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On Monday morning, Pete and I met with our stationer to review our concerns with the invites. She agreed and so did the printer, so they are being reprinted and should be in by Monday. That gave me a week to get the envelopes addressed, order the postage, get the wax seal, and assemble everything so they are ready to have the invite inserted and sent out as soon as they come in.

On Monday afternoon, I went to the post office to confirm the amount for the postage, and then I ordered the stamps. I then went to order the wax seal, but suddenly I noticed something I hadn’t before. They cautioned that the wax seal may make the envelope too thick, which then means you have to pay extra postage. So now I’m not sure if we should order it since I already ordered the postage based on the invite without the seal.

Once I finished with the post office I went to buy a color laser printer, because I figured it would come in handy for the invites, menus, programs, escort cards, gift tags etc. I brought the invite in to the store, to consult with the sales people. I got a great printer, but not for the envelopes. I tried every possible setting for thick material and it just couldn’t pass through. Then I got in touch with the stationer, since she had told me it is done “all the time” with both laser and ink printers. It turns out she was mistaken, the printers use a straight path ink printer, since the lined envelopes can’t bend enough to go around the drum of a laser printer.

So then today I started researching straight path inkjets. Canon has several, but those particular models are only sold through their online store, which would mean I have to wait for them to ship or pay high expedited shipping charges. And to be honest, I didn’t want to risk spending all that money and then it still not working. So back to the store I went, armed with my new knowledge. I found another printer in the store that has rear access to the paper path, so you can manually feed it straight through. The salesperson (who was extremely knowledgeable) assured me I could configure the software that came with the printer to use the rear access.

Once I got home I couldn’t figure it out, so I got on the live chat support. The “technician” was practically illiterate, and had no idea how to help me so I asked for someone to call me. I had to call them, and I got assigned a “ticket” number with the information about my product and issue. I was told I would be transfered to a technician who could help with my particular problem. After being transfered, the ticket number seemed to have no bearing, because I had to give all the information again (only to find out I was transfered to the wrong department). After being transfered to the wrong place for the third time, I politely requested that the correct person call me instead of transferring me again. She refused. So I then asked if I could speak to her manager and SHE HUNG UP ON ME! I once had an HP scanner and I had the same horrendous experience with their customer support. NEVER AGAIN!

After that I decided “I give up.” Two days wasted is enough. I’m returning the printer and hiring a calligrapher. On the bright side, the calligrapher I decided to go with comes highly recommended and can have them done by Monday like I originally wanted!

After months of deliberating we finally ordered the invitations today! Originally, we were going to do a message in a bottle to go with the beach theme, but I was really struggling to make it elegant enough. I’ve heard that the invitations should be the first hint to the guests about the tone of the wedding. The message in a bottle invitations were really cute, but just didn’t fit the type of wedding we are having.

Once we decided not to go with the bottle, I started designing a traditional invitation set and a map insert. I purchased new fonts, created my own icon and even designed a monogram for us that we’re having made into a wax seal stamper. I had so much fun doing it that I am thinking about designing invitations and maps as a business.

We had three top choices for invitations and in the end we decided to go with a more elegant, classic looking invitation with a just touch of beach rather than a very themed invitation. I really love the one we picked and it’s more fitting with the wedding we are having. I can’t wait to see them. Keep an eye out in the mail around the end of July or beginning of August!

Here are the links to the runners up: the Tropical Hoku Invitation by Hana Hou and the Serene Seaside Invitation by Encore Studios.

Last night I finished printing envelopes, attaching stamps and sealing up all the save the date cards. Today we dropped them in the mail, so keep an eye out for yours! We really love them and had to admire them one last time before we sent them. We hope you like them too. There are a few stragglers who haven’t given me their mailing address…so if you’re one of those people, get with it!

Can’t Sleep

It’s now 2:30 am. I was so excited that we finally settled on a location and date for the wedding that I couldn’t sleep. I stayed up late designing save the date cards and stickers for the calendar. I can’t wait for the morning so I can show Pete and make sure he likes them before I order them.

Save the Dates

We ordered the save the dates tonight! I’m so excited. We also decided to get custom stamps to match. I think it’s going to be really cute. I can’t wait to see them.