Pyramid Invitations: How To

Thanks for all the love on the invitations!  We've been getting some great feedback from our guests on them too, which makes all of the hard work worth it!  I don't know if I'd go all the way into the whole "labor of love" territory here - they took a lot of time and effort, but the whole process was much easier than I expected it to be!

So to close out the invitation posts, I wanted to touch on the process of putting this assembly together, along with a few tips learned along the way, to hopefully make it easier for you too!

First, let's talk about the wording.  This was probably the area that gave me the most frustration when searching online and in stores, since I couldn't find something that felt just right.  For the main invite card, I started with the basic formal wording for a Catholic nuptial mass, and made a few changes.

Pyramid Invitations: Parts and Pieces

Now that you've seen our invitations, let's get into some details! I realize this might not be the most entertaining for a casual reader, since it's more of a list and mini reviews for anyone in the market for some similar products.  When I was researching, I had some trouble finding out info on some of these pieces I was researching, so I figured I might as well put my knowledge out there.

As a reminder, here's the whole enchilada (mmmm enchiladas are my fave):

Pyramid Invitations: You are Cordially Invited

Oh, hey there, have you grabbed your mail today? Well go check again, I think there's something there for you!  

Well, what do you know?  It's the Pyramid wedding invitation, addressed to a super special couple!  

Inspirational Invitational

Are you ready, Hive?  Pyramid invite week is here!  That's right, we've got an onslaught of RSVPs hitting the mailbox these days, so I figure it's safe to share without spoiling any reader's surprises (Hi, Pyramid guests that follow!).

From day one, I've said that if I could find an invitation suite - be it in a store, on Etsy, or another website like Minted - that was premade exactly how I wanted, I would buy it up and not look back.  I wanted something pretty, but I didn't want to commit many hours to customizing the design, the printing, the assembly, and the addressing.  I'm not a designer, so it's not like this was my area to shine.  I just wanted something that would get the job done, but I also didn't want to compromise on the elements that I wanted to include (can you see where this is going?).

I tried many times to search websites for a design, trying to just pick it and move on, but I was never able to find one that really satisfied me.  I found myself browsing pages and pages of wedding invites and I discovered a ton of what I didn't want, but nothing that I did.  If it was formal enough, then it seemed boring; if it was fun enough, then it seemed too casual.  At one point I found myself thinking "That invite looks like it's trying too hard." What? Who am I?  What is this process doing to my head?

I couldn't find any evidence  to show that Jean Shrimpton said this, but the visual is too good./Photo found on Brighton the Day

When the internet was failing me as it never has before, Momma P and I went into a local invite store to look around.  I was still being ridiculously picky, but this time at a much higher price tag.  Even looking at non-letterpress options, the invite store was quoting me well over a grand for just the cards!  And I would still be settling, because there was only so much customization that they would allow, and so much wording I wanted to edit.

My top choice at the invitation store, but without the monogram.  I fell in love with the gold and taupe, though./Personal photo, sample invite by William Arthur

So we went straight from the invite store to to talk with Uncle G (whose shop designed and printed our save the dates) about what I wanted and what he could do.  He said he would have to outsource the printing, since we were thinking of raised thermography, but that he could handle the designing and cutting in house.  After a bit of deliberation, I decided to go ahead with his idea and make the invites exactly how I wanted with his designer, J.  So in the end, I ended up doing just what I said I didn't want to - if you didn't see that one coming, you haven't been paying attention!

Fortunately, all of my searching had my "Wedding Details" Pinterest page chock full of invitation inspiration, so when I sat down to create a mockup for J and order additional supplies, I had lots to pull from!  Once I started to put pen to paper - or put Snippet to PowerPoint, to be more accurate - everything started falling into place and I saw my perfect invites shaping up before my eyes.  Here's some of the pieces that I played around with - some stuck, some didn't but you can get an idea of what we were aiming for.

I was inspired to incorporate some gold polka dots on the liner after seeing this sample in the store.

Design by William Arthur.

