Belly Feathers :: Handmade Party Ideas Blog by Betsy Pruitt: Weddings

Showing posts with label Weddings. Show all posts

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Bridesmaid Invitation: Sweet and Sour Lemon

This is my absolute favorite custom design of the summer! These lemon yellow Bridesmaid Invitations are bright and cheerful. Not only do they bring special news but also a sweet treat of Lemonheads and a vibrant matching pencil wrapped in a cute box.

Another detail is a check yes/no response card at the bottom of the invite personalized with the bridesmaid's name, which is why I included a pencil. Under "Yes," I added "So sweet of you!" Under "My Regrets," it reads "No sour feelings." It's a fun way to tie in the lemon candy into the invitation text.

Inside the lid of the box is a matching return envelope for the response card. There's also a clear layer between the pencil and candy to hold everything in place during shipping and keep the pencil lead safely away from the Lemonheads.

Of course, the padded shipping envelope matches, as well. This is the only lemon in the design that wasn't hand-stamped.

Here's a couple of detail shots. I love how the embossed lemon on the invite has a real citrusy texture that couldn't be more perfect. Even the bakers' twine is lemon and white.

As with all of my custom designs, I'll be glad to tweak the look until we come up with something you absolutely love. The final version of the bridesmaid invite is sans the response card and pencil for a cleaner presentation. I love them both ways! We did special versions for the bride's Maid of Honor and two Junior Bridesmaids, too.

Thanks, Carla, for finding me on Facebook and inspiring such a wonderful project! By the way, Carla is a wonderful portrait and wedding photographer in the Huntsville-Athens, AL area.

These Boxed Candy Invitations are also now available for sale on BellyFeathers.com and can be personalized to match a variety of colors and party themes.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Paperless Post: The Best Party Invitations Online

For the very first time, Paperless Post made me a fan of party email invitations. Their online invitations have the charm and elegance of some of the nicest printed invites and still let you experience the delight of opening an envelope to see what's inside. Click this sample email invite to see exactly what I mean.

Honestly, I've always thought invitations online were tacky and impersonal. Services like Evite give you limited options to personalize the look of the invitations, and what options they do provide are clunky and hard to operate.

Paperless Post fixes these issues by delivering a virtual envelope to your guests' inboxes with their names displayed right on the envelope. Upon clicking, the envelope opens to reveal a beautiful invitation online. Paperless Post provides tons of email invitation templates and samples to choose from, which you can further personalize with your choice of fonts and text layouts. The invitation design interface is very easy use, and you get the added convenience of online RSVP for your guests, which is great for guests and hostesses alike.

The cost of sending a single basic email invite is $0.20. Adding a photo or envelope liner, adds an extra $0.20 per online invitation. Therefore, you can send a beautiful invite by email for less that the cost of a US postal stamp. It's like you purchased the stamp but got the invite free. I'm all for that!

I'm a little too old fashioned to suggest email wedding invitations because I still think print is the way to go for a milestone occasion like this. However, I think Paperless Post would be perfect for stylish "Save the Date" cards, especially for weddings on a tight budget. Paperless Post also has personalized stationery for thank you notes, as well as greeting cards for all occasions.

One thing I recommend is taking a screenshot of your invitation, so you can print it out for inclusion in scrapbooks or keepsake boxes. It's nice to have a more permanent copy. Here's a video I made that explains taking a screen shot of your Paperless Post Invitations. (This is my first video ever, and for some reason, it sounds like I have a lisp!)

Paperless Post has not contacted or sponsored me in any way. I simply love the service and am thrilled to recommend it. My last three party planning guide customers have all used Paperless Post and have loved everything about it. With the purchase of their custom party planning guides, I was pleased to recommend a sample email invite and typeset all of their information.

When you sign up for a new Paperless Post account, you'll receive 25 free stamps to send invitations and 10 free coins, which allow you to add photos on envelope liners. Here's your invitation to join!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Please Vote: Project Wedding Contest

Oh my gosh!!! I just found out my article "Go Handmade for a Classy Look on a Small Budget" was selected as one of 10 finalists out of 100+ entries in Project Wedding's Budget Savvy Bride Contest. To make the news even sweeter, I was picked by Cathy of the wonderful Weddingbee blog, which is an awesome resource for brides and part of the eHarmony Wedding Network.

I need your help to win, though! Please vote for "Go Handmade for a Classy Look on a Small Budget" at Project Wedding.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Check Out The Indie Bride

My wedding was featured on The Indie Bride today! Planning my own wedding was what inspired me to create Belly Feathers and help others host highly personalized events of their own. Check out this article to see what started it all!

The Indie Bride is a fabulous resource for handmade wedding ideas and for finding handmade products to add special touches to your wedding. No wonder it's one of The Wedding Channel's Bridal Blog Awards finalists for 2010, so be sure to vote to help them win!

Monday, June 28, 2010

See Belly Feathers on Project Wedding

I'm excited to report that Belly Feathers has an article in Project Wedding's Budget Savvy Bride series. It is full of budget wedding tips, so check out the article now.