for my tiny Japanese flat (even without central heating and air!) or the place I lived when I first started dating Mr. C. I miss the quiet. I miss that feeling of being utterly alone in your own space.

As a disclaimer, I haven't always felt so comfortable about getting married later in life.  I kept a blog in my early 20's and there are many entries where I sigh and wring my hands about being unable to share so many of life's moments with the person I love. Ten years ago, at the age of 20, I wrote a an entry entitled "To the Person I Haven't Met Yet." Here's how it ended: Youth fades so quickly, and I feel that time is running out. Every day without you seems a waste of energy and beauty. I don't have all day, and there's so much I have to tell you, and so much I want to show you. I have looked and looked, and I still can't find you. So you win. You can come out now.

Oh dear, sweet 20-year-old Miss Camel. You are so intense with all of your emotions swimming just under your papery skin. You will lead a life that the wide-eyed teenager you once were would be intensely proud of. And you do find that guy, and guess what? He wasn't in Rome or Tokyo or Manchester. He was next door. He was next door just waiting for you to finish your journey. He was there waiting to capture your wildly expanding heart. And when you meet him you will have so much to show him. Even now you aren't done sharing stories and there's no end to the places you want to take him. You will have a lot to talk about because your stories only got better. At 20, Miss Camel, you were barely out the door.

At 30, I am ready to take the next step with the man I love by my side. I'm ready to start a new journey, but it's not just me and my old shoes anymore. There will be lots of compromising and it won't always be easy. There will be times when I miss doing things on my own, but at the end of the day, having Mr. C in my life is absolutely worth it. Now we're an unstoppable team.

If you are in your late 20's or 30's and you still haven't met that special someone, don't get yourself down. Or maybe, like me, you are with someone who makes you feel doubtful or uncertain about your future together. You are waiting for the next step, but not sure that it's the right thing to do. Let it go. Enjoy your independence. Enjoy being utterly, completely yourself on your own. You have a whole life to meet someone and a whole marriage of compromising waiting for you. I realize that at this age many women feel their biological clocks ticking away, but watching the clock won't stop time. Get out there and live your life, do the things you enjoy doing, and know that somewhere along the way you will meet the right person. And when you do, think of all the amazing stories you will have to share.


We shall never cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time

Excerpt from "The Wasteland" by T.S. Eliot

Asking Your Bridesmaids: How to Buy More Crap at the Craft Store

It's kind of a thing now to find fun and creative ways to ask your lady friends to be bridesmaids in your wedding. How did I ask my lady friends to be my bridesmaids? I called them on the phone. Lame, I know. But then I started to see all sorts of unique cards and crafts on the topic and my creativity wheels started turning.

You've probably seen how other Bees have asked their ladies in the past. For instance, Mrs. Bracelet, Mrs. Unicorn, Mrs. Turkey and Miss Lyre created adorable homemade cards. Mrs. Mink used elegant spools from Etsy seller Esther Shafer. Miss Gray Wolf made some super cute Christmas ornaments. Mrs. Elk even staged a fake proposal (complete with rings!) for her bridesmaids.  Not one to turn down an opportunity to spend money at the craft store, I set off to create something that would be fun to make while staying true to the general theme of our wedding. But what?  

My bridesmaids live all across the country. Two live in LA, one in Colorado, one in New York City, one in Baltimore, and one nearby (thankfully!) in Atlanta. I'm sure everyone has seen Bethany's lovely bridesmaid boxes, but unfortunately bulky wooden boxes just aren't practical for mailing across the country. I wanted to make something a little smaller and lighter. So I came up with these: 

The bridesmaids boxes. (personal photo)

The base is a simple papier-mâché box which I painted and then detailed with a gold paint pen. I used Mod Podge to attach small paper doilies to the inside of the boxes and I painted the inside lid with the initial of each one of my bridesmaids. I then coated the boxes with clear glossy spray. I topped each one with a Marie Antoinette-inspired scrapbook sticker. Finally, I cut out slips of paper which read, "Will you be my bridesmaid" which I carefully folded up inside each box. 

In retrospect I wish I had used more muted colors on these boxes and not the vibrant pink and blue I actually went with. I think I wanted to go with the over-the-top Marie Antoinette look which we won't be using at our wedding. Oh well. 

The bridesmaids booklets. (personal photo)

I loved the information cards that Bethany included with her "Will you be my maid?" boxes, so I used them as inspiration for the information booklets I included for my ladies. I made six (one for each bridesmaid) and each one is unique! I was going for a Marie Antoinette feel but I think they turned out a little more Victorian. Hey, it works for me! 

The construction of each booklet is quite simple. They are comprised of four different pages of postcard-sized card stock and a piece of patterned card stock for the cover. The pages are hinged together with tiny metal brads and the bottom of each sheet was given a lace effect using one of Martha Stewart's punches. I might have even included some gold embossing action. Yeah, I went a little overboard with all of my craft supplies, but it was a good time. The last page of the booklet is a color palette. I took paint chip cards from the home improvement store and sliced them into thin pieces which I then glued onto white card stock. Obviously the cover of each booklet eventually bore the name of each bridesmaid and the finishing touch: a tiny cameo scrap book decoration. 

I have to be honest: this was actually a lot of work. But I really enjoy crafting as it keeps me from stressing out about my job too much, which I have a strong tendency to do. Plus, in the digital age it feels good to make something concrete and tangible. 

Did you do anything special to ask your ladies to be your bridesmaids?