Invite Designer – Creative Wedding Planning & Ideas

Many newly-married couples admit that their wedding day was so action-packed that they can hardly remember it—amidst receiving lines, ensuring guests are well-fed and watered, and making sure wedding coordination runs smoothly in absence of a wedding planner, wedding-day “bliss” can feel like it’s defined by how happy guests are instead of the new couple!

I’m sure you have special plans in store for your sweetheart on Valentine’s Day, so why not make the same commitment for your nuptials? Here are some simple things you and your fiancé can do to slow down your wedding day and keep the focus on you.

– Ask your wedding photographer to take some photos of you before your wedding ceremony starts. If either you or your fiancé consider it a sin for the groom seeing his blushing bride before she walks down the aisle, consider this: the less time you spend snapping photos after the ceremony, the quicker you and the wedding party will be able to join your guests at the reception and start the party. Also, seeing each other before that big moment at the alter can ease many jitters and will give you both an opportunity to speak candidly without the pressure of pre-written vows or microphones.

- If you’re taking couple photos before your ceremony, choose this time to exchange bride and groom’s gifts. Although newlyweds are generally already drowning in piles of toasters and dish sets, it’s especially meaningful for the couple to give each other a little something as a token of love—and perhaps a “thank-you” for all that wedding planning assistance! Giving these gifts before the ceremony gives you a private, quiet moment before the rest of the wedding day begins.

- Make your getaway in a horse-drawn carriage, yacht, or other vehicle where you and your honey can have some alone time. After the rehearsed formality of your wedding ceremony and standing in front of all your friends and family, it’s a relief to share a few moments of calm and freedom before you arrive at your reception. If possible, have your ride stick around for after the reception, too—you both may feel too tired or tipsy to drive yourself to your final destination.

- If you and your groom were so busy visiting with relatives and kickin’ it on the dance floor to enjoy your own fabulously-catered food, stop by a 24-hour diner after guests leave and grab some grub. It’s spontaneous and fun to sit at a Formica counter in your gown and cummerbund, and a wonderful way to unwind after a busy day.

- Although brides and grooms might have big expectations for their wedding night, if you’re more in the mood for a hot bath and sleep than intimacy, don’t force it. Some candles and a foot massage can be just as romantic, and if you’d prefer to hit the sack right away, that special wedding-night lingerie will still be there in the morning.

You’ve been planning the food, flowers and music you’ll have on your wedding day for months, so take a little extra time to incorporate moments that force you to slow down and remember. And have a great Valentine’s Day!

January is the official start of the calendar wedding season. The month is peppered with bride-geared events like Seattle’s 400-vendor-large wedding show, and many businesses like caterers, gown shops, and ceremony and reception sites offer big incentives to book clients early for the 2010 summer.

If you attended a wedding show and haven’t dared to peek inside your free tote bulging with catering menus, venue brochures, and candy wrappers (from all those free bon bons they gave you), or if the next step of the planning process—beginning the actual planning!—is leaving you feeling overwhelmed, now is the time to invest in charting out a wedding planning timeline to guide you through the next several months up until the big day.

These can come in many forms: many websites offer timelines that you can borrow from to fit your needs, such as myweddingchecklist.net and weddingchannel.com. Websites like weddingwire.com and onewed.com offer customizable tools that let you make your own online list when you sign up. Check bookstores for wedding sections where you can find wedding planning kits or guides with timelines and checklists. Amazon.com features loads of helpful resources for brides-to-be.

Many brides may be tempted to hire a wedding planner first thing to handle every detail, or consign themselves to a slap-dash Vegas-esque affair because they can’t handle the stress. Remember: don’t begin by compromising your visions because you think you won’t be able to pull it off, and while a wedding planner can be the perfect tool for achieving a calm, lovely wedding day, not every couple should feel that they need to hire one (or pay for one!) Sit down with a few checklist templates, your fiance, or your girlfriends, and start drafting a list of things that matter to you.

Here are a few checklist to pay attention to:

“The dress”

Many wedding checklists advise that brides “start thinking” about shopping for a wedding dress one year before their date, but doing is better than thinking! Many custom gowns can take as long as 6 to 8 months to arrive at your local salon from the moment you decide to make the purchase. When you include time for alterations, that only leaves a couple months to shop, and this is one decision you do not want to rush.

Booking a photographer

The best wedding photographers’ work is so infamous that they don’t need to advertise at large wedding shows to attract clients—and they book a year or more in advance. If photography is a priority for you, begin researching photographers’ online portfolios as soon as you get engaged.

