Blank Wedding Invitations at The Wedding Place!

Personalized Unity Candles and Unity Tapers - Our Newest Introduction!

2005-07-21T08:35:00.000-05:00

Thinkwedding.com is very pleased to announce our new line of personalized unity candles, unity tapers and memorial candles!

While I won't go into a lot of boring details here, my vision included gold and silver lettering with a reasonable selection of popular script fonts AT AN AFFORDABLE PRICE. Those seemed to be the key words.

First, we had to investigate the process. We are selling several unity candles from wedding manufacturers with gold and silver lettering, so it had to be possible--but how? Next, we had to find a machine that would produce satisfactory gold and silver lettering in the size and fonts we wanted to offer, and that took over two months. We found a number of machines, but by the time we bought the fonts as well, it wasn't financially feasible.

Then, had to find a supplier of quality pillars of the standard unity candle size, which is 3" in diameter and 9" tall, in both ivory and white at a price that would let us offer these candles to our savvy customers reasonably.

We noticed that there are a few websites that offer personalized unity candles, and a few even offer decorated tapers, but we felt that there were several things that we could offer that they couldn't.

It seemed that none offered gold or silver lettering that wasn't etched into the candle, which put the price of the candle out of the means of quite a few of us. Many times, the beautiful decorations extended so high on the candle, that the minute you lit it, part of the design would be lost. We also noticed that quite a few sites didn't offer the standard unity candle size of 9" tall, and a few didn't offer candles that were 3" in diameter, which meant that they wouldn't fit into a standard unity candle holder.

In addition, none of the candles we saw had the same kind of trim that was offered on commercial candles, and we didn't notice (we're sure they're out there, but we couldn't find them) any that offered personalized matching tapers. We felt that it would be especially nice if the mothers of the couple, or in the case of a second marriage, if each person who was to participate in the lighting of the unity candle have their own special taper with their names, or the name of the families in the case of the mothers on a taper.

Of course, with enough money, I image that anything could be created by hand, but we wanted candles with gold or silver print, in a variety of popular script fonts, available with or without some trim, in ivory or white, of a standard size. We wanted the lettering and any trim to be at least 1/2 way down on the candle so that there would be a minimum of a 6 hour burn time without ruining the design, and we absolutely demanded a dripless candle, so that the wax wouldn't run over the design. We wanted matching tapers with gold or silver lettering as well.

Oh, and the most important thing. We wanted to be able to offer our candles at a price that just about anyone could afford, and we wanted to be able to deliver them in a reasonable amount of time. Those turned out to be tall orders, but we think we have it at last!

So, introducing our new line of personalized unity candles! These are only a few of the candles that we plan to introduce within the next month.

Here are some samples; please visit us at http://www.thinkwedding.com/candles_unity-personalized.htm for the complete line.

Unity Candles


Bow with Gold Wedding Rings	Cross	Seashells	Entwined Pearls


"Today I married my best friend"	"From This Day Forward"	Satin Flowers

Here are our unity tapers. Tapers are $19.90 for a set of two and $9.95 for each additional taper with your choice of ivory or white and silver or gold lettering; we plan to offer additional tapers with trim very shortly.

Please pay us a visit at http://www.thinkwedding.com/ and see our new personalized unity candles!

New Introductions to our Blank Wedding Programs

2005-03-17T09:33:00.000-05:00

Up until recently, we have simply resold blank wedding programs that have been printed by commercial printers. We must confess, we felt that there might be room for some improvement in the available designs, as lovely as most of them are. The first area of improvement is the weight of the programs, many of which were used for covers, and the second area is the designs themselves.

Most of the covers we've seen and are still selling weigh between 24 lbs. and 28 lbs. at most, and we felt that they should be a little more substantial at 32 lbs, particularly if the bride is planning to punch two holes at the center and thread ribbon through. We didn't want anything heavier than that because most covers are booklet style and will have to be bent in the middle. In addition, wedding programs are usually stacked together and placed at or near the entrance to the church, and if the paper were too thick there would be difficulty making a neat stack, especially if there were a large number of programs.

The next area we felt could improve were the designs of the covers themselves. We've seen some lovely covers, but they didn't seem to take into account the colors of a wedding, or the theme of a wedding if there was one. Some of the loveliest had religious sayings on the front, which excluded those who might be of another religion than Christian, or who were planning a civil ceremony.

We have never done commercial printing at ThinkWedding, so before we could implement our ideas there was the issue of equipment, expertise, and supply. We spent some time locating two suppliers of the covers we wanted, at the price we knew we had to have if we were to keep our covers reasonable. Then we had to locate the printing equipment that would accurately print the colors we wanted, as fast as we needed, and again at the price that would keep us competitive.

Then, we had to develop the designs, and learn to run the printing equipment so that it would produce the high quality we knew we had to have to sell the blank wedding programs to our brides. Well, it took us a year, but we now have some initial designs, and we have acquired the equipment, expertise, and suppliers--and we're ready to go! We were a little amazed at the response, though. We haven't had our line of blank wedding programs on our website for more than about a week, and we've already had several orders for them, so we believe that we're on the right track.

Here are are very first designs. All are 8.5" x 11" bifolds; the design is on the front cover. We would certainly welcome your opinion; we're new to this. More information about these designs are available on our page here.


Pink Rose Border	Pink Calla Lilies	Lavender Roses	Lavender, Blue or Pink Lace Border


Periwinkle Roses	Blue Flower Border

We're particularly proud of our lavender roses and periwinkle roses programs. We had a great deal of difficulty getting the colors right. Periwinkle is a popular color for weddings, but there doesn't seem to be much out there in the way of stationery, programs or wrappers in that color.

We have a number of other designs in the works right now, including beach theme programs, and western theme programs, as well as religious themes, and we expect to have them up on our website by about next Monday, March 21st.

Some Questions About Shipping and Rush Orders

2005-03-16T10:01:00.000-05:00

Well, the wedding season is upon us again, and as usual this time of the year, we have people who need rush shipping, or shipping outside of the US. The first question we get is: Can you do it?

Well, of course we can do it! The problem we have on the website is there's a lot of variables to the price of rush shipping and shipping outside of the US, and we simply haven't been able to build a script that both works and is easy to understand! So what do you do if you need rush shipping, or shipping outside of the US?

Rush shipping first. First, decide if you really need rush shipping. Now we know that it sounds a little strange, but you need to know that our Bridal Gifts and Accessories, Bachelorette Party Items, Candles, Cake Toppers and Cake Top Figurines, Save the Date Magnets, Candy Wrappers, Candy Roll Labels, Wine Bottle Labels, Water Bottle Labels and White Umbrellas are shipped via Priority Mail from our Philadelphia warehouse. If you live around those areas, say, in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York--you're likely to get them in one to two days anyway. Right now, we're getting things as far as Connecticut and Rhode Island in two days! Our blank wedding stationery is shipped from Texas--usually via UPS, and our organza ribbon, organza pouches, etc. is shipped from our warehouse in San Diego--again, usually via UPS. So you need to ask yourself do you really need rush shipping, or do you live close enough that you're probably going to get it in one to two days anyway!

If you've decided that you really do need rush shipping, there are two things that you can do. The first is to order the item, then note in the comments box that PayPal has during the ordering process that you need rush shipping, and then for heaven's sake, monitor your emails! We usually reply to an order within an hour of the time it's placed, and at that time we'll have an answer regarding how much extra it's going to cost. I'm sure you all realize that the extra cost is a combination of both the distance and the weight, so now I think you can start to appreciate the difficulty of building an automated script. When we reply, we'll have the cost and options such as overnight and second day, and ask you to choose. Based on what you reply, we will then create a custom invoice through PayPal for the difference, and send you a link to it via email. When you click the link, it will shoot you directly to your invoice.

Now, all that sounds complicated, but to give you an idea of what's involved, yesterday I got a call from a delightful young lady in Texas, who need a rush order on a garter she wanted for a bachelorette party. Staying on the phone with her, I told her to order and pay for it, and note it need express shipping in the PayPal Comments box. I got the notifying email from PayPal immediately, and while I she was ordering on the website and paying through PayPal, I was looking up the Express shipping charges on the Postal Service website. By the time I got the email from PayPal about her order, I already knew what the extra charges would be, and I was preparing the custom PayPal invoice and email, which I sent to her. She clicked the link, paid the extra charges, and the whole transaction took less than 5 minutes!

The second method is to just send an email to info@thinkwedding.com, letting us know what it is you want and where (tentatively) you would like it sent. A zip code is all we need to look up the charges; you don't have to reveal anything else. We will get back to you within the hour to let you know what the options and charges are, and if you feel that they're worth it to you, we can create a custom invoice for the whole amount plus express shipping, then send you an email with a link directly to it. Whichever you choose is up to you.

There's one more catch about rush shipping that you need to realize: once it goes out of our hands, there's little we can do if it doesn't arrive on time. Yes, we know that both UPS and the postal service have guarantees--but you would be surprised how many ways they have of sneaking out of their commitments! The vast majority of the times, things are delivered when they're supposed to be delivered, but you are always running the risk that the package will not arrive when it's supposed to--and there's little we can do about it once it goes out of our hands.

Now, about orders outside the U.S. We send lots and lots of things to the UK--England, Scotland, Whales, Ireland, etc., as well things to Sweden, Israel, Spain and Japan and particularly to Canada. We're up against much the same problem though; each item has a different weight, and, of course, each destination costs a different amount. Again, it's difficult to build an automated website script to take all those things into account! If you would like to order something delivered outside of the U.S., use one of the two methods listed above. We'll find out the weight, tell you what shipping options you have and what the charges are, and you can make your decision as to which you would like to have.

We ship via the postal service exclusively Since we ship most frequently to the UK, we can tell you that the most reasonable charges and terms are Air Parcel Post, which is 4 to 7 days, and Global Priority, which is 4 to 6 days. The cheaper of the two is Air Parcel Post, and the difference in price, for the most part, just doesn't make Global Priority worth it for most people. By the way, whichever is chosen, it still seems to take 4 days to both Canada and the UK!

We make a lot of sales of our white umbrellas to England and Scotland as well as to Washington state, and we've been told that it's because it rains a lot in those places. We do have a problem with the umbrellas that are standard size (42") and the golf sizes (48" and 60") though; because the packages measure over 84" total area (length, width, height), they come under a different, and a little more expensive, pricing schedule.

We found that a wonderful solution was the 42" white folding umbrellas. Even through they are full-size, they fold down to about 10", which makes a shipment of even several outside the US economical!

We hope that this goes a little way to easing anxieties and answering one of the most commonly asked questions!

How to Make a Shower Umbrella - Part 2

2005-02-17T09:45:00.000-05:00

In the first part of this article, we discussed how we get white umbrellas to use for weddings and showers in the first place, since white umbrellas are not manufactured in any size, a method of dyeing an umbrella to use as bridesmaid's or flower girl's parasols, and the sizes you might prefer to use to make a shower umbrella. We said that we prefer the 34", which is slightly smaller than the standard size umbrella, but not too small to work well as a shower decoration or to hang over the honoree's chair.

We didn't mention that the 34" and 42" umbrellas with a lace border are actually done here at Thinkwedding by a misguided and masochistic member of our staff. (Hey, don't rat on me!) We also didn't mention, and it's not pictured on our website, that we do completely decorated shower umbrellas. They are done to order, but we have inserted pictures at the bottom of this article.

First, the materials you're going to need. If you're going to use rows of lace over the entire umbrella, as most people do, you're going to need lace that is 4" wide, and it should be pre-gathered. That is, it should be already gathered before you purchase it from the store. It is possible to use ungathered lace, but it's more expensive.

