Adventures in Life, Letters & Wedding Planning

be merry, be bright

2008-12-31T18:58:00.003-05:00

Dear blog friends,

This has been quite a year! It's been a thrill to share my adventures in life, letters and wedding planning with you. As the new year begins, I'll be moving on as a Mrs. and leaving the Ms. Bliss blog behind. You'll still be able to access the content here and if you are a new reader, I hope that you will enjoy digging through the archives and reading my story.

I wish you all health, happiness and a terrific new year. And should you be wedding planning, I wish you the day of your dreams.

xo,
Ms. Bliss

One Blissful Day In Photos

2008-12-29T17:14:00.001-05:00

When Mr. Bliss and I arrived home from the holidays we had one extra present waiting at our door for us - our proof book from our photographers. We have more than 1,000 images of the big day to go through! We are so happy with the photos. Our photographers, Daria and Andy Bishop, really captured moments as they happened throughout the day. I thought I'd share with you a few (okay, more than a few) of our favorite moments.

Getting ready with all of the girls was so much fun.

Finally, I get to wear it!

My cousin Emma was ready for her flower girl duties.

Portrait of a self-portrait.

The guys look serious about getting dressed.

Mr. Bliss getting a little help from his brother.

We woke up to an overcast day, but just as we were getting ready the skies cleared!

Buttons can be tricky...

Buttoned-up and on the way to the trolley.

I love this shot of Mr. Bliss waiting in the back of the church.

And here I am waiting in the trolley.

Flower girl waiting for her big entrance.

I do!

Mr. and Mrs. Bliss enjoying some fresh air and champagne on the trolley.

The whole wedding party (and check out the yellow fields in the back).

Lovely little flower girls.

Oh happy day!

A quiet moment with Mr. Bliss in the yellow field.

Another moment by a beautiful barn.

Back in the trolley and en route to the reception.

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Bliss!

Hope, Peace, Cookies

2008-12-21T14:17:00.003-05:00

What more does one really need?

I spent the morning of the cookie swap furiously producing these little snowflake sugar cookies. I've been celebrating the holidays with the same group of lovely ladies for a few years now, and these are always requested. I like to keep it simple with the snowflakes - no need to color the icing and I have amassed quite the array of white sprinkles and snowflake cookie cutters.

Decorating was simple as Mr. Bliss and I had decked the halls (or the condo) a few weeks earlier. I did pull out my kate spade for Crane holiday card from last year and slip it into a frame that we had to create the mantra for the evening.

Hosting a little soiree was the perfect push for me to finally get a few wedding photos displayed. Mr. Bliss had barely hung these on the wall when the guests started to arrive. I also had the perfect excuse to break out our new stemware and other fun wedding gifts.

Pomegranate prosecco cocktails were the drink of the night. They are so easy and super yummy. You simply place a few pomegranate seeds in each champagne glass, add a dash of pomegranate juice then fill with prosecco. The bubbles from the prosecco actually make the pomegranate seeds dance!

Wishing you all a cookie-filled holiday!

The Halls Are Decked

2008-12-18T18:12:00.000-05:00

The Bliss condo is full of holiday spirit as I am getting ready to host a cookie swap this weekend! More photos to come.

Thank You Notes

2008-12-15T18:28:00.001-05:00

I'm happy to report that all of our 100+ thank you notes are finished! Mr. Bliss and I spent several Sunday afternoons working through our list and writing them.

While choosing the design of our thank you notes, I found inspiration in an unlikely place - our toasting flutes.

Belle Boulevard toasting flutes by kate spade.

The flutes were a gift from a bridesmaid and I just loved the design. As I was going through Crane's new wedding collections I discovered that kate spade had just introduced a new Belle Boulevard wedding suite. The correspondence cards in yellow were just right for our thank you notes.

kate spade for Crane & Co. Belle Boulevard correspondence cards.

Now what exactly were we to write in those pretty cards? According to Crane's Wedding Blue Book, there's a simple formula for a thank you note:

- Greet the giver.
- Express your thanks.
- Say something nice about the gift and how you will use it.
- Mention the past, allude to the future.
- Repeat your thanks.

