save the date – Sweet Violet Bride

Spotlight: Custom Wedding Stationery from Basic Invite

Naomi — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 13:30:55 +0000

Creating a truly personalized experience for your wedding begins with paper and postage. Whether you’re looking for a rustic chic invitation suite, or a bohemian botanical save the date, truly personalized wedding stationery means you get to choose the colors, fonts, and design. I love Basic Invite because their website allows you almost unlimited color options with instant previews online. Once you choose your design you can change the color of each element on the cards to more than 160 different color options. Your card will clearly reflect who you are and the theme you’re so excited to share with your guests.

After you have fun previewing all the gorgeous designs and colors, you’ll want to order a sample before you place that order for hundreds of invites. You can order a printed sample of your actual invitation with Basic Invite so you can see exactly how it will look and feel before moving forward with your order. Something I’d highly recommend so you don’t get any surprises.

I am in love with this vintage botanical floral invitation suite featuring poppies, violets, and magnolias! How gorgeous would this be for a summer garden wedding? You can literally change the colors of all of the flowers and details in this design (though I personally love how they look already), making it quite a fun experience!

Mark your calendar! These are the stationery milestones you should pencil in on your wedding timeline:

6 months prior to your wedding day you should have chosen your colors and ordered samples. You should also order save the dates about this time.
4 months prior to your wedding day you should have your wedding invitations ordered, as well as thank you cards and bridal shower invites.
2 months prior you should mail out your wedding invitations, and order menu cards and wedding programs.

Choosing postage can be just as fun when personalizing the whole look of your invitation suite. Besides what the USPS has on offer for wedding themed stamps you can also search sites like Etsy and ebay for beautiful vintage stamps that will give your envelopes a unique look. Speaking of envelopes, Basic Invite offers 40 different colors of peel and seal envelopes to coordinate your look effortlessly.

Basic Invite is one of the most interactive wedding stationery website’s I’ve seen and it takes a lot of the frustration out of stationery shopping because you can get exactly what you want with all the custom options. I wish I’d had options like this when I got married!

*This post is sponsored by Basic Invite. All opinions are my own.

Nature Inspired Save-the-Dates

Naomi — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 14:59:21 +0000

Once you’ve set a date you can plan to send out your save the date cards about 4-6 months in advance. If you’re having a destination wedding, you’ll want to err on the side of six months to give your guests ample time to prepare and book flights etc. If you’re having a nature inspired wedding (chances are if you follow this blog), then you’ll love these botanical and rustic save the date cards I’ve rounded up from a few of our favorite stationery companies. We particularly love the ones made of birch wood!

1) Flowering Dogwood Save the Date – Birch wood by Night Owl Paper Goods

2) Leafy Tree Save the Date – Birch wood by Night Owl Paper Goods

3) Botany Bay Save the Date by Minted

4) Climbing Roses Save the Date by Minted

5) Floral Canopy Save the Date by Minted

6) In the Flowers Save the Date by Minted

7) Rustic Horizon Save the Date by Wedding Paper Divas

8) Rustic Print Save the Date by Wedding Paper Divas

9) Carved in Love and Vintage Owls Save the Dates by Invitations by Dawn

10) Via MODwedding

*FTC: This post contains affiliate links.

Save the Date Etiquette + Save the Date Magnet Sale

Naomi — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 14:54:42 +0000

Since there are so many couples getting engaged this time of year, I wanted to share some save the date card etiquette and some of the newest save the date cards from Wedding Paper Divas. Once you are engaged, an exciting step along the wedding planning process is your engagement photo session. It is great to have an engagement photo shoot because it allows you to get to know your photographer better, bask in all your love, and the photos are perfect for a photo save the date card or save the date magnet!

After you are engaged and have shared the news with your close friends and family it is time to send out your save the dates. These are sent out in advance to notify for your guests of the upcoming wedding and give them time to make travel plans, especially if you are planning a destination wedding or holding the wedding on a holiday weekend.

You should send your save the date cards around 6 months before your wedding and if it is a destination wedding around 8 months prior to the wedding. Since you are sending the save the date before the wedding invitation you have the opportunity to be fun and informal, even if your wedding is going to be a formal event. This is the chance to show your true personality and creativity and have some fun along the way!

The most important thing to remember about a save the date card is that it shows your guests they will also be receiving a wedding invitation and will be invited at a later date. Etiquette states you cannot send a save the date card to someone and then not invite them to the wedding. Make sure you have time to work on your guest list before sending out these cards so no one will need to be “uninvited.” If you are not completely sure who will be on your guest list you can send your save the date cards to only your very close friends and family that will be attending for sure and later on send the wedding invitations to the other guests. This will ensure you are not committing yourself to any but your most important guests.

Here are some of the newest save the date cards from Wedding Paper Divas. Which one is your favorite?

Also, the Wedding Paper Divas Deal of the Day is 40% Off Save the Date Magnets! Go, go, go! Only one day to save!

Save the Date SALE / Starts: 10am PT 1/10/13 / Ends: 9am PT 1/11/13 / Promo Code: DEAL0110

Autumn Vintage Engagement in Alberta, Canada by Brave Planet

Naomi — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 15:42:09 +0000

Bobby & Malena are such a cute couple and I just love their charming photo shoot among the golden field and yellow leaves. Malena’s dress matches perfectly! Their save the date photo (shown last) is one of the most creative I’ve seen. Malena was born and raised in Torreon, Mexico. She came to visit Canada six years ago, which led to her introduction to Bobby from a friend that brought her on the trip. Bobby instantly fell head over heels for Malena and it was, as people say, “Love At First Sight.” When Malena returned to Mexico, Bobby emailed her almost every night and flew to meet her in her hometown as well as Miami, Buenos Aires, and of course, Canada. After four years of chasing Malena from location to location, He proposed to her in Paris, at the Luxemburg Gardens in 2011. So sweet! Congrats you two!

From Brave Planet:

It was such a pleasure to shoot this couple in Calgary, Alberta. Bobby constantly had Malena giggling and smiling with every sweet word out of his mouth. I actually grew up with Bobby since Grade 3, so it was quite a comfortable session and felt extremely natural to shoot.