Setting a date and informing your guests

This seems like a no-brainer, but don’t underestimate your friends’ and families’ datebooks. Send save-the-date cards no later than 6 months before your wedding, and earlier if possible. Check with your most valued guests or members of the wedding party about their plans—did you forget that Grandma and Grandpa are celebrating their 60th anniversary this year, and its the weekend before your wedding? Are you planning Christmas nuptials, or a destination wedding that asks guests to fly to Honolulu for a week? Without guests you won’t have much of a wedding, so give plenty of notice.

The best way to avoid wedding-day mishaps or a transformation into the dreaded Bridezilla is to have a plan and stick to it. Luckily, brides have a variety of resources at their ringed fingertips and just have to show the tenacity to start (and get their men involved, please!)

I’ve worked at several wedding expos: the big, overwhelming kind where bride after bride donning an engagement ring-shaped sticker identifying her as the “bride-to-be” devours the flower, cake, and photography stalls with the ravenous glare of a child in a sweets shop… while the dejected groom trails behind, his hand clenched in hers.

While it’s true that many men just don’t care which variety of chrysanthemum would look best for a bridal bouquet, your groom is your partner and friend, and that big day is as much about you as it is him. The one place he should become involved in, and take pride in, is his own attire and wedding-day style. Yes, everyone generally looks at the bride, but what happens when she’s at the end of the aisle? Ta-da! Everyone’s looking at the groom, too. And why should women get to have all the fun dressing up? Men now have more stylish options than ever.

If your wedding is a casual affair, encourage the groom to opt for a trouser-suit coat combination instead of a formal morning suit. And get creative—match a pinstriped jacket with solid pants, a silk vest with tweed trousers, or try monochromatic neutrals in grey, navy, and brown. Make sure the groom stands out from the other men in the bridal party, either with a different colored vest, tie, or by changing the look of the groomsmen completely. Remind the groom that this is a chance for him to be himself and express his style as much as it is the bride’s.

Ties don’t have to be generic palettes for multi-colored geometric shapes; these custom silk-screened ties from Detroit artist Toybreaker are available on Etsy in any color or design. Monogram your ties and later give them as groomsmen gifts, or use motifs from your wedding invitations. A variety of custom colors means you’ll be able to match your wedding colors perfectly.

The boutonniere may seem like a small detail easily overwhelmed by the brides’, bridesmaids’, and all the other flowers crowding the ceremony and reception space, but its tendency to be photographed and its ability to unite a groom’s wardrobe and really make it pop make it a detail you want to pay attention to. These fantastic, custom-made boutonnieres by Bespoke Boutonnieres use figurines, guitar picks, game pieces, and other knick-knacks to match your groom’s one-of-a-kind personality. Kind of makes you wish you could have a kitchen-whisk-and-spatula bouquet in tribute to your cake decorating hobby, huh?

Finally, remember that your groom’s clothes and accessories will only look as good as he himself—many spas and salons now offer groom’s packages including manicures, pedicures, massage, and facials geared specifically to men. And don’t be shy, ladies; if you’re worried that your man’s “manly” amount of hair might be visible in those intimate close-up shots, gift him an ear-and-nose hair trimmer before your nuptials. He’ll get the idea. Because, believe it or not, he probably cares about looking good for you just as much as you care about looking good for him.

Spokane, Washington couple Andrea Parrish and Peter Geyer hit upon a creative (although crazy-sounding) solution to funding their wedding—they plan to collect 400,000 recyclable containers by their July 31st 2010 nuptials. They’ve even made a website charting their recycling progress that offers fans the chance to donate money to their cause via PayPal.

Maybe sifting through garbage bags of sticky empties isn’t your idea of wedding planning fun, but wouldn’t you feel smug on your way down the aisle knowing you didn’t have to take out a second mortgage or dip into your retirement fund to finance a single day? And let’s not forget that 400,000 cans refunded is 400,000 less cans sitting in landfills. Here are some other ways you can reduce your wedding day costs, reuse decorations, and recycle your way to a greener, cheaper affair.

- Compose your guest list carefully. Beginning with fewer guests means you’ll end up with less waste. Think of all the things each guest requires: an invitation, a wedding program, a chair, a place setting, food and drink, a wedding favor, etc. While matrimonial etiquette guides (or your mother) may dictate that you should invite third cousins and great aunts whose names you can’t recall, prioritize your list by inviting those who are an important part of your life. Explain to extended family that you have a strict budget to work within and offer to get together with them personally sometime and celebrate.

