Las Invitaciones: Breakin' It Down

Now that I've done the official reveal of our invitations, I thought I'd share a little bit of the "behind the scenes" action; i.e. how much these suckers costs and advice from a non-pro.

Now, I think we saved some money making the invitations from scratch (compared to paying for custom-made invitations). Here's a run down of things we had to pay for:
-paper from Paper Source
-eyelets
-eyelet setter
-paper cutting by Kinko's
-Gocco screens
-Gocco lamps
-stamps

(Note: I'm not adding the cost of the actual Gocco machine and inks since those weren't purchased solely for making invitations)

If I add up all the costs of supplies and divide by the total number of invitations we made (75), they come out to approximately $2.80 each.


Regardless of whether we saved money or not, here's my caveat: the work that went in to making these took much more time than any money we could have saved.

With that said, my main advice to anyone out there looking to make their own wedding invitations (and who, like Mr. Tortolito and I, aren't design professionals) is this: although it might save you a few bucks, don't do it for that reason only. The frustration alone will kill you. Do it because you know you'll truly enjoy the process and reward of making your one-of-a-kind invitation suite. Once you're set on making your own invites, here are a few other pointers I can offer:

-Be OK with, and accept imperfection. Like I said before, we don't craft or design for a living. I didn't expect for our invitations to be of professional quality, and they weren't. And that's OK. In our case, we used El Gocco for printing and every single print was different. Some pages printed smoothly and evenly, some had imperfections. Some text came out straight, others were a little bit off-centered and crooked. It's all good though! As long as the information was there and legible, we shrugged it off and let it go. Chances are your guests will not notice a thing, and I assure you they won't scrutinize the invitation to the same extent that you did.

-Work with a partner. This might not apply to everybody, but I found that I was 100% more productive when Mr. Tortolito and I got together for some serious craft time. When I worked alone I sort of just went on my own, relaxed pace. I'd take a break every few minutes to check email, surf the net, etc. Sometimes I'd question my work and get really frustrated, and just plain out stop working because "nothing was coming out right." When Mr. Tortolito came over to help, I was so much more efficient because he gave me reassurance that the invitations were coming out fine. If we came across a problem we would solve it together. If we got frustrated, we'd encourage each other; and when our invitations started to take better form, we celebrated together!

-START EARLY. We started brainstorming/designing the invites early to mid June. We started production late July/early August. Invites were out mid-September, which was late according to our own personal deadline. In the end, I'm sure it didn't really matter to our guests whether they got the invitation exactly two months in advance, or a week or two after. Just give yourself plenty of time to deal with complications that WILL come up as well as take care of everything else going on in your life and wedding planning.

-Buy extra of everything! Paper, ink, envelopes, assembly tools (we went through about four Fiskars border punches - they kept breaking!) Unless you really know what you're doing (we didn't), you're probably going to mess up..like a lot. Better to buy supplies in bulk and have enough for mess-ups than waste hours driving back and forth to Paper Source/Michaels/etc.

and a few more words of advice from Mr. Tortolito himself:

-Calligraphy isn't so bad. All you really need to know how to do is hold the pen correctly. I recommend starting with calligraphy markers, which control the flow of the pen automatically. Once you know how to hold the pen, you realize that the pen does all the work. Just write in your own cursive or check out fonts with glyphs for inspiration. It is frustrating though, because you're going to mess up your first 10-15. But once you get that confidence, it's over! You're ready to rewrite the Declaration of Independence!

And there you have it! Making your own wedding invitations isn't so bad after all. I assure you that the effort is totally worth it. :)

Do you have any more tips to offer?

Las Invitaciones

It's invitation time! Dang, I knew DIY invitations were a lot of work but we didn't fully understand what we were getting ourselves into until it was too late. Nope, we didn't understand one bit. Not until our coffee table was transformed into a Gocco crafting table for over a month, our couch and kitchen table became Gocco print drying stations for weeks on end, my fiance almost lost normal function of his right hand from continuously punching tiny holes through thick layers of cardstock, and definitely not until 2am on a Saturday night (a week after our "goal date" for sending out the invitations) where we stared at each other from across the room (him punching holes thru paper, me hammering eyelets) and proclaimed in unison "fml."

