Pear Tree Greetings

Before I tell you the story of Zachary's Birth Announcement, I need to thank Kristin from Footstone Photography and Footstone Ink for taking my idea that I wrote on a napkin and putting it on paper! I seriously wrote this on a napkin, a paper napkin and she make it this! I love it!!!!!!!



Zachary's Birth Announcement was supposed to be our Christmas Card, and due to some serious illnesses, well, it got bumped to New Years Valentines Day!



Pear Tree Greetings had offered me a substantial credit to print cards, as long as I told you about my experience. Soooooo, I took them up on it!



I found Pear Tree Greetings to have a great selection of Birth Announcements, Winter Birth Announcements, Holiday Cards, and everything in-between. I was hard to pick what I wanted, there was so much selection, but with the designed "Mad Lib Style Birth Announcement" I needed a card that had a customizable front, and then I was fine with a fill in the blank inside.



I choose my design (which was actually a Christmas Card, that I customized to look like a Valentines Day Card... honestly, so versatile!)



And I played with the design and the text on the inside until it was perfect.



I placed my order, put in my discount code, and BAM! It was done, or so I thought.



This is where my issues started, since I had a customizable card, and most of the site is plug and play, you simply plug in your images and type your text into the presized areas, and you are good to go, your card is professional and gorgeous.



Except, my image, the one above wasn't fitting in the pre-fit space (even though we custom sized it so that it would fit). So I had to start a chat with Customer Service, and they told me to email them the image with my order number, and they would place it into the card manually at no extra cost. Perfect!



I did that. BAM! Done!



Notsomuch.



Two days later my cards were supposed to be delivered and when a box showed up at our house that afternoon I was so excited, I tore it open, and it was filled to the brim with envelopes. Just envelopes.



Where were my cards?



I started another chat with Customer Service, and they said that I needed to approve the proof before it was mailed.



She emailed me the proof. I okay'ed it.



There were a few more hiccups in the process, and I don't want to sound unappreciative, because I am not, I am so grateful to Pear Tree Greetings for the credit, and the gorgeous cards that will be with our family for the rest of our lives!

Photo Booth Save-the-Dates

The first step to ensuring you have an awesometastic wedding is making sure there are people to come-by sending out your save-the-dates! Now, we know this isn't a MUST DO for every bride, but if you do decide to do Save the Dates, remember, this is the very first impression for your guests of your wedding....



We love seeing the ideas that people come up and fell in love when we saw these on WedShare Daily.  How awesome are these photo booth inspired save-the-dates (and easy too!)?!?

                                          We love when couples have fun with it!

Your guests will love getting something personal from you! Are there any creative ways people you know have invited you to their weddings??

Invitations by Dawn Winner!

We are super excited to announce the winner of the Invitations by Dawn Giveaway (It's been a long-time coming) We took all of the comments from FaceBook, Twitter and the Blog and randomized them....



And the winner is....

After combining all of the comments on both posts, we owe a huge congratulations to Mo! Please e-mail me, Melissa{at}MasterPieceWeddings{dot}net to claim your prize!




We look forward to hearing which of the amazing Invitation by Dawn invites you choose!

Will You Be My Bridesmaid?

Any bride knows that having good bridesmaids is an important aspect of their wedding day. A bridesmaid is responsible for walking through countless hours of wedding day details with the bride, sitting through fittings and appointments with the bride, and even offering some Dr.Phil-worthy advice to keep the bride calm through all the wedding jitters and stress.

So don't you think they deserve something special for accepting such a pivotal role? These "Will You Be My Bridesmaids?" boxes we saw on The Wedding Chicks are such adorable and creative ways to ask your girls to take part in your wedding with you!

With the details and inspiration cards you ensure you get the best help from your bridesmaids!

Have you ever been asked to be a bridesmaid in someones wedding?? How did they ask you to share in their special day??

Invitations By Dawn Giveaway

Wedding
invitations are one of our favorite parts of weddings (I have a thing for all things paper)- selecting the perfect
theme, sending them, receiving them- it’s all just wonderful! We feel brides may get overwhelmed when looking through all of the options that are available to them.

So, when Dawn at Invitations by Dawn asked us if she could do a guest
blog and giveaway with us, we said YES YES YES! Not only are her invitations trendy
and  the awesomesauce, they are completely affordable and their customer service is
out of this world! Check out what she had to say about wedding invitation
trends and maybe you’ll be the lucky reader to win her giveaway:



Invitations By Dawn:



We’re thrilled to be here from Invitations by Dawn to
share the latest news about wedding invitations and trends in today’s weddings.

