With such a wide variety of specialty paper to choose from including card stocks, text weight sheets, metallic papers, translucent vellum, and imported papers from Japan and Germany, just the first glance at our huge selection might seem overwhelming.

Luckily, there are a number of avenues on our site for easy navigation. Start with our latest tool for narrowing your search, Tip Paper. Just answer a few questions about your project and within seconds the available papers will be narrowed down to just those suitable for your needs. For example, if you want to use your inkjet printer to print resumes at home, you would choose "Desktop inkjet," "Letter and A4," "Light" and "Medium" paper weights, and "Neutral" colors.

You are presented with a number of choices, all suitable for printing at home on your inkjet printer.

Another reliable way to navigate is to click on our Specialty Paper page. Everything is arranged by categories. Heavier papers will be in the "Cardstock" category while text weight or writing sheets will be under "Fine Papers." There are a number of other interesting categories with specialty paper ideas that you might not have considered for your project.

LCI Paper carries a wide selection of domestic and imported papers. We always encourage you to order a sample to get a touch and feel for the paper and to print a test in your printer. Not only can you order a single sample for most of the items we carry, you can order a variety of sample books that represent some of the most popular and trendiest lines of specialty paper.

Different paper brands and product lines have different characteristics. Not every paper is suitable for every printer. For example, metallic papers like Stardream have a slick, non-porous surface that does not work well with inkjet printers due to the wet ink not being able to adhere to to the sheet. Those papers work best with toner from a laser printer as opposed to the wet ink of an inkjet. We test all of our papers with different inkjet and laser printers and make appropriate recommendations, but again, ordering a sample and running a test on your specific printer is our best recommendation.

Joshua Birch

A couple weeks ago, my fiancée and I had an informal engagement party at our favorite beach. When we visit this particular beach in Gloucester, MA, our tradition is to stop on the way home at one of the local clam shacks. We wondered how we might word the invitation so that our guests would feel welcome to join us at the clam shack but not infer that we were paying for their seafood.

Today, I found Talley Sue Hohlfeld's article at The Bride's Guide entitled, "How to Invite People to Go Dutch to an After Party." Talley wrote about her cousin Kelsea's experience with a similar scenario. Because the state fair was happening during the time of Kelsea's wedding, she and her husband decided to extend their celebration with their guests and invite them to the fair. They just needed to come up with invitation wording to tactfully state their intent. I think they did well.

Following the ceremony, the wedding party will be heading to the State Fair. Everyone is welcome to come!

Adults (12-59): $9

Seniors (60 & over): $6

Disabled Persons: $6

Youth (ages 7-11): $4

Age 6 & under: FREE

Getting back to my clam shack invitation... I wish I had thought of including some sample pricing, but maybe my wording was fine as I sent it. This was sent inside of a very informally worded e-mail:

After the beach, we like to go to one of the clam shacks in Essex. We're thinking of Woodman's. If you can join us, great! If not, no problem.

When my fiancée and I arrived at Woodman's, two of our friends had already ordered their food and secured tables. From there on, everything fell into place, including some late night ice cream from the stand out back.

Have you hosted a gathering but needed to convey that guests should pay their own way? How did you handle it?

Joshua Birch

A young lady’s Quinceanera celebration is a milestone event that she will cherish for years, recalling her formal entrance into womanhood. Similar to a wedding, Quinceanera is a monumental, yet fun and exciting event that requires much attention to detail. When planning Quinceanera festivities, it is the invitation that creates the mood for the event and stirs your guests’ excitement and anticipation. As it is the first glimpse into the upcoming celebration, the invitation for this special party should be one that you feel is beautiful and perfect.

Choosing to make your own Quinceanera invitations provides you with several wallet-friendly and creative options to get the precise invitation you desire. Do it yourself Quinceanera invitations allow the young lady to use her own creativity and personality to create custom invitations that will make her day extra unique and memorable.

Creating your own Quinceanera invitations is easy and fun! The first step is to browse through LCI's Quinceanera Invitation Collection. Should you desire something more personal and unique, just browse around and see which colors, shapes, sizes, or finishes catch your creative eye!

Next, it is time to choose your wording. How will you ask your guests to celebrate this memorable milestone with you? Feel free to browse through LCI’s Quinceanera Invitation Wording for suggestions. To add an extra special touch, you could also use your own original wording, using the suggested wording as a starting point.

Last, print the wording on your invitation cards using a word processing program with custom margins. To add simplicity to this fun project, LCI has Microsoft Word templates available for download that have custom margins already set up for your specified invitation card. For more printing tips, see LCI’s ABCs of Printing at Home.

