Invitations are a new world for me, one part of this wedding planning process I will be glad never ever to do again! As anyone who knows me well - or merely tries to help me buy something in a store - can attest, I am horrible with decisions. (Exhibit A = what I want to be when I grow up. But I digress...) I am so so bad at deciding on something, and the difficulty I have making a decision increases exponentially with the number of options. If I need to choose between two things, I have a hard time, but I know my finite options, have time to compare the two things, and can choose relatively easily (for me). If I have to choose between four things (even the mini donut hole flavors we used to have at work), it takes longer as I must compare each against each other. Fast forward to the 8,496,892,830,193 possible invitation styles, multiply that by the 5,679,049 possible fonts, multiply THAT by the 4,345,930,983 colors (and you can do more than one color on a single invitation!), and multiply THAT by the 64,922 "motifs" (little picture/icon thingies) you can place on the invitation. I won't even discuss the possibilities for the placement of the motif. UGH!
My first foray to the stationery store was solo and well over two hours later, I was exhausted. (I wish I had taken pictures of the dozens of binders surrounding us on the table!) So I corralled D one Saturday morning, warned him that there were a gazillion options and the saleslady liked to talk, formulated our escape plan with him, and brought him to the store. Another two hours later, the two of us left again in a bit of a daze. We had narrowed down some options and while we had no set choices, at least we had each other.
So I dragged my mom with me on the next visit. My mom is artistic and has a great eye, so when she went on her spring break from school, I went back to the store with her. Again, I warned her about the saleslady and we formulated an escape plan. We would look quickly and be out in half an hour or so. Another two hours later, we had really narrowed down some possibilities and, thanks to mom, I had a mock-up invitation to bring home to D. Mom likes it, I like it, D likes it... sounds like we're all set! Now I just have to brave the store one last quick time to order them... and decide on envelope linings, double vs. single envelopes, escort cards, and all those other cards. Maybe I'll recover first and go in a few weeks?
Luckily, the invitations were the only really bad project in the last month. The other wedding-related activities were much more pleasant. My dress had come in and mom and I finally went to try her on and set up some accessories. Mom also got her dress! That was a good day, because the emotion of the wedding was in full force, actually trying on MY dress and envisioning my walk down the aisle. That same emotion was lacking on invitation day - picturing our invitations on people's fridges didn't exactly make me tear up!
Mom and I also spent a day in the Quiet Corner talking to florists. The only disappointment was that ranunculus is not a fall flower. From my idea-scouting missions on the internet, I thought that orange ranunculus flowers were a fall wedding staple. Apparently not, so I had to revise my vision of my bouquet. My mom is all about me carrying roses - because my dress is quiet formal for the wedding location, she wants the flowers to help dress it all up. I really had no interest in roses, but I think she has a good point. The florist we both really liked agreed with her on that point too.Dave and I had a few ideas about a "theme" for our wedding and my mom really pulled it all together with the invitations and flowers/centerpieces. I am torn about whether to show pictures of what we decided (or even talk about the details at all). Part of me wants it to be a surprise, and because I can't undo it if I disclose it here (to the few guests/bridesmaids who read), it's going to stay secret for now :)
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