Archive for the ‘Invitations’ Category

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Have Opinions Changed *At All* About Email Wedding Invitations?

Tuesday, July 12th, 2011

As technology gets better and better – hello, ereaders in color and always in focus cameras – more and more of our correspondence moves online. Seriously, when was the last time someone sent you an actual paper letter? (You lucky thing.) Lagging behind, however, are the online wedding invitation and the email wedding invitation, which my guess are still pretty much universally maligned. Evite for your baby’s first birthday party or your anniversary luncheon? No prob. Something like My Invitation Link? Not so much.

You are cordially and electronically invited.

Since I like to keep on top of how people directly involved in the world of wedding planning and those who are expecting wedding invitations are feeling about everything from favors to stationery, I thought it was high time for this wedding aficionada to check in with the next round of brides-to-be, grooms-to-be, and guests-to-be to weigh in on the subject of online wedding invitations and email wedding invitations. Still utterly déclassé? Or gaining ground in terms of acceptability as a paper wedding invitation alternative now that we’re all spending half our lives online anyway?

How would you react upon finding a link to an electronic wedding invitation in your inbox?

Posted in Alternative Ideas, Invitations | 6 Comments »

OMG, Another Theme Week? It’s Wedding Photography Week!

Monday, May 30th, 2011

It struck me just the other day that we probably don’t talk about wedding photography as much as we could around here. Possibly because we’re not expert wedding photographers – unless Twistie has been keeping secrets from me. Or I’ve been keeping secrets from her and from you. But I haven’t. I’ve just been taking a lot of photographs recently, so photography is on my mind. Wedding photography in particular, of course. And since having a theme for the week makes my life easier and two and two make four, I am declaring this WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY WEEK at Manolo for the Brides!

Now, you don’t have to wait until the actual big day to have some serious wedding photography fun. For the hardcore wedding photography enthusiast, there’s the Chinese practice of taking insane amounts of wedding photos way before the actual wedding. And for the less dedicated among us, there are always engagement photo shoots and photo save-the-dates and photo wedding invitations. Which is what Toni shared with me just the other day, and she was kind enough to say I could share with you. (Uh, in case you missed it, our very own Toni is engaged, so show her some love!)

This is the back

And this is the front (or is that the other way around...)

I love ’em, don’t you?! Toni’s wedding invitation makes me wish The Beard and I had done something with photos of ourselves – even our postcard save-the-dates featured a vintage photo with a dour bride and groom instead of a snapshot of us. Oh, well! That’s why I live vicariously through you lovelies and through all the research I do for this blog. Speaking of, to kick start Wedding Photography Week, I though I’d make a list of some of my favorite posts about wedding photography here at Manolo for the Brides for those who may have missed them the first go around.

Enjoy! (P.S. – I may extend Wedding Photography Week into two weeks, just because there’s plenty to talk about! P.P.S. – Want to share your wedding photos or wedding photos you’ve taken? Email me the best ones, and I’ll post them!)

Posted in Invitations, Photography, Stationery | 4 Comments »

Wedding Invitations by David’s Bridal? Huh?

Monday, May 23rd, 2011

It’s starting to look like the David’s Bridal of today and the David’s Bridal of the past are not exactly the same beast. In case you missed it a few months back, Vera Wang debuted a lower-price collection at David’s – the White Collection, featuring a small number of wedding dresses and accessories, with a bridesmaid line to follow. A few years back, they even launched a small online inventory for the bride-to-be who’d rather shop virtually. An inventory that’s grown significantly since. And now wedding invitations by David’s Bridal, shoppable online? Apparently so.

Wedding invites at David's? Well, huh.

And they’re none too shabby, with plenty of fun patterns – including monograms – and lots of color choices. The main omission in their stock of invites seems to be embellishments – there are ribbons, but none of the little string ties and leaves and lace and pockets and charms that are still quite popular. Which I used to love, actually. But the older I get, the more I seem to like simple one-sheet wedding invitations with, say, letterpress printing or something that looks like it. One-sheet invites are easier to turn into keepsakes if you want to scrapbook them, and similarly easier to recycle if you’d rather not clutter up the works with a whole lot of paper.