Materials to create a shower umbrella
34" umbrella - 15 yards gathered lace - white
42" umbrella - 18 yards gathered lace - white
needle & white thread - even if you're using colored lace
straight pins - long quilting pins are great
10 to 25 yards ribbon - satin or organza if you want to decorate with ribbon
pencil or fabric-marking pen (the purple kind that disappear after 24 hours)

If you are planning to use multiple colors, you will find that it can be difficult to get the colors you want with the same pattern and width of lace (gee, how would we know that?). We ended up solving the problem by dyeing the lace ourselves before it's attached to the umbrella.

Currently, we use Ritz die and have not found it a problem to use, but in the near future, we plan to try out the floral paint spray we mentioned in Part 1 to color the umbrella fabric to see if it works on lace. By the time you read this article, we should know how successful it is, so please drop us a line at info@theweddingplace.com and we will be happy to tell you. By the way, we have given generous yardages--using the materials list above, you should not run out of lace on the last row.

The first thing you want to do is locate a small trash basket to hold the umbrella semi-upright while you work. The next step, if you're planning to do this while you watch television at night (which is about the only free time most of us have), is to clear anything like sodas off of any nearby tables (again, how would we know that?).

Put your lace either in the basket underneath the umbrella handle, or in a box or other small container on the left side of the umbrella if you're right-handed or the right if you're left-handed. Get your needle and thread together. There are very long needles for sale that are designed to be used to make teddy bears, and they come in various thicknesses. If you can buy a pack of the thinnest long needles, it will cut down on your work, because you're going to be making long basting stitches. Thread several of the needles in advance, and use double-thread; that is, when you thread the needle, bring both edges of the thread even, and tie them together in a knot at the bottom.

First, cut two pieces of you lace to about 3" long. You will be using that to mark where you will place your rows. Starting at one spoke, pin the first piece of lace at the bottom of the umbrella. The edge of the lace should either cover the spoke slightly, or leave the spoke visible, but the edge covered by the lace. Incidentally, even though your umbrella is curved between the spokes, you will be sewing straight rows of lace.

Pin the next lace sample directly above the first sample to measure where the next row is to go. The edge of the lace should overlap the first row by between 1.25" to 3/4". Mark the top edge of both lace samples with your pencil or fabric marker. Unpin the bottom sample of lace, and move it up to mark the next row. You will find that you can fit six rows of lace for the 34" umbrella, and 8 rows of lace for the 42" white umbrella. Use the gather that is already in the lace, until you get to the top two rows. At that point (more about this later), you will need to gather your lace a little more to fit and look well around a smaller circumference.

Now that you have the starting point of your rows marked--you need to pin the first layer of lace on. Start at the bottom, about 2.5" from a spoke--not directly on the spoke, and pin your lace all the way around the umbrella. Where the lace joins, try to match the pattern. Starting just before the join, insert your needle in the top edge of the lace. The knot in the needle will be covered by the lace in the next row. Attach the lace to the umbrella using wide basting stitches on the top and very small stitches underneath, where the stitching will be seen. You can place your stitches about 1 1/2" to 2" apart, and if you are using a long needle, you can actually take three stitches at a time before pulling up the thread.

Using the marks for the rows that you made with your sample lace, pin and stitch the next row, and all the rows up to the second row from the top. At that point, you are going to need to gather your lace slightly for the second row from the top, and more for the first row.

There are two ways to put extra gather in the lace. The first method is to pin your lace on each spoke and leave extra lace between the spokes as you pin. If you did it that way, you would sew the lace to the spoke, then place your needle in and out of the lace to the next spoke and then pull up the lace to fit, making it gather.

The second method is to pin the lace to the first spoke, put your needle only in the lace--not the umbrella, and run a line of stitching around, stopping to pin the lace to the umbrella as it fits. That would mean going around the row twice--once to gather and once to attach it to the umbrella, but it's probably easier than the first method, if this is your first umbrella.

The last row needs a lot of gather, as you will see when you try to pin the lace. It's a temptation not to be enthusiastic with gathering, but if you don't use almost double the amount of lace, the last row of lace will stand up off of the umbrella instead of laying flat as the other rows do.

We have been asked about hot gluing the lace to the umbrella instead of sewing and we gave it a try. There is even hot glue on the market especially for fabric. We found that it didn't secure the lace very well, took longer than sewing, was awkward and difficult--and an awful mess. The glue designed for fabric was actually worse than the clear type of hot glue. We also tried the lower temperature hot glue, and it wasn't any easier or better.

We did find, though, that if we used organza ribbon to finish the umbrella instead of satin, it was a dream to do with hot glue. This is the top of a baby shower umbrella we did for a party supply store that wanted to rent out shower umbrellas. The ribbon on top took all of about three minutes to do with hot glue. We tried another umbrella with satin ribbon, but the results were not worth it. It handled about like the lace did when we tried to use hot glue, and we ended up having to sew it on.

The bottom line on finishing your umbrella with ribbon is that if you want to use satin ribbon, you're probably going to have to sew it. If you use organza ribbon you can easily get away with hot glue; in fact, we did a better job with the hot glue than we did with needle and thread, and it didn't take nearly as long to do it.

Ok, as promised, here are some pictures of the fully decorated shower umbrellas we have done, and they are currently available for sale. We usually sell these for between $35.00 and $40.00 depending on the size and whether it's all-white or two or more colors (dyeing, remember?), and because our market is generally party supply stores and catering halls and restaurants, we don't have them pictured on our site, other than to mention that we do them.

Please click on each picture to see a larger image

These are two different views each of three different umbrellas. The umbrella on the left is all white, but has not yet been decorated with ribbon. The umbrella in the center is made of pink, blue, and white lace in alternating rows; all the lace was originally white, and the pink and blue were dyed with Ritz dye. It has not yet been finished with ribbon.

The umbrella on the right was the most difficult and time-consuming to do; it is made of white lace, with alternating rows of pink and blue satin instead of lace. The effect, as you can see, was lovely, but the satin was much more difficult to both handle and to gather properly. We had difficulties getting enough of a gather in the satin, and it was was much more difficult to accurately cut the satin into 5" strips, then put 1/2" hem on both sides so that it wouldn't ravel. The third umbrella has been decorated with 5/8" organza ribbon; in fact, it is the ribbon that we sell on our website (well, it was handy!). The ribbon was not sewn--it was hot glued, and it only took us a few minutes to achieve the effect that you see here.

Good luck! By the way, if we have just found a source for the floral paint that we mentioned in part 1. For some reason, it was difficult to find on the web using the search engines. Because outbound links count in the search engines, we are not going to mention the site here, but if you will drop us a line at info@thinkwedding.com, we will be glad to share the information.

How to Make A Shower Umbrella - Part 1

2005-02-15T14:08:00.000-05:00

This article is in two parts. The first part covers the umbrella you would select, the possibility of dieing the umbrella, and the sizes you might use for a shower umbrella.

Part two covers the materials you will need, approximate yardage, and the methods used to create a shower umbrella.

Since Thinkwedding is one of the few websites to feature white umbrellas of various sizes, we get a lot of inquiries about creating shower umbrellas, and also about dieing umbrellas to be used as parasols by bridesmaids, flower girls, or both.

There are so many uses for white umbrellas, but all white umbrellas of any size is so difficult to get! After a lot of searching, we found one of the few umbrella makers left in the United States. They can no longer make a living out of making regular sized umbrellas; their specialty is now making the huge outdoor umbrellas. Because it's worthwhile paying more for umbrellas that can be completely repaired when they're that large, they do a considerable business with hotel chains.

They did, however, have the machinery and supplies to make ordinary umbrellas, if I could give them sizeable enough orders to set it up and run it, which is what I ended up doing. Obviously, we didn't start out with a lot of sizes because of the huge orders we had to place, but over time we have been able to add the sizes we though would be most useful to our visitors.

All this background is leading to the fact that we sometimes get requests for other colors, because a bride wants her bridesmaids to carry parasols that match their dresses. I have also had requests for ivory. Now that you know what we went through just to get white, I'm sure you understand why it's not financially feasible to carry colors. We just found a solution, though!

We found out that if you use spray floral paint, that it not only colors the fabric of an umbrella beautifully, but it's completely water resistant, which is something we didn't expect. We took a teal floral spray, which is ordinarily use to "tip" flowers such as carnations and daisies, and sprayed the white fabric on a 34" umbrella. We waited for about 2 minutes, then ran it under the faucet, with the water at full spray--and would you believe--it didn't run at all! The water was completely clear!

We then decided to try it with a black umbrella and found that it really darkened the color, because after all, it is a spray. What we wanted to determine is if we could avoid having to order white umbrellas at all, but found out it doesn't work that way. Incidentally, when we checked the underside of the fabric, we found out that the color shows all the way through.

So now all you brides that wanted things like peach and periwinkle last year, which are two colors that are open to wide interpretations, you can now do it yourself! One of the questions we had when we experiemented with this was could we get an even color with a spray, but it turned out that we could indeed get even color if we used wide sweeping even strokes and kept the spray bottle about 15" to 18" away from the fabric. If you want to keep anything white, like the spoke at the top or the spokes at the ends of the fabric, be sure to cover them up with tape, because the spray did color them as well, and it was again resistant to smearing and water.

We haven't checked yet, but we believe that floral sprays are available through craft stores, and they are certainly available through floral supply houses. We also know that they come in a wide range of colors, which ought to suit anyone's color interpretation! Incidentally, if you're searching the internet, the most likely words are "flower supplies" or "floral supplies." We did a quick search before writing this article, and what did we see right away but Antique White! This is a shade between white and ivory, and would probably be perfect for the requests I've have for ivory. I'm not sure how much to buy for our 60" umbrellas, but one can would be more than sufficient for our 34" and 42" ones.

That introduces the next subject, and that is what size would be the best for bridal shower umbrellas? We feel that the 34" size is ideal. Umbrellas are measured from the tip of the spoke on one side to the tip of the spoke on the other side. So a 34" umbrella would not measure 34" across, but slightly less than that, because you measure over the arc on the top of the umbrella. The 34" size is the size of a child's umbrella; that is, it could be used by child of between 4 and 10. It is slightly smaller than a standard size umbrella.

The alternative size would be a 42" umbrella. This is a standard size umbrella that you would see on the street and used by an adult. It is also the size of most folding umbrellas--the kind that fold into 13" to 15" when not in use.

The reason we favor the 34" umbrella for decorating as a shower umbrella is because it is large enough to be used as a decoration, but since it is slightly smaller than a standard umbrella, you don't have to use as much lace and ribbon to decorate it. In addition, if an umbrella is too large, it can be a challenge to place correctly on a table, or hang over the honoree's chair. In other words, we feel it's just large enough, but not too large.

There is another size umbrella that may be useful, and that's the 20" umbrella. This is definitely a small umbrella and while you wouldn't use it for the main decoration, it works beautifully as accent decorations on buffet tables, and as centerpieces on tables.

In part two of this article, we will discuss the materials and yardage you may want to use to decorate your umbrella, as well as methods and techniques we have tried--which worked and which didn't. We'll have pictures, as well!

Custom Wine Label New Additions

2005-02-11T11:42:00.000-05:00

Thinkwedding is pleased to announce some new additions to our exclusive line of wine bottle labels. The new additions are divided into four major categories:

General - Floral designs, wedding bells, etc.

Themes
Western and Beach themes

Religious, Christian and Jewish
including angels

Bridal Shower
although most of our designs can be used for showers and wedding anniversaries as well.

