Category: Inspiration

Last Friday, just before leaving the office, I read Jennifer Miranda's article, "Beachy Keen" on the The Bride's Guide -- the blog at MarthaStewart.com. She writes,

I'm very particular about where I dip my toes; the temperature of the water, the feel of the sand, the vibe of the place—everything has to be just perfect.

Although my favorite beach will not make any big publication's top 50 list, there are many reasons why it's just perfect for me and my fiancée and why we chose it as the location for our engagement party. By the way, the party happened over the weekend and was a beautiful and simple event with about 20 of us.

My parents introduced me to many different New England beaches from Maine to Rhode Island. While we lived in Reading, not far from Massachusetts' north shore, we frequented Good Harbor beach in Gloucester. I have great memories of that beach including walking the sandbar at low tide to Salt Island, jumping from the bridge into the stream and floating into the ocean, and savoring the Lik-M-Aid powdered sugar candy I'd buy at the snack shack. After my family moved to the south shore, we'd frequent other beaches and Good Harbor became more of an occasional day trip.

In my adulthood, reacquainting myself with Good Harbor has been one of those life-enhancing decisions. Not only do I bodysurf there like I did as a kid, but I've picked up skimboarding, another great exercise and a lot of fun that I can do on my own.

One evening, I snapped a photo of the cutest little dog. He was wet and his fur looked like dreadlocks. On another visit, I saw him again and had a formal introduction to little Smokey and his owners, John and Amy. John shares a similar story in that he's returned to Good Harbor after visiting often as a boy. We both make the long trip because the beach is dear to our hearts. Now, more often than not, I see John, Amy, and Smokey the dog at the beach and we at least talk, if not sit together. All three were able to join me and our other friends and family at our engagement party Saturday night.

Planning the party was easy. We targeted our closest friends and family local to the area, but also included people that we weren't able to invite to our wedding (which will be limited to 50 total people). After making introductions, I noticed that people felt comfortable enough to get to know each other without prompting. Some came ready to swim. Others couldn't resist the water and made their own makeshift swim suits. We shared watermelon and pineapple and took photos. It was casual, but the warmth from the friendships was catchy. After the sun set, a group of us made our way to Woodman's of Essex, a local institution (and the supposed inventor of the fried clam) and indulged in fried clams and other fried foods. We finished the night with ice cream.

My fiancée and our families were so pleased with how it all went. We shared our engagement with people that gave up a summer weekend night to be with us at a beach we love. They ended up having a great time. Some even rediscovered Good Harbor and Woodman's for themselves!

Would you plan a special event at your favorite beach? Please reply with a comment and tell us about it!

Joshua Birch
josh@lcipaper.com

Earlier today, as I was reading the Weddingbee blog, I found a post by Miss Sunbeam entitled "Suit Yourself!" Like me, the author is getting married this fall, and had originally thought of fall colors. However, her fiancé was sure he wanted to wear a navy blue or black suit. She didn't identify navy blue with a fall color, and since the wedding wasn't going to be "super formal," she wasn't feeling the idea of a black suit either.

Inspiration struck the author when she found photos of men in a wedding party wearing just vests and white striped shirts (no jackets). To summarize, the couple have settled on a non-traditional look. He will be comfortable as will his groomsmen, and his fiancé is supportive. Miss Sunbean closes with the question,

Are your men going jacket-less for your wedding? Did you give your guys freedom to pick out their wears or did you pick it for them?

Since my fiancée and I are planning a non-traditional wedding, we've been confronted and reminded of wedding traditions, mainly by our mothers. In many cases, we've altered our original thoughts because some wedding traditions make a lot of sense. In other areas, we are sticking to our guns. We want our wedding to be a reflection of our personalities and we want our guests to feel both honored and comfortable at the same time.

In terms of what we're wearing, she lucked out and found her dress early. And now I'm getting to the reason I found the "Suit Yourself!" article so interesting. One of my favorite colors is orange. We're having a fall wedding. Orange is a fall color. I'd like to wear orange. Is that odd?

I want to be informal and non-traditional. But I know I need to look good and I owe that to my fiancée and our families. We decided on a look that I'm really happy with. I think it's a fall look. The orange is represented on my tie and vest. The jacket and pants are dark brown with subtle pin strips. My shirt is cream colored. If we sold the shirt at LCI, we'd call it Ecru. ;-) I'll be in black patent leather shoes. The cuff links are gold and black. I'm 30 pounds lighter than I was a couple years ago, so I'm especially happy with the way I look in the tux. I'd include a photo, but my fiancée took them with her Palm Pre and the quality isn't good.

I'm sure she's happy with the look, but I'm also sure that her happiness comes partly from the love she has and her motivation to make me happy--to show support for my decision and my taste. Isn't that cool? She weighed in and helped me choose the components, but but she allowed me to have a non-traditional look for my wedding, and for her wedding.

