stress o' the month: invitations! (and rehearsal dinner)

Posted Tuesday, March 10, 2009 3:42 PM

Oh me oh my, somebody save me from myself. I've fallen in love with letterpress. I will not get letterpress invitations, I will not get letterpress invitations, I will not get... wow, that's so not working. I love that they call it "bruising," I love how it looks, I love how it feels... I do not love how much it costs. (Mind you, I haven't even started to look at actual invitations - all of these daydreams are solely the result of online searches.)

Originally, I'd planned to make my own - mimicking my save-the-dates - simple, clean, with some kind of pop. Then I had to have pocketfolds. Then belly bands. Then custom stickers... which would match stickers I'd place on the boxes I'd buy for my favors! Inside five minutes, I'd planned an extra $400 of expenses.

After about a month thinking like that, I reigned myself in for a reality check. Mocked up a few designs in Publisher, and I must say - I like them. They're simple, incorporate a lot of elements from my save-the-dates (color, vellum, and brackets), but with a little work they should look nice enough to be official invitations. And then when I win the lottery I can buy a letterpress machine and make all the invitations I want.

The rehearsal dinner planning isn't going as smoothly. Erik's family will be closing their company in a few weeks (they're based out of Florida, which has been very hard-hit by the recession) and as such they want to pare down the list for the rehearsal dinner. (Due to the large bridal party, our list is around 42 adults, 2 kids - assuming everyone is allowed to bring their significant other.) While I understand their position, I feel it's horribly rude to only invite spouses and fiances (especially given the cohabitating, long-term [2+ years], and homosexual relationships within our bridal party), so I've requested that a) we not have a dinner at all (since we're not having a rehearsal, it's not necessary); b) we invite everyone and have some place inexpensive; c) we invite only the immediate families, keep it short and early, and then Erik and I will take out the bridal party later that evening. My friend, who planned a very budget-conscious wedding last September, suggested having it at a public park, and I love the idea. Grills, picnic shelter, room to mingle, freedom to chat, a playground for the kids, and only two miles from the hotel. The biggest cost would be the rental fee (~$200) and then whatever they choose to spend on food, or we could make it a potluck. I've asked Erik to present this idea to his dad and stepmom, and I really hope they go for it - because I'd feel horrible watching them shell out thousands of dollars at a stuffy restaurant when we could have so much more fun elsewhere. (But crisis averted? We'll see.)

Speaking of wedding-centric crises, Erik's best man just took the liberty of inviting his friends in Chicago to the wedding... the same friends who, two months ago, were very clearly on our B list. (The conversation apparently went something like, "Didn't you love the save the date for Amy and Erik's wedding? Aren't you excited?") I'm just going to bite my tongue and send them their invitation when the time comes - we can pretend the save-the-date got lost in the mail. For those of your playing at home, this couple plus their child brings our guest count (A only) to 187. (B list? 35 more, baby!) But after the initial frustration, Erik and I had a good laugh about our big fat crazy wedding.