As discussed in our last article about wine labels, Custom Wine Labels for Weddings we can place photos on our wine labels as well for a flat charge of $4.50, and since all our labels are printed on water resistant photographic quality high-gloss paper with adhesive backing, the photos will be sharp and detailed. If you do want a photo, however, please consider that some designs will look better than others with the addition of a photo. In fact, some designs will have to be slightly altered if a photo is added.

Of course, since we email a screen shot of the labels for your approval on all orders, if the added photo just doesn't look right to you, you can simply let us know and we will change whatever needs to be changed before printing, as you direct. All of our orders must be approved before we print and ship.

These designs are exclusive to us and of course copyrighted. The new designs are the result of requests we have received. We hope that you like them, and we hope they will make a welcome addition to your wedding!

Custom Wine Labels for Weddings

2005-02-09T09:32:00.000-05:00

One of the newest trends in personalization is the use of custom labels for wine bottles. There are some lovely designs available, both at Thinkwedding and other sites, but they serve a practical purpose as well. They mark the bottles that have been purchased by the couple, and make it difficult to switch brands or to charge for extra bottles.

In addition, some of our couples have used them as part of a table centerpiece surrounded by flowers. The wine bottle at the center of the centerpiece was to be used especially for the toasts to the bride and groom. Recently, we had a bride who had decided to attach place cards to small bottles of wine as a gift to her guests.

The bride who was using the tiny wine bottles as favors and place card holders did need to have our regular size altered so that the label wrapped around the bottle, but was only 2.5" high. Thinkwedding generally does this at no extra charge, and we did so in her case.

Wine bottle labels are not confined to bottles of wine, however. Our clients have used them on bottles of homemade and gourmet jams and jellies as favors and place card holders. The labels produced by Thinkwedding generally measure 4" tall and 3.33" wide, and, although they were designed for 1.5 liter wine bottles, will fit a wide assortment of bottles, including most .725 liter wine bottles, as well as other jars and bottles.

A wonderful finishing touch for wine and other bottles is to place them in organza or translucent bags. There are a wide assortment of sizes of organza bags available for the purpose, as well as a wider assortment of colors.

Thinkwedding offers all kinds of themes as well as colors that match the colors of the wedding. Although we display each label with a specific color background, it can be altered to suit the tastes and needs of the bride. In addition, there is a wide assortment of religious and beach themes, as well as florals of all kinds.

We are often asked if we can place photos on a label, and how is it done. We can and do place photos on labels quite often for a flat charge of $4.50 regardless of the quantity of labels ordered. If the photo has been taken with a digital camera, it is generally in a file that ends with .jpg, and can be sent to us via email. If the photo is not in digital format, in other words, it was taken with a camera that has film in it, the photo or a copy of the photo can be sent to us to be scanned into a digital format.

When a couple orders labels, we send an email almost immediately to let them know that we have received the order, and to expect another email shortly with a screen capture of their completed order for their approval. At Thinkwedding, we don't print or ship your labels until they have been seen and approved. Changes, even if it wasn't what was originally ordered, are made at no charge. It can be hard to visualize a finished label in the font and font color, and we insist that our brides be happy with what they've ordered. It's very easy for all of us when using those drop-down boxes that list the styles to accidentally select the wrong design.

We have gotten emails back from brides in a panic after they saw the image of their order, because they thought they would have to pay for a design they ordered by mistake! Accidents happen, we don't charge extra for changes and we simply switched styles to the one they wanted and resent the image in the correct style.

Another request we often get is for a completely different design. In those cases, the bride and groom are using a specific graphic, and they would like to have it duplicated on a label. Usually, that's no problem, and if it doesn't take too long, there's no additional charge!

We hope that we have given you some useful ideas. Wine labels are a fun and inexpensive addition to a wedding.

About Custom Candy Bar Wrappers

2005-02-01T09:19:00.000-05:00

We have had many inquiries regarding our custom candy wrappers, mini-candy bar wrappers, match book mints, candy roll labels, and wine and water bottle labels for weddings, so we're attempting to answer some questions we have been asked. We will have separate articles for the wine and water bottle lables, match book mints and candy roll labels; we have had additional questions about them. The questions answered here apply to all our custom labels.

What are candy wrappers used for?

For weddings and bridal showers, they're usually used for favors, although some of our clever brides have developed other uses for them. As favors, they're left at each place at the table or a handful can be left at the center of the table surrounding or even in the centerpiece, and if you think about it, it's a very inexpensive way to offer your guests a favor!

We've also had brides that ordered them for use as place cards--and we think it's a clever way to combine both a favor and a place card! Still others have actually used the wrapped chocolate bars in thank you arrangements to their wedding party that can be presented at the rehearsal dinner with their gift, and to any relatives and friends who helped them. The mini-wrapped bars look great in organza favor bags!

What size are the candy bar wrappers designed to fit?

The full bar size fits 1.55 oz. candy bars. That's the size of the Hershey's bar that usually costs $1.00, but it also fits other candy bars that size, such as Mr. Goodbar (also a Hershey product). The mini-wrappers fit the Hershey's Miniatures. Both sizes candy bar wrappers are produced on glossy coated paper. Since a picture is worth 1,000 words, here are some examples:

Full-Size Wrappers

Mini-wrappers

Why don't you also offer the wrappers already wrapped with chocolate?

We only provide the wrappers for a number of good reasons. If we offered chocolate bars already wrapped, we could only safely ship the bars during the cooler months, and in certain parts of the country, that might only be three months!

Another extremely good reason is that we would have to charge you for wrapping the bars--and why should you pay us? They're not hard to do, but of course they take a little time. If the wrappers are ordered at least some time before the wedding, there's time to do them, for instance, while watching television. There's also time to get others involved as well. Of course, we include instructions with an order to get you started, but the wrappers were designed and tested to fit precisely, and it only takes one or two to get the idea.

Why don't the wrappers have an adhesive backing?

We considered making the wrapper backings adhesive like our wine and water bottle labels, until we found out that once you wrapped the wrapper around the bar, you had about a 50-50 chance of getting it off again if it wasn't in position without ruining the wrapper. If you use glue sticks or "wet" glue with an applicator on the top. you have a minute or two to reposition the candy wrapper, and the worst that can happen is you have to use a second application of glue.

Do you accept custom orders, and what are the extra charges?

It is possible to customize the wrapper size, and only very rarely is there an extra charge for doing so. We definitely do place photo of the bridal couple, and we charge a flat charge of $4.00 for the entire order--that's not considered a custom order at all. Quite often, a bride will request a different background color, different layout (such as when they are to be used as place cards as well), or they already have a graphic they are using for the entire wedding and would like on the wrappers. Can do--and again, probably at no extra charge!

What happens when I place an order--what's the process?

First of all, if you feel that you would like a little feedback before you place your order, maybe because you have special requirements (see the above) or just because you don't like the idea of dealing with an automated system, feel free to contact us at info@thinkwedding.com. We also have a few links on the page at strategic places, so that you can email first with inquiries. Suppose you place an order, and there are things you left out, or you picked the wrong design, or you found another font you like better, or you need it sent to another address. No problem!

First of all, PayPal allows for notes to us during the ordering process, and it's included in the notification sent to us via email. Second, we contact everyone via email when we receive an order of any kind, usually within an hour of receiving an email notice from PayPal that an order had been placed. Third, we send a screen shot of your order for your approval, and we don't print or consider the order firm until you have approved it!

You order the style from a drop-down box, and it's not hard to get the wrong one and not notice it. That's OK--when you get your screen shot, you certainly will notice it, and just let us know and we'll switch--no charge! Believe me, occasionally it's happened!

What happens if I want a photograph added to my candy wrapper?

Not a problem--if you've ordered a bar sized label. If you've ordered mini candy bar labels, while we could conceivably put a photo on the mini-candy bar wrappers, it would be too small to see. On the order form for the standard sized bar labels, there is a check box if you want a photo added on the web page, so we're alerted to expect a photo. When we send you the first email to acknowledge your order, we also note that you have ordered a photo placed, and explain how you can do that and where you can send it. There are instructions on the order form as well.

What if I want changes or additions to my order after I've ordered it?

That is exactly why we send you a screen shot of your order--to give you the opportunity to see what you're ordering and to request changes. We emphasize in the email that you are under no obligation to approve something you're not completely happy with--and we mean it. We have actually had brides that ordered the wrong style of wrapper by mistake, and didn't realize that they had done that until they received their screen captures via email. Usually, they're in an panic, because they think they're going to have to take that style because that's what they ordered. WRONG! We've had offers to pay extra charges, and all kinds of panic reactions, but it's no extra charge, and no problem--we just correct the style and send them another image.

We get a lot of orders for custom wedding candy wrappers at Thinkwedding.com. We like to think that there's two reasons for that: the designs and the reasonable price. We're not so desperate for business that we would try to get a bride to settle for something they're not completely happy with. It's very worth while to us to go to a little extra trouble to make it so, and if that means a few design changes and a little extra trouble, so be it!

Quite often, we get an order for a font color and feel that it might look better in another color, so we do both, take two screen shots and send them to you, with a note of explanation in the email and ask you to make a choice, so you're not the only one that can initiate changes!

How long does it take to get my candy wrappers, once I've ordered them?

Our web page says that we print and ship within two days of approval. In other words, the wrappers were ordered, the image was sent, and we received an email back, approving the image. Well, that's really only a built-in stopgap in case something happens around here like a power failure or a mass rebellion on the part of the staff (that's happened too--you gotta be a little nuts, anyway). Generally, we print and ship on the same day that we get approval.

We hope that this little article has helped to clarify things, but if you have further questions, just drop us a line at info@thinkwedding.com, and we'll do all we can to help.

Wedding Invitation Etiquette--Who Does the Inviting?

2005-01-31T01:15:00.000-05:00

We get inquiries from time to time regarding the name or names that should be listed as the inviters, or hosts. The answer is quite simple: whoever is paying is the host, and therefore the people who are listed.

For instance, if the parents of the bride are paying for the church and reception, excluding the items that are traditionally considered to be the grooms expenses, such as the flowers for the couple's mothers, the bridal bouquet, etc., the wording would be:

Mr. and Mrs. John Doe
invite you to celebrate
the marriage of their daughter
Miss Alicia Doe
to
Mister Richard John Anyman
on Saturday, February twenty-eighth
two thousand and five
at
Ebenezer Baptist Church
Thirty Misty Lane
Anywhere, Alabama

If both parents were paying relatively the same amount of the expenses, they would be the hosts together, as in:

Mr. and Mrs. John Doe
and
Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Anyman
invite you to celebrate the marriage of their children

If the couple themselves were paying for the majority of the wedding, they would be the hosts, and the wording would be:

Miss Alicia Doe
and
Mister Richard John Anyman
invite you to attend their marriage

While their parents might be paying for a small part of the wedding, they would not be considered the hosts if the lion's share of the expenses were met by the couple. For instance, one set of parents might offer to pay for transportation for the couple and wedding party, and the other set of parents might offer to pay for an open bar. They would not be listed as the hosts, because those expenses are only a small part of the ceremony and reception.

If the expenses were to be split equally between both parents and the couple, the invitation would read:

Miss Alicia Doe
and
Mr. Richard John Anyman
together with their parents
Mr. and Mrs. John Doe
and
Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Anyman

Despite the etiquette listed above, the couple might find themselves in a situation where one or both sets of parents become offended that they have not been listed by name on the invitation. In such cases, you have two options. The first option is to list them as the parents of, while the couple still does the inviting. The second might involve something like a little blackmail, such as, "You can consult any etiquette book, and they all say that the person or persons that pay are the hosts and do the inviting." However, if you would like us to change the wording . . . Well, you get the idea.

