Real Life Bride: Week 40

This past weekend my parents came down to visit us in San Diego and brought all of our assembled invitations. My mom is so crafty and she really completed the look that my sister created. We had decided to collect and use vintage stamps which was no small feat. After months of online ordering it was time to actually stamp the envelopes. I may be detail oriented in life, but I was thinking that stamps didn't really matter and we'd just put whatever on each envelope. No such luck - my mom wanted to hand select stamps for each person receiving an invitation! So, not only did we need to combine stamps to make a total of $1.05 each (the going rate for "over-sized letters" with a certain thickness), but we also approached each stamp combination with the invitation recipient in mind.

It actually turned out to be pretty fun and only took...about 4 hours! If you are ever thinking of using vintage stamps be sure you remember that "back in the day" stamps were NOT self-adhesive! So our little project also included gluing all of the stamps on. I have to admit that we did "cheat" a few times with stamps at the current $0.44 rate, but we didn't want the stamps to completely overtake the envelopes. Plus we had the new purple pansies LOVE stamps that are so adorable. It may be wishful thinking, but I hope at least a few of the recipients take notice of the stamps hand selected for them! I used all USA and military service stamps for my bridesmaid currently serving and who happens to absolutely love all things USA, I used American Bar Association stamps for a few of our lawyer friends, US World Cup soccer stamps for the soccer lovers, a golfer for Ryan's grandfather, etc. Obviously not every stamp has meaning, but it was fun to do for some.

As my mom and I stamped, my dad stuffed (it was a family effort!), carefully inserting each invitation set (invite, map card, accommodations card, reply card and envelope) into its delicately lace-lined envelope. After that, the final step was sealing each envelope and they were ready to send!

It was really nice having my parents so excited to help and be further involved in the wedding process. I can't wait for all of our guests to receive their gorgeous invitation sets!