Designers we are not.
Naive? Maybe.
Determined? Damn right. Determined enough to take the beautifully-crafted inspiration we had found and make it our own. Even if it cost us hours of lost sleep and frustration. So without further ado, I present to you our invitation suite!

Ingredients:
Front Cover - Obanai White Feather Paper from Paper Source, cut to #10 size at Kinkos
Inside pages: #10 Note Cards from Paper Source in luxe fino cream and luxe blush, each page cut to different sizes at Kinkos
Back Cover - #10 Note Card from Paper Source in Rhubarb

All printing except for the map was done with El Gocco.


We decided to bind our invitation booklet using eyelets. Mr. Tortolito did a great job at keeping all the holes lined up when punching through the booklet, but his poor hand was extremely sore after so much punching.


We ran a bone folder near the edge of the booklet to give it a crisp fold.


Et voila!

Here's what our guests saw upon opening their invitation booklet. We made an English version and a Spanish version.


Page 2: Celebrate. Yeah yeah!! You know this is the part people really care about. We kept it short, sweet, and straight to the point.


The element we loved most from the invitation that inspired us to make these was the RSVP postcard. We took Mrs. Lime's idea and ran with it.


We had a last-minute dilemma figuring out how we were going to keep track of the RSVP postcards sent back to us. The problem was solved by printing return address labels for each of our guests and affixing it for them on their postcard. This small detail has made my life so much easier when I update our "who has responded" spreadsheet.


And finally, the map! I used Adobe Illustrator to design this page (basic instructions outlined here.) It includes a map showing the network of major freeways in LA that most of our guests will be traveling from/on. Then, I zoomed in on the locations of our church and reception venue (although I cheated on the venue map because the site coordinator had previously sent me a digital file of their map. Hey, it saved me some extra time!)

We ran this page through my printer since the detail was way too fine for the Gocco. Illustrations are courtesy of future brother-in-law Tortolito. Much thanks to Mr. Tortolito who did most of the leg work in translating the English directions to Spanish (that shiz was difficult!), and to future mother-in-law Tortolito who reminded us where to add the accent marks to keep it grammatically correct.


If I had any artistic ability, I would have helped Mr. Tortolito calligraphize the invitations. Alas, I have none, so Mr. Tortolito got to be in charge of putting the final touches on our invites.



Like I said before, these took a lot of work and a ton of time. More time than we anticipated, hence our sending them out a week after we wanted to. BUT it was totally worth it. They might not be perfect, but we heart them. We have gotten so many sweet comments from our guests that it's made this project all the more worth it.

Next up: invitation budget breakdown and a few tips we picked up along the way.

Showered

My mommy and little sister threw me a bridal shower this weekend, and it was so much fun! They definitely outdid themselves in party-throwing for this one. They invited many of my close girl friends, family members, and family friends. It was the perfect mix! I feel so very lucky to be surrounded by so many positive, encouraging, and FUN ladies in my life!

Backyard decked out with bridal shower decorations.

We started off the party with some good foods.

Pastas, salads, beans, and pot roast courtesy of Mommy Tortolita's kitchen. Mr. Tortolito's mom provided us with some yummy Mexican rice. We were so busy eating it that we forgot to take pictures of the food setup!

Can't forget the buckets of beer. What, you thought ladies don't do beer at bridal showers?

After filling our bellies, it was time to really get the party started. My mom's friend brought me a veil for the day. She instructed everyone to write well-wishes and advice on dollar bills to be attached to the veil.


When I got home later that night, I had a hell of a laugh reading all of the kind words and advice from the ladies. They ranged from sweet to funny to outrageous. Check out one that had me busting up laughing:

Valid advice, right??!

We played a game where everyone is a assigned a number from 1 to 6, we roll a die on a plate until we roll our number, try to open a large gift box while the person next to us is rolling their die trying to get their number.


The amount of time you have to try to open the gift is limited by how quickly the person next to you can roll their number. Oh, and you have to put on a pair of gloves before attempting to open the gift.

Don't try to get in between a woman and her prize inside a gift box. "Hell hath no wrath..."

The games continued, some of which verged on the rated-R side.

Suck n blow...

A game involving a blindfold, stick, and a target...