The wording to including the parents by name, while still indicating the hosts would read:

Miss Alicia Doe
daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. John Doe
and
Mr. Richard Anyman
son of
Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Anyman

invite you to attend the celebration of their marriage

On a formal wedding invitation, notice that nothing except "Mr." and Mrs." on an invitation is abbreviated, and numbers are spelled out. Some invitation manufacturers still recommend using the English style spelling as well, such as "honour" rather than "honor," but that is now considered not only optional, but today some regard using English-style spelling as affected. Notice also that a zip code in any form is not used

Deceased parents are not including on a wedding invitation; they could not possibly be the hosts, even if they left one of the couple to be married money for that purpose, because the money would be an inheritance. Deceased parents may be remembered on the dedication page of your wedding program, and could also be remembered during the lighting of the unity candle, with their own special candle of remembrance.

Using Vellum in Wedding Invitations

2005-01-27T15:11:00.000-05:00

A vellum overlay can be a lovely addition to an invitation. Vellum comes in sizes to accommodate the single, Bifold, Trifold, royal and marquis size of invitation. In addition, you can purchase vellum in 8 1/2" x 11" sheets and use it as the inner sheet in a wedding program. As shown in the third picture from the left, it can be attached with a narrow ribbon, organdy ribbon or metallic cord. The vellum can be the same size as the card, but it is generally very slightly smaller.

	This is a sheet of unprinted vellum lying on top of a single invitation.
	This single invitation has the design printed on the invitation, and the words printed on the vellum. It is tied with an organza ribbon, which lays nicely in an envelope. The template is from our Invitation Template Collection
	This is another single invitation with the design (could be a picture of the couple) printed on the invitation, and tied with a narrow satin ribbon. A bow would probably crush in an envelope.
	This is another view of a sheet of vellum, this time attached to the invitation. Note that it is slightly smaller than the invitation itself. Although it can be the same size, it tends to stand out better if it is slightly smaller.

There are some things to watch out for when purchasing vellum, however. There are several different types, weights and characteristics sold, and unless you ask, it can be difficult to determine if you have the right one. Some vellum is designed exclusively for commercial printing, some is designed for inkjet printers only, some for only laser printers, and some is manufactured for both inkjet and laser printers. In addition, its weight must be substantial enough to go through these printers without jamming or tearing.

Vellum can be tricky to lay out; if the design is too "busy" your guests will be unable to read the invitation without lifting the vellum. The invitation can be printed on the card with a design in back, or the invitation can be printed on the card itself, with the design on the vellum. We recommend that the design not overlay the words, as it is in the third picture from the left. You can see that a guest might have difficulty reading the words of the invitation. If your invitation's design could be printed on one card without over writing the design, it is possible to use a vellum overlay as well, and will look charming when there is an overlay. Please also keep in mind that if you had ordered this treatment from a commercial printer, vellum overlays can not be engraved (raised), which skirts the issue of a homemade wedding invitation versus a handmade invitation!

Vellum is not restricted to wedding invitations, though; many brides are now using full sheet (8.5" x 11") vellum as the inside pages of their wedding programs.

To attach the vellum to the card, there are two treatments that you can use. You can attach the vellum to the card using either ribbon or staples, and you can attach the vellum to the top of the card if it is a single invitation or a booklet-type, or, if you wish to use the full-sheet vellum (8.5" x 11"), you can attach it to the fold in the invitation.

If you are using staples and attaching your vellum to the top of your invitation, use two staples approximately 1.25" to 1.5" from each edge. If you are using organza ribbon, which is what we recommend, punch two holes at the top about 1.5" to 1.75" from each edge. Don't put your holes too close together; if you do, the vellum won't stay in place correctly.

If you are attaching your vellum to the fold in the invitation or program, place either the staples or punch the holes if you're using ribbon about 2" to 2 1/2" from the top and bottom of the invitation or program. If the program or invitation is 5.5" high, use the 2 1/2" measurement, if it is shorter than that, use the 2" measurement.

The reason that we recommend organza ribbon instead of satin is because it it easier to handle and it lays better when inserted in an envelope. You want to use 3/8" to 7/8" ribbon of any type--it should not be either narrorer or wider than that. While we do sell organza ribbon because we offer a wide variety of colors, we chose to offer it because we felt it was superior to satin, and we could offer it at a good price. If you have decided on standard colors, it is available at any fabric store.

ThinkWedding's Vellum for Inkjet and Laser Printers

The Bride's Wedding Day Necessaries

2005-01-25T09:30:00.000-05:00

We have received several emails lately, requesting more information or suggestions about what we would consider necessary to bring to the church and reception on the wedding day. While this may not be a complete list, it may help to avert the pesky last-minute disasters on the most important day of a girl's life.

The key to a smooth wedding that goes the way it was planned is preparation, preparation, preparation. Brides and their mothers should be mentally walking through every second of the big day months in advance and trying to think through those things that will be required, as well as those things that may be required.

The first necessary thing are refreshments for the bride and her bridesmaids. Light refreshments, particularly liquids are essential, before the ceremony, and if there will be a delay between the ceremony and reception, there should be refreshments after the ceremony. Many a bride or bridesmaid has fainted during the ceremony because this detail was forgotten. Obviously, the key word here is light. The other key phrase is go before you get there. Don't forget to provide inexpensive dusters to cover their dresses if the bridesmaids arrive at your house already dressed, but for heaven's sake, make sure all of them have had a bite to eat and something to drink. Juices are especially helpful in keeping the blood sugar level up--as well as everyone upright--during the ceremony. Don't allow either yourself or your bridesmaids to be "hustled" out the door--no matter how late you are--until you have all had a chance to visit the bathroom.

The bride should bring with her anything she will need to refresh her makeup, chalk, toothpaste (these two are helpful if a stain appears, God forbid!), and at least tissues, if not a handkerchief. The bride should also bring with her a extra pair of shoes that she has worn before and knows are comfortable. It is quite possible to break a heel, and a bride can get quite cranky after hours on her feet in new shoes.

On arrival at the site of the ceremony, the bride should have a helper or assistant, whether it is a professional wedding planner, friend, or member of the family, who has in her possession a kit of "necessaries" for the bridal party. These should include:

Extra pairs of stockings in case of a run in a nude shade.
Insole pads for shoes.
Heel lifts for shoes--you can get these at shoemakers, high-end shoe stores, and some department stores.
Several sewing needles, and lengths of thread in black, white, and the colors of the bridesmaids.
Scissors--a 6" to 8" pair--not those little travel kind.
Hem tape
Small, medium, and large safety pins, and paper clips.
Band Aids
Tissues - several little travel packs to hand out.
Umbrellas, folding for the bridesmaids, large golf umbrella for the bride and groom.
Aspirin, acetaminophen, antidiarrhea and allergy medicines
Bottled water for taking aspirin
Antacid
Breath mints
Seltzer water in a small bottle for stomachs and stains
Isopropyl alcohol - helpful for lifting stains, but try on the inside of a hem first
Comb
Brush
Hair Spray
Bobby pins
Emery boards
Scotch tape
Crazy glue
Spot remover
Toothpaste and chalk - these can cover a stain on a wedding dress if necessary.
Clear nail polish for runs in pantyhose
Blotting papers for shiny noses
Extra cash, extra place cards, pens
Eye drops
Makeup and mirror
Antistatic spray
Straws
Tampons and sanitary pads

Although it's not at all necessary, bridal shops, party supply stores, and of course, Thinkwedding sells Bride's necessary bags. These are inexpensive white satin bags that the bride can carry to the church and reception that can hold her personal "necessaries."

With the items on this list, the bride can go a long way to averting a last-minute disaster on the most important day of her life!

About Save the Date Magnets

2005-01-21T01:18:00.000-05:00

Save the Date magnets are probably the hottest new trend among brides. They are custom printed refrigerator magnets, usually about the size of a business card, that are sent to your future wedding guests between 12 months to 4 months before your wedding.

The whole concept of a Save the Date notification--whether by card or magnet or both--is a relatively new one. Wedding invitations are traditionally sent 6 to 8 weeks in advance of the wedding, and it is often too late for your guests to request the time off from work, especially if your guests will need to travel to attend your wedding. In addition, most inexpensive airline fares require advance purchase. A Save the Date magnet announcing your wedding functions as both an announcement of your wedding and wedding date, and a notification that they will be invited.

Up until recently, brides sent Save the Date cards, and often still do, but if a magnet is sent either alone or with a card, it is something that people can put on their refrigerators, so that they won't forget about your wedding date until it is too late for them to attend, whereas a card is easily lost.

The rise in popularity of Save the Date magnets--either as an addition to a card or performing the dual function of card and magnet--can be directly attributed to Martha Stewart, who recommended them during one of her segments and on her website.

We did see a study a short time ago, when were considering adding the magnets to our website, that indicated that it increased attendance as weddings, particularly if most of the guests lived away the city where the ceremony was planned. We're trying to find the study again, but we were impressed with the information at the time, and it did weigh heavily on our decision to offer them to our visitors.

Thinkwedding offers custom Save the Date magnets, as do some other websites. It is important to compare sizes as well as styles and price; anything below a business card size (3.5" x 2") will probably not fit the necessary information, and may not be readily seen on a refrigerator as well, which certainly defeats the whole purpose of sending them!

At Thinkwedding.com, is possible to place a photograph of the couple on the magnet, for a flat charge of $4.00, regardless of the quantity ordered. While it is nice to include a photograph of the couple, and it certainly makes the magnet stand out, consider the fact that the words and design will have to be made smaller to accommodate the photo, and that may be less than desirable.

Another factor to consider is what kind of surface the magnet will have. You should have a high-resolution, preferably high-gloss photographic surface on the magnet, and it should be at least water resistant. The kitchen is often a humid area both in Summer and Winter, hands are often dripping when they open a refrigerator door, and you don't want the ink on your magnet to run as it hangs on the refrigerator! While that will certainly impress your guests, it won't do a thing for your reputation!

The typical Save the Date magnet has the words, "Save the Date," or, "Please Save the Date," along with up to four lines of print. They should contain the names of the couple and the date, as well as the celebration. Other details should be omitted.

Typical wording would look like:

Save the Date!
for our wedding on
January 25, 2005

Mary Anderson and John Doe

Most vendors offering custom Save the Date magnets also include designs along with the wording; it makes a most attractive notification--one that your future guest will be glad to place on their refrigerators!

While Save the Date magnets are still primarily used for weddings, they are becoming popular for other celebrations as well; we are designing a line of magnets for graduations, baby showers, bridal showers, anniversary and birthday parties, and as new baby announcements for an additional website we are developing.

Printing Your Own Wedding Invitations, Wedding Programs, and other Wedding Stationery

2005-01-20T09:30:00.000-05:00

Some of our visitors are a little intimidated with the mechanics of actually printing their own wedding invitations, wedding programs, RSVP cards, place cards, Save the Date cards, or other wedding stationery, so we thought we would put a few observations here. The biggest question is: can it be done at home? We would like to say a resounding YES--even if you don't have a lot of experience with computers or printing!

We do a lot of printing at Thinkwedding, and we have a lot of printers, both inkjet and color laser printers, so we've had a chance to see what problems there might with various printers.

Obviously, you want the invitations that are to set the tone of your wedding to look well, and it's quite possible to do it, but there are a few tricks. You will need to make some preparations, if you want your project to turn out well.

Let's face it--the easiest thing to do would be to go to a stationery or party supply store, pick out a style, hand what you want to say to the clerk and pay up--but that's the catch. You can save quite a bit of money by printing your own invitations, but it will require some input on your part.

