The Green Kangaroo Blog - Home

Inside Scoop: Using College Logos & Other Copyrighted Images

2009-07-13T18:10:00Z

It’s a lucky couple that gets to tie the knot in a location that holds a special meaning. When one of our customers got married in the Duke University chapel, TGK designed a divine program featuring a sketch of the structure’s landmark gothic tower. Incorporating this unique image into the design and motif of the wedding stationery set the tone for the wedding and was a fabulous way for the couple to communicate the specialness of the place to their guests.

If you’re considering incorporating images from your college days into your wedding stationery, you should to begin the process of securing written permission from the school as soon as you can. If you are holding your ceremony or reception at an on-campus site, like our Duke University couple did, the person you are working with at the facility can most likely point you in the right direction for obtaining the appropriate permissions. By taking care of this step in advance, you’ll speed the process of getting exactly the look you want for your college-inspired wedding invitations!

Invitation Wording Dilemma: Can I Put Registry Information on my Wedding Invitation?

2009-07-10T11:00:00Z

While we like to consider ourselves modern gals, there are some new trends that we just can’t get behind. The practice of including registry or other gift preferences on wedding invitations is still a big no-no in our book.

“Now come on,” you might say. “Everyone knows that you’re supposed to give gifts at a wedding and aren’t we making things easier on our guests by providing them with our registry information?”

Nope. No way. Even on occasions when gifts are appreciated, or even expected, it’s just plain tacky to imply that you require guests to bring gifts as “admission” to your celebration. Weddings are an excellent example of “expected” gift-giving occasions. And while we can certainly appreciate the convenience of gift registries (a practice that my grandmother considered the height of bad taste!), etiquette dictates that references to our gift preferences must be carefully chosen and discreet.

That’s not to say you have to rely solely on word of mouth to clue your guests in to where to find your china pattern and sheet sizes. An excellent option for the modern bride is to include a dainty accessory card in the invitation packet guiding guests to your wedding Web site. (By the way, TGK is partnering with mywedding.com in the development of FREE wedding Web sites featuring some of our most popular design motifs! We’ll be blogging about this fun venture next week, so stay tuned… )

This strategy keeps the bridezilla-esque reference to gifts off the invitation while directing guests to a helpful resource for information on everything from hotel options and driving directions to–yes–registry information. Now if only we could find a tactful way to keep Aunt Louella from wrapping up that ugly swan vase as your wedding gift and passing it off as a “family heirloom” …

The Green Kangaroo gives back . . .

2009-07-10T01:37:00Z

Wow! 2009 seems like it is flying by! Remember this cute little guy?

Back in March, TGK encouraged brides to order wedding invitations incorporating the color green in order to help donate to a local animal rescue. All of TGK’s employees LOVE animals – especially man’s best friend, so we chose Best Friends Pet Adoption based right here in central North Carolina.

Best Friend Pet Adoption is a no-kill animal rescue group committed to helping dogs and cats in need of homes. Their purpose is to provide medical assistance, foster homes, and adoption services to abandoned, abused, or neglected animals. BFPA’s mission is “to educate this disposable society in which we live that every life should be valued and cherished and is directly linked to human responsibility and commitment.”

We are proud to say that we were able to give BFPA nearly $1000 by donating 5% of our “green” sales from the month of March. If any of our readers would like to learn more about BFPA, or would like to donate, please visit www.bfpa.org.

Inside Scoop: What is an "Inner Envelope?"

2009-07-08T11:00:00Z

Wedding stationery is unlike any other mailed correspondence. Its uniqueness of design and packaging tells the recipient that they’ve received something special. Yet until I got married myself, I had never paid close attention to the individual packaging elements that actually make wedding invites so distinctive.

One of those atypical elements is the inner envelope. Originally used to protect invitations from dirt, water, and the eyes of messengers back in the days when correspondence was hand delivered, today the inner envelope serves a more social purpose. While the outer envelope is used for the guest’s name, address, and postage, the inner envelope is addressed simply with the names of each member of the household invited to your wedding. Formal etiquette dictates the use of surnames (last names) on both the outer and inner envelopes, but many brides today opt to employ last names on the outer envelope only and to use more informal–and more personal–first names on the inner envelope.

While this approach sounds stuffy to some, the key purpose of this social standard is to clearly indicate who is invited so that there is no confusion for your guests. For example, if you are choosing to invite a married couple but are not including their three children, you would address the envelopes as follows:

Outer Envelope: ‘Mr. and Mrs. Bartholomew Guilders’

Inner Envelope: ‘Mr. and Mrs. Guilders’ or ‘Bart and Bitsy Guilders’

And if you did want to invite the children, the inner envelope would read:

‘Bart and Bitsy Guilders’ on the first line and ‘Betsy, Tacy, and Tibb’ on the second line.

Inner envelopes differ from outer envelopes in additional subtle ways. The outer envelope is slightly larger than the inner envelope (making it easier to stuff). The inner envelope does not have any sealing gum/glue on its lip (because it’s not necessary to seal it) nor does it bear a return address on its back flap (since it’s not being mailed on its own).

