I think I’ve mentioned before that I have a slight fascination with stationary products. It doesn’t matter if it’s business cards, invitations, announcements, or letterheads- I just love the stuff.

Now that I’ve confessed this weird interest of mine, let’s talk about some of the invites you might need for your upcoming wedding.

Bridal Shower Invitations- Let me start by saying if someone is nice enough to offer to give you a bridal shower, don’t be a jerk about it by being all demanding. Be gracious and appreciative! After all, it’s their money, not yours. So while your input may be asked for, it may not be.

Which leads me to the sticky subject - ladies- if you offer to host a bridal shower, that means you are paying for it. Hosting=paying. Ok, let’s avoid a lot of awkward situations by understanding that.

So back to the bridal shower invitations you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg but try to get some nice ones that match the theme of the shower. While handwritten invites save money, they just don’t have that same classy effect as custom invites.

Save the Date Cards- You don’t always need wedding save the date cards but in some cases you do. Let’s say you are having a wedding a year from now in the Bahamas- you definitely want to give people advanced notice. Or if you are getting married at a popular location that needs to be booked way in advanced- it doesn’t hurt to send out a save the date.

Wedding Invitations- Most people know that wedding invitations set the tone for the wedding. In my opinion, they are also one of the most fun things about planning a wedding. So take your time browsing through invites and don’t forget to include the groom!

One thing I like about the site I linked to, Storkie.com is that you can change the skin tone on the brides! You can also change the eye shape and hair color. You don’t know how much that is appreciated until you go to order invites and all of the people on them look nothing like you. That’s especially frustrating when you REALLY want a certain invite. So props to the Storkie team for being aware of that.

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Someone posted this question on Facebook. I laughed because this is my type of question.

Would you let your back fat hang out of your wedding dress?

I forgot who posted it, now I can’t go back and look at the responses. What say you?

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Q: Is it a bad idea to have my wedding on one day and the reception on the other? It’s about the locations, I can’t get both on the same day so I’d invite everyone to my wedding on Friday and my reception on Saturday or Sunday. What do you think?

A: I think that you are setting yourself up for a lot of people to come to your reception and not your wedding. Unless this is a distance wedding where everyone is at a certain location and planned on spending the whole weekend devoted to your wedding; I think it’s a bad idea and that you are asking for a bit much.

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I am passing along this email that may be of interest.

Engaged volunteers needed!

I am looking for volunteers for a study of attitudes towards marriage and parenthood among engaged couples.  The study consists of a 25-30 minute online survey. To qualify for the study, you must be 20-35 years old, live in the U.S., and plan to marry or have a commitment ceremony within the next 365 days. You and your romantic partner must not have children, and this must be the first marriage for both of you.

You can:

-Help a doctoral candidate;

-Increase the pool of scientific knowledge;

-Support research on marriage and families; and

-Spend some time thinking about your relationship!

I am working with Dr. Charlotte J. Patterson, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia.  This study has been approved by the University of Virginia Institutional Review Board #2009025800.

If you and/or your romantic partner are interested in participating or want further information, please email me at survey.couples@gmail.com.  I will send you a link that you can use to access the study.

Thanks!

Cristina Reitz-Krueger

Doctoral Student

University of Virginia

(434) 243-8558

survey.couples@gmail.com

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