You are also going to gain flexibilty. If you are printing your own invitations and in particular, wedding programs, if circumstances change, you can change your template. For instance, what if someone has to drop out of the wedding at the last minute--you have the ability to change your wedding program. What if the invitations come in from the printer--and they're not right? Remember My Big Fat Greek Wedding, when the mother of the groom's name was misspelled Harry instead of Harriet--and it was too late to correct? If you have your programs or invitations printed, you generally can't have very much color--and that means pretty bland artwork.

Your first step is to cut regular paper to the size of the stationery you are planning to print on, for test prints. For instance, if your blank wedding invitations measure 5.5" wide and 7.75" high, you will need at least 10 sheets cut to 5.5" x 7.75".

Next, if you have a Word template, the size has already been set up for you; simply type the words that you want to say in the box. The font, or lettering style, is probably not the one you want to have. Using your mouse pointer, highlight the words you have just typed, then right-click and select Font. Each font that you highlight in the box that comes up will show you a preview of the font style. Click on the style that you want. You should also select a font size; start at 14 point. There is also a Font Color box. Click the arrow next to it, and select a font color you like; the default is black.

Take a look at the words that you have typed. Are they centered, both from right to left and top to bottom? If not, click on the words and make adjustments. You are now ready to print your first test print!

The first thing you'll want to determine is if the printer prints on the top or bottom side of the paper as it sits in the feed tray. Most Hewlett Packard printers print this way. Place an X on the upper left-hand corner of the paper you cut and place it in the feed tray, making sure to keep it the same way you marked it. In Word, select File, then Print. Specify the page number, or you will print out all the pages in the document, and there may be multiple pages.

Take a look at it when it has printed. Where is the X? If the words are on the other side of the paper from the X you placed, you will need to place your invitations upside down in the feed tray. Is the X on the same side as the print? You will need to make sure that the invitations are right-side up. Most top-feed printers, such as Canon and Epson printers, need to be feed in the printer with the right side up, or facing you. Most HP and laser printers need to be fed in with the front side facing down.

If you have an invitation with a defined top and bottom--that is, either an invitation whose design is different on the top than it is on the bottom of the page, you will also need to find out where it prints the top of the page. Look again at your X; you placed it on the upper left hand corner. Where is it in relation to the printing?

If you are planning to print your invitation on both sides, or you are planning to print a wedding program which is usually printed on both sides and may even have an additional page, you will also need to have this information--if you don't the printing will be upside down on one side!

When you are satisfied with the word placement and you have done your test prints and are confident that you know how to feed the paper in, you are ready to start!

Make sure that the guides on the feed tray have been adjusted to fit the paper size you are using. You may get away with not adjusting it for pieces of paper, but when you are printing on heavy invitation paper, the paper can skew sideways 1/2 way through printing if the guides have not been set properly.

In the beginning, feed your invitations in the print one at a time; that is, put only one invitation in the feed tray, and then print, until you feel confident with your printer. Then try two at a time and gradually increase the number of invitations or programs. It is best, though, not to feed more than 10 at a time; some printers start to jamb.

If you are printing your invitations or wedding programs on both sides, in the beginning print one side, then the other to make sure that you have the correct orientation. As you gain confidence, you can print several sheets of Side 1, then feed the printed paper in again.

With a little time and patience, anyone can print their own invitations, programs, and other wedding stationery at home!

Styles of Wedding Invitations

2005-01-17T11:32:00.000-05:00

There is quite a range of choices for wedding invitations. It is a good idea to buy the envelopes together with the invitations as a package or kit, because sizes can vary, and the colors, especially with off-white, ivory or cream can be slightly different as well.

Single or Single Panel

Click on image for larger picture

This invitation is the most traditional and we believe, still the most commonly used, and that is the single or single panel. It is not designed to be folded over. We have never seen this style used for anything but invitations or occasionally menu cards. The card measures approximately 5.5" across (half of the longest side of a standard sheet of paper) and about 7 1/2" to 7 3/4" high, but may be slightly smaller. If you took a standard sheet of typing paper and folded it on its longest side, it measures 5.5" x 8 1/2", and will give you a good idea of the size. These cards should be the heaviest of all wedding stationery (85 lb. weight), and traditionally have either a raised panel border (least expensive) or a design embossed on the edges (can be expensive). This card is printed on one side only. ThinkWedding's Blank Single Panel Invitations

The Bifold or Booklet Invitation, with or without a raised panel

Click on image for larger picture

The second type of invitation is a bifold or booklet type card. This measures 5.5" wide and 7 1/2" to 7 3/4" tall when folded; when unfolded, it measures 11" wide by 7 1/2" to 7 3/4" tall (measurements are approximate). They can be used as wedding invitations or as wedding programs. When used as an invitation, this style of card--the raised panel card--can be folded on the outside as shown, or on the inside. If you're planning to print your own wedding invitations, this card would need to be printed on both sides, so you would print on the first side, then feed it into the printer again to print the second side. The bifold card is slightly lighter in weight and is scored so that it folds cleanly. If used for a wedding invitation, Its weight should be no lighter than about 60 lbs., with 65 lbs preferable. ThinkWedding's Blank Bifold Wedding Invitations

The Trifold Invitation

Click on image for larger picture

Z-fold

Pursefold

Gatefold

These are pictures of tri-fold cards. Typical measurements are 11" to 14" wide and 7 1/2" to 8 1/2" tall and may be used as a wedding invitation, as a wedding program. The Gatefold invitations fold to meet in the center as shown so that the finished size is the same as a single or bifold invitation (5.5" x 7 3/4"); other types of tri-folds fold so that the two flaps overlap, making the finished invitation or program about 4" or less wide by 7 1/2" to 8 1/2" tall. Although this card can be sent without a closure, the gatefold card that is third from the left has been sealed with a decal. Narrow ribbons wrapped around the entire cards and fastened with a knot or bow are also a delightful option. This card should be at least 32 lb. to 65 lb weight, and must be scored vertically in two places to fold properly.

We have never seen this style available with a raised border, but we have seen printing and embossing on the two "flaps" of the card. If you're planning to print this style yourself, it will need to be printed on both sides and can be challenging to set up properly without a premade template. ThinkWedding's Blank Trifold Wedding Invitations

The Royal Style Invitation

Click on image for larger picture

This is a relatively recent style of invitation, and can also be used as wedding menus. It measures 7" x 7", so it's perfectly square. It's printed on one side only and is not designed to be folded. It should be of the heaviest weight, approximately 85 lbs. It may or may not have a raised panel or embossing--that depends on the style. Only the invitation is square; matching R.S.V.P. and reception cards are a rectangle, and of standard size.

A disadvantage of this style of card is the post office now charges an additional $.10 postage in the United States to mail it. That fact is too often not mentioned by suppliers.

ThinkWedding's Blank Royal Style Invitations

The Marquis Style Invitation

Click on image for larger picture

This card has the same specifications as the Royal style of card. That is, it is not designed to be folded, it should be of a heavier weight (65 to 85 lbs.), it is only printed on one side, and is also perfectly square. The difference is that it is slightly smaller--between 5.25" x 5.25" and 6.25" and 6.25", and it does not cost extra to mail. The marquis invitations shown were printed on an ink jet printer with ThinkWedding's wedding invitation templates.

ThinkWedding's Blank Marquis Wedding Invitations

The Translucent Invitation

Click on image for larger picture

Marquis
translucent invitation

Gatefold
"wrap" invitation

Single
translucent invitation

Royal
translucent invitation

Translucent invitations are a relative recent introduction, and have proven very popular. They are available in all the sizes above; that is, in single invitations, bifold or booklet invitation, marquis invitations, royal invitations, and trifold or gatefold invitations. In addition, an invitation with a design on solid paper with vellum included can also be called a translucent--even thought the invitation itself is not in fact translucent!

Pictured on the upper left is a marquis invitation; the second from the left is an example of a gatefold invitation.
The paper is in fact not translucent; there is a vellum enclosure on the inside, and that makes it translucent. This invitation comes as a kit that includes the vellum as well as the the organza ribbon.

The invitation pictured third from the left is a single translucent invitation. The invitation itself is translucent The invitation pictured on the right is a royal translucent invitation; the paper is solid, but it includes a sheet of vellum as well as the organza ribbon to attach it.

Before ordering these blank translucent invitations, it is wise to request a sample, but some of them are not recommended for inkjet printers. For instance, the single invitation pictured above is recommended for laser printing only, but a customer of ours who ordered several samples and then ordered 250 invitations and RSVP cards informed us that she had no trouble with her inkjet printer--she just sent it on glossy, which is designed to print slower to allow the ink to dry. When considering purchasing translucent invitations for handmade wedding invitations from any vendor, it is wise to request several samples first.

ThinkWedding's Blank Translucent Wedding Invitations

Reception and R.S.V.P. Cards

Click on image for larger picture

Single card	Informal type card	4-up single cards

The R.S.V.P. and reception card is essentially the same card. Both cards are invitations to the reception after the ceremony; however a reception card does not require a response, and the R.S.V.P. card does. For that reason, the R.S.V.P. card should be sent with the invitation enclosed in its own stamped, self-addressed envelope, while the same card, if used as a reception card, does not require an envelope--it is not designed to be returned. If all of your wedding guests are to be invited to the reception as well, you might also consider adding a line or lines to your invitation at the end that says:

Reception following the ceremony
Lakeview Country Club
3516 Lake Shore Drive
Willamette, IL

This is an acceptable social form, and allows you to omit the reception card entirely, you are not asking for an R.S.V.P. and wish to leave out a reception card, or if your R.S.V.P. card is rather small and you wish to conserve space.

R.S.V.P. or reception cards can be either single, shown on the left and right or a fold-over informal as shown in the center. These cards measure approximately 3" by 5", but may be smaller. If you are using an inner and outer envelope for your invitations, these cards should be placed in the inner envelope with your invitation. We have also seen reception cards that were business card size rather than post card size as shown above, because they did not need to be mailed. Regardless of size, they do not need to match the style of the wedding invitation.
If you're planning on printing these yourself, the single cards can come either as single cards as shown on the extreme left or in sheets of four (known as 4-up), as shown on the right. If you have purchased your cards in sheets, make sure that they are microperforated, so that when they're separated after printing they don't have irregular edges. They would be printed on one side only. Fold-over informals can be printed on one side or both sides, depending on the design. ThinkWedding's Blank R.S.V.P. Cards

We hope that these explanations and illustrations have been of some use to you. Good luck!

All About Wedding Invitation and Wedding Program Templates

2005-01-14T09:30:00.000-05:00

One of the features on our website are wedding invitation templates, wedding program templates, and other wedding stationery templates. It has become clear to us that there's some misunderstanding about what they are and how they are used.

On every one of our pages, we have email links so that people can conveniently ask questions about a certain product or product line. It seems that at least some of our visitors don't understand what the templates are all about and how they are used because of the questions we get, and here are some examples:

What is the difference between typeset and templates?
What's the minimum order?
How many invitations can I print?
How much extra is it if I want to print 300?
What kind of stationery does it come on?

We think a major reason for the difficulty is that a principle of web page construction is that you use as few words as possible, and apparently we haven't hit on the proper few words on those particular pages!

We opened this Blog specifically to provide move in-depth--meaning longer--explanations, which should answer some of the questions that we get--so here goes.

The wedding stationery templates at Thinkwedding.com were developed for people who would like to print their own invitations, programs, RSVP cards, place cards, Save the Date cards, etc. instead of paying a printer to print them. Of course, there is a considerable cost savings in doing your own wedding invitations, but you may be surprised at the number of people who just want something that's different, but they want a professional-looking handmade wedding invitation rather than an invitation that looks homemade! In other words, they want their invitations to express their individuality in a way they can't get if they order their invitations from a printer or engraver, but they don't want to be laughed at because the invitations look homemade.

