Stinkerpants

The Pros and Cons of Getting Married in a Public Park

September 29, 2008 in Wedding (also on Weddingbee) • Ceremony • My Tips

This post was originally featured on Weddingbee.  To see all of the comments, you'll have to check them out over there!

On my last post, a reader named Kelly made a comment that got me thinking: she said we’d chosen a less-than-ideal spot for our wedding, because it was a public park and strangers were talking.  It’s true–it wasn’t ideal in a few ways.  The park service was really difficult to coordinate with, and there weren’t any good bathrooms.  However, Mr. Stinkerpants and I haven’t regretted getting married at Crissy Field at all, not even for a moment.  Yes, there were strangers talking, but quite frankly, we couldn’t care less.   For those of you getting married at a public park (or those of you who are interested), here’s a list of the pros and cons of getting married at a public park.  Some of the reasons are specific to our location and to us, so they might not apply to you.  :)

The Cons:

• The logistics of it were a pain in the neck: we had a horrible time trying to get the permit for the spot because the park service is really slow.  They charge also charge a premium for the permit, just because it’s a wedding (I believe they are now charging $600, vs. $59 for a picnic in the same place).
• We couldn’t have amplified sound because birds nest close to the amphitheater.  This, combined with a few strangers talking around the ceremony site, made it kind of difficult for a few guests to hear.  Oops.
• There will be strangers around, and they might not do what you want (this really wasn’t too much of an issue for us).

The Pros:

• We were married in one of the most beautiful places in San Francisco: right by the bay, with the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco city skyline as a backdrop.  It. was. breathtaking.
• We were married in a place that meant a lot to us personally; it was a significant location in our relationship (actually, this part means so much to me that it still almost makes me cry!)
• Strangers always love to see a wedding, and they tell you you’re beautiful, which always feels nice!  They also get really, really excited for you and wish you congratulations many times over, which was awesome for both Mr. Stinkerpants and I.
• It was fun for our guests to attend such a “San Francisco” wedding.  A few of our guests had never been to the bay area before, so it was fun to show them how beautiful it is here, and why we love it.

Overall, I would definitely say that it was totally worth any problems we encountered to get married at Crissy Field, at least for us.  Just to refresh your memories (or maybe I haven’t told you guys this before), but Mr. Stinkerpants and I decided to start dating exclusively at Crissy Field.  To have our wedding there three years later was so meaningful to us.

And I still can’t believe how wonderful the weather was.  :)

Invitation Details…Stamps and Postcards

June 16, 2008 in Wedding (also on Weddingbee) • My Tips • Stationery

 This post was originally featured on Weddingbee.  To see all of the comments, you'll have to check them out over there!

This post will be sort of a mish-mash of a couple of things I discovered while experimenting with and mailing my invitations. First, I present you with a photo of future in-law’s invitation, which is evidence as to why you may want to go to the trouble of hand canceling if you made custom stamps (and no, I don’t have any suggestions on hand canceling–I didn’t end up doing it because it seemed like too much work):

I am more and more thankful that I stopped caring about the stamps.

Secondly, we have the RSVP postcards. I sent my mom our Save the Date postcard, just so she could see what it looked like, and to make sure it got there okay. When I saw it after she’d received it, I was horrified. It was totally scraped up! Unfortunately, I’d already printed my RSVP postcards. I decided to send a couple to her and to myself, just to see how they ended up. They arrived in much better condition, but still pretty scraped up from the machines:

I still decided to send them, though, for several reasons:
1) Well, I already made them.
2) When our guests see them, they will be perfect. I’m the only one who sees them messed up.
3) The part that is messed up doesn’t affect any of the information I need to gather (meal choices, names, etc).
4) I plan to keep the cards and put them in the back of our guestbook. The notes are the parts I wanted to save, and that part isn’t messed up.

One thing to note is that I got the RSVP postcards done through Prints Made Easy. My Save the Dates, on the other hand, were printed through Vista Print. I’m sorry to say that they didn’t fare as well as the Prints Made Easy postcards, because the finish is different. The front was badly mangled…so long story short, avoid sending Vista Print postcards if you want them to look perfect.

Overall, my opinion is this: RSVP postcards are okay. If you’re sending out 100 invitations, it will only be $15 more to send them in envelopes, so if you’re thinking about using postcards just to save on postage, it’s really not that much of a difference. A good reason to send postcards, however, is because you like the way that they look, or they fit into your invitation design better. Postcard Save the Dates, on the other hand, are not a good idea (in my opinion). As cute as the idea is, I just don’t think it works well in practice–people might not notice them, whereas everyone feels special to get a fun envelope in the mail.

My favorite DIY products

March 3, 2008 in Wedding (also on Weddingbee) • DIY Projects • My Tips

This post was originally featured on Weddingbee.  To see all of the comments, you'll have to check them out over there!

How could I give advice about DIY projects without mentioning my favorite DIY products? Obviously, I couldn’t–I’m too obsessed. I’ve been a crafter for as long as I can remember, and since I’ve been working at Paper Source, I’ve learned even more about different products.

Here are my favorites:

image from Fiskars.com

Paper Trimmer. This has been my favorite product for a long time. I actually have two–one big one and one small one. I recommend the rotary cutter over the guillotine–a lot of the time, paper slips on the guillotine and doesn’t give you a straight cut. In addition, the bottom of the paper often doesn’t get a clean cut with a guillotine. You can either go cheap or heavy duty (I consider the one pictured above heavy duty). Either one works great, but the heavy duty ones can cut more paper and have more rulers, which can be useful.

image from paper-source.com

Teflon Bone Folder. I had never heard of a bone folder before working at Paper Source, I’ll admit it. But if you need to do a lot of folding (like if you’re making invitations or envelopes), this thing is indispensable. Basically you rub it along a fold and it makes a really nice, clean crease. You can also use it to jam things into small spaces (for example, I once made a box and used it for that purpose). I recommend teflon over the recycled bone for two reasons:
1) the recycled bone can leave a shiny residue behind (this is calcium from the bone), whereas the teflon does not.
2) if you drop the recycled bone, it can break or chip.
The teflon bone folder is more expensive, but it’s worth it.

image from paper-source.com

Zots. At first, I was a lover of Super Tape. That stuff will stick anything together, I swear. However, it also took off a layer of skin every time I tried to use it. That’s when I discovered Zots. These suckers are just as sticky as Super Tape, but they’re much more user friendly. Zots are little adhesive dots, which come on a roll of parchment paper-like stuff. If you rip off the parchment paper in little pieces, you can stick your zot directly from the parchment paper onto your surface, so you never have to touch the actual adhesive. After using about 800 of them, you’ll appreciate that. :)

image from walgreens.com

Glue Dots Removable Adhesive Dots. Why Zots doesn’t make a removable version, I do not know. However, these things are GREAT for attaching things you don’t want to be stuck together forever. For example, I used them to attach my RSVP postcards to my invitations. They don’t leave any residue behind. Believe it or not, I found these at Walgreens, of all places.

A metal ruler and an x-acto knife. There are no pictures of these because you can buy any brand you like–I have no preference. These are great for cutting book board or long pieces of paper that won’t fit in your paper trimmer. Apply firm pressure to the ruler and use it as a guide for your x-acto to get a very nice, clean cut. A tip: if you get the kind of metal ruler that has cork on the bottom, flip it over so the cork is facing up before you use it as a guide to cut with your x-acto knife. Otherwise, your x-acto can slip into the space between the cork and your paper, and you won’t get a clean cut.

So those are my top 5 (well, 6, if you want to get technical) DIY products. Have I missed anything? What are your favorites?