At TGK, we include inner envelopes in the cost of all invitations. And for brides who want to spice up their envelopes with patterned designs coordinated to their invitations, we can do that too! The envelopes shown above are embellished in this way to complement our Josie invitation. To try out and price this option, simply click on the ‘Design Extras’ tab within any of our invitation product pages.

Featured Site: Bravo Bride

2009-07-06T17:04:00Z

We featured the Trash the Dress site a few months ago where brides make use of their wedding gowns for one last photo shoot. And while I still love the idea of re-using your own dress in such an unusual way, the idea behind Bravo Bride is certainly more practical! It’s an online marketplace specifically for buying (and selling!) wedding items. You can find everything from gently used dresses and engagement rings to centerpieces and even stacks of old wedding magazines (I guess for “vintage” ideas.) Some of the savings on this site are too good to pass up! I’d love to hear if any TGK blog readers have used the Bravo Bride site …

In the Shop: Independence Day!

2009-07-04T16:00:00Z

I love calling July 4th “Independence Day” because not only are we celebrating our national freedom, but we’re saluting our strong independent spirits! In my home town of Atlanta, a favorite holiday tradition is getting up early to watch the Peachtree Road Race. Sure, the runners are inspiring, but I particularly enjoy seeing the buttoned-up Southern grande dames flaunting their high-spirited uniqueness with crazy hats and patriotic outfits on the sidelines! It’s that independence and individuality that we like to celebrate every day at TGK.

Every true Southerner knows that the spectator sport of road race watching requires a pitcher of mimosas. Here’s a simple recipe to whip up for your early morning July 4th celebrations. Sure to please party-goers in any corner of America!

Summertime Mimosas
Serves 8-10

1 bottle sparkling wine (champagne), well chilled
1 carton good quality orange juice, well chilled

Mix equal parts wine and juice in a large pitcher. Stir gently and serve immediately.

In the Shop: The One in the Middle ...

2009-07-02T19:23:00Z

Customers and friends alike often ask us how The Green Kangaroo got its unusual name. When we learned that some of our dear employees didn’t even know the answer to this query, we thought a blog posting was in order to explain ourselves!

We were inspired with our quirky moniker by our appreciation for Judy Blume’s first published book, The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo. This funny story about a kid struggling to express his uniqueness and individuality had always spoken to our own journeys of trying to “fit in.” When we were preparing to launch our line of completely customizable invitations and stationery, the reference to “The Green Kangaroo” seemed to fit our mission of embracing each customer’s personal style and creativity and of working with design ideas that don’t “fit in” to the templates of traditional stationers.

These years later, the name has proven to fit our unconventional approach to the stationery business. And its light-hearted tone helps us keep our focus on the fun and beautiful artisanship that we love so much about what we do.

Are you a Green Kangaroo?

June Promo - You Snooze, You Lose!

2009-06-01T04:01:00Z

This month, we decided to liven things up a little. Summer is ripe for wedding ceremonies, and as such, our programs and table stationery (i.e. table cards, place cards, and menus) dominate in product popularity. We are going to kick off the 2009 summer season with a promo on our wedding programs.

This is no ordinary promotion. Pay careful attention because there are tight timelines, and to be fair to everyone involved, we have to play by the rules. The promotion is a straight discount – a certain percentage off your wedding program order. However, the discount DECREASES each week in June.

Here’s the June 2009 Promo schedule:

Week	Applicable Discount
Week 1 (June 1 – June 7)	20% off your Wedding Program order!
Week 2 (June 8 – June 14)	15% off your Wedding Program order!
Week 3 (June 15 – June 21)	10% off your Wedding Program order!
Week 4 (June 22 – June 30)	5% off your Wedding Program order!

Other than the date you actually confirm your order online (i.e. the date on your receipt), there are no strings attached to this offer! Simply buy your wedding ceremony programs using the coupon code below, and you’ll get a discount!

Coupon Code: ACTFAST0609

Enjoy!

Worth Noting

This offer is only valid on products listed under Wedding Programs

The date your order is placed will correspond with one of 4 weeks listed above, and the applicable discount will automatically be applied during checkout when you use the coupon code *ACTFAST0609

ABC News Feature - Fresh & Frugal

2009-05-26T16:00:00Z

The Green Kangaroo strikes again!! Two news spots in the same week! ABC Channel 11 News Super Saver Thursdays featured ways to get a “magazine” styled wedding look for less. Wedding planner Karen Clark, owner of Something Borrowed, Something Blue discussed ways to get similar but less expensive table decor, wedding cakes and yes – wedding invitations – from the Green Kangaroo. The invitations featured were our Coast Couture Ava invitation (average price $14.75 each), our Claudia invitation with a coastal theme (average price $7.20 each) and our Coastal Abby invitation (average price $4.50 each). Check out the video!

Don’t forget ladies – we want you to have wedding invitations that have your guests saying “that is so you”. We also don’t want you living on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for your first year of wedded bliss because you spent more than you could afford on your special day. If you love our style, but we are just out of your price range – STAY TUNED! We will be launching our much anticipated Fresh and Frugal Collection at the end of this week! Want a sneak peek?

