This blog, while it’s been an outlet for me to channel my creative obsession with weddings, has always been about providing readers and visitors with daily inspiration - a haven for you to visit every day while you’re planning your wedding or just for pure enjoyment. Or so I hope so!

So…enough about me and more about you! I want to hear about your wedding plans because I know there’s oodles of inspiration out there just waiting to be tapped into. To narrow what I’m looking for, I’m calling for all “INVITATIONS” - I wanna see them! If you want to share your invites, you can send the images to melissa@weddingobsession.com and they’ll be part of a post dedicated to EVERYONE’s invitations and included in a future gallery on the site.

It’s time to show them off!

How was everyone’s Valentines Day? And Happy Chinese New Years to some of you as well! Anna sent over some images of her unique save-the-date valentines by Sincerely Yours Paper, which I knew I would absolutely have to share. I actually squealed when I saw them, so loud in fact that Jason wondered what the heck was wrong with me.  I love when save-the-dates are personalized and I have a soft spot for the playfulness of balloons in engagement shoots. Anna tells me that the ‘tulip louise’ image on the postage is actually a watercolour painting that her lovely fiance painted for her birthday a couple years ago…so sweet, these two are definitely a talented bunch!

Thanks for sharing Anna. Can’t wait to see what else you have in store for your wedding!

{credits: Design - Sincerely Yours Paper; Photo - Meredith Mashburn Photography}

Who knew that mixing silhouettes, raspberries, corals and bulldogs would be put together in a wedding invitation? I try my best to check out Beast Pieces often because I can’t wait to see what they design next. They are SO innovative with their stationery designs, so much so that they literally ooze creativity. And it looks like the silhouette trend is here to stay.

{images: beast pieces}

We’ve all been to weddings where we have to wait…and wait until a ceremony starts. It’s usually filled with small chit-chat, but usually people are sitting there flipping through the program, waiting quietly (and sometimes impatiently) for the ceremony to start. Last summer, Jason and I attended a wedding that had a page on the program where you could find out what tree represents you based on what your birthdate. It was a nice conversation starter and it gave us something to do while waiting.

So I thought this crossword puzzle idea was pretty clever! That should keep your guests occupied :]

There’s a couple sites out there that can help you create your own crosswords. I’ve found a couple (here & here), but I’m not sure how well they work. So if anyone decides to do this, please give me a shout!

FINALLY the time has come. I got off my butt and got those invites done, with the help of my mother (thanks mom!), crafty soon-to-be mother-in-law, and my MOH. They were definitely a labour of love because countless hours were put into designing them and our hands/brains were tired after putting about 80 together. There were points where I questioned why I didn’t get them made for me, but I knew how important it was to put my stamp on them. I wanted them to scream “Jason & Melissa” and have it be something I could personalize and detail.

I definitely wanted something that was similar to my save-the-dates - modern, simple, yet chic. It took me a while but for some reason I started having an affinity for squares which I lined along the main invitation card and used throughout the other pieces (RSVP, website/details). The two green squares represent Jason and I, although I doubt anyone will notice it. I also created wrap-around labels with the same square motif.

Jason pretty private when it comes to showing things online, so I had to blur out some of the details in the images. But you get the idea!

The map took the longest to design, but all in all, entirely worth it because it turned out well. In line with my green/white/black/grey wedding theme, the borders of the individual pieces within the invitation set varied from black, charcoal grey, to a light grey. The belly bands (piece that holds everything together with our initials) were so helpful because they held all the cards together so guests could easily remove them from the envelope.

So if I had to go back and do it all over again, I would. Despite all the cost of supplies, it was entirely worth it, and it was a fabulous learning experience.

I’m currently finishing up the designs of my invitations and boy, has it been a wild ride. Who knew how much etiquette there was to consider when inviting people to a wedding! Mind you, majority of my guests probably won’t even know there’s a ‘proper’ way to do things, so in the end, I decided to do things OUR WAY.

