My husband and I spent every day at the hospital, and I also had to finish up orders that were not completed. Now, ten weeks later, she is at home and doing great. I am adjusting to motherhood and having Caroline at home, so I am not meeting with any clients until June. I can take new orders if they are already designed, but I am not taking any custom orders until June 6th.

Since she is still only a few weeks past her due date, yesterday we had our newborn photo session with Graceology, who are very talented photographers in the Atlanta area that I would recommend to any of my brides. They also took our maternity photos, and thank goodness we scheduled the shoot when we did- Caroline was born just five days later!

I am going to design a baby announcement soon, but first I wanted to post some photos of my sweet girl. I took these photos yesterday because I got inspired to take some with this cute hat and nursery flags that I bought on Etsy. Once we get the disk from Graceology, I will use one of their beautiful photos in the announcement. Or I may use one of these that I took, have not decided yet!

Now back to my baby shower invitation reveal… I designed my baby shower invitation with my favorite bedding in mind. I am not going to purchase the entire bedding because it is so expensive, but I want to get the pillow and blanket and then have the rest of the bedding in neutral colors to match. The bedding I love is Marlo from Serena and Lily. It is a folk art theme. Here are the photos or the pillow and blanket I want or the nursery:

I drew the images in Illustrator to match the same design of the bedding and had it letterpressed in pink. I will hang this invitation in the nursery. I added pink and white twine to tie to the invitation:

I feel blessed this year in more ways than one… not only am I honored to work with such great clients, but I am now in the third trimester of my pregnancy with our first baby! She is due April 16th, and everything is going great so far… I still tons of energy (which will get me through the wedding season) and am working away with orders. My best friends and family are planning a baby shower for me in March, and I am so excited about sharing this time with them. I thought it would be special for our little girl to have her mom design her shower invitations. Being a lover of all things design, paper, and printing, I had to do the invitations all out- and have them match my favorite bedding (which I drew in illustrator) and printed in pink letterpress. I should get the invitations next week from the press, so I will definitely post them for you all to see.I am also printing a design on the envelopes, and lining the envelopes.

So… this post is called “Oh, Baby” because this baby is making me have more and more energy (which I am sure will go away soon, but I am taking advantage of it!) and causing me to be more creative and productive than ever. I have been working on my nursery designs when I am not working on wedding orders. I began two paintings of three (all different size canvases) that I am going to put in a series in the nursery, (which I will also show when it is all completed) and I am also having a baby poster design printed letterpress. Because of the printing set up and cost of letterpress, I will sell the remaining poster designs on Etsy and my online shop- so if any of you are expecting (or know someone who is) you should check them out. I promise it will be cute (and letterpress looks so great in a frame)! I will also post them when they are finished! The big baby project for me this weekend is the nursery closet design. We had the nursery painted beige with white beadboard at the bottom, and my husband and a work friend put a chandelier in there. The furniture is ordered, but the room is not nearly finished. I am thinking we are going to paint the inside of the closet a pale pink as an accent, and then put white shelves in there. I am not sure how we are going to do this yet, but this is another thing I will post pictures of…so until all these pictures are posted, I just wanted to update on the projects that Tickled Ink has been doing this month. It has been a busy month, but lots of fun!!

I cannot believe that 2012 is already here! 2011 proved to be a great year, but I’m hoping 2012 will be even better! There is so much that Tickled Ink has going on this January and in 2012. First, we have moved from the Paisley Umbrella (in Buckhead) to the Atlanta Wedding Loft (in Decatur). We are very excited about the move, as it is such a great community of wedding vendors and an amazing space! Secondly, I am expecting a baby girl that is due April 16th, 2012. I am still taking clients with spring or summer weddings, so please email me if you have an order or a question. I am taking a maternity break for 6 weeks after she is born, but please contact me and I can see if it is in the timeline for me to have it ready. I will also still be checking emails during my maternity leave for future orders. My husband and I are so excited about having our first child and an addition to our family.

There are two events the month of January at the Atlanta Wedding Loft for newly engaged brides. The first event is next Thursday, January 19th from 7pm to 9pm, and the second is January 31st from 7pm to 9pm. If you can’t make one date, be sure to come to the other! The event is FREE, and it is perfect for newly engaged brides (or even brides that have been engaged for a while, but still need to be introduced to some great vendors). Tickled Ink will be participating at the event on January 31st.