If a bride wants a do it yourself wedding invitation, she has two basic options. She can spend a lot of time searching the Internet for appropriate clip art that doesn't need a lot of editing and matches her colors, then spend an equal or greater amount of time locating the font she would like to have. She then decides on the blank wedding invitations she is going to use, because she needs the measurements, and spends about two hours or so setting up the Word template so that it fits exactly, printing out the results and adjusting the measurements until it fits, typing in the words (which usually doesn't take much time at all), then finally, printing her invitations or wedding program. There are free templates all over the Internet, but we found that they still require adjustment to fit even the most common sizes of invitations.

With the second option--the one we offer--the bride still has to decide what kind of blank wedding invitation card stock she is going to use, but she can then just purchase an already professionally set up template designed and guaranteed to fit her particular invitation, with professional artwork. She then just types in the words, and presses print--all for $9.99.

After one of the daughters of a staff members ended up spending quite a bit of time on the Internet for about a week hunting down clip art and fonts, researching invitation wordings and the proper forms of addressing, she suggested one day that since we have well over a million pieces of clip art--not just wedding theme art, we have another website as well--it might be worth our while and a considerable service if we spent the time to do that for our brides and offer the results for sale for a nominal fee.

When we looked into it, we found that there are quite a few different measurements for blank wedding invitations; there are single invitations, bifold or booklet-style invitations, royal style invitations, marquise invitations, in addition to translucent, trifold, Z-fold, pursefold, or gatefold invitations, and all of them vary in size. Even RSVP cards, Save the Date cards, wedding programs and place cards can vary in both size and style, and if we were to offer a set of templates, we would have to include them all.

We might be a bunch of old bats here at Thinkwedding.com, but with age comes experience, and two of our staff members had worked for printers creating invitation and program templates in the past, but even so, just getting the templates to fit correctly for all those different sizes took two people about two weeks! By the way, we offer a matching plain template free with each blank wedding invitation or blank wedding stationery order, but no artwork, no fonts, invitation wordings, or proper forms of addressing the envelopes and most importantly--no support.

Once we had developed the templates, we then had to investigate and acquire the fonts that are commonly used for wedding stationery so that we could include them in our package of templates, and when that was done, we decided on what kind of artwork a bride was likely to want, according to theme and color. We also decided to include over 60 different invitation wordings as well as Save the Date, RSVP and wedding program wordings, and all the proper forms of addressing envelopes, right up to the President and the Pope. We then decided to fill the orders via email, which meant that our brides wouldn't have to wait for delivery; particularly during business hours, it usually takes less than an hour to receive the files included in a template order.

Then we created our web pages, offering our wedding invitation templates for sale for a nominal sum; for instance, a set of wedding invitation templates in all the sizes, plus the fonts, the wordings file, and the proper addressing file is $9.99. The purpose, of course, was to save the bride a great deal of time and aggravation in creating her own unique handmade wedding invitations.

Well, we're happy to say that our templates have sold well, but we found that there were people who, for one reason or another--usually time or computer literacy--wanted to just press print, rather than compose the wording themselves. We were also asked if we could place pictures of the couple along with the existing artwork. To meet that need, we started offering our templates already typeset, which, in addition to everything in the template package, includes photograph scanning and placement, as well as complete typesetting, for $12.99.

While a lot of people feel up to doing a simple invitation, particularly when the template has already been created and tested for them, setting up a wedding program, even with a template, can be challenging, because it is usually set up menu style with multiple pages and justification both on the left and right, and can get complicated, and we actually get more requests for typesetting our wedding program templates than we get for invitations.

We also started to get requests for things like matching wedding program templates, CD-ROM templates, Save the Date templates, thank you card templates, wedding menu templates, place card templates, wedding rehearsal templates and guest book sheets, and it wasn't long before the thought occurred to us that our visitors might like to know about it. That is when we created separate web pages with our collections.

We hope that this long explanation has served to clarify things a little, for those of you who are confused by the explanations on our web pages.

2005-01-13T01:25:00.000-05:00

This is a true story!

About a year ago, a bridal shower was in progress, and two policemen came to the front door of the house, responding to a noise complaint. The first cop stayed in the car, while the second one went up to knock at the door.
When several members of the party answered the door, they grabbed the cop and dragged him inside and proceeded to grab and undo various parts of his clothing, despite the fact that he kept protesting that he was a real cop!

The issue was resolved just in the knick of time when his partner got out of the car and went in, curious as to what was taking so long. He found his partner on the floor with several women on top of him, and by this time he was in his underwear! The second cop managed, with some difficulty, to convince the guests that his partner was in fact not the professional stripper that had been ordered, but a real cop. While there was some embarrassment all around, I wonder just how the two of them managed to radio the results of their visit in, and how they explained it on their report!

_____________________________________________________________________________

This has nothing to do with weddings, but it's well worth reading, anyway.

About 25 years ago, a couple in the Midwest had a leaking drain pipe and called a plumber. When the plumber arrived the next morning, the lady of the house was out on an errand, but her husband greeted the plumber, showed him the problem, then left for work. The plumber proceeded to get out his tools and climb under the sink to repair the problem.

The lady of the house returned from her errand to see two legs sticking out from underneath her sink. Since the pants he was wearing were similar to the ones her husband wore, she assumed that her husband was taking a look at the problem.

In a playful mood, she started unzipping his pants. The plumber, feeling someone unzipping his pants, suddenly raised his head, struck it on the drainpipe, and knocked himself out. Hearing the noise, the woman looked under the sink and discovered that the man she was unzipping was a stranger. She called the paramedics for the poor unconscious man.

When the paramedics arrived, they loaded him on a gurney to take him to the hospital, and as they were preparing to load him into the ambulance, asked the woman what happened. When she told them, they laughed so hard they dropped the gurney and broke the man's arm! True story!

Moral: Some days it doesn't pay to get out of bed.

The Parts of a Wedding Invitation

2005-01-12T14:44:00.000-05:00

The basic wedding invitation can consist of just a card sent in an envelope to invite people to your wedding. It does, however, tend to set the tone of your ceremony and the later celebration you are planning in honor of your marriage, and should be selected with care. Wedding invitations, by the way, should be sent out four to six weeks before the wedding date.

Here's a list of components for a wedding invitation, and their uses:

The invitations themselves
Inner envelope (optional)
Outer envelope
Reception cards (optional)
RSVP cards/envelopes (optional)
Tissue (optional, and often not used any more)

If you are using inner envelopes you may notice that they do not have an adhesive; in other words, they are not meant to be sealed. The name of the person or persons being invited are written on the inner envelope, but not their address.

If you are planning to invite some guests to your wedding but not to your reception, you can accomplish it by enclosing an additional card with your invitation, and these are listed below.

An RSVP card is used if you wish to have a response to your invitation to the reception. The RSVP card should be placed in its own envelope, have a postage stamp, and be addressed back to whoever has charge of the responses. It must measure at least 3.5" x 5" so that it can be mailed back to you, and should be placed, already in its own envelope, in the inner envelope with the invitation.

A reception card is used when an RSVP is not required, but you are not inviting all of your guests to your reception. Additionally, you can use such an enclosure card if, for instance, you are planning a limited function after the reception, such as an additional party meant strictly for family. A reception card need not be enclosed in an envelope, and need not measure at least 3.5" x 5", because it is not meant to be mailed. It may, for instance, be of business card size. The reception card, if used, should also be placed in the inner envelope with the invitation.

A new innovation in reception cards is to send a Save the Date magnet that has been preprinted with the details of your wedding date and reception. Your guests will find it a helpful reminder of your wedding date, and they're much more likely to remember it!

The tissue is cut to the size of the invitation and is placed on its face. It is a holdover from the days when the ink on invitations could "bleed" and stick to the inner or outer envelope, especially in damp and/or warm weather. Recent improvements in the printing process make this enclosure unnecessary. Tissues have a tendency to crease and look worn when handled and can be difficult to keep fresh when you are assembling your invitations; that is one major reason why their use seems to be going out of style.

Which of the optional parts of a wedding invitation should you use? Your invitations are designed to serve a purpose--they invite your guests to your ceremony, and optionally to other parts of the celebration on your wedding day. Enclosures such as the RSVP card and envelope or the reception card are used to alter the terms of the invitation.

If everyone is invited to the reception and you don't need responses, simply add that part to the bottom of your invitation and don't use an enclosure at all. This is typically worded as, "Reception immediately following the ceremony/Mike's Truck Stop/34 West Motorcycle Road/Hammsville, Pennsylvania."

If not everyone will be invited to the reception, leave off those lines from the invitation, and add it to either a reception card or an RSVP card, depending on whether or not you require responses.

Creating a Wedding Program

2005-01-11T13:52:00.000-05:00

Wedding Programs - What are your
options?


Blank Preprinted Programs		Wedding Program Templates		Organza Ribbon

The Purpose of a Wedding Program

Have you every heard the expression, "You can't tell the players without a scorecard?" That sums up the purpose of a wedding program as well. the use of wedding ceremony programs has become increasingly common. They are an option for your wedding ceremony, not a requirement, however, and not every wedding offers programs.

If wedding programs are used, they are typically handed out as the guests are being seated, by the usher, or by a person specially delegated for the purpose, often an older child. Wedding programs may also be stacked and placed at the end of each pew in advance of the ceremony to be used after the guests have been seated. Many of your guests save their programs as a memento of your day.

What a Wedding Program Contains

One page of the wedding program, often entitled "The Wedding Party" usually contains the names of the bride and groom, the couple's parents, the bridal party and optionally other participants in the ceremony, such as the vocalist, organist, or other musicians. Readers are generally not listed on this page, but on the Wedding Ceremony page.

On a separate page, the major parts of the ceremony, such as the seating of the mothers, the processional, lighting of the unity candle, solos, the exchange of vows and rings, the recessional, and any music performed during these sections.

The program may also contain a Thank You and Remembrance page, in which the couple thank their guests for sharing their special day, as well as mention by name those who cannot attend, usually because of recent death or illness, but also, for instance, because of service overseas.

Wedding Program Styles


Booklet	Z-Fold	Gatefold	Scroll

Wedding programs may be in booklet style, scroll style, a Z-fold style or a gatefold style as illustrated above. All but the Z-fold and scroll styles require that the paper be printed on both sides.

The booklet style, scroll style and gatefold style can be tied with ribbon for a lovely and inexpensive effect; ThinkWedding recommends that you use 1/4", 3/8" or 5/8" organza ribbon for the purpose, because organza ribbon lays nicely when stacked and is easier to tie and handle.

You will probably want to make your decision on the type of program and make your purchases well in advance of the ceremony, but it would be best not to actually print your programs until 1 to 3 weeks before; last minute changes are always possible and can cause real headaches if the programs have already been printed.

Wedding Program Options

Having Your Programs Printed

You can have your programs printed by a local printer as well as by the printer of your invitations. If you do order your programs as well as other stationery and napkins, matchbooks, etc., don't hesitate to ask if there is a discount for giving the printer all your business--there often is a discount, but you may not get it unless you ask.

If you have having your programs printed by a local printer who is not also printing your other wedding stationery, he may have a catalogue of blank program covers for your selection; he may also have templates with artwork that he can use to print on plain paper stock.

Paper weights range from 24 to 28 lb. bond, which is used for ordinary paper and suitable for the scroll type and Z-fold type of program, 32 lb bond, a lightweight cover stock suitable for scrolls, booklets, gatefolds and Z-fold programs. There are two heavier weight papers: the card stock weight, 64 lb., and the cover stock, 110 lb. The two heavier weights are not often used for programs, but could possibly be used as a cover for the booklet style of program.

