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Last month I visited Telluride, Colorado for the first time and I absolutely fell in love. There was inspiration everywhere I looked… the gondolas zig zagging through the quaint Mountain Village, the town of Telluride tucked between the towering San Juan Mountains, and the endless roads and hiking trails with breath-taking views. I thought, Telluride is an amazing place to get married! So if you are hosting a wedding there, take a look below at the custom Telluride-inspired wedding save the dates and invitations I designed recently. I hope these ideas will encourage you to create paper goods that incorporate your unique wedding location into your designs.  One of my favorite experiences in Telluride was taking the gondola from the Mountain village to the town of Telluride. The views of the town when coming down from San Sophia station are stunning! This is a perfect scene to include on your save the date card or wedding invitation because it will no doubt get your friends and family excited about going to your wedding.  My husband and I hiked like crazy while staying in Telluride. We were there for peak fall foliage and our walks were surrounded by rows of golden aspens. Save the date cards are an opportunity to be less formal, so use your favorite “together activity” as inspiration. I’m finding many couples are now moving away from the typical engagement photo save the date and including a custom drawing or painting of themselves instead. Generate a little mystery for your guests by using latitude and longitude coordinates in lieu of the town and state. This will have them looking up your location and doing research online right away!  Our final hike in Telluride was Bridal Veil Falls. It is the tallest free-falling waterfall in Colorado. What a fantastic location for a small wedding ceremony or elopement! Create a keepsake invitation suite or elopement announcement by including a wedding day story to coincide with the eye-catching imagery of your unique ceremony location.  As mentioned, the Telluride gondola is a major attraction—and it’s free to ride! I get requests constantly for ticket themed invitations and save the dates. A gondola ticket save the date is a super fun idea that works no matter what Colorado ski town you are getting married in. Having a winter wedding and inviting friends and family who love to ski and snowboard? Design a ski lift ticket save the date. Customize the card even further by punching a hole in the top and tying some ribbon or twine around it to act as the lanyard.  There are memorable sites at every wedding venue or destination. Maybe you want to show off the town your venue is located in, or maybe your ceremony is on the balcony of an historic mansion overlooking the mountains. Pick your favorite and ask your invitation designer to paint that picture for your guests. I encourage you to also try some out-of-the-box verbiage for your invitation suite, like using roman numerals for the year instead of writing it out. There are endless ways to customize your wedding stationery to make it stand out from the rest. I know you have some awesome ideas—go get started! Interested in creating custom save the dates or invitations for your wedding?
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During this crazy time some wedding invitation formalities and traditions will have to bend a bit to simplify the process. I hope these invitation tips will help ease your mind and the minds of your guests.  You've postponed your wedding, but the save the dates/invitations have already been mailed...
Here are some verbiage ideas:
 You’ve decided to elope...
 You’re having this wedding no matter what...
Please reach out if you have questions or need any assistance with your wedding stationery. You do not have to be my client—I'm happy to help!
 What Kind of Wedding Invitation Can I Afford?First things first… what is your wedding invitation budget? I’ll give you a hint: couples should reserve 3-5% of their total wedding budget for invitations. Go 3% if wedding invitations are not a priority; go 5% if you want to wow your guests. It should come as no surprise that wedding invitations are expensive. Let’s put it into perspective. How much did you spend at the store for your mom’s birthday card this year? I bet it was at least $2.00 for ONE card and envelope—not including postage by the way. Postage alone for 150 wedding invitations comes to $105.00 and that is NOT including postage for the rsvp return envelope. Whoa! Hello? Wake up call! Ok, take a deep breath. I’m breakin’ it all down for you below—by dollar amount—to help set your expectations. WEDDING INVITATION BUDGET IS $250-$500Unless you are having a very small intimate wedding of 25 people, this budget is a challenge. You realistically have one choice, and that is to DIY. Here are a few suggestions on what you can do to make this budget work:
 WEDDING INVITATION BUDGET $500-$750With this budget you can trade the all-consuming DIY for the all-consuming online stationery shops. Search through thousands of designs to find the one that closely fits your awesome wedding theme and have them take care of the printing for you.
 Design by FeelGoodInvites {www.feelgoodinvites.com} WEDDING INVITATION BUDGET IS $750-$1000Now you can upgrade to a higher price point within those online stationery shops and select from more formal invitation layouts.
 WEDDING INVITATION BUDGET IS $1000-$2000Go local and search out a custom invitation designer! A lot of couples don’t even know we exist, so I’m telling you now… we do exist and we rock! Ask your photographer or event planner for a referral—both of these vendors work closely with wedding stationery designers.
