Happy 1st Birthday, to our sweetest sunshine, Jackson David

When I was pregnant (and before I had any idea how much work a baby would be), I documented every week of my growing belly with our sweet boy.  My plan was to put a book together with the weekly pictures and fun information about how he was growing, etc.  Then he was born , and I learned once you have a kid, there is no time for the extra work :-p  I did write an "intro" for this non-existent book, and it brings tears to my eyes as I read it now.  I've decided that each year, I will write a special note for Jackson, and give it to him when he's a little older and can (maybe) appreciate it. ----- 0 Years Old -----

To our son, Jackson David Foster:

This book is our journey together through my pregnancy with you.  To my precious baby boy, I can’t wait to be your mama.

From the day I found out I was pregnant with you, I’ve loved you more than you will ever know.  You have been the most wonderful, easy-going baby throughout this pregnancy, not causing your mama any problems.  I think this will be an indication of your personality, my sweet Aries.  Taking care of you and teaching you all that I can sounds like the most rewarding thing I could possibly do with my life.

I can’t wait until you meet your daddy!  He’s the most wonderful man and I know he’s going to be such a great daddy to you. He may be stern with you at times, but always remember it is for your best interest and he loves you so.  I completely trust him to take care of all of us for our whole lives.

Welcome to this beautiful world and welcome to your family, sweet boy.  Your dad and I can’t wait to meet you- you are our greatest blessing. We love you with our whole hearts.

With so much love my sunshine,

Your Mama

----- 1 Year Old -----

Oh Jackson David.  How do I begin to tell you how much you mean to us--  “I love you” just doesn’t seem to be enough.

We could have never imagined how much our lives would change when you entered our world.  You made our hearts bigger and have filled them with so much love from the very start.  Each day, we fall more in love with you.  You have been the best baby we could have asked for, and we love to watch your personality develop each and every day.  You bring such joy to our worlds with every smile and every laugh.  You have made us a mama and a dada, and that means more to us than you'll ever know.

You are our sunshine, our greatest adventure, and our dream come true.  We will love you forever and always, our sweet son.

Mama and Dada

Jackson David's First Birthday Invitations & Party - Little Brave Man Pow Wow

This whole week is going to be all about my sweet baby boy who is turning O N E tomorrow!!! This year has definitely been the quickest yet, along with the happiest, hardest, and most rewarding year of my life :)  As long as this little man will let me, I plan to pour my talents into every paper related thing that I can do for him!!  His first birthday is no exception of course.  Perhaps the most meaningful (although I'm sure each year is), but this is all I know for now :) For his first birthday, I decided (I knew this was most likely the only year that I will get any say) on a Little Brave Man pow wow theme.  Of course I saw tons of adorable inspiration ideas on Pinterest that got the wheels turning, but its also a resemblance of his little personality :)  He is a tough boy, and quite brave! I'm used to a dog that is literally scared of the sound of a blender and her worst nightmare is a vacuum cleaner.  However with Jackson, he will crawl right up to the noisiest thing he can find, and confront it head on.  He shows no fear, yet ;)  He is our Little Brave Man.

Enjoy these photos of his first birthday invitations from the oh so talented Macon Photography!  Briana was sweet enough to capture these awesome images that truly brought the theme to life. We weren't able to get professional pictures of his birthday party, but I will still cherish them forever.  In the meantime, you can find me sobbing in the corner as my sweet little baby celebrates his first year of life.  I love you beyond words, my sunshine!!

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And now the party :) :) :)

The (many) ways to word your wedding invitation

Determining the wording of your wedding invitations is sometimes the most difficult part of the invitation process.  Many of our brides want to please everyone and want to ensure that they are following etiquette rules. Today we are going to discuss the various ways that you can word your invitations. In its simplest form: all you need to include is who is getting married, the date, time, and location, but there are many ways that you can organize this information.

Traditional Wording

Mr. and Mrs. John Brown (proper names of those hosting)

request the honor of your presence (request line)

at the marriage of their daughter

Elizabeth Anne (bride's first and middle names only)

to Joshua David Smith (groom's full name)

Saturday, the sixth of May (day of the week, day, and month of the wedding)

at six o'clock in the evening (time of wedding and time of day)

(name of location)

(city and state of where wedding is taking place)

Reception to follow

If the bride's parents are hosting, then it is customary to leave off the bride's last name. It is assumed that the bride shares the same last name as her parents. If, by chance, the bride has a different last name, then you use the bride's full name.

While this is the traditional wording, many brides and grooms choose to do something different. The biggest question we receive is how to word the invitation when the bride & groom are hosting or if everyone is chipping in.