That’s it! In no time at all, you have assembled a custom invitation that is as unique, special, and beautiful as your Quinceanera celebration!

Recommended Links:

LCI Pochettes
LCI 6 1/4 Inch Square Cards

Kristen Desrosier

"Make your wedding a celebration that brings you and your partner, and the family and friends who celebrate with you, closer together."

Lilo and Gerard Leeds, “Wonderful Marriage”

The wedding: The big party you host to tell family and friends “we have decided to spend our lives together, and we want you there to celebrate with us!” Naturally, you want this celebration to be perfect; one of meticulous detail that will remain in memories for years to come.

If you are planning a wedding, chances are, you have a good idea of what the perfect wedding day looks like to you and your partner. More than likely, you know whether your event will be traditional or non-traditional, how many guests will be present, how big the bridal party will be, and where the ceremony and reception will take place. Though these are vital wedding planning details, it is the little nuances of the celebration that will turn it into the unforgettable day you and your partner desire. These specific details can be harder to place a finger on. On occasion, brides and grooms may find themselves in a wedding planning rut, and in need of some creative inspiration. This is where Style Me Pretty's new Style Circle can come in very handy!

Style Me Pretty, the "Ultimate Wedding Planning Blog," recently launched its sensational Style Circle, creating a new realm of communication and inspiration for the avid wedding planner, and a whole new social network in and of itself! "So what is this Style Circle," you ask?

Stated simply, it allows wedding planners to scroll though vast collections of categorized wedding photos, drop them onto an "inspiration board," and create an inspirational piece of their own; no artistic ability required! If you are not into creating your own board, you also have the option to scroll through the inspirational boards of others to get your creative juices flowing! This is great for providing ideas for colors, themes, favors, food, level of formality, location, and the list goes on. Though I am not getting married myself, I chose to create an Inspiration Board of my own after scrolling through several others. I must admit, it was quite easy, and really fun!

Pictured left, my "Fun and Casual" Inspiration Board. After scrolling through all of the photo categories and selecting images that caught my eye, I determined that I apparently would like to have a fun, casual, outdoor wedding. I especially loved the pictures on the left hand side of my board; the drinks served in solo cups and the bin of flip flops labeled "dancing shoes." What great ideas for a wedding where you want your guests to be able to kick off their shoes (literally), feel at ease, and have a great time!

This is something you must try! Whether you are looking for inspiration, perusing the inspiration of others, or just want to see what your "perfect wedding" may look like, it is certainly worth a visit to the Style Me Pretty Blog Page.

Thanks Style Me Pretty!

Recommended Link:
Style Me Pretty's Style Circle

Kristen Desrosier

Recently, I read an Engagement 101 Mag article, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may now update your relationship status. The subjects of the article, a Chicago, IL couple, had a non-traditional wedding. The bride said,

We didn’t have a first dance, or throw the bouquet or have a garter or anything like that, so why not change our Facebook status ceremoniously?

Like the Chicago couple's wedding, my wedding is going to be non-traditional and my fiancée and I have integrated some technology along the way. I don't think we'll be including our Facebook relationship status updates in our ceremony, but I admit, the thought had crossed my mind. Perhaps sometime after the reception, when we have some quiet time alone, she'll pull out her Palm Pre and I'll pull out my iPhone and we'll update from "Engaged" to "Married." But here are some examples of ways we are using technology as we build up to our wedding:

On our direction card that was included in our pocket fold invitation, we showed a link to a password protected page on my blog where further information can be found about our wedding. There's an embedded Google map, a link to a satellite image of the wedding site, a photo from the day of engagement, things to do in the area, information about a local hotel, and a comment area.

The exclusive blog page was a nice idea, but these days, I think the online spot where people are really connecting is Facebook. A couple weeks ago, we had an engagement party at our favorite beach. Instead of sending out paper invitations like we did for our actual wedding, I invited my guests via e-mail. My fiancée invited her guests by sending messages to her friends on Facebook. Soon after the event, I posted some of the photos on my Facebook page. I've enjoyed reading comments from old friends and family members who might not have seen me in many years, and who now realize that I'm getting married. They know what I look like these days and what my fiancée looks like. Through seeing photos of our guests and their interactions with us, they can interpret the vibe of the day. I hope they can see the love and support that our friends and family gave us by being there and by interacting with us and one another. So many old friends have found me on Facebook. Although I'd like to make time to reach out to each of them on the phone someday, in reality, it's probably never going to happen. There just isn't the time in the day. Yet with Facebook, we're able to connect on whatever level you might call it. To me, it's still a meaningful connection that I just wouldn't have without the technology.

What ways have you used technology during your wedding and wedding planning?

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Joshua Birch