...and a game similar to Hot Potato. Except you're passing something more risqué than a potato, and you can only use your knees.

Up next was gift time! I was very humbled by the generosity of my friends and family. I received enough lingerie to practically last me my first month as a newlywed...

...as well as some much-appreciated registry items.

We ended the night with some tres leches pastel. Courtesy of none other than my momma!


For reals, I am so lucky! I couldn't have asked for a more fun shower or better times spent with the ladies in my life.

Heart my girls!!

Much love to sister and Mama Tortolita for this experience!

How did you celebrate the "entrance into married life?" And please tell me I'm not the only one who's been forced to play R-rated games at her bridal shower...in front of her grandma!

I Will Not Go Nekkid To My Bridal Shower

Wow, I have a bridal shower coming up this weekend (already?!) and I've kinda neglected the fact that I have nothing to wear to my own shower. Not that I don't own clothes or anything, but I've worn everything already. I need a new dress. Need. Or else I go nekkid, but I highly doubt I would be well received. New dress it is!

I jumped on my bike this afternoon and rode over to Santee Alley for some quick, cheap, and cute dress shopping. OK, except for the quick part...because last time I needed an emergency dress I found one in 30 minutes at the alley. This time it took me a couple hours. Who woulda thought finding a bridal shower dress would be so difficult? Or maybe I was just being picky? At any rate, I found what I was looking for. phew!


Oh Santee Alley, you never fail me.


I could literally spend all day browsing through the fashion and shoe stores. It's like being in a huge Forever 21! (With that said, expect Forever 21 quality clothing. It's not bad quality, but it won't last you for years to come. For a cheap bride on a budget needing a quick retail fix, it's perfect!)

I began my pursuit for the perfect little white dress. I wanted white because isn't that what the bride is supposed to wear for her bridal shower? A white dress cuz, well, she's the bride? So I searched and searched. And searched some more. But I couldn't find a dress that I liked, dangit! I started to think that if I really wanted a nice white dress, I should have gone shopping elsewhere. You can find a lot of really cute dresses at the alley, just not in white. pffft! So I said eff it, and started paying attention to all the other cute dresses that I kept eyeing. I abandoned the white dress idea and started looking for something soft and girly instead.

The funny thing is that as soon as I accepted this, I found the perfect dress immediately. I still had another block of the alley left to explore, so I decided to keep looking just in case I found something better. (Forgive the bad quality of the next two fotos. I was equipped with my blackberry, nothing else.)

This dress looked great on the mannequin, but not great on me. I really liked the red, soft pinks and yellow colors of the dress. I would maybe wear this for a beach vacation. Not my bridal shower.

This was actually a white spaghetti strap blouse paired with a floral print skirt with a black elastic waistband. I really liked it, but it didn't strike me as "party wear."

I didn't try much else on as I kept thinking about the first dress I really liked. I knew I should have just purchased it from the start!

Ruffles, girly, pink flowers...does this not scream "tea time!" to you?


The dress is very "flowy." It came with a matching waist sash, but it wasn't cutting it for me. I incorporated a thick brown belt instead to give more definition in the waist. There! Bridal shower dress for under $30: check. The alley saved the day again!

Did you wear white to your bridal shower, or did you go for color like I did?

Adiós to the Invitations

Today I took a trip to the post office. I entered practically shaking with excitement, trying to hide the perpetual smile on my face (didn't wanna look like a dork!), slightly nervous, and with this in hand:


This box held the culmination of months of designing and laboring, several too many trips to Paper Source, lost hours of sleep, and the promise that people will actually show up to our wedding. They took us a little longer than expected, but our babies are finally all growed up and ready to be delivered to their new owners.

It almost pained me to part with them, but we knew this day was coming. I thought to myself "What if they end up in the trash? Will people notice all the hard work we put in to these? Will they like them?"

Realistically, yeah I'm sure 99% of them will end up in the trash; nobody is going to scrutinize them for hours like we did to determine how much work went into making them; and they might think they're "cute/nice"...maybe.

BUT, we love them! Despite many frustrations and doubts along the way, we are happy with the outcome of our humble attempt at a Do-It-Yourself invitation suite. And most importantly, we had fun making them!

I'm not quite ready to reveal the entire invitation suite just yet. But I'll leave you with a teaser...