Here's an example:

Dear Aunt Kay and Uncle Joe,

Thank you so much for lovely crystal cake plate. I'm looking forward to baking now that we have such a beautiful piece to display the goodies!

It was wonderful, as always, to see you both at the wedding. I especially enjoyed dancing to the oldies with Uncle Joe. We are looking forward to seeing you at Thanksgiving and telling you all about our adventures in Hawaii!

Thanks again for your generosity.

With love,

Mr. and Mrs. Bliss

One of My Favorite Pretty Little Details

2008-12-08T16:20:00.000-05:00

Cocktail Flags!

We provided our venue with yellow cocktail flags to serve in our signature passed drinks during cocktail hour. For signature drinks, we chose a "Bride's Favorite" and "Groom's Favorite." One was a lemonade and vodka cocktail and the other was a local microbrew. I bet you can't guess which was the groom's choice!

Now I wish I would have taken photos of how I made the cocktail flags to share with you readers. Sorry! I will tell you this - with very little cost (and definitely more effort) we were able to make these ourselves and I thought that they were definitely a detail at the wedding that did not go unnoticed. It was so fun to walk around cocktail hour and see people walking around with them.

To make them, I used yellow paper that I printed at home and cut with a paper cutter, double-sided adhesive and the bamboo sticks that you use for skewers. One thing to remember: call your venue and ask which glasses they will be using for passed cocktails so you know what length the flags need to be. Mr. Bliss was quite the trooper cutting 200+ flags to two different lengths!

Yes, the boys enjoyed the cocktail flags too!

Eyelet Invitations

2008-12-02T15:09:00.007-05:00

A reader just wrote in asking for more invitation details so I thought I would share more with everyone. Check out these new beautiful shots of the Bliss wedding invitations.

photos by Daria Bishop Photography

The main invitation piece is a Crane 64lb white embassy card. The paper is 100 percent cotton and feels amazingly thick. The pretty eyelet design was blind debossed, which basically means that image was pressed into the paper (like letterpress without the ink). The debossing of the eyelet design combined with the thickness and the quality of the paper resulted in a beautiful, textured eyelet detail. For the lettering, we chose engraving, which is a highly skilled form of raised printing. Check out this video to see how exactly engraving works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6N2r7zUv9g. It's amazing how long a bride can agonize over fonts! After much deliberation, we went with Charter Roman and Colonial Script.

The corners on all of the invitation pieces are rounded. This is actually done by hand at Crane! It's a very smooth corner, not the result you would get when working with a punch corner rounder. The invitations are fairly formal, so I wanted the copy on the reception card to have a bit of whimsy. Instead of "Reception," we went with "dinner, dancing & happily ever after." The choices on the response card were "Will be there to celebrate" and "Sends best wishes and regrets."

Coming up: programs and how we incorporated the eyelet design into other wedding details. I also have more wedding photos!

Welcome Bags

2008-11-29T10:42:00.007-05:00

You know what I'm talking about... The cute little bags that you couldn't wait to prepare for your guests to welcome them to your wedding weekend. You carefully scoured the Internet for hours looking for the right bags, labels and ribbon. You made lists of the fun contents to buy in bulk and you contacted the Chamber of Commerce in your wedding location for bundles of tourist brochures. And then all of that carefully collected stuff sat in a box and waited..

Until it was the weekend before the wedding and then you are all like "oh.my.goodness! we have to put together more than 70 bags and individually wrap all of this bulk food so we can use the super-cute monogram labels that I ordered. and I hope I bought enough yellow ribbon to tie around the bags with the chocolate chip cookies. and wasn't I going to write a nice welcome letter to all the guests? oh no!!"

At least that's how the welcome bag project went down in the Bliss household. We pulled it together though and after a few late nights of serious teamwork, here are the results.

Brown kraft bags were bought in packs of 12 at Michaels. Labels are from MyWeddingLabels and double-faced satin ribbon was bought in bulk from Papermart.

