Addressing your wedding invitations can be one of the most daunting tasks as a bride; especially if don't have the best handwriting like me! :)  It is obviously easiest to hire a calligrapher but unfortunately that doesn't always fall within the budget.  So save yourself some money and DIY!  I found "Calligraphy for Beginners" on Project Wedding today and it seems like the perfect solution.  One thing to note is that this will most likely require a lot of patience if you want to get it right.

According to this DIY tutorial you will need the following supplies (totaling $10)

1. Speedball Oblique Copperplate Pen Holder $1.89 each
2. Pointed Nib like Gillott 404 $.76 each
3. Calligraphy Ink or Goache-watered down $8
   
4. Practice Envelopes or paper

For the detailed tutorial read the article here.  Good luck and please share if you end up trying it out!

images courtsey of Project Wedding

Online wedding invitations are definitely not for everyone but they are a new trend that is developing within the wedding industry.  They are a great eco-friendly alternative that can also reduce your overall wedding costs. I would still recommend sending your grandparents and other family members or elder guests a paper wedding invitation. However, it is important to remember that today's generation has grown up completely immersed in a world full of technology. Therefore, your friends would probably be the perfect audience to send a tree free wedding invitation to.  

Two companies, both currently still in Beta, which are beginning to draw a lot of attention are Cocodot and Paperless Post. They offer chic, eco-friendly online wedding invitations so you won't have to sacrifice style.   Paperless Post even delivers the invitation through a virtual envelope to mimic the process of opening up a paper invitation.  (See how it works here).  If you are looking to cut down on wedding expenses and are open to green alternatives I would definitely recommend checking these companies out.

Images courtsey of Paperless Post

Images courtsey of Cocodot

I have been doing a lot of research and work around eco-friendly wedding invitations, programs and escort cards the past few weeks.  I came across WeddingDna and thought this site would be a great resource for some of our DIY readers who are trying to reduce their wedding expenses.  Similar to a posting I did a few weeks ago on Sweet Penelope this website also allows you to download various invitation, program, save the date or menu templates for a $40.00 annual fee.  You can even design your own using the images they have provided.  Check them out and let us know what you think!

Today Conde Nast announced the closure of two bridal magazines, Modern Bride and Elegant Bride. The closure of these two magazines, which helped shape the industry standard for weddings in so many ways is highly telling.  With the continued expansion of the internet and social media, DIY projects are becoming more and more accessible and popular for brides.  Given the trend towards DIY projects I thought I would share with you an invitation company, Sweet Penelope that is redesigning the way we think about wedding invitations.

What I love about this company is the ability to combine a DIY project in an environmentally sound way.  They offer a small but chic collection of invitation templates for very reasonable prices (invitation + reply card is $65). Once you select the design you want, you download the template and then take it in to a local printer.  Ask your printer to print the invitations on quality, post consumer recycled paper and voila!  The end result is a chic, inexpensive and environmentally sound wedding invitation.

Images courtsey of Sweet Penelope

Monica and I are proud to be working with such a lovely couple, Matt and Mary, who live in the DC area. We are currently helping them plan their June Cinciannti wedding.  Mary is such a joy to work with; she is so open to new ideas, we are having a lot of fun with it.  I thought it would be great to post something about how to be green during your engagement and not just focus on "the day".  There are thousands of things you can do along the way which really add up to make a huge difference.  I am hoping by showcasing some of the decisions Matt & Mary have made it will inspire some of you other engaged brides as well.

First up: Save the Date

Mary was totally open to the idea of sending an electronic Save the Date to save paper.  She used a website called Pingg to personalize their card. I can't copy the entire card to show you but this is the image they uploaded with the following text:

Save the Date -Matt and Mary are getting hitched!

We are absolutely thrilled to be getting married and we hope you will be able to join us. Don't forget to mark your calendar!

Next Up: Engagement Photos

They were able to save $green$ by going green on this one and hired a local DC photographer (and close friend of theirs) to take the photos.  He did an absolutely amazing job.