 WEDDING INVITATION BUDGET IS $2000-$3000This is a sweet spot for more formal invitations. Absolutely you can hire a custom invitation designer and create…
 WEDDING INVITATION BUDGET IS $3000+For those who want every bell and whistle for a very large and formal wedding.
 For more information on wedding invitation design options, visit my blog
CUSTOM INVITATIONS VS. TEMPLATE DESIGNS  Wedding Invitations Do's & Don'tsYour mom is telling you “do this”. Your cousin twice-removed is telling you “don’t do that”. A lot of wedding stationery rules have gone out the window, so we ask friends and family. This isn’t always the best idea. What is a great idea is to go with your gut. The wedding rules are truly YOURS. Because guess what? It’s YOUR wedding! Obviously, hiring a wedding stationery designer can alleviate the stress and guide you through the dos and don’ts. And since I am a custom wedding invitation designer in Denver, I’ve put together a list below specifically on the subject of invitation suites.  DO mail physical wedding invitations DON'T create an e-vite DO mail invitations 2-3 months out DON'T mail invitations more than 4 months out (unless you are having a destination wedding and did not send out save the dates) DO formally address your envelopes ("Mr and Mrs Smith") and mail them DON'T hand-deliver wedding invitations with a name scribbled on the envelope  DO put the bride's name first DON'T include too many family names (try to keep parent names on one line) DO use bold and interesting fonts DON'T use fonts that will make your invitation illegible DO include a separate RSVP card with clear information for your guests DON'T throw a wedding website at the bottom of your invitation card  DO have multiple friends and family proofread all cards in the wedding invitation suite DON'T trust your invitation designer to catch everything DO order at least 10 extra of everything DON'T underestimate your guest list — last minute additions can pop-up DO take an assembled invitation suite to the post office and weigh for postage cost DON'T guess and apply postage to envelopes beforehand Tip: If you have questions about wedding invitation etiquette contact a local stationery designer and ask! I know I am always available to help anyone out, client or no client.  For Do’s and Don’ts on Save the Dates, see my 2.27.19 blog.
 Wedding Stationary Timeline TipsEverything wedding related takes longer than you think it will. And no, your wedding is not the only one taking place this year--so be prepared—vendors book up fast. Having custom designed stationery items created to match your event is a gradual process. The design is the fun part, but don’t forget about all the many hours of addressing, stuffing and stamping those envelopes. SAVE THE DATES Enjoy getting engaged! Show off the ring… post all over social media… shout it from the rooftops! Then, as soon as that phase wears off, start collecting ideas for your wedding theme AND save the date cards. Solidify your guest list and organize the addresses. Do you want an engagement picture on your save the date? Then you can’t print them until your photographer sends the final images. But that doesn’t mean you have to wait to hire a graphic designer. Tip: When you book a wedding photographer, also book a stationery designer. Ask your photographer to recommend an invitation artist—these two vendors usually work together often.  The only time I recommend skipping a save the date card altogether is if… 1. You have a short engagement (roughly 9 months or less) AND 2. Your big day is a destination wedding In that case, gather all of the wedding details, travel info and cost, itinerary, etc. and go straight into designing your wedding invitations. YOUR WEDDING IS IN 12 MONTHS OR LESS: Order and mail your save the date cards ASAP YOUR WEDDING IS OVER 12 MONTHS AWAY: Give yourself about 1 month to produce custom save the dates, then mail your cards about 10 months out Tip: Don’t stress about a wedding website. Guests need a date and a place, that’s it. I don’t lie when I tell you that most people don’t even look at wedding websites. Put the details into your wedding invitation suite.  INVITATIONS Custom designed wedding invitations usually take about 8 weeks to produce. So if you did not use a graphic artist for your save the dates, start the search for one about 6 months before your wedding. Tip: Have all of your ducks in a row. Send the invitation designer your wedding Pinterest board, colors, theme, etc. Make sure to have your quantity needed and your budget set.  I give all of my clients a personalized timeline for their paper goods. This way we both stay on track. The design and revision process can typically take 2-4 weeks. I produce a physical mock-up of each stationery piece—gathering paper, envelope and embellishment samples—for you to review and take home. Once all pieces are approved, printing time is 1-4 weeks: 1-2 weeks for digital printing and 3-4 weeks for letterpress, embossing or foiling. I am a Denver invitation designer—owner of a small business, so I support other small businesses and only use local printing companies. My clients love this, and are willing to pay a bit more and wait a bit longer knowing that they are also contributing to the Colorado small business community! Tip: If you are in a major time-crunch, budget more bucks for your invitations and have your custom invitation designer address, stuff, stamp and mail them for you! YOUR WEDDING IS LOCAL FOR MOST GUESTS: Mail your invitations 10 weeks out YOUR WEDDING IS A DESTINATION EVENT: Mail your invitations {at least} 20 weeks out  |