Regardless, here are some of the things that got me thinking:

- Outer & Inner envelopes

This was definitely something I had no idea about. Apparently, the outer envelope is traditionally unlined and addressed with the complete mailing address of the individual/couple you are inviting. The inner envelope is typically lined and is only addressed to the person’s name. It was thought that the outer envelope protected the inner envelope or letter that was inside.

Our decision: Forgo the inner envelope. I ended up going with a lined outer envelope (which admitedly cost me too much. I ended up paying 65 cents each for them). But, had I gotten outer envelopes, I would have almost twice that amount.

- Separate reception cards

Totally torn over this one. Once again, I wasn’t aware that it was proper to have a separate reception card, especially if there is a gap between the ceremony & reception (yep) and if they are held at different locations (yep!).

Our decision: I decided to include the reception information on the same invitation card that had the details about the ceremony. I made sure all times & locations were noted and in my opinion, the more ’separate cards’ there are, the more confused your guests will be.

- Parents names

{image: hello!lucky}

According to the etiquette gods, the bride’s parents hosted the wedding and thus, they were mentioned at the beginning of the invitation asking the person they are inviting to join them “in the marriage of (bride) + (groom), son of (groom’s parents)”. But nowadays, if a couple are paying for the wedding themselves they can omit their parents names from the invitations, or choose to use the wording ” (bride) + (groom), together with their families”.

Our decision: I ended up placing both sets of parents names on the invitations, before ours. As a sign of respect and gratitude for our parents, we decided to ensure their names were listed. Despite who was paying for the wedding, we felt it was something we wanted to do, regardless of etiquette.

- Placing registry information on the invitations

It has been looked down upon for couples to place their registry information on their invites, primarily because they should not assume that a guest will be giving them a gift. Instead, registry information should be reserved for “word of mouth” or placed on the couples’ wedding website.

Our decision: Jason & I decided it would be best if we reserved the registry information for our website. To be honest, we loathe the ideas of registries because we always feel like we have everything and if we really wanted it, we’d buy it now and not wait till the wedding day.

- Response (RSVP) cards

{image: minted}

Traditional invitation sets have separate response cards and envelopes which guests would fill out and send back to the bride & groom. It served as a formality, but was also important for guests who aren’t savy with the computer.

Our decision: We decided to opt out of creating response cards and picking up envelopes. This was definitely a cost-saver. Response card envelopes are typically more expensive due to their small size, and the cost of placing postage on each one was immense. Likewise, it wasn’t environmentally friendly and all our guests were capable of either using email, visiting our website or picking up the phone to call us. Almost all weddings we attended these past two years, the couples all chose not to have RSVP cards, so we felt comfortable with this decision.

These invitations will definitely be a labour of love once they are done. It has been such a learning experience. I hope this helps any of you who are currently deciding on your invitations!

Christmas is near and we’ve got another fabulous giveaway opportunity for you all. Hello!Lucky, the vintage-inspired stationery recently launched custom holiday cards with styles that are perfect for recently engaged or married couples. Winners of this giveaway will receive 50 custom holiday cards from Hello!Lucky. Check out some of the stylish designs (love them!):

3 chances per person to enter!

• Comment on this post telling me what you want for christmas and/or

• Leave a separate comment if you follow wedobsession on twitter, indicate your username and/or

• Leave a separate comment if you are a fan of weddingobsession on facebook, indicate your username

It’s that easy!

A winner will be drawn at the end of Sunday (Dec 6). Good luck!

The formal invitations are usually sent to guests 3-5 months before the wedding date and for me, that’s soon approaching. Of course, I’m on the search for some modern + contemporary invites and once again I’m probably going to make my own. I found these two invitation sets that really ’speak my language’ and HAD to share them with you. They’re from Alee & Press, an eco-conscious stationery shop that I absolutely adore.

