New items added to etsy!

We’ve recently added a few new items to etsy!

New items to be listed soon!

We’ve created some great new invitations and save the dates! Here are some sneak peeks:

 

Be sure to check out our Etsy store to see the newest listings.

How to install a font…

So. You’ve just download this great font and you can’t wait to use it. But, you have no idea how to install it. Well, here’s a really quick and easy way to do it (with pictures!)

1. Download the font (usually it’s in a zip file). Right click and ‘extract all.’

2. The ‘extraction wizard’ will pop up. Click next.

3. Select where you want to save the file. Usually it’s best (and easiest) to save it to your desktop.

4. When it’s done, go to the ’start’ menu. On the right side, middle will be the control panel. Click it.

5. This window will popup. Sometimes they’re setup to show folder, which if yours does, click the folder that says ‘fonts.’ Otherwise, click on the ‘appearances and themes’ option.

 

6. This menu will popup. In the upper lefthand side you’ll the the ‘fonts’ title. Click that.

7. Now you should see a folder with a bunch of different fonts in it. Keep this window up, but head back over to the font you downloaded at the beginning.

8. I like to set mine up like this- the new font on top and the font folder below. Now you’ll drag the font into the font folder. A little menu will popup letting you know the status and when it’s done (it just takes a couple seconds). After that, you can use the font!

Graphics: Part 1

Ahhhh, graphics. My favorite part of any design job, as well as the bane of my existence. When embarking on a design journey, you may have a vision of your final product. Trust me, it never looks that way in the end. You either can’t find the right size/orientation/color/dpi/content/price graphic, or you give up entirely and just stick a generic clip art illustration, OR you overreact like I do and remove ALL graphics and call it minimalism (I swear, that’s how it works). Don’t feel bad. On average, I design 74,000 different print and web pieces daily (and that’s a conservative estimate) and about 99% of them I’m not satisfied with. However, it’s that 1% that I LOVE which makes the rest of the day worth it. Sometimes you just can’t help being less than perfect. However, your wedding invitations are not the time for that.

Most weddings are planned at least a year in advance, if not further out. Twelve months is more than enough time to get invitations designed, printed, and mailed. In fact, my sister designed her invitations; I formatted, printed, and cut them; and we mailed them all in less than a week. Did I mention that we accomplished this while living 300 miles apart? Granted, I lost a chunk of my thumb to a very sharp blade and my sister nearly had a stroke because she couldn’t see the invites during the printing process (no press check for her!) but in the end, they looked very pretty, were fairly simple, and highlighted the one thing my sister wanted highlighted: The GRAPHICS!!! (I love when a post comes full circle)

Graphically, you could put a tutu-clad elephant on your invites and no one would bat an eye. Individuality is really what it’s all about right now. More so than any trend in color, font or paper, the current fad is reflecting YOU (oh, and your fiancee, maybe) in everything you do for your wedding.  Now, I’m in support of a dancing quadruped as much the next person, but perhaps drinking whilst designing wedding invites was a poor choice.

Well, enough of my ADD for a few paragraphs. Back to GRAAAAAPHICS!  A good rule of thumb is to pick one or two and really LOOK at them. One of my favorite “form-over-function” friends just got married and her invites were fantastic. She had several graphic elements she used separately throughout the invite, envelope, save-the-date and so forth until she put them all together to form a coat-of-arms.There was a LOT going on, but she kept it simple, with just two colors and all vector-style art. (The wine at the reception wasn’t too bad either!)

You can use illustrations, photos, symbols or even manipulate text to become a graphic (à la this kick @$$ design on Etsy) Some people go a little overboard, with several layers of paper, pearls, crystals, four fonts, several pictures representing the bride’s definition of LOVE and usually it’s even SCENTED. This isn’t bad, just that person’s taste. Obviously that person is Boy George.  I kid, I kid! In this economy, Less really is more. I promise! Simple can look just as good (and usually better) than extravagant. You can achieve that India-style wedding with a small, shiny gold-leaf elephant imprint, and leave the gemstones, glitter, and excess where it belongs: on your bridesmaids’ dresses.

More about graphics later… I have to go work on that 99%.

Just FYI, I actually DID have a graphic in mind for that whole dancing elephant thing:

Artist David Catrow created this graphic for the 2009 ALA Summer Reading Program for Libraries across the country, not for wedding blogs, but we love it anyways!

 

Sneak peek!

Hopefully you’ve seen the two listings we have on etsy currently.
Here is our very first listing- a save-the-date:

We are currently in the midst of working on an invitation suite- save-the-dates, invitation, response card and reception card. Here’s a sneak peek of the invitation.

Be on the lookout for this being added to etsy sometime in the next week.

Ten helpful invitation hints

It seems that brides (and grooms) want to have more and more creative control over their invitations, often resulting in DIY.
When you begin to decide what you like and what you’re going to do, it often comes down the budget and time frame.
Hopefully these tips can help you make the most of the time you have.

1. Find pictures of invitations you like. Search the Internet, check out etsy.com, and look in bridal magazines.

2. Decide on your budget (sometimes it’s best to do this first, so you don’t fall in love with letterpress but realize you can’t afford it).