At Invitations by Dawn, we
specialize in theme wedding invitations and coordinating theme ceremony accessories and reception accessories perfect
for YOUR celebration. Our brides contact us daily asking for invitations and
accessories that coordinate with their unique wedding themes. And we aim to
please by adding new wedding invitations and coordinating accessories all the
time!

Some of the latest requests from our brides
include:

Music Wedding Theme

via Invitations by Dawn

Whether they’re musicians themselves or just
love music, today’s brides are loving a music theme for their weddings! We
designed our Noteworthy Invitation
with a
flourish and music notes in classic black and white inspired by sheet music.
Coordinating enclosure cards and a matching seal pull the wedding stationery
look together!

Destination Wedding Theme

Destination weddings are a hot wedding theme
and we love this Passport Save the Date
for
letting guests know they’ll be traveling to celebrate with you. The colors and
design all mimic a real passport for a fun and unique look.

Lace Wedding Theme

Via Invitations by Dawn

Kate Middleton confirmed what we’ve always
known — lace and weddings go hand in hand! We designed our Lacy Rose wedding invitation with modern shimmer paper and an embossed lace pattern to
give brides the opportunity to add a regal and romantic touch to their own lace
theme weddings.

How do you choose a wedding
theme? Anything you love can become your wedding theme! While some brides base
their theme on their favorite color or season, others draw their themes from
hobbies, their occupation, or even their favorite movies! Don’t forget that the
location of your destination wedding can become a theme in itself (Hawaii, the
mountains, the tropics).

Have fun with your wedding theme! We hope
you’ll visit us at Invitations by Dawn soon
to find the perfect wedding invitations and coordinating accessories for your
theme wedding.

Best wishes,

~Dawn





...and that's not all! It's time for an invitation giveaway from Invitations by Dawn!



The lucky winner will get to choose 100 wedding invitations from Dawn's great collection of theme wedding invitations- all of which include the latest trends, patterns and color schemes! Invitations by Dawn adds
new wedding invitations all the time, so you can be the first bride to send one
of their unique styles! Here's how to enter:



1. You must live in the United States (sorry to all of our international readers- we still love you!)

2. You must leave a comment on this post by Monday, October 24th at Midnight

3. Your comment must include your favorite time of the year to get married and why 

4. Also include a valid email so we can contact the lucky winner.



The winner will be selected randomly once the giveaway has ended. Good luck!

{MasterPiece Weddings was not compensated in anyway for posting this - we just like to share awesome things with our readers}

DIY: Scratch off Save-the-dates

I saw this adorable idea for DIY save-the-dates at Martha Stewart Weddings. They are scratch off!! I think this is such a unique idea and so much fun!



These are a great way to entice your guests, they immediately know that your wedding is gonna be one they don't want to miss out on!

Click here to find out how to make these cute creations!

Guest List

Have too many people on your guest list? Need to cut down your numbers? I stumbled on this useful tool from Wedding Bee to help you out with your dilemma.



Use this for people you are unsure about on your guest list.

Another way to cut down on guests is to eliminate kids. This may seem harsh, but you can always just limit it to college aged or high-school aged kids only. If all of your invitees have 2 or 3 kids, that adds up and can become quite costly.



Keep in mind that lowering your guest count is the best way to lower your out of pocket costs, less people = less tables = less rentals = less centerpieces = less meals = less overall costs to you.



Your wedding should consist of those closest to you that you want to share your life with. Not every joe shmoe you ever met!

Summer Blogosphere Series Part 5

Today I want to give some love to two blogs in one post!! The watercolor trend has become very popular and there have been some fantastic posts on them that I just had to share!



These watercolor invites from Elizabeth Anne Designs are just precious!







Hailey Sivadge and Wiley Valentine



Momental Designs



Swiss Cottage Designs

 And I am head over heels in love with the colors in this watercolor invitation from The Sweetest Occasion!





Scout's Honor Co

 I love the softness and sophistication of watercolors. I think a watercolor inspired wedding would be absolutely gorgeous!!!



Seen any other cool watercolor wedding ideas? Please share!

Sweet Deals Continue!

There are so many ways you can personalize your wedding, unique favors, beautiful custom invitations, gorgeous floral arrangements, or a super awesome monogram to use on your invitations, seals, your cake, napkins, thank you cards, a bazillion different ways, and you know how I love me some monograms!