 A two-toned invite with metallic gold was a "must have" item.

Found on Grey Likes Weddings/Photo via KimberlyFitzsimmons on Etsy

I loved the hand-drawn details incoporated in this New Orleans invitation, like the map and St. Francis Church!

Found on Green Wedding Shoes/Photo by Austin Gros/Design by Tupelo Honey Design

I preferred stacked cards with a ribbon or belly band to pocket folds, and I wanted to at least include an RSVP card and reception details card.  

Found on Style Me Pretty/Photo by Watson Studios/Design by The Happy Envelope

I loved the addition of swirls to give it a little extra design, but had trouble finding the right size or placement for them.

Found on Lover.ly/Design by Bella Figura

 I also wanted to incorporate some lace details, but I didn't want it to look too "shabby chic," since that wasn't really what we were going for.  

Found on OneWed Design by River City Studio on Etsy

Even though it wasn't as easy as I wanted it to be, I'm glad we took this route because we are both so happy with the result.  As brides, we're immersed with all of the wedding details from an early stage, but a majority of wedding guests don't know a thing about what you're planning.  The save the date or invite is the first glimpse into the style and feel of the wedding, and I wanted to make sure we got that right.  Our wedding will be closer to the formal side, but we also wanted to include some fun details that would help make it "us" (but we did not design our own font! Shout out to Mrs. Rucksack for sharing these hilarious videos.).

Coming up next, I reveal the actual invitations!  

Being Prepared

Getting married in the Catholic Church comes with a few requirements, which include completing all of the marriage preparations.

Photo from Women Living Well Ministries

The timing for this doesn't get started until six months out from your chosen wedding date.  Some of our material says "Definitive wedding plans should not be made nor contracts entered into until this determination of readiness is made by the priest."  It's okay, you can laugh, I did too.  I guess technically a ceremony date is still up in the air until you're finished the prep, but unless something huge comes up, I think you're good to follow your own timeline with respect to all the other wedding details.

Where Are You Registered?

So I shared all of the shower details last time, and I mentioned that people were extremely generous with their time, talents, and also with their gifts.  So let's talk about that registry!

So many gifts! 

For background, I bought my house exactly two years ago, and Momma P and I spent that whole summer shopping for decor and furniture to fill it up.  And fill it up we did.  With just two bedrooms, this really isn't a forever home, but it is a "for the foreseeable future" home.  So my first reaction was that we didn't need much stuff at all.  The dishes aren't chipped, the towels are matching, and we have plenty enough pots and pans.  I figured we could register for a few key upgrades, but maybe look into doing a Honeyfund or something.  Ha!  Apparently I forgot that it's me we're dealing with, and I love stuff and I'm way too good at shopping for my own good.  No problem filling up a registry here.

So last July, Macy's was hosting one of their "Scan for a Grand" events, and I figured that was as good a time as any to get a store registry started.  We didn't win a grand - womp womp.  But we did get to use the scanner gun and get a few things started on our list!  I didn't grab any pictures, but I think you can imagine what it looks like.

We registered at Macys, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and we have a few items on an account with MyRegistry.com.

A snippet from the wedding website. 

If you're thinking about a Macy's registry, there are plenty of perks associated.  They give you a bunch of coupons right when you sign up, and your guests will get a coupon for their next purchase when they buy a gift.  I have a Macy's credit card, so after the wedding I will receive a gift card valued at 10% of all the purchases I made with my Macy's card since last July.  We'll also get a gift card for 5% of what others buy from the registry.  The week after setting up the registry, it was Momma P's birthday.  I went into Macy's to buy her a pretty cake dome, and the sales lady - who recognized me from the week before - let me in on a little secret.  She added the cake dome to my registry before I checked out, so that counted as 10% for using my Macy's card and 5% for buying off the registry, and I was able to use a coupon.  We haven't been buying much home related stuff, but I've been trying to use that little trick whenever possible!

