The Industry:

I’m sure that by now, any time you see or hear the word “industry” you start to imagine shady characters in dimly lit conference rooms devising malicious ways to drain your bank account. Me too. Now the thing with the “Wedding Industry” is that….they’re REALLY NICE about it. And they’re not even really all that pushy. But I’ll tell you where they get you. OPTIONS. That’s right. Options. Give a girl (or a guy) some attractive options and suddenly you start thinking of your budget as “really more of a suggestion, anyway”. So technically, yes, all of those individual pieces of an invitation we talked about in my last post are “options”, but there are many, many more.

• Ribbons, string, glitter, foil and all other kinds of embellishments
• Envelope Liners – they line the inside of your envelope with a color
• Printing Methods:
  • Laser Cut
  • Thermography
  • Letterpress
  • Digital Printing (which is pretty similar to regular printing)
  • Foil Stamping (scroll down)
  • Embossing
• Assembly & Addressing Services – if you don’t have time, you can pay them to assemble and address your invites for you!
• Paper Type – They have paper that is as thin as construction paper or you can print your invitations on foam board. Yes, 5th grade science fair project foam board.
• Invitation Suites – in addition to all of that, you can buy nearly everything you need in the same style as your invitations. Options might include:
  • Table Numbers
  • Thank You Cards
  • Escort Cards
  • Programs
  • Napkins
  • Coasters

Mmmhmm, “budget busters” (just remember you cannot eat these invitations, so don’t let these “budget busters” leave you hungry) are what I call those. Now this is just a short list of things you might want to start thinking about when deciding what your invitations will be like. My next blog is going to cover some of the “rules” of wedding invitations courtesy of  Martha Stewart. Whether you’re more traditional or a little bit of a rebel, you’re gonna like this.

Hope this helps!

XOXO,

~Mel