Next Thursday on January 19th, Tickled Ink will be at the Marietta Country Club in a booth for the Vintage Chic Bridal Show. This event is also FREE and there will be some talented wedding professionals there if you are newly engaged or need a little guidance. Both events will be a lot of fun and great opportunity to meet some talented wedding vendors. so if you are in the Atlanta area please come to the Wine, Cheese, and Wedding planning event at the Atlanta Wedding Loft either January 19th or 31st, and the Vintage Chic Bridal Show in Marietta.

As we are approaching the wedding season I am working on some orders that I will be posting about soon, and also I am in the process with designing wedding invitation suites, letterpress albums, baby shower invitations, baby shower announcements, thank you cards, and letterpress posters to frame for your wall (in your home and also nursery or children’s room). I am also working on some paintings for children. Decorating our nursery has really gotten my creative juices flowing into “baby designs”, and I can’t wait to share some of the personal designs I have created for our baby girl. I also have painted and designed for other people’s nurseries or friends having babies, so please feel free to inquire about that if you have an idea in mind.

The invitations and decor are to be inspired by art. I first needed to concept what the invitation was going to look like (the design and layout of it), and I decided to use the two colors coral and melon for the invitation suite. I came up with different samples to send to the group (now that they are created, I can use any of these designs for clients… if you want the colors, fonts changed, etc, that can be done!). Please click on the invitations to view larger:

I had ten different samples and variations of designs to choose from, and once the final invitation design was chosen, I had to create the entire suite based on this design, (reply cards, envelopes, menus, table number, bride & groom sign for their chair, graphic for the flower holders, and the wedding sign).  The set up is tomorrow for the shoot, and I will continue the blog with all the details once the the photos are edited and ready to share. I am excited about the collaboration of all the talented wedding professionals and the photography will be stunning! Can’t wait to share the final results of our hard work!

1. Where should I print my wedding website? A wedding website should be printed on the Save the Dates as an announcement for the guests. This gives your guests all the information that they will need to know about the wedding, and it is a fun and creative way to introduce your special day and the wedding festivities. If you are not sending out Save the Dates, the website can be printed on the “details” cards that are sent with your formal invitation. The details cards, accommodation cards, reception cards or the direction cards should be used for all other information for your wedding. Having the website on the formal invitation will make it look cluttered, and it is not proper etiquette.

2. Should I have guests RSVP on the wedding website and not send out Reply cards? I think it is fine to print on the Reply card that you can RSVP on the website, but you should always send out Reply cards with your formal invitation (including a stamp on the reply envelope for the guests to mail). I would not assume that everyone will RSVP on the website (in fact, most people will forget and you will be stuck not having an accurate head count).

3. What about having a reply postcard instead of an RSVP envelope? There is absolutely no reason you cannot have a reply postcard. It saves money on stamps, printing, and the envelopes. If you are printing letterpress, having reply postcards is a great way to cut the costs.

4. Can I include my registries on the formal invitation? No. The registries can be included on any bridal shower invitation or Jack and Jill party before the wedding. Another great way to inform your guests of your gift registries are on the wedding website. For the guests who do not check out the website, they know to ask the mother of the bride or groom, maid of honor, or the bride and groom.

5. What should be included in the wedding invitation? This has changed a bit over the years. The wording for wedding invitations is up to however the bride and groom want it. Whether you choose to put the bride’s parents, the groom’s parents, just the bride and groom, or “Together with their families”, you must include obviously the bride and groom’s names (full names if it is a formal and traditional invite), the date, time, ceremony location, city, and reception to follow. To save money, many brides can still put the reception to follow at the bottom of the invitation even if it is a different location than the ceremony. Etiquette says that you should have a separate reception card with all the details of the reception and it’s location. This can also go on the directions card or the details card. By having this or the address on the invitation it can look too wordy. In a nutshell, the wording is really up to the bride. I have many brides bend the rules according to their wedding and budget.

6. Honour vs. Honor on the invitation? I have had this question come up often, too. Honour is used if the couple is being married in a house of worship, and if the couple is being married outside or at a venue, Honor is the correct usage.