My only complaint is that the site logs you out so often, I would have to enter my password in many times during a browsing session!  Macy's, I think internet hackers have better things to do than try to get into my account to remove gifts from my registry.  Calm down.

I also love and hate the extreme sales that Macy's puts on.  I would add stuff to the registry and think "Okay, $75 for that item, not too bad!"  But the regular price would be $139, and I would see it later and think "Oh no! There's no way I want someone paying that much for that!"  So it's just hard to gauge what the price will be when your guests come around to shop for your present.  Most of them will either want to make a purchase right when they think about it or buy a gift at last minute - they're probably not waiting around for sales.  But when you do catch a sale, though, they're good!

To make up for that, I also did the BB&B registry.  We did this entirely online, since we didn't have a chance to go in store.  Also, Sphinx makes way too many jokes about the "Beyond Section" and getting lost there, so I figured we could just skip that altogether.  Things are priced better and more consistently at BB&B, guests can use the 20% off coupon, and they offer a completion incentive (I think it's 15-20%) for anything that isn't bought off of the registry.

A sampling of the "What Members are Adding" page of MyRegistry, which is really helpful for ideas!

I was a guest at a wedding that used MyRegistry.com, and I really liked the concept.  It's basically a Pinterest for wedding gifts. You can add any link from around the web to this list, and include a picture or a note for your guests.  It's really handy if you're interested in a random sampling of items from various stores, and don't want to create 10 different registries.  Of course, this is going to go over better with the younger crowd, but I think it's a great way to add  more personalized, less "typical" gifts.

Alright, so enough about the where.  Let's look at some goodies!

First off, we registered for china because Momma P said "Just do it, you'll never buy it for yourself and people like to give china!"  I thought it was a little unnecessary, but I received one setting at the shower and I absolutely love it!  I definitely think I'll use it if I have it.  I chose the Lismore Lace pattern by Waterford in platinum, because it's traditional but with a bit of extra detail.  Just my style.

I had to set it up right when I got home from the shower to see how it looked!  I loved the detailing!

I also registered for some crystal glassware and serving dishes by Godinger, because they match a set of water glasses that used to be my Maw Maw's (shown in the picture above).  That sure was an easy way to narrow down what I wanted, since I just had to look in one brand and one style.  Otherwise, you can get so overwhelmed with all of the choices.

Kitchen electrics was one of our biggest opportunities for additions.  However, I did not need a KitchenAid mixer, since I already have one in light pink.  That's one of the best stories ever: Momma P found it at a garage sale for FORTY BUCKS.  Brand new.  The seller had won it as a door prize and wasn't interesting in cooking or baking at all.  Only Momma P would come across a find like that.  But there were plenty of other options that would make our kitchen life better.  A crock pot (since all I have is a teensy one), a Magic Bullet for smoothies, a food processor, immersion blender, a panini press, and a Keurig machine.

In yellow because I like my life a little colorful!/Photo via Bed, Bath, and Beyond

I'm not sure why I resisted a Keurig for so long, maybe because I like the smell while measuring out grounds?  But I always make single servings of coffee, and my old coffee maker from college was getting kind of funky, so I figured this was the time for the upgrade.  It's been heavenly so far, and I'm so glad I converted.  I also got a reusable pod, so I can continue to use grounds and not have to buy the K-cups.

We also registered for an ice cream maker because Sphinx has great memories of his grandparents making it growing up, and one of his aunts got it for us.  He's already made a batch of vanilla-cookie dough and it was awesome.

On the MyRegistry site, I added some random things: pretty bowls from Anthopologie, an air mattress, a set of power tools from Home Depot.  Oh, and these awesome coasters, which we were gifted from one of our GoT friends at the shower!

We got them just in time for the season 4 premier!/Photo via ThinkGeek

So I won't go into any more gifts right now, since I'm planning a post of recommendations (inspired by this excellent post by Mrs. Wallaby, which I've referenced many-a-time), but you kind of get the gist of what we registered for.  I think it's a highly personal thing, and you need to go for what you need in your life.