Happy Tuesday!

Dress Giveaway from Vera Wang!

2009-05-11T20:00:00Z

We just learned that one of our favorite bridal magazines, Weddings Unveiled has partnered with Vera Wang to give away a gorgeous made-to-order Vera Wang dress!!

How can YOU be the winner? Check out their blog to learn more.

Hurry . . . they are announcing the winner on Friday, May 22nd!

The Green Kangaroo in the news . . .

2009-05-08T16:58:00Z

Hi Ladies – hope this Friday is treating you well!

We wanted to share with everyone that TGK was featured in a recent newspaper article about how brides can take advantage of the current economic “times” to get married for less. The article, in Raleigh’s News and Observer, talks about ways that business owners are helping brides to plan weddings that are beautiful, yet gentle on the pocketbook. The article mentions The Green Kangaroo’s very popular DIY option in which we assist brides in designing and professionally printing their wedding invitations, then allowing them to complete the assembly themselves – saving roughly 15%.

Read more (and even see photos of some TGK employees!) on the News & Observer website.

Happy Friday!

May Promo!

2009-05-01T19:12:00Z

Behold – the envelope! Envelopes don’t seem to get a whole lot of attention, but for those who understand their importance, you know the kind of excitement that is evoked when you receive something extraordinary in your mailbox. And that kind of excitement starts with the envelope!

Our May 2009 Promo

For the month of May, TGK is providing free color upgrades on return addresses and reply envelopes for all wedding invitation orders. We always print your return address on the back flap of your outer envelope, but our standard “no cost” default is black ink. If you select a colored ink for your invitation, now is your chance to add a little pop to your design without adding any $. Simply select the “Free Color Upgrade” for both your Reply Address and Return Address on the Design Options tab, and voila! Our Design Team will create coordinating and complimentary envelopes for your invitations in matching colors.

Add even more WOW to your invite with a coordinating envelope pattern and guest addressing – only $2.25/each when purchased together or $1.50/each when purchased separately.

Hurry! This offer will “disappear” on May 31st, 2009. Exclusions apply.

Promotion Exclusions

Offer is not retroactive and is not applicable on orders placed before May 1, 2009 or after May 31, 2009 – no exceptions.
Free color upgrades are only available on Wedding Invitation orders. This offer is not valid on Save the Dates, Note Cards or other products with envelopes.
This offer does not apply to envelope designs/patterns. Customers must purchase envelope “patterns” as a Design Extra at the current market price.
Customer will receive a proof of their envelopes with their invitation proofs.

April Promotional Offer

2009-04-14T14:00:00Z

Free Notes with all Pocket Orders in April!

Our note card promotion is back by popular demand. Every pocket order placed between April 1 and April 30 is eligible for your choice of free matching note cards, favor tags, or place cards. Simply make your selection in the “Design Extras” tab when you are customizing your order.

Hurry! This offer expires on April 30, 2009. exclusions apply – see below

Promotion Exclusions

Offer is not retroactive and is not applicable on orders placed before April 1, 2009 or after April 30, 2009 – no exceptions.
Promotional Item Dimensions are as follows: Notes = 3.5” x 5.0” (flat), Place Cards = 4.0” x 2.5” (flat), Gift/Favor Tags = 2.0” Square.
Free Place Cards will be pre-printed with a design (only) that matches your invitation. Personalized Guest names are the sole responsibility of the customer, and will not be printed by TGK.
Promotional items defined above will be printed on the same stock (and ink color) as the invitation. TGK will provide equal quantities of your invitations and selected free item. You can opt to purchase additional items by contacting us.
Customer will receive a proof of their selected free promotional item with their invitation proofs.
Not valid on DIY orders.

Dinner at Mez

2009-04-06T21:03:00Z

Since 2009 rolled around, The Green Kangaroo has really been “hopping”, so we decided to reward ourselves by a night out. With spouses in tow, the Green Kangaroo team headed to Mez, North Carolina’s first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) designed restaurant.

We chose this restaurant because A.) WE LOVE MEXICAN!! and B.) It received great online reviews – and we were NOT disappointed! The service was great and the food was nothing short of outstanding! Mez serves traditional Mexican recipes with a modern (even healthy!) twist. If you are looking for a restaurant with fabulous food and a cool atmosphere, you should check out Mez.

We want to say thanks to Jamie LaForce, general manager, and the staff of Mez for making our much deserved night so awesome! Muchas Gracias!!

Coastal Couture Feature in Brides Magazine

2009-04-03T20:25:00Z

A simple blog entry can not express how proud we are of our full page feature in the May/June 2009 issue of Brides Magazine.

Our Couture Collection performed exceptionally well in March, and we can only hope that its success will continue with such positive exposure!

The May/June 2009 issue of Brides Magazine is a great read, and is currently on newstands nationwide. You can find our Couture Coastal Ava on page 150.

Thank you to the wonderful staff, editors and photographers at Brides Magazine!