So, you tell me: Did you know David’s Bridal carries wedding invitations now? Would you consider (or have considered) shopping at a chain for your wedding invitations?

Posted in Invitations, Stationery | 1 Comment »

In a World Full of Interactive Wedding Invitations, This Interactive Wedding Invitation Stands Out!

Monday, May 2nd, 2011

Remember that video game wedding invitation from a while back? I’m reasonably sure that it was the first real interactive wedding invitation I’d seen – but once a good idea starts making the rounds, it’s bound to be replicated. And in bigger, badder ways, too. A quick minute brainstorming, and I’m imagining a Choose Your Own Adventure wedding invitation (which I would SO do) or maybe a scavenger hunt wedding invitation for those who had the time and the inclination. But you know what tops pretty much every interactive wedding invitation I could think up?

Paper Record Player from kellianderson on Vimeo.

This one. It’s a freakin’ papercraft record player, for goodness’ sake! I’m less impressed that it kind of plays an original song written by the couple – Karen Sandler and Mike Tarantino – who sent it out than I am that you can even make a record player out of paper. That someone even conceived of this idea in the first place, and then someone – that would be designer Kelli Anderson who talks more about the whole project on her website – took that idea and rolled with it. Seriously. A papercraft record player interactive wedding invitation. Seriously… Doesn’t that just beat all?

Posted in DIY, Invitations, Stationery | 1 Comment »

LOVE/HATE: The Open Book Edition

Friday, April 29th, 2011

Are you part of a crafty couple? Because one couple out there made mini wedding invitation books (seen here) to send out to all their guests and they turned out pretty spiffy! Kind of the opposite of the traditional ecru wedding invitation with a single color of ink, so most certainly not for everyone, but I know for a fact that some of my readership is def. on the funky side!

Is your love an open book?

Wonder what the fine for not returning it is?

For the second week in a row, I’m going to have to go with L-O-V-E. I wouldn’t have had the graphics skills to pull these off or the money to hire someone else to make them for me, but I wouldn’t have said no if someone in my life had wanted to hook me up with kooky wedding invitation books!

What do you brides and brides-to-be think about these book wedding invitations? Too busy? Or just the right amount of busy?

Posted in Alternative Ideas, Invitations, Keepsakes | 3 Comments »

LOVE/HATE: The Skinvitation Edition

Friday, March 4th, 2011

What it is: A wedding invitation designed by Nuage Mulberry Digital Art, known for its unique custom handmade wedding invitations that are more affordable than most. What it looks like, to me anyway: Skin, stretched and dried. Not that there’s anything wrong with that if it’s a look you love! I’m just not loving it. To be fair, I do love just about everything else that comes out of Nuage Mulberry Digital Art. Just not this particular invite.

It’s pretty obvious where my opinion falls on the spectrum. What do you think? Am I judging this one wedding invitation too harshly? Am I missing the point? Or is there something of the amateur anthropodermic bibliopegy about this one?

Posted in Inspiration, Invitations, Stationery | 5 Comments »

The Write Stuff

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

Calligraphy… sometimes it’s frou-frou. Sometimes it’s less girly than you’d think. Sometimes it’s hard to read. And it’s always one of those wedding expenses that is absolutely not a necessity but some brides and grooms just plain like. And that’s cool. As far as calligraphy goes, I can take it or leave it, but I’m nonetheless loving Primele. Created by Patricia Mumau, Primele has so much more than invitation envelope calligraphy to keep penmanship enthusiasts amused and occupied! Think favor tags and amazing return address stamps, place cards and thank you notes. It’s all gorgeous stuff – and that’s coming from someone who usually thinks invitation calligraphy is kind of meh.

(more…)

Posted in Invitations, Stationery | 2 Comments »

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