Evolution of the STD (Save the Date)

I get three days off per week, which means I have had loads of time to dedicate to crafting the wedding of my dreams. As a DIY girl and a control freak, I decided early on that I was going to make everything myself, from the “Save-the-date” cards, to the bouquets and boutonnieres, to the centerpieces. Ambitious? Perhaps. I had eight months to get it all done. Let the crafting begin!

First things first, of course, and that meant “Save-the-date” cards. There are so many adorable ideas online; it was really hard to decide. Luckily for me, Mr. Unicorn is super tech savvy and a whiz at Photoshop. Sooooo. We sat down together and came up with a basic design and printed it out on cream-colored cardstock.

Personal photo.

Snazzy, huh?

I was super proud of them, but I had a nagging feeling that something was missing. That’s when I stumbled on pretty paper flowers at Michael’s that totally match our color scheme. I loved the way they looked with the bold blue graphic; the flowers brought color and dimension to the card.

Personal photo.

Purrrrty, isn’t it?

Well then the hunt for cream colored envelopes began. The only ones I found were HUUUUUUGE; the poor cards looked so lost in there. So, after finding the PERFECT patterned cardstock, I mounted each card and voila:

Personal photo.

Each one is a little bit different from the next, and we mailed them out the very next day. Woot!

Anybody else that went the DIY route with the Save the Date cards? How did they turn out?

Houdini

Well we ended up with the venue of our dreams for a fraction of what the other places were asking. Just look at these photos. I had it all figured out. The plan was to have the ceremony in half of the barn, set up the food and cake in the other half of the barn, and the dancing would take place in the little breezeway area.

 It just SCREAMS “rustic-chic,” doesn’t it???

Personal photo.

Personal photo.

Personal photo.

 

We had a bit of a scare, though, when our contact person for the venue pulled a Houdini and disappeared off the face of the earth. That’s right. We handed her a check for the $1000 deposit, feeling very proud of ourselves for finding such a gorgeous and cheap venue. Then she went MIA. I was a little wary of the fact that she doesn’t believe in contracts; we didn’t really have anything in paper saying that we had reserved September 1^st or that we’d paid the deposit. Mr.Unicorn wasn’t too concerned, though, so I tried not to worry. As days went by without a sign of life from our contact, though, I started to feel a wee bit panicky. 

In my mind, if this venue fell through, we were going to have to use Mr. Unicorn's synagogue. Don't get me wrong; it's a nice synagogue. It's just not what I had envisioned for my wedding. I shouldn't have worried, though, because our venue contact resurfaced and we were back on track.

Hive, did you experience a panicky moment with one of your vendors? What was the outcome?

Location, location, location

I’m not the most organized person, but when I first started planning my wedding back in December, I was really making an effort to stay on top of this whole wedding thing before it turned into one huge mess.  

So, first things first, right? And that meant finding a venue. I started by compiling a list of possible dates and possible venues on my handy dandy wedding board.

Personal photo.

Yes. My handwriting sucks. I know.

But I was being organized. Which is fantastic and rare. Like unicorns!

I also bought a calendar. I haven’t exactly opened it yet, but I had big plans for this calendar. I was going to write things in it like, “Appointment at ridiculously expensive bridal boutique!” Or “Cake tasting!” And, in theory, it was going help me to remember these appointments. You can guess how that story ends..

And so it began. The wedding madness. The mayhem. The chaos. The hemorrhaging bank accounts.

-stabgurgledie-

I’ve come to the realization that weddings are expensive. Shockingly so. Venues are expensive, photographers are expensive, even the CAKE is expensive. My mumsy has already volunteered to shoulder most of the financial burden. So my main goal was to make that burden as small as possible. I’m trying to craft most of the decorations, our “Save the Date” cards, our invitations, centerpieces, and I tried my hardest to find a reasonably priced venue. But they’re all so expensive!!! Some of them try to force you to use their wedding planners. Others aren’t so pushy, but charge you extra for using outside caterers.

Honestly, seeing all these prices on the internet was pretty disheartening. The good news is fall weddings tend to be a bit cheaper than spring or summer weddings. So I came up with a fail-proof plan to sell our kidneys on the black market, eat ramen for the next ten months, and spend only on crafting supplies and wedding stuff.  

Yay. Ramen.

Anyhoot. My main concern, at the moment, was the venue. Everything hinged on the venue. EVERYTHING!!! We couldn't book any vendors until we had firmed up a date with the venue. We couldn't even send out Save the Date cards until we had the venue. So I was very antsy to find a place to host this thing already.

Originally, I had wanted a beautiful wedding at Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. If you’ve never been, you really ought to. I was envisioning a lavish wedding overlooking the stately mansion, a string quartet playing in the background just as the sun is beginning to set over the grounds…It’s absolutely gorgeous. The thing is it’s also very pricey. My eyes almost popped out of my head when I saw how much they were asking to host a wedding. So there went that idea.

Next I found this picturesque little farm just south of Atlanta called The Inn at Serenbe. It would have been perfect except for the fact that they make you use Gloriosa, their wedding planner/photographer. The thought of a wedding planner made my inner control freak cringe. No, thank you. I think I’ll pass on Gloriosa.

Finally, I found a hidden gem in Northwest Georgia. This barn in the middle of nowhere would be the perfect setting for the rustic-chic wedding of my dreams.

How did you decide on your venue? Did you fit your budget around your venue, or did you find your venue based on your budget?

Meet the Unicorns

I can't believe I get to type this:

Hello, Hive!!! Meet your newest bee!

I was so thrilled to find the acceptance e-mail in my inbox. I called poor Mr. Unicorn at work and left him a very long, excited voicemail. Poor man called me back to ask why I had left him 45 seconds worth of non-stop squealing on his phone. To which I replied, “Because we’re the Unicorns!!!!!”

And who are the Unicorns, exactly?

I’ll start with the Mr.

Personal Photo-Yes that's a heart-shaped chicken nugget.

Isn’t he handsome?

Mr. Unicorn is a 22-year-old graphic designer and photographer. He’s sweet, funny, even-keeled, and patient.

In other words, he’s my total opposite.

Where he’s laid-back, I’m high-strung. Where he’s cool-headed and logical, I’m irrational and impulsive. He’s Jewish, I’m Catholic.

You see what I’m getting at? He completes me.

Personal Photo

You probably wanna know why I picked the unicorn. After all, I could have just as easily decided on the cauldron or the sword.

Well obviously the icon's overwhelmingly pink cuteness played a big role. Mr. Unicorn and I also collaborated on a very detailed drawing of a unicorn's digestive tract. Don't ask why. All I remember is that I was trying to prove some kind of point, but the conversation degenerated into an argument about whether unicorns fart rainbows. Very mature topic of discussion, as you can see. Against my better judgment, I have decided to include the drawing below. Feel free to critique my technique or composition. I used my preferred medium of ballpoint pen on old receipt paper.

-Personal photo. Nowhere near as cute as my pink icon!

We’re very excited about our upcoming wedding. Together, we’re planning a rustic, fall wedding with lots of cutesy, DIY touches that will make it more personal and memorable for everyone.  

I can’t wait to share this with all of you. I hope you enjoy the ride as much as we will!

Much love,

Miss Unicorn