7. How many invitations should I order? If your guest list includes “and guest” and Mr. and Mrs., keep in mind that the amount of invitations is usually around half of the total guests invited (how many addresses you will be sending the invitations to). Once you have organized the number of addresses that you will be mailing the invites to, I would order about 25 extra just in case. There are always extra people that someone forgot to include, and it is better to have too many than too little. Otherwise you will have to re-order the invitations, which will end up being more expensive. For the outer envelopes, I would order extra for the calligrapher (or whoever is addressing them) in case they make a mistake.

8. How far in advance should I order my wedding invitations? Depending on the printing turnaround (flat printing is the fastest process, engraving, thermography, and letterpress take longer) I would order invitations at least four months before your wedding. You want to discuss the timeline with your invitation company, but it is always nice to order them even earlier than that. Custom designs take longer, and wedding season can be very busy. It is one less thing to worry about if you have your invitations in your had at least 10 weeks before the wedding. If you or a calligrapher is addressing them, you may want to order the envelopes before the invitations. I tell my brides if they are not sending a save the date, to mail the invitations earlier (10 weeks). 8 weeks is the standard time to have the invitations in the mail. Destination wedding invitations should be sent out far in advance to give the guests more time to respond and plan (or send out a Save the Date).

9. When should I mail out my Save the Dates? Save the Dates should be mailed out at least 6 months before a wedding. For destination weddings many brides want to send them out sooner than this. This gives your guests plenty of time to put your wedding date on their calendar.

10. Do the Save the Dates need to match the formal invitation? No. You can do whatever you want with the Save the Dates. I have had brides do a completely different theme, very fun and festive, without the colors of their wedding. The Save the Dates are just an informal way of letting the guests know of your wedding. You can match them, this is definitely whatever you want to do!

11. I am not inviting children to the wedding. Can I put “Adults Only” on the invitation? Etiquette says no. The inner envelope clearly states who is invited to the wedding. Guests should know that if the children’s names are not on the inner envelope, they are not invited. However, there are some guests who do not know this (you cannot always assume). I have had brides print “adult only reception to follow” on their invitation because they only had enough room at their wedding for the adults invited. This is not “proper” etiquette, but it is your wedding, and you can bend the rules if it doesn’t bother you. In addition to the inner envelope, I have suggested on the reply card print “we have reserved (blank) seats for you.” Under that, it can say “number attending (blank)”. Hopefully this will make it clear who is invited without printing “no children”.

12. Can I have the dress code on the invitation? You can have the dress code on a reception card with “Black Tie” in the lower-right hand corner. This is proper etiquette, but again I have had brides print them on the invitation because they did not want to purchase a separate card for this. Once again, it is really up to the bride! Usually the guests know from the time of the wedding what type of dress code is required. If it is a six o’clock or later ceremony, the attire is a dark suit for him and an evening dress for her. If the wedding takes place earlier than six, the dress is semi-formal suits for him and a short dress or dressy suit for her.

13. Can I send invites to a “B” list 3 weeks before the wedding? If you have an “A” list and a “B” list, you do not want the guests to know this. I would send the “A” list earlier than 10 weeks, and when you get a head count, you can send the “B” list as late as 6 weeks before the wedding. A guest may be offended if they get an invitation 3 weeks before the wedding because they may not feel as important.

14. Are inner envelopes necessary? The answer has changed over the years. Many brides like the formality of the inner envelope, but it is not necessary today unless you want your guests to be clear who is invited to your wedding. If you order pocketfolds, the pocketfold can act as an inner envelope by having a band wrapped around it with the names either written or printed.

15. Should I order tissue with my invitation? Tissue was used to prevent the ink from smearing. It is not necessary to have tissue today because the print methods that we use does not make the ink smear. However, if you want to stick to the traditional habit of including tissue with your invitations, we offer this as an option for brides.

That pretty much covers most of the invitation questions that brides ask me about. If you have any questions about etiquette, you can email me at info@tickledinkdesigns.com or click on the FAQ, located on the home page. Brides can make up their own rules if they want to, but it is nice to know the invitation etiquette. It is a special day that you spent a lot of time to plan, and you want your guests to know this when they get the invitation in the mail. The invitation is not just a piece of pretty paper; it sets the stage for your special day!