For yummy goodies, we bought Goldfish, pretzels and peanuts all in bulk at Costco. We also bought chocolate chip cookies there (these were assembled the day before the wedding to make sure they were fresh and not melted). I had ordered a ton of food-safe cello bags like these and smaller, monogrammed labels from MyWeddingLabels.

I TOTALLY underestimated how long it would take us to get all those goodies individually packaged into the cello bags. This is where Mr. Bliss, my helpful engineer, came to the rescue.

The magic welcome bag funnel, made out of a cleaned milk jug.

Mr. Bliss in action.

The assembly line.

A few hours later!

The finished product!

The welcome bags included: peanuts, goldfish, pretzels, chocolate chip cookies (not pictured), little packets of Tylenol, a local tourist map and area brochures and a welcome letter to our guests. I was able to refashion the wonderful map that Laura Hooper made for our save-the-date as the cover of the welcome letter.

Charming Bridesmaids Gifts

2008-11-21T17:31:00.003-05:00

I've told you all about my wonderful girlfriends and how they totally spoiled me during our engagement. From the moment when I asked them to be bridesmaids, I was racking my brain for the perfect gift to thank them.

I decided to build the girls charm bracelets. I wanted the gift to be something that they would keep and actually wear and something with sentimental value. Once I bought the base of the bracelets, I set to work to find the perfect charms for each girl. Each bridesmaid received a silver Adirondack chair to signify the day that they stood by me in Lake Placid as I married Mr. Bliss. Others received mementos from trips we had taken together (a London phone booth, the Eiffel Tower) and other charms that told the story of our friendship and explained the traits that I love about them.

I had so much fun thinking about charms for each girl and then scouting different online charm stores to find them.

Here is a peek at my maid-of-honor's completed bracelet:

The evening before the rehearsal dinner, I stayed up (quite) late writing each girl a letter. In it, I told them how happy I was that they were standing beside me on the day of my wedding. I explained the significance of each charm on their bracelet and also expressed my hope and promise that I would continue to fill their bracelet with charms during the big moments of their lives.

The girls love the bracelets and I am already looking forward to giving them more charms.

If you look at Jenn on the far right of this photo you can see that she was wearing her charm bracelet in the salon the morning of the wedding.

Here are some tips if you decide to make charm bracelets for your bridesmaids:

1. Start early! It can take quite a while to find particular charms and you don't want to be dealing with ordering 30+ charms a few weeks before your wedding.

2. Pay attention to the size of the charms when you order them. I ordered a few that were much larger/smaller than anticipated.

3. Write your girls a letter so they know your heartfelt intent behind each charm.

4. Make yourself a bracelet at the same time! You will want one!

Soundtrack of a Wedding Day

2008-11-14T14:50:00.001-05:00

Some of the most difficult wedding decisions for us were around music. It seems so simple at first, but then you realize that you are planning the soundtrack for a very important, once-in-a-lifetime day and every song seems so important.

Here's what ended up on our soundtrack (click to listen)..

I. Going to the Chapel
Okay, this actually wasn't on the official soundtrack, but my bridesmaids did break out in spontaneous song with this at the hair salon the morning of the wedding.

II. Trumpet Tune and Air
This played during the bridesmaid and flower girl processional. I actually chose this song on the advice of our violinist.

III. Canon in D Major
I always knew that I wanted to walk down the aisle with my dad to this song.. At the advice of our musicians and our officiant, we let the song play for about a half a minute before we proceeded. You really have to listen for a full two minutes to appreciate how beautiful Canon in D is. I've always loved it and am grateful to have such wonderful memories to associate with it now.

IV. Wouldn't It Be Nice
You have to imagine an instrumental version of this with strings and an organ. It was perfectly upbeat and fun for our processional down the aisle after being declared husband and wife.

V. Beautiful Day
This song was played at the reception when the bridal party and the newlyweds were announced. To be honest, I completely forgot that we were supposed to choose an introduction song and made the decision the morning of the wedding. Given that it was an absolutely beautiful day, and the fact that Mr. Bliss has been known to surprise me with U2 tickets, it was a great choice.

VI. The Way I Am
We chose this song for our first dance shortly after we became engaged, giving us quite a few months to dance around the living room to it with Otis. It was the perfect blend of sweet and honest and fun for our first dance together.