Handmade Wedding Programs

It is becoming increasingly popular for brides and/or their families to print their own wedding programs, and while these may be do-it-yourself and homemade, it is possible with a little planning and preparation to produce unique, one of a kind programs that still look lovely and professional. There are a wide range of options to the bride who wants to create a handmade wedding program. An additional bonus, of course, is both the cost savings and the flexibility. Wedding programs can be easily changed if there is a change in the ceremony or the members of the wedding party at the last minute, while printed programs cannot be a easily changed.

Requirements for Do-It-Yourself Wedding Programs

Your first step is to decide what kind of wedding program you would like to have--scroll, booklet, gatefold, or trifold (Z-fold). That will indicate to you the kind of paper you will need to purchase. You will need to obtain, create, or purchase
a template--probably a Microsoft Word template--and you will need some kind of blank paper and card stock.

The paper for a scroll-type wedding program should be no heavier than 32 lb.; if it is heavier, you will have difficulties rolling it and keeping it in a roll. A 24 lb. bond paper, available by the ream at an office supply store, will do nicely for the purpose. You should also decide on the kind of tie to be used, and there are a wide range of choices; among them, metallic cord, satin ribbon, or organza ribbon. We recommend organza ribbon for all programs because we have found that it is the easiest to handle, and a nice single bow can be created without a great deal of skill. This wedding program should be printed on one side only.

The Z-fold program is also printed on one side of a single sheet of paper, then folded as in a Z. You would use paper no heavier than 32 lb. bond for this as well. This style can be tricky to lay out, and you might have to limit the information in your program to account for the narrow three sections and their margins. This program can be tied with ribbon or metallic cord, but it is not a necessity. This wedding program style should be printed on one side.

The gatefold style is a very elegant treatment. It is printed on both sides of a single sheet of paper. You should consider how to keep the two sides closed, however; they can be closed with a seal or with ribbon. This style can also be tricky to lay out, and you are limited in the amount of information in the program because the two sides are very narrow, and because your guests are not likely to turn it over to read the other side. This wedding program style must be printed on both the front and back on one sheet only. If you are planning to use this style, be sure that the paper you have purchased will fold cleanly--paper has a grain, which may run against the folds and make folding in this manner messy. You may purchase blank gatefold card stock at Thinkwedding.com and other suppliers of blank wedding programs. Blank gatefold or trifold card stock may also be used for wedding invitations.

The booklet style is by far the most common type of wedding program. The paper for a booklet style program can range from about 28 lb. to 64 lb. bond; with 28 lb. to 32 lb. probably easiest and most desirable to use. For booklet-style programs, you may decide on preprinted program covers; these are typically between 28 lb and 32 lb. bond. If you have decided on the heavier type of 64 lb. bond, however, you should buy your paper prescored; paper has a grain, and if it's not running in the right direction you will not be able to fold to a sharp line. It is quite easy to buy lovely blank wedding program covers; we sell many covers on our website, as do other wedding websites.

With a booklet style of wedding program, you have the option of only using the cover or of inserting a sheet of white 24 lb. bond in the center. You can attach the two using two staples about 2 1/4" from each edge, or you can punch two holes approximately the same distance and thread organza ribbon between the two sheets. The effect is elegant, lovely, and at the same time, very inexpensive. It has the added advantage that if you make a printing mistake, it is generally on your inexpensive bond rather than your purchased cover. Another advantage to this style is it can be printed on one side only if desired--once on the cover and once on the bond paper inside.

Thinkwedding.com, as well as many other websites that sell blank wedding stationery, including wedding programs, will provide a free template either for download, or with the purchase of their blank wedding stationery. This is a terrific help, but there are other considerations as well, if you are planning to do your own wedding programs. For instance, you may want a script font that did not install in Microsoft Word. Free fonts are available on the web for the download; simply use a search engine such as Google, MSN, or Yahoo and type in free fonts.

Preprinted covers usually also have artwork--in fact, that is what you are paying for when you purchase preprinted blank wedding programs. If you have decided on a type of program that isn't available preprinted, or if you have some specific artwork in mind to match the theme of your wedding, or you want to save the most money you can save, you may want to use blank paper and add your own artwork as well. You may be lucky and find the artwork you want in a short amount of time, but typically, your search for artwork may take some time, and your results may or may not look professional. Remember, you're goal is the handmade, not the homemade look.

Thinkwedding.com offers wedding program templates, as well as other kinds of wedding templates at a nominal sum. The templates come with a selection of wedding script fonts, have professional art, and feature all of the above layouts, so that you can select which style of programs you prefer. While it is possible to achieve the same effects with a little extra work, you will save hours and hours of time and money with these inexpensive templates and your own blank paper.

Assembling your wedding invitations

2005-01-10T15:53:00.000-05:00

Monday, December 26, 2004

Well, we've all been through another Christmas--hope that yours was wonderful!

Putting our Christmas cards together this year reminded us that whether or not you are planning to print your own invitations, you should put some thought into how you are going to assemble them, since the typical wedding invitation generally has several parts, depending on your budget and plans. Wedding invitations, by the way, should be sent out four to six weeks before the wedding date.

Your wedding invitations may have several parts, such as:

The invitations themselves--preprinted or handmade
Inner envelope (optional)
Outer envelope
Reception cards
RSVP cards (may be the same as reception cards)
Tissue (optional, and often not used)

Your first task is to count the parts of your invitations to make sure you have the number you ordered, and divide them in groups of 25. Most suppliers are honest, but no one is infallible, and it would be a shame to find that you are short. In addition, if you start with an accurate count, you will know later if you have missed adding a required part and can correct it before they are sent out.

If you are planning to use RSVP and/or reception cards, and not everyone who is invited to the ceremony will be invited, count the number that will require the additional enclosures, and make sure that you match it to the number of invitations, inner and outer envelopes. Your RSVP cards should be stamped and self-addressed to the person in charge of the guest responses; now is the time to make sure the RSVP envelopes are ready.

You may also want to address your outer and inner envelopes (if you're using inner envelopes) before assembling your invitations. While this is optional and there are pros and cons to doing it this way, envelopes are much easier to write on when they are empty, especially if you're planning to send out enclosures. It is also possible to use a decorative font and your inkjet or laser printer as well. Some brides will pay a calligrapher to address their outer and inner envelopes--it is up to you, your budget and your time.

Now that you're ready for the final assembly, match the invitation, inner envelope, outer envelope and enclosure card count with your guest list count. While this seems tedious and unnecessary, you could very well end up inviting the wrong set of people to your reception! Assemble those invitations that are to include enclosures such as an RSVP card or reception card first.

Lay out the parts of your invitation in a line, starting with the invitation. If tissues are used, place the tissue on the face of the invitation, and place both in the inner envelope. If you're using RSVP cards, they should already be in their envelopes. Pick up the RSVP envelope or reception card, and place it behind the invitation in the inner envelope. The inner envelope does not seal and has no adhesive. Pick up the outer envelope. Look at the face of the inner envelope and the face of the outer envelope, and make sure they match, then place them in the outer envelope. Check off that guest from your guest list.
When your invitations are assembled, stamp and mail. While your invitations can be mailed in stages as they are done, doing so can cause one person to receive their invitation before another, leaving the impression, at least temporarily, that the other person or persons are not to be invited. At best, it's tacky.

Negotiating with Wedding Vendors

2005-01-09T23:56:00.000-05:00

Negotiation is the art of opening a door and gently leading a person to it, not backing a person into a blank wall! After over 30 years in the business of catering to brides and their families, we can often "size up" who we are dealing with in a very short time--often within five minutes of a first meeting.

Two Scenarios--Which Bride Got a Discount?

Scenario 1

Bride phoned around to talk to various makers of party favors and reception decorations, and has a list of people to visit. While on the phone with these vendors, bride wants details, descriptions, and prices, although the vendors she's speaking to don't yet have any idea of when and where the reception is to be and what she has in mind. Bride refuses to give many details, and most of the vendors she's speaking to refuse to quote price, although she does her best to "trap" the people she's speaking to into price and time commitments. Bride has already marked herself as trouble.

The bride makes an appointment with one particular vendor at 6:00 pm, then shows up at 6:30 pm without notice, despite being informed in their telephone conversation that store closes at 7:00 pm on that day. Bride proceeds to demand that every favor design, relevant or not, in the store be taken from its display and discussed with her, including any variation that might be cheaper, making it difficult to wait on other customers. Although the prices of the favors are clearly marked, at all times she tries to pin the vendor down for an immediate discount, which the vendor refuses to do. It is now 7:30 pm and the store is closed. Vendor has dismissed the clerk assisting her at 7:00 pm and her family is waiting for her so that they can all eat dinner together.

Bride then states that she's talking to a lot of other vendors as well and states that she will need at least four hundred favors, delivered between 2 pm and 3 pm--no sooner and no later--on June xx. All favors must be put in place between that time. She states that if the vendor meets the price she wants to pay, the vendor has the business, and she wants an answer right now. Since it is three months before the wedding, the vendor wonders how the bride can possibly know she will need 400 favors.

The bride believes that she is being business-like and gaining the upper hand, because the vendor has responded with professional courtesy. In fact, the bride has been demanding and inconsiderate, and the vendor then goes to her appointment book and informs the bride that she will simply not be able to fill the order on that day--at any price. Bride leaves in a huff, and the vendor goes home after a long day on her feet to eat dinner with her family.

The Vendor's Position:

Her favors are unique, one of a kind designs, and she takes pleasure in designing them to suit the requests and needs of her customers. She has priced her favors to reflect the time it takes to assemble them and the materials that are in them (which can be up to 10 different items from 10 different vendors with 10 different minimum quantities), as well as the transportation costs to delivery them at the wedding, as well as the cost in time to pay someone to put the favors in place.

Vendor is familiar with her competitors and what they offer, and she knows that she is quite competitive in comparison. In addition, her designs are copyrighted, so the vendor knows she won't get the same thing elsewhere. She is quite annoyed that her original designs and fair pricing have not been acknowledged; she has been treated on a par with others in her profession, many of whom will not be in business in a year because of their shady pricing and servicing practices and shoddy workmanship. Therefore, the statement regarding other vendors only serves to annoy her, and to mark the bride as ignorant. In addition, the bride has named a quantity that she can't possibly need as a negotiating tactic to try to get a better price; instead, she has just marked herself as untrustworthy to do business with.

The vendor has two other bookings on that day, which is at the height of the wedding season, and is not sure that she could meet the demands of another sizeable order anyway, but certainly not from a demanding customer. The two other orders are coming from the daughters of former brides she has served in the past. In addition, she will have to pay for two people to lay out the favors rather than one because the bride demands that they be put in place in one hour--again, at the height of the wedding season, although the vendor is willing to adsorb the cost if the amount is in fact 400--but certainly not to give a discount on top of that

Having had a lot of experience servicing brides for over 20 years, the vendor suspects that since the bride has already claimed a quantity she can't possibly know, the bride will quite possibly try to switch or alter later what is in the favor to her benefit, causing endless hassles and time on the telephone for them both. The vendor has made up her mind that if the bride stays one minute after 7:30 pm, she will be informed that the vendor has to leave. At 7:25 pm, the bride gets insistent that the vendor quote her a price right then and there, even though the vendor has already explained that she will have to look up the manufacturers and see if they have larger quantity discounts. At that point, the vendor makes up her mind that this bride is definitely a problem that cannot be resolved.

The vendor then asks again about the wedding date, even though she already knows the date, and when told takes out her appointment book, looks it over, and turns the bride down on the pretense that she already has too many bookings at that time.