So ladies, how do you weigh in in terms of giving your fiancé the freedom to do something different with his attire on your wedding day?

Joshua Birch
josh@lcipaper.com

I just came from BrideTide's blog, specifically the post, "Is it necessary to write thank you-cards to my wedding vendors after our big day?" written by Rudy, the site's founder. She responds to this popular question with,

In short, no, it's not necessary to send your wedding vendors a thank-you card, but, personally I feel it is an overall nice gesture that is often overlooked by most newlyweds. Wedding professionals do a lot of behind-the-scene work that if done properly, most people won't even notice. That fact by itself is a reason to send them a quick note of appreciation. But, what if your vendor went above-and-beyond what you would call exceptional service?

I think this is great advice. Sure, the newlywed couple have fulfilled their end of the bargain by fulfilling their contractual obligations and paying all the vendors. But if those vendors have made life easier for the bride and groom during a hectic time and have contributed to the success of the most important day of the couple's lives, is a gesture of thanks not in order?

Rudy continues with an extremely insightful point on another type of thank you gesture.

One great way to show a wedding vendor some gratitude for their outstanding service at your wedding is to post some stellar reviews of them on some popular wedding vendor rating websites such as Wedding Wire, Project Wedding or Yelp. Unlike personal written thank-you notes, customer testimonials are a public recommendation to potential clients that a certain vendor is professional, reliable and newlywed approved.

She goes on to say,

Your online review and testimonial not only helps build their professional credentials, it creates an atmosphere of helping, support and guidance.

I can relate to this, as part of my job is to showcase the work of others. Often, I write about our customers' DIY creative projects. I tout the quality papers and environmental policies of of the mills that we work with. I even interview people within the wedding industry that might not necessarily have an existing relationship with LCI Paper. By writing about these individuals and companies, not only am I creating content that is interesting to our readers, but I am extending a gesture of thanks to those I write about by talking about them in public. It's a testimonial of sorts.

So when you have positive dealings with an online organization, consider blessing them with the most beneficial type of thanks--an online review on a popular web forum, an article about your experience with them on your blog, or even a shout out on Twitter. You can bet they'll be happy to return the favor. The good that you do will come back to you.

Joshua Birch
josh@lcipaper.com

Our Office Manager, Linda Giesin, is one of the nice people you'll speak to when you call LCI Paper. As a contribution to our first issue of the Creative Invitation Guide, she designed this lovely pocket fold kit.

Click here to order the complete kit in quantities of 10.

The kit includes:

• (10) 5 x 7 Rivus Blue Pocket Folds
• (10) Ecru Invitation Cards 4 1/4 x 5 1/2
• (10) Blue Flower Tree Chiyogami Sheets
• (10) Summer Sky Invitation Envelopes
• (10) Ecru Response Folders
• (10) Summer Sky Response Envelopes

This kit begins with our Vice Versa Rivus Blue pocket fold, a heavyweight imported card stock with a soft and exquisite texture. Linda made the perfect choice in pairing it with our Blue Flower Tree Chiyogami; this pattern features light blue, white and teal tree blossoms outlined in gold paint on an off-white background. The chocolate brown accents of the tree branches forms a beautiful contrast with the light blue color of the pocket fold.

This invitation is very easy to print, including a simple A2 ecru invitation card and response folder. Envelopes for both invitation and RSVP are matching Summer Sky blue in the Gmund Colors line (the color is exactly the same as Gmund's Vice Versa Rivus, only in a smooth finish).

Without further ado, we'll now show you step by step how to print and assemble this invitation - free Word templates included!

Step One: Cut Chiyogami Paper To Make Layers

In each package of 10 kits, you will receive 10 chiyogami sheets in 8 1/2 x 11 size. Using a paper cutter or scissors, cut two layers measuring 4 7/8 x 6 7/8 inches out of five of the sheets, as shown in the image below. You will need five sheets to make 10 invitations.

Step Two: Cut Chiyogami Strip For Response Folder

Using a single sheet of chiyogami, you will cut strips that measure 1 x 7 inches to border the left edge of the response folder. (For efficient paper use, which is always recommended, you can also use the leftover paper from making the layers, above.) Use a ruler to measure out 10 of these strips on the sheet as shown below. Cut out the strips and save them to glue to the response folders after you've printed them in Step Five.

What To Do With The Leftover Chiyogami Sheets...
The leftover chiyogami sheets can be used to make liners for either the invitation or response envelope, or you could cut a band to wrap vertically around the finished pocket fold. The perfect size for a pocket fold band is 1 1/2 x 11. See our Flowering Bronze Pocket Fold article for an example of this band.