VII. Daughter
I searched and searched for months for a father/daughter dance song. I'm an only child with a close relationship with my Dad - I knew he was looking forward to this dance. I wanted the song to be special, but I also didn't want it to be so over-the-top sappy (like some father/daughter songs tend to be). I found "Daughter" by Loudon Wainwright and absolutely loved it. So many guests of the wedding commented on the song after our dance, asking about it and saying how much they liked it.

VIII. Have I Told You Lately
Mr. Bliss chose this one for his dance with his Mom. He also didn't want a totally traditional song and this one fit the bill perfectly.

IX. Come on Eileen
This was the last song of the night. We knew we wanted the night to end with a packed dance floor and we definitely got that (as well as a sing-a-long)!

A Sneak Peak at Some Sweet Details

2008-11-05T14:41:00.005-05:00

Hi blog friends,

I thought you would enjoy these inspiration boards made by our fantastic photographer, showcasing some of the details of the big day.

More details on the details (and some how-tos) are on their way!

xo,
m(r)s. bliss

Program designer: That's Inviting!
Florist: Trillium in Tupper Lake, NY
Cake: Lake Flour Bakery in Saranac Lake, NY
Save-the-dates: Crane & Co. and Laura Hooper

Introducing Mr. and M(r)s. Bliss!

2008-10-31T13:48:00.002-04:00

more photos to come!

photo by Daria Bishop photography

Blissful Newlywed Life

2008-10-24T10:43:00.003-04:00

The other day I was on the phone with Christa. Up until last month our calls focused on seating charts, ribbon, honeymoons and day-of schedules. This time, we were laughing as we both agreed that we are happy that our weekends are now free to do what we please. We don't have long to-do lists and we aren't running non-stop wedding errands. Newlywed life so far, has been quite terrific.

Here's what I've been up to..

baking!

finding room for sweet lil pumpkins

finding room for wedding gifts! party, anyone? (perhaps we need to start having fancier parties..)

getting outside - waterfront walks with otis and apple picking with mr. bliss.

putting away more gifts - check out those shiny pots and pans.

and more baking. i made these yummy chocolate peanut butter cupcakes to bring over to some friends who just had a baby. recipe is here.

How are you newlywed readers enjoying your newfound downtime?

Engagement Photos

2008-10-15T09:40:00.001-04:00

I know you are all probably waiting to see wedding photos. They should be here soon!

In the meantime, I thought I'd share a few more of our engagement photos by the talented Daria Bishop.

the parents love this one!

that water was chilly!

Why take engagement photos? Most of our photographer's packages included them and I am so glad that they did. It was great to be able to spend a a few hours with Daria and get to know her and also for me and Mr. Bliss to start to feel comfortable around the camera. It's practice for your wedding day! It's also so nice that we now have wonderful photos of the two of us - and we aren't wearing a tux and a white dress in all of them. We ended up giving framed engagment photos to our parents at the rehearsal dinner and they were a hit.

Back When I Was a Bachelorette..

2008-09-30T17:26:00.002-04:00

So we're going to rewind the blog a little bit, back to the beginning of the summer (I told you I was late posting about a few things!).

I had a wonderful bridal shower in my hometown, surrounded by my family and Mr. Bliss' family, given by two of my bridesmaids - my cousin and Mr. Bliss' sister. The rest of my bridesmaids (the girlfriends mentioned in the Martha post) were busy planning a bachelorette party to be held two weeks after the family shower.

The party was in Washington, D.C., home of my maid of honor Becca. I flew in a little earlier (along with Jenn) and the three of us enjoyed an afternoon of shopping around Georgetown, making a stop at bluemercury so I could buy my wedding makeup and enjoying a long lunch at Le Pain Quotidien. During the evening we eagerly awaited the arrival of the rest of the girls and once we were all reunited we enjoyed an evening of pizza, wine and catching up.

girl time!