Here's some of the advice I'd like to pass on to help you get through the overwhelming world of telling people what to buy for you:

• Purge or organize your kitchen before the shower or wedding.  I did this a few weeks back (okay, so it was a hysterical cleaning rage because I was freaking out about having to fit all the new stuff in the house), and it felt so good to have places for the new things to go and it didn't stay sitting on the living room floor for weeks.  Be honest with yourself and get rid of things you don't use, and you'll be more excited to make room for the new stuff!
• Start your registry early so that you can add and remove with no pressure.  You'll probably think of things to add all throughout a year or so - like around Christmas time when you realize you don't have enough baking pans or serving dishes!  
• If you like to cook, make sure you're tuned into the Cooking Channel or Food Network because it can give you some great ideas for things you are missing.  I'm always reminded how handy an immersion blender can be!  Or check out your favorite food blogs for recommended products, especially if they're used for recipes you could see yourself making.
• Be realistic when registering.  At some point down the rabbit hole of a Macy's browser, I was debating if I needed to add these adorable LeCreuset mini casserole dishes and if we needed stemless red wine glasses as well as white.  What kind of Martha Stewart lifestyle was I imagining myself in?  I put the computer aside when things started getting warped (but we might need an everyday cheese tray!), to clear my head and not fall into the trap of registering for stuff we didn't actually want or need.
• Browse, browse, browse.  Especially if you're like me, and you think you're pretty set on everything in your house.  You might be able to come across more than you realize that would be nice additions.  Just watch out for the Bougie Lifestyle Trap described above!

What are your tips for successfully registering? What was your favorite registry item?  I need to go add some things on, since so many gifts at the shower were the exact ones I asked for.  No weirdo, rando presents over here!

Showered with Love

It's been over a week, and I am still overwhelmed by the generosity and thoughtfulness by all of the amazing ladies who put on and attended my bridal shower.  It was absolutely fabulous, and I am truly blessed beyond belief.  I'll never forget how it felt to be surrounded by so much love and so many women from all parts of my life.

With everything that went on, I feel like I could write a whole recap series on the shower alone, but fear not, I won't! Instead, I'll break this up into bite-sized chunks for you!  Well, first things first:

The Invitation 

The design is "Chandelier Bridal Shower" by Snapfish.

I consulted with my sister, MOH Curls, and my Nanny - who hosted the shower at her beautiful home - on the dates and style of the shower since I knew I didn't want it to be a surprise, but after that I left it up to them.  So I was thoroughly excited when I received this lovely invitation in the mail!  They used a picture from the engagement shoot, a chandelier, and a request for the guests to bring their favorite recipe on the back - how could it be more perfect?


The Surprise
Just because the shower wasn't a surprise, doesn't mean that there weren't some surprise elements!  As planned, MOH Curls came in town the day before the shower, and since they were awesome and had everything under control for the following day, we headed to the New Orleans Museum of Art for a charity silent auction hosted by LSU Med School students.  It was a really awesome event, but by the time Momma P, Nanny, and Curls were dropping me off at my house, I was tired, and knew I needed to get a good night's sleep for the festivities the following day.  So I thought it very odd that after walking in the house, Momma P held up her phone and started saying "Now it's time for us to party!  I said - IT'S TIME!"  Crazy confused Miss P.  And then this happened:

Genuine surprise and excitement!  And lots of arm waving.  All blurry photos captured by Momma P.  

BM Perk popped out of the hallway!  I had NO idea that she was coming in town for the shower, and I hadn't seen her in about a year, so it took a second for me to process that she was there standing in my living room.  My exact reaction was "Oh my God! You're my friend! You're in my house!"  Nanny had called her a week or so before and offered to fly her in if she could get off of work.  Sphinx picked her up from the airport when we were at the auction, and she hid in the house until we got home.  Honestly, I had heard no whisper of this surprise and was completely caught off guard in the best of ways.  Great job, ladies.  Perk and I caught up all night, then got beignets and manicures in the morning, until it was time to head out to Nanny's house to get showered upon. 