On the wedding day, it turns out that one of the vendor's brides is having her reception right next to the bride she has turned down. She stops in to the reception area to find a woman there laying out the favors, and greets her. The woman is late--the guests are already entering the reception area--and she is just beginning to unload the truck. The vendor is well aware that the lady in question works out of her home and is in the habit of overcharging; she will show a bride a sample, then make it up with cheaper parts and without quality control. The vendor is also aware that the woman regards making favors as a "side job" and is not reliable, and that since she has no business licenses or store front, can't purchase in wholesale quantities and in fact purchases the parts that need assembling at a local craft store. If the store is out of stock, or if she sees a cheaper component, the woman will simply switch parts without notifying the customer.

The favors are already coming apart and have not been placed correctly on each table, as the bride directed. The competitor's definition of favor placement is to "dump" them all on the place card table at the entrance, to let the guests help themselves, despite assurances to the bride to the contrary. This woman is well aware that the bride has already paid her, and short of suing the woman, there will be little the bride can do to recoup the loss.

Scenario 2

The bride calls in advance and has a conversation with the vendor, asking her not about price, but what she can do for her wedding reception. She states what she has in mind, when her wedding date is, how many she is likely to need with a statement like, "We have issued 400 invitations, and we're thinking that 300 will actually attend--what do you think?" She may have asked for a price range, but that is all. The bride makes an appointment with the vendor.

Bride calls at 5:30 pm to tell the vendor that she is running late, and asking if 6:30 pm will be too late, and offering to make another appointment instead. She tells the vendor that she is very pressed for time, but understands that the vendor also has a life. The vendor responds with at OK to come at 6:30 pm, but lets her know that the store closes at 7:00 pm, and asks the bride if she thinks it will be sufficient time for her. The vendor prepares for the bride's visit in advance by bringing out the favors the bride is likely to want to see, based on the bride's clear communication regarding the theme and colors of the wedding, and what her vision is.

Bride comes into the store at 6:30 pm to be greeted with a tray of favors for her consideration with clearly-marked prices on each one, in the colors of her wedding. Vendor asks if there are any special limitations or problems she potentially might have to deal with on the wedding day, and the bride responds with the requirement that the favors must be placed in one hour with strict timing limits, although she is working on getting the wedding planner's staff to at least partially assist.

Bride loves and exclaims over the vendor's work and mentions several other weddings the vendor has done, and asks if there might be a quantity discount, and where the "price break" would be--100, 200, etc. She also says that she does not need an answer at that moment--she realized that the vendor must work up a price based on the quantity and conditions, and the fact that the vendor probably had a life and wanted to go home.

The vendor assured her that she will check her suppliers and see if she can do a "little better" on pricing. Vendor also said that she might be able to do even a little better with guaranteed favor placement assistance on the wedding day, but before discounting further, she would have to speak to the wedding planner as well regarding the assistance.

Bride calls the next morning to tell the vendor that her wedding planner is willing to be responsible for complete favor placement--if the vendor will be able to deliver. Vendor tells the bride that she is working on a discount with her suppliers at that moment, and will take that fact into consideration a well.

The vendor is motivated to give the bride her best price and even goes to the extra time and trouble of negotiating with her suppliers, for the following reasons:

The bride was polite and considerate at all times--she treated her potential vendor and her staff as the professionals they were.
The bride knew enough of what she wanted and communicated that in advance, and when she had to be late could make up her mind in sufficient time to not require additional services, making the vendor believe (correctly) that she would not cost the vendor extra time in the future--and time is money.
The bride stroked the ego of the vendor, by acknowledging that her designs were unique, and expressing a desire to have her do her favors.
The bride was willing to concede something in return--in this case, favor placement on a heavily booked wedding day.
As quickly as possible, the bride turned her conversation from "you and I" to, "we."

Conclusion:

Which bride got her way? The bride in Scenario 1 definitely made her point. She let the vendor know that she was one of many, and that the bride had the upper hand because she was the potential customer, and in doing so, she set herself up to be taken advantage of, certainly the opposite of her goal.

A vendor who has been in business for a number of years--which at the very least suggests that her prices are fair, she is reliable, and her work good--would have enough bookings that she could opt not to deal with a potential customer who was likely to be additional trouble for her, both in getting the order together and in its delivery. In effect, the vendor was backed into a wall, and decided to opt out. The bride made her point, then the vendor made hers.

The bride ended up dealing with a vendor who could spend the time to cater to her attitude and whims and (supposedly) give her the discount the bride thought she deserved because the vendor had no other bookings (word gets around fast) and because the vendor was planning to cheat on both services and materials.

The second bride got the vendor, favors and pricing she wanted and when she wanted them because the vendor was not backed into a wall--she was shown a door. The bride was willing to offer concessions in favor placement, she acknowledged the vendor's uniqueness and already fair pricing, and she did not try to tie up the time of the vendor and her assistants, acknowledging that time is also money, and she left the question of quantity open, by asking where the price break might be. In other words, the bride showed the vendor an open door, and the vendor walked through it.

The first bride made her point--and it cost her to do so--but the second bride got her way!

An Invitation Etiquette Question

2005-01-09T11:55:00.000-05:00

We recently received an email from a bride-to-be, asking an important question, and with her permission, we have reproduced both the question and our answer here:

Hello,

I was wondering if you would be kind enough to give me your opinion on an etiquette issue. My finance and I are planning a small family wedding (less than 25 guests) for a Sunday in June. We would like a simple outdoor ceremony followed by brunch. We anticipate paying for the ceremony itself.

We are not registering for gifts or doing any of the things traditionally associated with wedding plans. Would it be inappropriate to ask guests to pay $25 per person for the cost of the brunch? If this is not a rude thing to ask, how would I go about it? Should I include it in the invitation?

Should I ask my guests (who are all family) to pay for themselves ahead of time--like when they RSVP by mail to include a check as well? I want to have my family and my finance's family there with us on this special day, but we can't afford to pay for everyone and neither one of our parents or other family members are willing or able to help us out with the cost.

Thanks,
Beth

This was our reply to her question:

Under no circumstances is it permissible to either request money or to express gift preferences or alternatively, to discourage gift-giving in an invitation to a wedding, no matter how informal the invitation is to be. The illusion that should be maintained is that a person is being invited to witness and celebrate your marriage with you. Gifts, if given, are a nice surprise to the happy couple.

Obviously money is tight for you and your fiancé--so how can you achieve your goal without insulting the very people you wish as your guests?

Your invitation should be for the ceremony itself--with no mention of a post-ceremony celebration of any kind. When a guest responds with an RSVP, it is then permissible to mention that "such and such"--which could be a friend, parent, or relative--has mentioned to you both that after the ceremony they plan to go to "so and so" restaurant for a brunch, and you and your fiancé are planning to join them there as well. Since not all guests RSVP, especially is only a ceremony is planned, you should have the same person make a carefully-worded announcement after the ceremony. It should be along the lines of, "My wife and I had planned to try the brunch at such-and-such restaurant, and if anyone would like to join us there, we're leaving in a few minutes--(pause for a few seconds)--we've even asked the happy couple to join us!

That should make it clear that the brunch is a post cerebration gathering which is someone else's idea, and of which you two have very little part--other than as fellow guests with the same status as everyone else. Make sure, though, that you have someone who is willing to function in this capacity, and who will be in charge of collecting when the bill comes--or better yet, go to a buffet-type restaurant, where guests pay before they are seated.

This nicely takes care of the issue, saves feelings, and it should be very clear to all that if they want to celebrate after your wedding, they will have to pay for it without putting all that on an invitation--which would be incredibly tacky.

You see, Beth, "There's always more than one way to skin a horse!"

2005-01-08T09:39:00.000-05:00

This is a new Blog for the staff at ThinkWedding.com, and to kick it off, we thought we would share some of the words we live by. We need a life!

Housework is not like a train that you have to catch at 8:03 am--we have never seen it get up and walk away.

If at first you don't succeed, reconsider your objectives--it might not be worth it!

Shopping before December 23rd takes all the thrill away.

Early to bed and early to rise is a disgusting social habit--who thought of that one, anyway?

Women with flat stomachs should be shot before they can contribute to the gene pool--plainly, it's not normal.

Anything worth doing is worth doing at a decent hour.

If God wanted me to be grey, He wouldn't have invented Clairol.

If at first you don't succeed, try something else, for heaven's sake--what are you standing there for!

Pregnancy is when your shirttail goes from hanging on the inside to hanging on the outside, and it never goes back!

There comes a time in every woman's life when she goes from undergarments that are little whisps of chiffon to marvels of architectural engineering. It's at that point that she looks much better with her clothes on than with them off. Unfortunately, when she does take them off, everything has a tendency to go "boiiing!"

In life, you can generally either make your point or get your way. It's very rare that you can get both at the same time.

Don't bring out your canons if your .22 will do it!

If the horse is dead, get off it.

When a woman becomes a mother, regardless of age, education, philosophy, national origin, or class, she will become the newest possessor of favorite maternal sayings handed down from time out of mind. These are a sample of some of the things she will say:

"Young man/woman, you will be in this house for the rest of your life--count on it!"
"Do you plan to go out in that? You look like someone's orphan child!
"Do you live in a barn, or are you planning on closing that door?"
Or a variation on that, spoken by a member of our staff:
"I have no problem with your wearing that, as long as you also wear a sign that says, 'I never met and do not know _____________.' "

Credit cards are the company store of the 21st century.

Parts of a Wedding Invitation and Their Purpose

2005-01-08T09:11:00.000-05:00

The basic wedding invitation can consist of just a card sent in an envelope to invite people to your wedding. Your invitation does, however, tend to set the tone of your ceremony and the later celebration, if any, that you are planning in honor of your marriage, and should be selected with care. Wedding invitations, by the way, should be sent out four to six weeks before the wedding date.

Here's a list of components for a wedding invitation, and their uses:

The invitations themselves
Inner envelope (optional)
Outer envelope
Reception cards (optional)
RSVP cards/envelopes (optional)
Tissue (optional, and often not used any more)

If you are using inner envelopes you may notice that they do not have adhesive on the flap; that is because they are not meant to be sealed. The name of the person or persons being invited are written on the inner envelope, but not their address. If your invitation is to a couple and their children, only the couple's names and their address should be written on the outer envelope; the inner envelope should have the couple's names as well as the phrase "and family," or, "and guest," but not their address.

If you are planning to invite some guests to your wedding but not to your reception, you can accomplish it by enclosing an additional card with your invitation, and these are listed below.

An RSVP card is used if you wish to have a response to your invitation to the reception. The RSVP card should be placed in its own envelope, have a postage stamp, and be addressed back to whoever has charge of the responses. It must measure at least 3.5" x 5" according to postal regulations so that it can be mailed back to you, and should be placed, already in its own envelope, in the inner envelope with the invitation. The RSVP card is typically worded with the information that there will be a reception after the ceremony, and a response from the recipient is requested.

A new innovation in reception cards is to include a refrigerator magnet with your invitation that has been preprinted with the details of your wedding date and reception. Your guests will find it a helpful reminder of your wedding date, and they're much more likely to remember the date!

A tissue, if used, is cut to the size of the invitation and is placed on its face. It is a holdover from the days when the ink on invitations could "bleed" and stick to the inner or outer envelope, especially in damp and/or warm weather. Recent improvements in the printing process make this enclosure unnecessary. Tissues have a tendency to crease and look worn when handled and can be difficult to keep fresh when you are assembling your invitations; that is one major reason why their use seems to be going out of style.

If not everyone will be invited to the reception, leave off those lines from the invitation, and add it to either a reception card or an RSVP card, depending on whether or not you require responses.