The next day started with bagels and mimosas (what more could a girl ask for, really?) and then a knock at the door. The girls had arranged for a visit from Nail Taxi, a mobile nail boutique in metro areas (and genius idea!). We were able to lounge around and eat breakfast while getting manicures and pedicures - it was the perfect morning!

a great morning!

off to more fun afternoon activities...

I was told we had dinner reservations to get ready for when evening came. We got all dressed up and Christa and Emily tucked me into a taxi with them and then proceeded to blindfold me! At this point I was wondering where the heck we were going (as I heard them whisper to the taxi driver). After we got out of the taxi and walked up to the "restaurant" (with an elevator ride in there too), the blindfold came off and I was standing in front of door with a pretty sash displaying photos of my growing up. We were at Becca's apartment at a surprise bridal shower for me!

once the girls heard that i had a white dress for the weekend, they all packed black dresses. i had no idea!

so surprised!

becca had asked mama bliss to send photos of me growing up as well as photos of me and mr. bliss. they were all over the apartment!

I think I've mentioned before that Becca is a party planner by trade (and by nature). Check out all of the adorable details she put into the party.

cute take-out boxes full of my favorite thai food. becca's sister owns chartreuse and lent her design talents for the takeout boxes and invitations.

blueberry martinis for "something blue." we loved the rock candy stirrers.

yup, that's a big poster of me and the wall. becca had kinko's blow up a photo of me from college. underneath the poster is a table full of my favorite candy (junior mints and chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!).

christa made a beautiful fondant cake (on a work-night no less!!).

can you believe this is the first time she had worked with fondant?

i couldn't! no wonder she said she was tired yesterday!

i think at this point i was in tears, feeling so darn lucky and loved. cheers!

then I got crowned - no crazy bachelorette paraphernalia (thank goodness!).

becca had put together a little bride & groom quiz. she had emailed mr. bliss with a list of questions earlier.

becca checking mr. bliss' responses. he had some really sweet answers to some of the questions.

traditional bridal shower fun. how cute is this pot from mackenzie-childs? if i had to describe a "ms. bliss" pot - this would be it. love the yellow polka dots! thanks, jenn!

a few more toasts and we were off for a night of dancing!

We had been calling this The Summer of Love (with two weddings in our group of friends this summer) and it certainly delivered! I couldn't have asked for a better weekend spent with the most thoughtful and fun girls.

Stay tuned for lots of wedding projects, including what I got these fabulous girls as bridesmaid gifts...

The Sisterhood of the Travelling Martha Book

2008-09-23T15:01:00.016-04:00

I need to preface this post by telling you a little about the people who I am lucky enough to call my best friends. Adjectives fail to describe to how amazing they are. They are smart and spirited. They are kind, generous and oh-so-funny. They are the kind of friends who you know will always be there. We were fortunate enough to all cross paths at the beginning of college and together have shared an unforgettable collegiate experience, the bumpy road to "real life," cross-country moves, trips abroad, break-ups and new beaus and now three weddings. While none of us live in the same city, we are as close now as we were when we spent our entire days and college nights together.

Three years ago, Jenn's darling Adam asked her to marry him. The phone call chain started and the five of us were over the moon ("we're going to have a wedding!!").

Jenn and Adam had recently moved to the west coast, where she was going to graduate school. We were sad that we couldn't immediately see Jenn to celebrate, so we decided to send a package from all of us. A bouquet of parrot tulips were sent to the bride-to-be and a copy of the Best of Martha Stewart Weddings book (we all have a deep appreciation of "good things" a la Martha). Becca, the party planner of the group, bought the book and put little Post-its throughout, with suggestions and opinions on different things. She also wrote a letter to Jenn at the front of the book from all of us.

Here we are all at Jenn and Adam's beautiful wedding in August of 2006. L to R: Ms. Bliss, Christa, Emily, Becca and Jenn.

Fast forward two years later. We were all in California, visiting the happily married Jenn & Adam. Our dear Christa had just gotten engaged a week prior to the trip and the first item on our agenda was to celebrate with her. We enjoyed mimosas and endless chatter our first morning there and Jenn presented Christa with her copy of the Martha book. Instead of buying a new one, Jenn wanted us all to share the tradition of this book. She wrote a letter to the bride at the front of the book and peppered her own Post-it notes throughout its pages.