The Decor

First of all, Nanny's house is gorgeous and is perfect for throwing parties.  She has thrown me birthday and graduation parties at her house, but I'd definitely have to say that the shower tops them all.  

As soon as our guests entered, they saw a table with the cookie favors and adorable baby Pyramid pictures.

All of the food was set up in the dining room, and the table was decorated with flowers arranged by my godfather's wife, Aunt V.  

Another flower arrangement was displayed outside, with our monogram included here too.  Aunt V is so talented, I'm constantly amazed by the crafts she just "throws together" with flowers from Whole Foods!

The patio bar was stocked with mimosas, wine, and soft drinks.  The day before the shower, it was monsooning all over southern Louisiana, so we were really glad that the clouds parted and the sun came out to allow us to use the backyard.    

BM Dino is looking bashful because I'm reading the sweet card she wrote me.  And apparently my sister and I have rubber ankles.  Perk is hard at work on that bow bouquet.

The bridesmaids and I sat at the front of the living room, and the guests were seated in white folding chairs for the opening of the presents.  Speaking of presents...

The Gifts

I cannot even begin to express how overwhelmed I was at the generosity of my guests - both those who attended, and those who were unable to.  If I went into all of the gifts and how excited I am for them, this post would never end.  So let's just talk about some special ones for now.  

Remember how I said all of the guests were asked to bring a recipe to the shower?  My grandma went a few steps beyond that.  First, she gifted me all of the volumes of Pots, Pans, and Pioneers, which is a cookbook compiled by the Telephone Pioneers of America, from recipes submitted by locals, first published in 1977. My grandma worked for years at the phone company, and I always remember my mom having these cookbooks growing up.  The funniest part of this is that my grandma does not cook, except for a select few things, so this was the best she could do.  She brought on of her few recipes for Sphinx though (her lace cookies are a favorite of his) along with the ingredients and a cookie sheet!  

The very first gift that I opened got me all choked up and it wasn't the baking sheet, although we sorely needed some new ones of those.  One of Sphinx Mom's coworkers compiled a photo book with "Marriage Advice from Friends, Family, and Strangers."  I had heard this book mentioned before, since it's something she's been doing for married couples for several years, but didn't realize that we would be getting one!  Each couple wrote a quote or bit of advice to us, and it stated their names and when they married.  I recognized some of the names, but not all, and just skimming through it had me brimming with tears.  It was so sweet to have all of these people caring for Sphinx and I, and that these family and friends had taken the time to provide very meaningful advice.  I think this is a great tradition, and so glad that we could be a part of it! 

So just one more special present, and it's also a book (noticing a trend here?).  Momma P is so cute, she always likes to build up to the best present, or save something really special until last.  Like the Christmas that she made my sister and I open a small present first, Backstreet Boys and N*Sync CDs, before allowing us to open up the big present - our very own CD player!  Man, those were the days, huh?  So in true Momma P fashion, she set aside this present for last.  It was a photobook of my blog posts - volume 1!  I thought it was so sweet for her to document my journey of blogging like this, but it definitely seemed like a lot of work to do it on Snapfish, and she only got through about the first three weeks!  Is there a better place we can go to get blogs printed in book form without all the effort? I think I've heard of somewhere like that before, but can't remember the name.

And for the rest of the gifts, I plan to touch on many of them in a registry post, but for now just know that I make some weird faces while opening presents.   Enjoy it.  

I remember some of the reasons for these whacky faces, but mostly I'm just as confused as you are.  Brides, pay attention to your face when someone is flashing a camera at just you.  Or don't, because it might end up hilarious.

The Food

Nanny hired a private chef to prepare this extraordinary menu, and everything was right on point.  There was so much food, and it was all ridiculously good.  I certainly made sure to sit down and eat a plate, although I wish I would have had more!  

Clockwise from top left, that's crab meat filo dough bites, roasted pork loin, fruit salad served with a vanilla glaze and served with Chantilly cream, and prosciutto wrapped asparagus stuffed with goat cheese.  