Step Three: Glue Chiyogami Layer To Pocket Fold

Adhere a chiyogami layer to the invitation panel of the pocket fold. You can glue or tape the layer using the following:

• Ordinary glue stick
• Glue Marker
• Double-sided tape

Step Four: Print & Adhere Ecru Invitation Card

Download the template below to print the Ecru Invitation Card measuring 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches. Place your invitation wording on the template and print on an inkjet or laser printer. (Tip: Use the sample verses on our Invitation Wording page to get started) When you've printed the cards, adhere them to the center of the chiyogami layer on the pocket fold as shown below.

Download Invitation Printing Template

Step Five: Print Response Folder & Envelope

Use the templates below to print on the Ecru Response Folder measuring 3 1/2 x 4 7/8 inches (when folded) and the Summer Sky response envelope measuring 3 5/8 x 5 1/8 inches.

Download Response Folder Printing Template


Download Response Envelope Printing Template

Step Six: Glue Chiyogami Strip To Response Folder

Secure the 1 x 7 inch chiyogami band to the left edge of the response folder. Do this by laying the printed folder flat on a surface, printed side up. You can use glue stick or double sided tape to adhere the band to the folder.

Step Seven: Print Invitation Envelope

Download the template below to print the Summer Sky Envelope measuring 5 1/4 x 7 1/4 inches. Place your finished pocket fold inside the envelope and you're ready to mail your invitations! LCI also carries gold envelope seals which are a nice way to seal the pocket fold or envelope. They are a great accent to complement the chiyogami paper.

Download Envelope Printing Template

We hope you enjoyed creating this unique invitation! It makes a great wedding invitation, but is versatile enough to suit other occasions as well - fundraisers or dinners, birthdays, and formal spring events, to name a few.

If you encounter any problems with our templates, don't hesitate to contact us at helpdesk@lcipaper.com.

You might have seen our new Stardream layered invitations and read the recent blog article, "How To Assemble Stardream Bar & Bat Mitzvah Invitations At Home." Now you'll read words directly from the Stardream layered invitations designer, LCI's own Barry Levine. The twist to this story is that when Barry was designing the invitation for his daughter, he never imagined it would be sold on our web site.

"I was working on it privately. We’re a little less than a year away from the Bat Mitzvah of my oldest daughter and I had some time on my hands. I figured I would get started with it because the plan is to create our own invitations."

Noticing the transition from Barry's personal invitation design for his daughter's up-coming Bat Mitzvah to a series of invitations to be made available to LCI's customers, and noticing Barry's occasionally squirming during the process, I had to ask him more about the experience.

"I didn’t really plan on it that way. My intent was to do a creation of my own. I was playing around with colors, with type, with design... Nobody gets the design right on the first attempt. I also wanted to give my daughter a chance to see various layouts to see what she liked because her input in all of this is important to me. I’ve been around design and printing for more years than I care to admit right now. So I want to make sure that it’s a design that not only I’m happy with, but my daughter -- it’s her event and it’s a memorable event and I want all parts of the event to be a memory for her, not just the event itself but what goes around the planning of it."

"I’m not claiming to be a premier designer, but I take a lot of pride in the stuff that I create. Especially when it’s personal to my own family, yeah, I have this little bit of reluctance to share it with the public, especially since the event hasn’t even happened yet. I don’t want someone else coming out with the design before I even send mine out."

With a smile, I pointed out that fact that unless he changes his design, that’s going to happen because the invitation is already available on our site.

"I understand that. That’s not to say that I won’t change it. I haven’t carved anything in stone yet. Do I like what I did? Sure I do. Apparently other people do too."

The entire invitation ensemble is designed with Stardream stock, a brand of specialty paper produced by Italian manufacturer Gruppo Cordenons. I asked Barry about that choice.

"I liked the color variety that some of the Stardream stocks offered. I thought that my daughter would also like the various colors that I showed her. I think Stardream has a little more of an offering to the specific designs I was working on than maybe some of the color palettes that we have in other stocks."

Barry closed with this thought regarding the inspiration he feels when he sees other invitation designs. He hopes that his designs and the other invitations at LCIPaper.com can inspire our customers.

"Every time I see a new invitation, it inspires me a little bit in thought for how I could create my own invitation. That will always happen and that’s why we try to show printed invitations on our site so that people can give themselves a little bit of a catalyst in what they may come up with. They may use bits and pieces of a design that they see that we’ve created on our site. Even if it’s just that, then it’s served its purpose. My personal feelings are that when I see different invitations, there are different elements about them that I may like that I’ll try to remember for later use in something that I’m doing. And that happens on a daily basis."

Thanks to Barry for sharing his daughter's Bat Mitzvah invitation to a product line that all of LCI's customers can consider using.

Recommended Links:
Stardream Layered Invitations
How To Assemble Stardream Bar & Bat Mitzvah Invitations At Home

Joshua Birch
josh@lcipaper.com