But first, can I just address this whole my wedding vs. our wedding thing? I certainly recognize that I have been imagining and planning this day for a hell of a lot longer than T, but I would like to point out that, like most (some?) grooms in the planning process, my fiance has opinions. He cares about [certain] aspects of the wedding. And while he arrives at said opinions about four months after I have, he arrives nonetheless and I want to respect those opinions. But, many of those around us are reinforcing the stereotype and telling him to just succumb to the "fact" that this is my day, not his, and that he just needs to learn to nod like an idiot and repeat the phrase, "yes, dear" whenever something is asked of him relating to the wedding. I don't know what my point is for sharing this, I guess I'm hoping that it will make me try to be a better listener about what he wants, despite the many voices telling me not to worry about it.
Vendors...
The next one we've figured out is our invitations (exactly what info we need to put on them has yet to be determined), but we've found the ones we like! This is a big deal for me. Initially, I wanted to send evites. No joke. I find paper to be a waste of resources, both green and otherwise. What are people supposed to do with them once they've gotten the necessary information? They certainly don't keep them. We've got around 200 invites going out, and with all of the different pieces necessary in a "suite", it's really easy to get upwards of $2,000.00. For paper. That people throw away. But, I've since changed my point of view and understand that this is the first aspect of the wedding that our guests will be experiencing, and I want it to represent our day accordingly.
Enter MaeMae Paperie. Megan at MaeMae is awesome. Not only does she have beautiful designs (and can do custom work), but she will sell just the art file, so that we can take the design and have it printed by anyone of our choosing, including just printing at home ourselves. We've found a very reasonable letterpress printer in Georgia we will likely be going with, but how awesome is the option to just print them yourselves? You pay a flat fee for the design, and then can print as many as you need, an awesome option for anyone with a large guest list. Here are some of my favorites from her blog:
My particular suite is not one of the above, since I'm keeping my choices mum for our guests to see first.
Next up, cake:
Our decision to go with Sweet Catastrophe was an easy one. I met Olivia in 2007 on a trip to South Africa. We traveled with TOMS shoes giving out pairs to children in need of them from Johannesburg, to Port Elizabeth, to Durban and all of the settlements in between. Food 4 Africa, the non-profit that guided the TOMS crew, is an amazing organization the brings basic nutrients and water to the improverished children and families of South Africa. The people who run it are truly amazing, one man even mortgaged is home THREE TIMES to help keep the organization alive. Needless to say, all of us on the trip were affected by the level of poverty we witnessed, however Olivia decided to do something about it. Olivia, being a baker at heart, found a way to contribute via Sweet Catastrophe. For every cake that she creates and sells, a portion of the profits goes to Food 4 Africa. Here's the sketch she drew up for us for our cake, and some photos of her playful creations.
Clearly, she's talented. And not only do we get to support a great cause by going with her, her cakes are delicious! If anyone is in need of a cake, or just wants to make a donation, I strongly recommend getting in touch with Olivia.
More to come.
-Chandra
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