Here is a little cheat sheet for the other wording titles :)

In the end, you can ultimately put whatever you want on your invitation. Just remember to include all the necessary information! Next week, we are going to talk about what to do when you only can invite a certain number of people (or want an adult-only wedding). Stay tuned! xoxo

The Dreaded Guest List

Your save the dates have been sent, and everyone is raving about how awesome your wedding is going to be; your wedding invitations are almost done, and you can't stop staring at them; there is just one thing that you are putting off...the dreaded guest list. Getting all of the addresses for your guests can be a little daunting--one of your guests moved between when you sent the save the date and your invitation, you accidentally typed the wrong zip code(those damn 0's keep disappearing), or a couple of your guests refuse to return your email/texts/calls with their complete address. For these reasons, and many more, we recommend that you get started on your guest addresses as soon as possible. Ultimately, you will have many of the addresses from your save the dates, but you may choose to be more formal on your wedding invitations. In our experience, we have seen many brides who don't know the "proper" etiquette for envelope addressing. To help you out, we've included a few tips for you :)

Inner/Outer Envelope vs. Just an Outer Envelope: Many brides choose to just have an outer envelope these days. While in the past it was more "traditional" and "proper" to have an inner/outer envelope, many brides have chosen to steer away from this option. Not only does it make formatting easier on you, it is also cheaper to just have an outer envelope(and less weight = less postage). Also, many couples use pocketfolds nowadays, so it acts as an inner envelope.  Many stationers will assume that you will only want outer envelopes, so if you choose to have inner/outer envelopes make sure to let your stationer know.

When you just have an outer envelope, the entire address goes on the front of the envelope. For example, if you had a single, female friend that you were extending a "plus one" to, then it would Ms. __insert name here __ and guest. (Note that guest is not capitalized on the outer envelope.) If you are inviting specific people from a large family, you can have the main couple on the first line, and the individuals listed below.  Children's names can be listed as first name only on the second line.

We also advise that you when begin collecting your addresses, go ahead and create an Excel sheet and separate everything into individual columns. When you send this file to us later, it'll make it mud easier for everyone! Oh, and those pesky little 0's that always disappear when you're trying to fill in a northerners zip code, can be saved my formatting that column as "text". Select the column, right click, select "format cells", select "text", then hit "ok"!  Your zeros are now there to stay ;)

RSVP Card: Many brides have also chosen to add a small line on the RSVP card asking the number of guest attending. This is super helpful to find out how many people will be attending, especially when your guest doesn't make it clear on their food selection. Technically, how you address your envelopes should clue your guests into who/how many people are invited. For example, addressing an envelope with "Ms. Lucy Smith" should tell Lucy that she is the only person invited and not extended a "plus one"; inevitably, you will have guests who try to invite a date that you were not expecting. Having "number attending" on the RSVP card will help you to know how many people to expect and to ultimately speak with certain guests if need be.

There's also the added option to include "We have reserved ______ seat(s) in your honor".  This is placed about the name line, and is intended for you, the bride and groom, to tell your guest exactly how many people they are allowed to bring. This is particularly helpful if you do not want kids at your wedding.

Printing Addresses: Unless you have a calligrapher or you plan to save money by handwriting the envelopes yourself, we highly recommend that you include printing the addresses onto the envelopes as one of your stationery costs. It not only saves you time, but it makes everything cohesive. You can arrange with your stationer to print directly onto the envelope or to create address labels. Printing directly onto the envelope can also be made to look like calligraphy, and is much more cost effective :)  Here are examples of both!

Typically, having it directly printed onto the envelope will cost a little more than if you were to choose address labels. Whichever option you choose, your invitations will turn out absolutely stunning!

I know all of this may seem daunting, but that is what you have us for! We are here to help you every step of the way in this highly stressful wedding planning process. If you have questions, please ask them!

Step Three: Wedding Invitations

It is no secret that wedding planning can be stressful. If wedding planning hasn't reached chaos mode yet, it may begin to get overwhelming when you start to think of ordering your wedding invitations.  I know what you may be thinking...so much to do with so little time. Trust us, we have been there too. One wonderful thing about working with a custom stationer is that besides giving you one-of-a-kind invitations, we are also here to make your life less stressful. We take time to know the correct etiquette for the wedding invitation, the latest designs/trends, and we try to do anything we can to make your life easier. The wedding invitation process takes careful planning and can take a lot of time (unless you already know what you want). If you fall in love with your stationer that designed your save the dates, then it may be best for you to use them for your wedding invitations. It is every stationer's intention to help you through the initial step (save the dates) to the final step (day-of paper).

While four to five months seems like a long time before your wedding to order invitations, it surprisingly is not. You must make sure that you give your guests plenty of notice to make their travel arrangements and to RSVP. Don't forget: if you plan to have an 'A' list and a 'B' list (maybe a 'C' list), then you need to give yourself even more time so that your guests do not think that they are second thoughts.

The most fun part, for us, is to actually to design the invitations, but this can be somewhat stressful. Some couples choose to have all of their wedding stationary to be cohesive, while others choose whatever they like best. Here are a few invitations that just prove how diverse invitations can be--wedding invitations can truly be anything you want them to be.

See?! We weren't kidding that there are so many different options. Whether you know exactly what you want or have no idea, it is our job to create the perfect invitation suite for your big day. There are only a few things that we need in order to start the drafting process. These are the necessary wedding details that go on your wedding invitation: names, location, wedding times, reception info, wedding website, etc.

Just like save the dates, some stationers will be able to design the perfect invitation suite closer to your wedding date if need be. Keep in mind, though, that it can take a little while to go through the drafting process (we recommend estimating a month for the drafting process) and the printing process, especially if you are using specialty paper that involves additional time to order.

Regardless, whatever you dream can typically be created (and hopefully it is in your budget)! We hope this was helpful! Next week, we will continue on with wedding invitations, but this time we will be focusing on mailing your invitations out and envelope addressing etiquette. As always, please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or would like to start planning your wedding stationary!