A girlie trip to Disneyland, just after Christa got engaged, May 2007. L to R: Ms. Bliss, Becca, Emily, Christa and Jenn.

Fast forward six months later. Mr. Bliss had asked the big question and I had said yes! I was happily planning and of course wishing that my best friends were nearby to celebrate with. And then the FedEx package came. The travelling Martha book - I couldn't believe that it was my turn. I opened it up and saw Christa's letter to me, which started "Dear Ms. Bliss, Congratulations! We could not be happier for you. You are going to marry your best friend!" I flipped the pages and heard the voices of my girls in their Post-its - Becca's expertise about logistics, Jenn's unmatchable sense of humor and Christa's sweet commentary on details.

letters to the brides.

I sat on the couch and I flipped and flipped. Mr. Bliss knew that I was having a moment with the girls and with Martha and he let me enjoy it.

I heeded Jenn's advice and went with buttercream for our cake.

A few weeks later, Becca visited for New Year's and we enjoyed some time with Martha over peppermint hot cocoa.

You know you are kindred spirits when you unknowingly have the same pajamas.

Two months later, Christa visited for a ski weekend. Our fiancees (now husbands!) laughed when we snuggled up on the couch with Martha one night.

Last night I was cleaning our condo (something I have been obsessed with post-wedding) and I came across the Martha book in a pile of wedding stuff. I flipped through again, taking in the beautiful photos and remembering the sweet details that I loved about our wedding day. I found the perfect spot on our bookshelf and tucked Martha away. I don't know when I will get her out again. But I do know that I will be absolutely thrilled that one of my best friends is about to experience the joy that we have this past year. I will write her a letter - "Congratulations! We couldn't be happier for you. You are going to marry your best friend!" - and send Martha along with love.

Married!

2008-09-19T13:22:00.000-04:00

I'm back online after the most happy and whirlwind two and a half weeks.

Our day came and was all that we wanted it to be and more than we could have really imagined. The sun was shining, our friends and family surrounded us, and we made the most serious (and seriously beautiful) promises to each other.

We rode the trolley, frolicked in fields for the camera, danced, danced, danced and felt completely surrounded by love.

Now I know you want the photographic evidence, and believe me, I can't wait to share. I should have professional photos in a few weeks and in the meantime, I have so many posts in the works about all of the fun things that led up to the wedding (not to mention the fabulous honeymoon to Hawaii). Stay tuned!

Our Bags Are Packed, We're Ready to Go

2008-08-29T00:01:00.006-04:00

Dear Blog Friends,

I have so much to update you on! From more invitation details to my friend Christa's fabulous wedding to the cute d.i.y projects that have been keeping me up late for the past month.

But for now, I must say goodbye for the next two weeks. Guests are on planes, wedding bands are nestled in new ring boxes and programs are in baskets. We are leaving for our wedding weekend tomorrow morning.

The past few days have been crazy and I've learned one very important thing. No matter how big the tux mishap is, how cute the cocktail flags are, how much the weather report keeps changing, in two days Mr. Bliss and I will be married. Starting a lifetime together and celebrating with our very dearest friends and family. How lucky we are.

xoxo,
Ms. Bliss

engagement photo by the fabulous Daria Bishop.

How Inviting!

2008-08-21T16:37:00.005-04:00

While I have been BFF with the FedEx man for a few months now, there was an afternoon when he brought me a box that was more special than any of the others. A box that I quickly carried to a quiet place and opened with care. As I peeled away the layers of tissue and pulled out the heavy cardstock, it struck me that while most of planning is around a wedding, these special pieces of paper were here to remind me that what we are really doing is creating a marriage.

I could almost feel the pride in the strong charter roman font featuring my parents' names. And seeing Mr. Bliss and my names engraved together in a lovely script was enough to make me stop for a moment and take it all in.

So without further adieu, the Bliss wedding invitations.

...

Buttercup Bride

2008-08-12T15:35:00.003-04:00

Before I post our invitations, I figured it would be best to loop everyone into the colors and general atmosphere of the Bliss wedding.