So tell me, do any of you grow attached to your DIY projects? Is this a DIY side effect that I was not aware of, or is just that all this wedding biznez is making me crazy?!

From Mexico, With Love

You know how sometimes when you have a great idea, and try to implement it, you realize that something is just missing? Everything looks good, but you're not wow'ed. You need that Emeril "BAM!" to bring it all together. Well, that's how we felt when we centered our talavera flower vases in the middle of our mock-up table. Something was just missing! We needed to transition from vase to table.... but what!?

"Carpetitas!" Here in the states, we refer to them as doilies. At least in my family, my mom decorates everything with doilies. Microwave? Sas! Gets a doilie. The VCR? Cap it with a doilie. The computer tower? Toma! Doilie for that too! It must be an integral part of interior decoration for our families' homes. I guess they give electronics and tables an old school look, accentuating some character. But we decided that they would make our centerpieces hot!

Like I usually do to request items on that side that somehow need to make it over here, I called my family in Mexico. I called my tia, my Dad's oldest sister, and let me tell you: she knows how to knit! Blankets, tablecloths, doilies, little baby hats.... anything! Actually many of my aunts and my grandmothers know how to make knitted curiosidades. Here is a sample of some of the 30 doilies that my aunt made for us in like 3 months.




What do you guys think? Fall colored flowers, vase, doilie, and wine tablecloths? Does it fit?


Do you put doilies on everything? I think when I close the laptop I may just have to put one on it. lol

License to Wed

Today marked a monumental occasion, folks. These two crazy kids in love finally have in their possession the coveted and essential document required to get their marriage on: the California marriage license!

The process was surprisingly painless and straightforward; completely opposite of what is expected when doing business at a courthouse. The process went a lil something like this: go through the security checkpoint, walk up to the Marriage License counter (no line, what what!), fill out an application, pay up: $70, wait 10 minutes for the Clerk to prepare our license, raise your hand and promise that all of your information is true, sign on the line, y sas!


Check out those smiles as we attempt to take the obligatory "we-just-got-our-marriage-license" picture! As much as we tried, we couldn't get a self-picture that included us, our license envelope, and "Beverly Hills Municipal Courthouse" all in one photo. But we tried...


Afterwards, we had a celebratory lunch at Islands. Hamburgers and fries. yay food!

"We're getting married! WOW MOM."

Who woulda thought obtaining such a simple and plain document would cause two people to become so ecstatic? Did you feel the same when you got your marriage license?

Queremos Pastel, Pastel, Pastel...

That's right, we want us some cake; some wedding cake! As much as I love dessert, I've had the topic of wedding cake low on my priority list. That's because I'm not stressin' over it as I'm handing this job off to somebody I know will deliver a quality cake: my mom!

While Mama Tortolita isn't a professional baker, she been our entire family's go-to woman when the situation calls for some pastel. One of her most recent cake projects includes the one she made for our engagement party:


My cousin also asked my mom to take on the cake for her wedding a few weeks ago:


And now she'll be baking my wedding cake. The tough part was searching through the seemingly endless amount of inspiration on the 'nets to find the perfect cake for us. But I think we're finally onto something!

I'm thinking of something soft, simple, with round layered tiers, and floral embellishments as pictured in my original inspiration:

{Source}

But of course I kept finding more inspiration and was won over by other lovelies like the one below. It's the same concept as my original inspiration, but what if we replace the fresh flowers with sugar flowers to keep it simple and neater? Plus, I really love the lacey details on this one!

{Source}

hmm..but I think I prefer a thicker ribbon to wrap around the bottom of each tier. The color and thickness shown in this picture is just what I had in mind!

{Source}

Now that we're set on the design for our cake, we gotta think about size. With a guest list of about 200 my mom is going to have to add a layer or two to ensure that everyone can get a piece of the goods. I found this picture of a larger cake and was sold! A squared base teir (or two!) looks great with the round tiers on top.

{Source}

Now all I gotta do is hand over our cake inspiration and ideas to my mom and let her work her magic! Ahh yes, it feels good to delegate and check off yet another task from our enormous to-do list. Mothers: the ultimate friendor!

Are you commissioning any family members to help out with wedding tasks?