DIY Invitations! :D

This is one of the wedding preparation activities I enjoyed the most because (1) I love publication design and layout, (2) the invitations got the most positive feedback out of all the wedding items we have and (3) I love the fact that I was able to personalize our wedding invitation, put just all the stuff that we want in exactly the way we want without compromising its quality. In fact, some of its recipients won't believe they were not professionally made. :) The bonus part is it cost very little! Believe me!

We did the invitations little by little, starting from a few weeks ago. Of course, the first step is to conceptualize the package, the content, the format, the look. After deciding on how it will look like, what materials to use and where to buy them, we bought the materials from Veco Paper Corporation (specialty boards and paper cutter), National Bookstore (stencil and printing materials) and some other merchandise stores.

We started by cutting the very large specialty boards into our invitation size + 0.5-inch allowance on all sides. This was made more difficult than I expected by our two paper cutters (one that has a very blunt blade, and one that is very small)

May 13, 2011

Then, I started drafting layouts, choosing between borders, backgrounds, font faces, color shades, etc. We even conducted a mini survey on the nicest background and border. After finalizing the design, we printed them out and then individually cut the area outside the crop marks. Next, I designed the print that will go in the stationery cover/envelope. And this is what I made.

Fittings

We only had one fitting of our wedding clothes. Why? Because Mandy and my mom suddenly turned conservative after a very casual incident when I wore the upper half of my gown. Initially, both Mandy and I rejected older beliefs regarding fitting our wedding clothes. We had to fit our coat and gown so that we can accommodate adjustments far from our wedding day. So he tried on his coat and I tried on the top part of my gown during the first fitting.

However, just when I wore my gown's top, the wind blew hard and all the doors of our house slammed close. Consequently, my mommy and Mandy thought it had meaning, a message from my departed daddy. Yes. And then immediately afterwards, they became paranoid like never before, forcing me to "take off that f***ing gown!!!" Okay, so after that, it became clear that I will only wear my gown on the wedding day even if it won't fit. The funniest of all is that Mandy thought the same for his coat, and so he refuses to try it on.

Wedding Checklist (Updated as of May 25)

The following is a list of all the wedding requirements and items to be accounted for:

• Wedding ceremony site - Reserved
• Officiating priest - Booked
• Church requirements - Waiting for appointment
• Reception venue - Reserved
• Prep area - 
• Hair and Makeup - Booked
• Photography - Booked
• Videography - Booked
• Bridal Gown - Final touches
• Entourage Gowns - Production
• Groom's suit - Delivered
• Wedding rings - Delivered
• Flowers and styling - Booked
• Sounds and lights - Booked
• Cake and desserts - Booked
• Invitation - For delivery
• OTD Coordination - Booked
• Wedding souvenirs - For pick up
• Guestbook and tarp- Pre-production
• Marriage license and other legal documents - Finished

Those that are left blank are not yet booked due to (1) difficulty in choosing supplier; (2) inability to talk to owner/supplier for booking; (3) procrastination; or (4) proximity or inaccessibility of supplier.
Please comment if I have missed anything and if you have suggestions. Thank you. :)

Monogram or Ambigram?

Instead of the usual monogram of our names' initials, we are thinking of using an ambigram for all stationeries to be used on the wedding day. I remember making an ambigram more than three years ago, as I was inspired by the art in Dan Brown's Angels and Demons:

But for the conventional us, we also made this monogram design: