Whew! Well I'm glad that's over! For the last several weeks I have been working furiously on the invitations for the wedding. Because I couldn't do something simple, like ordering them. Oh no, I had to MAKE them myself. Why? Because I have taken it on as my personal mission to show the wedding industry that I don't need them! I don't have to buy into that overpriced ridiculousness that weddings have become, so nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah to it! (Please add appropriate sing-song tone to the preceding sentence for full effect.)
However, while I didn't need them I did need the help of some good friends. First my friend Betsy created a logo for us. Then, after I made a really crappy mock up of what I was thinking about on a nearby legal pad she emailed me a completed design for the invitation, including the neat touch of folding the information letter up like an accordion. After she helped me pick out paper and had it cut a Kinkos, my office generously (but unknowingly) donated its color copier so I could print all the invitations.
Then it was simply a matter of cutting the paper again, and assembling them. This meant I spent several evenings folding the information letters into their amusing accordion shapes while Grant did homework, played guitar, or any other activity that did not involve the invitations. This was followed by taking the stamp that Betsy created, stamping it all over the invitations, covering the wet ink with embossing powder, then drying it with a heat gun (borrowed from Celena, another friend) so it had the shiny raised look that it ultimately possessed. This went a little faster than anticipated thanks to several women that took pity on me at Betsy's bachelorette celebration on the coast. They couldn't bear to see me hunched over the dining room table while they enjoyed the hot tub. (Gotta love it when guilt works without your having to say a word!)
This was followed by the assembly process, which involved more helpful folks and 6 rolls of double sided tape (one of which I shattered when I threw it across the room in a moment of utter frustration). And that was it! I was done!
Oh. Except for affixing all the return address labels on the rsvp cards. And addressing the envelopes (does it goes without saying this was preceded by getting all the addresses for the guests?). And stamping and addressing all the invitations. But after THAT it was done!
Hmmmm. Thirty hours and 5 people later I'm not feeling so smug about doing it myself.
Oh well. At least they were pretty. Far nicer than I could have gotten for what I was willing to spend (pretty much nothing). So far only one has come back because of an incorrect address. I'll deal with that another day. Right now I want to enjoy getting the rsvps and thinking about the honeymoon. Because if this wedding is dong anything it is making me REALLY appreciate the thought of spending 2 weeks on a beach!
