save the dates

They took a while, but they were worth it. The save the dates look amazing. I highly recommend MagnetStreet, but they do take 5-7 business days to complete the order after you approve the proof.

Most of the envelops are stuffed, sealed, stamped, labeled and going in the mail tomorrow. The final batch will get done whenever the last few people get me their addresses...

so excited.

final save the date

So after conferring with Tammy and Beau we picked a pictures and I finished the save the dates. We ordered them from Magnet Street last night after a lot of "are we sure, we can't really return them, are they perfect?" from me. Magnet Street wasn't the cheapest option, but the magnets come with envelopes - major bonus, and I know that they make good quality products. I also found a 10% off coupon online - sweet!

We bought the "PrintReady" 3.5x4 inch magnets - basically these are ones that you make completely on your own as opposed to uploading a picture into a design that they have made. Hopefully they turn out.

Here is the final design.

My words of advice:

1. proofread
2. Proofread
3. PROOFREAD!

I had already checked and double checked and rechecked my image to make sure it was perfect and exactly to their specifications, and I had uploaded it and was about to pay when I decided to check just one more time. OMG, its amazing I did, because as I looked upon my creation, I nearly fell out of my chair with horror. The date was wrong. I had apparently asked people to save the date for my wedding which had taken place about 6 months ago on 05-30-09! Oops! Luckily it was an easy fix. I re-uploaded my image and we were good to go, and in 7-10 days I will have my completed save the dates and envelopes, which give me plenty of time to gather the last of the addresses and make address labels.

Save the Dates

I have two pictures that I'm deciding between, your opinions would be helpful. Please try and disregard Tammy's watermark on the pics - it will not be on the final version. The quality of the pictures is also not great because I wasn't using the high res images - this will also be fixed for the final version. Also, these are just drafts of how the text might be arranged. Please feel free to let me know what you like/dislike about each.

* Images by Tammy Swales, STD design by me.

E-shoot!

Beau and I had our e-shoot yesterday afternoon with the great Tammy Swales.  We did three sets of pictures.  The first in casual clothes at our apartment.  The second in dressy clothes on the campus of Nazareth College in Pittsford, NY - I'm wearing the green Nicole Miller dress in these pics.  Finally, the third in the Naz pool where Beau swam in college and still holds numerous records - I know weird, but actually Beau suggested it, and Tammy and I both got very into it.  Actually, I liked the idea from the start because of these pics that Sexy Red Frame was in.

Tammy was so excited with how the pool pictures turned out that within 3 hours of the end of our shoot we had 6 fully edited pictures from parts 2 and 3.  So here you go!

This is absolutely one of my favorites

For the pool pics a couple good friends convinced me to wear the 1st wedding dress I bought and ended up hating.  I was going to try and sell it, but I think this was a great use for it.

I'm not really a sexy person (usually I'm just silly) - but I'm glad to know I have it in me!

I hope that some of the pictures form our apartment turned out because I think I want to use those for the Save the Dates.  I'll post more as soon as I have more, and I have a computer again...

Save the Dates #1

I first discovered Adobe InDesign on my computer about a month ago (I have no idea how it got onto my computer) and I was so excited because reading Doctor Whimsy's fabulous blog had inspired me to try to make my own save the dates and invitations.  I really like the idea of designing my own invitations and save the date cards - I think they have so much more meaning when you do them yourself.

My first attempt at using InDesign was actually just a worse copy of an invitation that Doctor Whimsy had made as I learned how to use the software, so I won't show it.  

My second attempt was at a save the date card.  I wanted to do something that reflected me and The Beau as a couple and decided on an Ultimate Frisbee theme.  The Beau and I both really enjoy playing Ultimate and we actually met at a game, so I decided to go with an Ultimate theme.

The person on the card is not The Beau; its just a random guy from a random picture I found with a google search.  I used Photoshop to alter the colors and InDesign to do the rest.  I made this before I discovered DaFont and I think that if I were to do it again I would a more interesting font.  

If I actually end up using an Ultimate theme for my save the dates I will use a picture of The Beau and I throwing to each other.  I already have an image in my mind, now I just need the time and someone with photography skills to help me execute it.