Category: Wedding Invitations

Recently, I had the opportunity to interview celebrity wedding planner David Tutera at the Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena. Even though he’s worked on events with such VIPs as Jennifer Lopez and Vice President Al Gore, I was impressed by his enthusiasm for helping non-famous brides have equally stellar weddings.

Your wedding invitations are more than just functional; they’re a formal announcement of your intentions. So since you’re going to use the U.S. Post Office to send out your invitations, thank-you notes and sundry other correspondence, why not get creative with it? Thanks to modern technology, you can.

A glossary of common printing terms.

I’m inviting 178 guests to my wedding and I want to get a better idea of what the final count will be. Is there any way to estimate how many people won’t attend?—Kim, Apple Valley, California

Want to be a DIY bride but don’t know how to get started? WeddingDNA.com gives you access to chic graphic templates which can be used for wedding invitations, save-the-dates, programs, thank-you notes, place cards…even powerpoint presentations for reception slideshows! Membership’s just $39.95/year, and you can download and print as much as you need to create a cohesive wedding style. I’m partial to the Moonlit Owl design—a new twist on the usual lovebirds!

I confess to major butterflies for my interview with celebrity wedding planner and TV show host, David Tutera at the elegant Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena last month. I needn’t have worried. He was warm and charming, and very open to sharing his wedding planning pointers. Later when I dished the dirt with two of his “My Fair Wedding” Season 2 brides, Dee and Quiana, they both agreed that he was way more personable and down-to-earth than they had expected. I was particularly excited to confirm that David and I were in complete agreement about several key “Wedding Dos & Don’ts.”

A Guide Bride wanted to incorporate the groom’s Middle Eastern heritage in the invites and place cards, so she recently asked me if I could help her find Arabic wedding stationary. As someone who did the same fruitless search 7 years ago, I suggested an alternative that didn’t involve ordering invitations from an international vendor (will it arrive in time? what’s the currency exchange again?).

Okay, gals&mdashthis is just too cute! A fun way to make your engagement announcements, save the date cards, wedding invitations and thank-you cards more personal: Create your own stamps!

Who says a vineyard wedding means you have to use bunches of deep purple grapes to decorate your cake, centerpieces, and bridal bouquets? For a garden wedding, I’d rather take my cues from a tossed salad: crisp greens with tomato and carrot-colored blooms. I’ve been in love with this cabbage leaf arrangement from Panacea Event Floral Design since we posted it. It makes me hungry just looking at it!

Northern California brides are so lucky: They can just look out the window and take their inspiration from the natural wonders around them: from the bright bottle blues found in San Francisco Bay to the vibrant Muir Woods mossy greens a little farther north. While your So Cal counterparts may disagree, taking inspiration from nature doesn’t mean you have to wear wildflowers in your hair or walk barefoot down the aisle. This palette is totally No Cal: sophisticated, sexy, and a little unexpected.

As a lover of all things professionally printed, imagine my delight when my husband and I had a chance to visit the Hyegraph showroom in San Francisco. They have over 250 catalogs with literally thousands of styles. Proprietor Jacques Oskanian showed us samples of some of the designs, with prices ranging from less than one dollar to as much as $250 per invitation!

The masterminds behind Hello!Lucky, one of my favorite Certified By The Guide invitation companies have come out with a new book called Handmade Hellos, http://www.hellolucky.com/handmadehellos.html. In it, Eunice and Sabrina Moyle feature over 25 DIY projects put together by some of the hottest paper artists. The book shows you how to create your own invitations, thank yous, birthday cards, etc.—whatever the style.