Set #1: Vintage
I love the simplicity of these invites. The white/pastel pink/black are such a modern match. Come to think of it, it matches my site colors really well, which may explain why I’m partial to this set. It’s got just enough girly but not too much frill, if you know what I mean - Understated.

Set #2: Carter
Again, black & white but this time paired with yellow. Modern x 3. It’s simple, minimalist and so perfect for a loft or art gallery wedding. I also love the slip that holds the invites together, letterpressed with the wedding date. So chic.

{images: Alee & Press}

Who loves surprises? Here’s a story I agreed to share because it involves an unique & unexpected wedding. A fun invitation, jaw-droppingly gorgeous images & a rocking video to follow!

Lorien Gabel (pingg’s CEO and Toronto native) and Jessica Lichtenstein made their wedding day an unforgettable event that they will remember forever and their guests will no doubt talk about for years to come.

A couple weeks ago, Lorien and Jessica hopped a plane to Vegas to secretly get married in the desert. In on the secret were the couple’s parents (who were not present at the wedding) and a small film crew, The Sibs. Together they spent the weekend filming an amazingly sexy/romantic Oliver Stone meets David Lynch movie about their alter egos, which concluded with the surprise ending– Lorien and Jessica exchanging vows.

Three weeks later, 200 of the couples’ closest friends and family traveled to NYC to celebrate Jessica and Lorien’s combined 30th and 40th birthdays. Guests gaped in awe at the mysterious movie, curious about where it was leading until half way through the film, as the surprise element was slowly unraveling, the guests all erupted with excitement—finally realizing with shock and amazement that, what they were witnessing was in fact a real wedding ceremony.

Lorien and Jessica’s wedding is inspiring, fun and uniquely them. They are hoping that in sharing their story, video and invitation with others, they can inspire people to find their own unique style.

And inspire, they did. Check out the invitation below:

Here’s the video that surprised the guests! (Caution, some of you might find this a bit “risque” so please watch at your own discretion. Slightly NSFW)

30- 40 birthday party…and a surprise wedding from Lorien Gabel on Vimeo.

{images courtesy pingg}

As promised, here are some snapshots about my progress on the save the dates! If you missed my previous post with the card prototype, click here. The coffee table was literally a mess, as I had 3 paper cutters, cardstock, pencils, rulers, tape, envelopes all over the place. But they’re done, so I’m slightly relieved. We opted to send them only to our out-of-town guests to cut down on costs, considering it’s already 7 months until the wedding. Hopefully, we’ll have the full formal invites out by January which gives guests about 3-4 months to reply.

For those who aren’t familiar with save-the-dates, they let people know in advance that you are planning to have your wedding on a certain date, so they should try to keep it open for you! Save-the-dates are not necessary for everyone and are best used for destination weddings and/or if you have a wedding with a large number of out of town guests.

I chose to put the return addresses on the top-back of the envelopes, all in one line. I guess it was my minimalist tendencies kicking in! There was a bit of trouble with my new inkjet printer because it seemed to smudge on the linen envelopes, but for some reason, it worked like a charm on my old printer. It was super easy and all I used for my envelopes was Microsoft Word.

Here’s some of my tips for when you’re making your save-the-dates:
- ALWAYS have extra envelopes & cardstock ready. I ended up throwing away about 5 envelopes because either the printer messed up or I accidentally printed two for the same address.
- Ask for help! I tend to be a do-it-yourself person, but after this, I think I’ll be asking for all the help I can get for the numerous invitations.
- Invest in a high quality paper cutter. The worst thing is to end up getting a dull blade that makes the sides of your cards look frayed.
- Be creative! Save-the-dates are you opportunity to show your personality through the color or design. Maybe make a magnet for people to stick on their fridge or provide stickers which your guests can add to their calendars.
- Double check who you are sending your save the dates to. Once you send them one, there’s no turning back.

If any of you have done save the dates, I’d love to hear from you. I’d love to see them! melissa@weddingobsession.com