3. If you decide to DIY, make sure you give yourself plenty of time. I made my own invitations, and I thought they would be done in no time flat. Three months later I was working on draft number 8. So, plan ahead and start ahead.

4. When designing, or ordering, begin with the envelopes first. There are some standard envelope sizes that would be much easier to work with, than trying to find an envelope to fit an invite after it’s been created. Also, keep in mind postage. An A7 envelope (fits 5×7 invite) shouldn’t cost much more than regular first class postage to mail. But a square envelope will cost you more! Decide if it’s worth it.

5. Plan your RSVP date. Most invitations go out 8-6 weeks prior to the big day. But, if you need to give your venue the final count a week before the wedding, you do not want the RSVP date to be that day. You need to give your guests plenty of time to get their RSVP card in. We have a few people that didn’t send them in until after the date. Thankfully, I planned ahead and scheduled my RSVP date accordingly. If I hadn’t, I would’ve been ripping my hair out.

6. (This is a biggie) Proofread, proofread, PROOFREAD! I can’t tell you how many times people write something, be it an e-mail and something was spelled wrong that wasn’t caught. Spell check isn’t always your friend. If you from “Maine Street” instead of “Main Street” or “Or” instead of “Of” your checker will not catch it, because it is not spelled wrong. Go over your invites A LOT. Ask your sister, brother, bridesmaid, groomsman- anyone! Other people (at least three) need to see your invites before they’re ordered and before they’re printed, just in case.

7. Look at printed versions of your invite to make sure you like the color(s), font(s) and overall design. If you are DIYing your invites, print them off whatever printer you are planning to use. If you’re buying them through a vendor, or a designer, request a mock-up of the final version, in your colors. There is nothing worse than thinking you’re getting a pretty invite with purple ink that matches your bridesmaids dresses, and instead getting one that is pretty, but had muddy blue ink. I know- it’s happened to me before. The color on your computer screen isn’t always the same as what is printed.

8. Know what you like, and don’t settle for something else. Even if your heart is set on letterpress invites, but you can’t afford them, find a similar design that you love that is within your budget. If you want hot pink ink, then get hot pink ink. Your invite needs to reflect you and your future spouse’s personalities and taste. Not everyone needs to love your invite- only you two do!

9. Don’t include registry information anywhere on your invite. Yes, some people might find it helpful. But other people will think you are just trying to get gifts. Your guests don’t have to get you anything (most will), but they don’t have to. I had a few guests arrive, eat dinner, stay for a bit and leave. They didn’t give us anything, or even a card. People don’t have to, so adding the registry info can look selfish. That’s why you create a wedding Web site, or make sure your talkative bridesmaid/groomsman knows where you’re registered. They’ll make sure everyone else know. There is nothing wrong with make sure you don’t offend Grandma or Aunt Sue.

10. Spell everything out.Don’t write “1234 W Main St.” Write “1234 West Main Street.” It looks nicer and more formal. Along with that, it’s “two thousand nine” not “two thousand AND nine.” That and does not belong. In math the ‘and’ referrers to s decimal point. You’re not talking about 2000.9, so don’t put it on your invite. A zip code is also not need on the invite and will just add clutter. The zip code will either go on the map, or it’s just not needed.

If you have any other hints or tips, feel free to add them here or send me and e-mail.

Etsy shop is now up and running!

Our Etsy shop is now up and running! Currently, we only have one item listed. We’re working on filling the rest of our site with great semi-DIY invitations, save-the-dates and custom orders.

Check us out here! Princess Fancy Pants

Helpful hints when choosing fonts

So, you’re busy making invitations and you get stuck. What font do you use? What’s the difference between serif and sans-serif? Well, here’s a little something to help you:

Serif fonts have feet (Times New Roman) and Sans-Serif do not (Arial). Got that?

Now, script fonts are very pretty, but can be difficult to read when used for the body copy. Usually, scripts looks good when used more as an accent, like the names on a wedding invitation. Using too much of a script can make everything look illegible and make the overall design look cluttered. Usually, it is best to pair a script with a serif or sans-serif font.

But, you have to keep in mind that not all serif or sans-serif fonts look good with all scrip fonts. If you choose a heavy script, you need to pair it with a heavy font. It usually good to play around and see what looks good. Here’s an example of a pair that works:

See how there are clean lines within the script? The other font matches those. Now, here’s a bad pair:
See how the script is being overtaken by the other font? That’s not what you want. The other font is way too bold, and it’s very distracting. Play around with your fonts until you find a pair you think looks good together. Then ask someone else’ opinion.

Don’t use more than one or two fonts at a time. If you use more, it begins to look busy and weird.
NOTE- there are some exceptions. Some designs look good with multiple fonts, but again, they need to compliment one another.

Don’t mix fonts of the same classification. Don’t use two Serif, or two script fonts. It will just look silly. You could choose one font and use it regular, bold, italic or subscript to give your project a new look. But choose ONE font from the classification and stick with it.

When you’re working with your fonts, keep the sizes in mind. Some scripts look terrible small, but look really strange when they’re really big. Use only one or two different sizes in your project. It’ll help keep everything very clean.

Whitespace is your friend. Don’t try to fill up the whole page with font- it isn’t needed. Whitespace can either make or break your design.

All that aside, have fun and see what you can come up with!