Preparing to say goodbye

We're so close, we're almost there!

While they're not actually in a mailbox, the invites are thiiiis close to being DONE!!

While, in true wedding blog fashion, I will not be posting a detailed post of the invites till they go out, I can certainly show you envelope pictures! But first, here's one. last. look at the invitation to do list which has, yeah, only one more task left to check off:

• Order envelopes (outer envelopes, inner envelopes, response envelopes)
• Order paper
• Order lotka paper for trifolds and vellum to cover invitation
• Buy burlap for belly bands and twine to tie invitations and feathers for decoration
• Order seal
• Address and stamp envelopes
• Self-address (with free Shutterfly address labels) and stamp response envelopes
• Cut vellum to size
• Print out invitations
• Rip lotka paper to size and fold into trifolds, glue pockets for RSVP/response envelope/hotel info
• Rip invitations to size (rough edges)
• Decorate invitations with stamps and colored pencil (like the Save the Dates)
• Put invitations together: glue invite into trifold; put RSVP, response envelope, hotel info, etc... into pocket; wrap with burlap and twine and decorate with a single guinea hen feather
• Stuff invitations into inner envelope and apply wax seal, stuff inner envelopes into outer envelopes, seal, and send!

In the meantime, I apologized profusely and felt bad for not sharing details of the boring part of the process yesterday. First, there was addressing all those envelopes:

Not fun, but easier than I thought it was going to be, except for a few mess-ups; I ended having enough envelopes! I think my handwriting is decent enough (but still imperfect enough to be charming) to pass as formal invitation addressing...? No comments. Of course, I also stamped all the envelopes; I had already taken a completed invitation to the post office and weighed the invitation and confirmed that it was going to need to be hand canceled, so it needed extra postage... no matter, that's why USPS made such sweet king and queen of hearts stamps!

I also had to personalize all the inner envelopes, this was the informal part:

:) All aunts and uncles who were Mr. and Mrs. on the outer envelopes reverted to Aunt and Uncle on the inner envelopes. Mr. and Mrs. My Parents reverted to Mama and Daddy :D It was a chance to reach out a friendly and informal hand to all our loving friends and family. Obviously, it was also the opportunity to invite those that live under the same roof but don't get a formal spot of the outer envelope, like my wild man brother.

Here's all Kyle's hard work:

Sorry for the crappy quality, it definitely doesn't do our label justice. The name and zip code are in a deep burgundy and the address is in chocolate brown. It turned out perfectly, and even kinda' looks embossed. I was so thrilled with how awesome these turned out. I personally think it was worth printing them on the envelopes, even though I wish it hadn't meant extra time at work for the man.

Finally, one of my favorite parts; when Kyle suggested a wax seal, we both sort of chuckled at first... but then we stopped chuckling, and now we have our very own seal, and I put it to good use. Here's the result of another task that I thought would be a lot harder than it ended up being:

I ended up using faux wax that you put in a glue gun... can I gush for a little bit about how easy this was?! You just put the wax sticks in the glue gun, turn it on the low setting, and pull the trigger once, let the wax set for about five seconds and then push the seal into it, let the seal sit on the wax for about ten seconds, and pull off... Ya'll, this was so easy! I did have a few with some rogue wax runs, but for the most part, they turned out better than anticipated, and took a lot less time than I thought they would. Most importantly, the website overcompensated when saying how many seals you could make with one stick of wax, so I didn't run out of wax... very important!

I think that since I'm a notorious optimist, this is why I'm so surprised that everything worked out so well and got done faster than I thought it would. I never overestimate! I never overcompensate! This is huge for me! The invitations are done and ready to go a full two weeks early and look better than I thought they would and I didn't run out of supplies!! Excuse me while I go do my happy dance...

................

OK, thanks, but, to business. This weekend, I'm going to pay some much-needed attention to my overall checklist. Burlap table squares this weekend as well as yarn orbs, maybe some burlap bunting and wire hangers. I have an alterations appointment on Sunday. Holy Mackerel! I think I'm going to make my decision...

Will I? We'll see. Anyway, in the meantime, how was your invitation process? Better than you expected or worse or right on track?