- When it comes to furnishing your wedding and reception, try to reuse as many things as possible. Glass containers, especially wine bottles, containers of sparkling water, or mason jars, have attractive shapes and can be reused after their contents are gone. Soak the bottles in hot, soapy water to remove their labels, and use them for flower arrangements, votive candle holders, or to package party favors. Websites like Craigslist feature categories for used wedding supplies such as table linens, serving platters, and more. Look around your own house; if you’re having an autumn wedding, check out your stock of Halloween decorations and see what you could cross over.

- There’s no reason to bum over buying a three thousand-dollar dress that you plan to wear once: websites and organizations like Brides Against Breast Cancer, PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com, and Vintage Indie can help connect you with a beautiful pre-owned gown for far less than the cost of one new. Or ask family and friends if they have a gown they can loan you. Many brides find it especially meaningful to say “I-do” in a vintage piece their mother or grandmother wore. Remember to check out Goodwill and the Salvation Army, too. The dresses you find might seem out of style, but many bridal salons employ alterations experts willing to add or remove embellishments until you have a gown truly your own. The bride above made her own gown out of white t-shirts!

So put on your green thumbs and get recycling! And just think: by using recycled materials on your wedding day, you won’t embarrass yourself by re-gifting all those extra Ikea vases the following Christmas.

If your holiday-themed wedding plans leave you worrying that your special day will look like another tinsel-ridden Christmas party, don’t throw in the red and green towel just yet. They best thing about holiday-themed weddings is that most of the design work has already been done for you; Christmas has been celebrated for hundreds of years, providing endless traditions and motifs for any bride to build upon.

Invitations

For your invitations, choose a theme and color that will stand out from other holiday party invitations or greeting cards your guests might receive in the mail; this blue snowflake motif stays away from red-and-green and still exudes a holiday feel. Furthermore, send out your invitations a little earlier—12 weeks before your wedding at the latest—so that guests will have enough advanced notice to make your day a priority amongst other holiday plans. For a fun twist on the traditional guestbook, send plastic ornaments (they won’t break in the mail) along with your invitations. Ask each guest to write their name and a well-wish on the ornament, and then provide a tree at the reception for guests to decorate. You’ll have a stunning Christmas symbol of everyone’s support by the evening’s end.

Decorations

Styling your holiday wedding is as simple as looking at the holiday decor you already own. Put those Christmas lights to good use by illuminating the walls and ceiling of your banquet hall, and tuck name cards into pine cones as place holders at each reception table. Fresh flowers are expensive and difficult to find during winter months, so fill vases with glass baubles and beads. A sprinkling of artificial snow makes a gorgeous and charming aisle runner, and why not have your flower girl toss fistfuls of the stuff in place of rose petals as she walks to the alter? Flower-alternatives are fun and inexpensive, and a bouquet of sturdy holly will last longer than delicate peonies.

Apparel

When dressing for the season, brides have one thing working for them from the start: a white dress! To further emphasize a wintry look, search for dresses with delicate lace that mimics snowflake patterns or bead and crystal appliqués that glimmer like ice. As for the go-to winter accessory, the fur wrap, compelling faux materials and rental shops make it easy for any bride to afford and feel good about one of these luxurious pieces. A wrap is not only beautiful, but warm!—wedding dresses aren’t generally made to endure the elements, so keep an attractive wrap, shawl, or sweater on hand to stave off goose bumps.

Food

Bakers seem awfully generous with greenery, gold ribbon, or snowflake embellishments when it comes to holiday-themed wedding cakes, and I think even the stack-of-presents design is starting wear. To achieve a holiday feel without beating your cake to death with candy canes, use simple elements and colors that evoke holiday themes. This white chocolate cake is topped with red strawberries and sprinkles of snow-like powdered sugar, tied with a sheer brown ribbon. Your menu, too, is a great place for creativity. Instead of eggnog, try a signature cocktail with vanilla-flavored vodka, spiced rum, and a shaving of nutmeg. Try serving meat dishes with fresh mint sauce and savory chestnut crepes as a sophisticated side.

Remember, your holiday nuptials should still focus on you and your fiancé’s romance above all. Ask yourself: why is it important to me and my fiancé to have a holiday-themed wedding? Did you two accidentally collide while snowboarding? Find solace in each others’ company at a agonizing office holiday party? Or maybe you simply enjoy your families’ Christmas traditions, and the holidays are a convenient time to pull everyone together? Make these motivations the focus of your wedding and your celebration will shine with only minimal help from pine-scented candles.