Vegetable and cream pasta, seafood stuffed mushrooms, vanilla cake homemade by a family friend, and seared ahi tuna.  Not pictured are hot sausages, Mediterranean hummus and pita, macarons from Sucre, sushi platters from my favorite restaurant, baked brie with a pear glaze, spicy sausage dip, and - my favorite of the day - seafood stuff artichoke leaves with hollandaise sauce.  

Right? Amazing.  

My Outfit

Momma P, me, MOH Curls, and Nanny.  You can see a bit of my shoes here, and the other fabulous dresses. 

In case you were wondering (and because I love sharing a good deal), my dress was a Noir by Lazaro bridesmaids dress from the Spring 2012 collection.  When I picked up my wedding dress from the salon, they had this sample on the sale rack for $50!  I had to pin it a little to make it work, but I love it!  In trying to find some shoes to go with it, I decided that nothing looked better than my Jimmy Choo wedding shoes!  I am really glad I ended up wearing these, since I got so many compliments on them, and most people won't be able to see them at the wedding.  The necklace was bought about a year ago on sale at Dillard's, because we figured it would go with some kind of dress leading up to the wedding. Baddaboom, look at that, it matched perfectly!

Random Photo Goodness

My bridesmaids at the shower, BM Perk, MOH Curls, me, and BM Dino.  Unplanned dress match by Perk and Dino!  These girls were rockstars when it came to planning, setting up, and handling presents at the shower.  They are the best. 

Nanny and I enjoying mimosas right before the party started.  She did an amazing job with everything, thank you so much, Nanny!

Some of my future in laws!

BM Perk was assigned the task of making my rehearsal bouquet out of the bows from the presents.  She was skeptical of her ability to do a good job, but it turned out so cute!  Doesn't hurt that Bed, Bath, and Beyond wraps presents with purple bows, and that's our wedding color!  Now I need to not lose or squish it before the wedding rehearsal. 

Totally cute photo of some of my future in-laws and friends in the backyard. I didn't jump in the regular picture but I made my way into the selfie!

It's just like the Oscars, except we got to eat. 

Towards the end of the party, we got some manly-man help handling the gifts from Sphinx and my "little" brother, GM JJ.  Or they might have just been there for the food. 

I've got about a million more pictures from that day, and I treasure them dearly, but that's probably more than enough for you now.  Currently I'm working my way through the thank you notes, trying to express to everyone how truly touched and thankful I am for all of the contributions to such a lovely day.  What a mushy sap I am being today!  Oh well, it was so much better than I could have ever imagined, so I'm allowed to be a little sappy.   

Suit Up!

Or Tux Up!

Sorry, too soon? I'm still in HIMYM denial for many reasons.  Let's not talk about it.

Obligatory excuses for being MIA: big, important projects going on at work + so much wedding stuff in progress, but I'm not really in a place to write about all of it just yet. 

Alright, that's out of the way.  We're definitely down into the exciting pre-wedding days now.  I was thrown the most fabulous bridal shower this past weekend and my bachelorette party is quickly approaching!  That means that I'm full on things to do and low on time, but I'm making sure to document the important stuff so that I can share everything with you guys.  For now, let's talk about something that I haven't touched on before: what the guys are wearing. 

Honestly, it was pretty easy to get to our decision here.  We're having a nighttime, formal wedding in a church so the natural solution was to go with tuxes.  I see the benefits of buying a tux, if it'll turn out about the same price, but for us a rental is what most of the guys would be comfortable with and that's what we're doing.  

Once we decided on renting the tuxes, we had to figure out a style.  While picking tuxes is significantly simpler than choosing dresses, there are several options out there nice options for the guys to make sure everyone is comfortable and looks great.  I really love the look of grey tuxes or suits, but it wasn't the right fit for our wedding.

Grey suits and black ties are perfect for an outdoor wedding./Photo via Once Wed/Photo by Renaissance Studios