An affair to remember.

Weddings make me happy.  The design, the friends, the excuse to get all dolled up and dance all night (I've become a recent convert to the joys of dancing.  Know me? Be surprised)  As one of my dearest friends was recently engaged, I have been doing a lot of thinking about weddings.  I've already begun plans for her shower and I can't wait to help set up a beautiful affair in her backyard not to mention run with the excuse to do crafty wedding projects!

As I have been helping her get ready for her big day, I can't help but reminisce about my own.  Dreaming up tablescapes.... 

....remembering what it was like to shop for the dress.... 

...and the seemingly endless hours of craft time with my now hubby.  I miss it.  Is one year too soon to renew vows?

I learned a lot about myself during the process.  Of course, something I already new was that time management is not my best quality.  We had a short engagement and I had a lot of plans that I was not able to put into action since delegating is also one of my weaknesses.  Advice to all you brides out there:  Don't be afraid to share tasks with people!  More than likely, they want to help and you will be far more likely to achieve everything you want with far less anxiety.


Without a doubt, the most time consuming process was also what turned out to be my favorite representation of the wedding.  My wedding invitations.  I don't even want to know how many hours Ben and I spent trimming and sticking, punching and weaving, but it was worth it in the end.  I was proud to send out my hard work to my loved ones.  All that time was an expression of my love to them and the product was a representation of me.

You've heard me say it before.  Texture, texture, texture!  Surprised?

I used a crochet ribbon that I wove jute through on the main invitation.  For the text, I used a typewriter font and distressed the paper using Tim Holtz distress ink.  Awesome stuff.  Buy it, and make stuff.  The edges of the paper in which the text lies were "deckled"  to achieve a torn look.

Again, we deckled the edges of the postcard, text was distressed.  I used masking tape to ensure that when we got the postcard back, we knew who was or wasn't coming.  Double points, turned out to look great.  We also used a variety of tissue tape to line the edges.  Again, buy it and use it on everything, really.

The information card edges were trimmed with something like this.  Not my greatest idea.  Looked just as I wanted it to, but I was certainly thankful to be marrying a man like Ben who took that punching head on.  Haha, get it?  Punching?  Head on? No?  Ok, you're right, bad joke.

My favorite part.  The back of the invitation.  We stamped them with the awesome oak and then used a customizable stamp we found at staples to inscribe "Handmade with love by Ben and Ashley."  PLUS we were able to use that same stamp to do all our return addresses.  GENIUS!  

The postcard stamp was one of my favorite finds.  I had the idea in my head, but I find that my ideas often don't exist in reality.  I was overflowing with joy when I found this one at hobby lobby.

The finished product was arranged just so and paper-clipped together with a small gold clip.  Hoorah!  Finished!

When I told people I was making my own invitations, I know this isn't what came to mind.  Not the average wedding invitation, but worth every minute invested into it, and that's what I wanted the whole affair to be about.  I was about to bind my life with Bens' and wanted to invest in all the people that have invested in me and been a part of who I have become.  That's what it's all about.