As soon as we became engaged I started dreaming of a summer soiree featuring a pretty buttercup yellow with crisp white accents. Originally I was afraid of the bridesmaids' responses when it came to yellow frocks, but when I said I was leaning towards yellow, I got one response: "that's so you!" Seriously, music to this bride's ears! Hello, Yellow!

Some pretty inspiration boards, courtesy of the ever fabulous Snippet & Ink.

...

Wading Through Wedding Stuff

2008-08-08T21:30:00.002-04:00

If you happen to be in the midst of the month of your wedding and you're home on a Friday night, this could happen to you.

And yes, even if you are neurotically clean, the wedding will still find a way to take over your house.

(for the record I was packing up vases to send to our florist and candles to go to our venue)

(I have also found that the Olympics are perfect for keeping you company during these evening tasks! How about those opening ceremony uniforms for Team USA?)

Lessons in Calligraphy: Part III

2008-08-04T13:01:00.001-04:00

So here is my last post on calligraphy, then we can get on to the invitations!

If you are working with a calligrapher, you'll be sending her your invitation list as well as your box of envelopes (be sure to include extras!). Do not underestimate the time it will take to get this list together! You'll think, "I already have my guest list, it's been made for months." However, in addition to names and addresses, you will need formal titles as well direction for the inner envelopes (if you are having them) for the calligrapher. It is best to be as specific as possible.

I consulted the Blue Book for most of my questions. There is also great information to be found here.

Here are the rules that I used the most when making my list...

Married Couple
Outside Envelope

Mr. and Mrs. Tom Cruise
Inside Envelope

Mr. and Mrs. Cruise
With Children Under the Age of 18 (if you are inviting children)

Mr. and Mrs. Cruise
Suri

Unmarried Couple Living Together
Outside Envelope

Ms. Angelina Jolie
Mr. Brad Pitt
Inside Envelope

Ms. Jolie
Mr. Pitt

Single Person Invited with a Guest
Outside Envelope

Ms. Cameron Diaz
Inside Envelope

Ms. Diaz and Guest

You will run into all sorts of situations when you making your list, whether it be addressing a doctor, a judge or a married woman who has kept her maiden name. I recommend having a reference book on hand and a lot of patience!

Lessons in Calligraphy: Part II

2008-07-30T17:17:00.003-04:00

I first heard about Michele Clark calligraphy over on WeddingBee. The bees were raving about her gorgeous calligraphy that was extremely affordable. Every glowing review mentioned how prompt and responsive she was.

I immediately emailed her (she doesn't have a website) and she had one week available in our timeframe to do our invitations (I told you calligraphers book up early!).

Now here comes another lesson for brides - if you are doing calligraphy and still deciding on or designing your invitations, I suggest ordering your envelopes first. If you know the color and size of the invitations you are looking for, place the order for the outer envelopes. That way you will have plenty of time to get them to your calligrapher without stressing and frantically tracking UPS packages. I was so happy that I did this. It gave me more time to work on my invitation design and I was able to ship the envelopes and calligraphy list to Michele ahead of schedule (something that has rarely happened during all of this planning).

And here are the lovely results in Michele's fine-flourished script:

Perfectly Lettered: Lessons in Calligraphy Part 1

2008-07-23T11:01:00.008-04:00

I recently made a very special trip to the post office. Seriously, I have never been so happy to enter the doors of a post office! Now that the invitations are out, I can share my journey through the "paper trail" with you.

Before we had even started to think about invitations, I began researching calligraphers. I knew I wanted our envelopes to have the extra touch of luxe, thick, swirly handwriting.

Whimsical calligraphy by Betsy Dunlap

Pretty white-on-navy by Maybelle Calligraphy

Classic and beautiful calligraphy by Laura Hooper who designed our save-the-date map.

Next up: the Bliss' invitation envelopes and why you should order your envelopes early.

Pretty Pomanders

2008-07-18T13:08:00.004-04:00

These are a must for our two little flower girls.

We are meeting with our florist next weekend to finalize everything. I can't wait to see how it all comes together!