Leslie Vega Invitations and Stationary is giving away a free custom monogram!! Head over to her blog and comment here and you could win your own custom monogram!!!

Feathered friends

Here are three fabulous ways to incorporate feathers into your wedding:

1. Spice up a pair of otherwise plain heels.

Via sofisticata

2. Carry them down the aisle... so glamorous!

Via Karen Tran Florals

3. Send them via snail mail.

Via meant to be sent

(MasterPiece Weddings and its affiliates have not been paid for, for this post.)

A Classy Carnival

The most adorable Carnival-themed engagement party was featured on Green Wedding Shoes earlier this week.  How much fun would this be for your family and friends!  Find a fun carnival font for your invites, hang a few streamers, set up a game of cornhole, and plop down a bucket of peanuts...

The best part? No creepy clowns in sight.



There's a ton more on Rachel's Blog!





(MasterPiece Weddings and its affiliates have not been paid for, for this post.)

And Guest

When you get an invitation to a wedding, do you even think about what the inner envelope says? This is a problem as of late. People don't think about it.



These are the people that are invited to the wedding, the people listed on the inner envelope. And if there isn't an inner envelope, it's the people listed on the outer envelope.



That means that if it just says Tammie Jones, Tammie is the only one invited to the wedding, not her boyfriend or her kids.



If it says Tammie Jones and Billy Joe, that means that Tammie and Billy are invited, not their kids or their kid's kids.



Don't try to bring or invite a guest if it doesn't say "and guest" on the invitation, the bride and groom (or her parents, his parents, whoever is paying for the wedding) is paying a good chunk of change for you to attend their wedding. Don't force it.



It's just not good etiquette, its not fair to put the bride and groom in that situation.

Paper and Sweets

We had the honor of hosting a party for Leslie Vega Designs in the courtyard of our studios, it was an amazing night! I can't wait to do it again!



So many people to thank for helping to put this event together, MasterPiece Weddings and Leslie Vega Studio had so much fun working together, and plus Leslie's work is so pretty it's hard to not make an event romantic and delicious!





 But first, would some one please do this for their place cards!!!! Isn't it just gorgeous! The calligraphy is done by the super uber talented Sara Hannah. Love her!

Jarrad from G-nys Entertainment did such a great job with the tunes for the evening!

Dragonfly Catered the event just beautifully!

Isn't Leslie's work, just beautimous!

The two most beautiful women, inside and out, in the entire universe! Leslie and Sara!

Flowers and Decor: Dan Hathcock of Unforgettable Events



Event Planning: Melissa Margarita-DiStefano of MasterPiece Weddings

Photography: Matt & Krystal Radlinski of Verve Studio

Cake + Sweets: Ms. Debbie's Sugar Art

Calligraphy: Sarah Hanna Calligraphy

Entertainment: Jarad Bowens of G-NYS Entertainment

Catering: Dragonfly Sushi

Paper & Sweets

We'd love to invite you to MasterPiece Weddings  Studio to take a peek at some amazing invitation designs, well, actualy all things paper!



Check out some beautiful LetterPress, Save The Dates, Place Cards, Table Numbers, RSVP Cards, Receptions Cards, Maps, really, you get it, anything paper!



So if you are looking for invitations, your own personal stationary, or to brand your wedding - call Leslie and RSVP for an amazing night of paper, paper and more paper! With a side of Sushi from Dragonfly and amazing sweets from Ms. Debbie, Entertainment from Gyn-s Entertainment, Decor from Unforgettable Events and Photography from Verve Studios (I did say incredible, right?)



Call Leslie and RSVP now!

Save the Date: Alli and Tim!

Alli and Tim have the most awesome-tastical Save the Dates ever!!  Verve Studio read our minds and took pictures of them to post!  Their save the date included a magnet along with a booklet with a save the date section (when and where the wedding will be), a save the room section (hotels for guests to choose from), and a save the weekend section (listing different activities available for that weekend)!  Loves it!

Officially Official

So, first off when you have a baby you expect to be overwhelmed with all of the new. New baby, new bed times (or lack there of), new routine, new priorities, new, new new...



But, what I totally didn't expect was the generosity of our friends. I honestly feel like I'll never ever be able to pay our friends back for their generosity.



One of those is Erin from Lucky Designs. If you don't know Erin, or haven't been to her blog, you are totally missing out.



But, before I Uoooo and Ahhh over how amazing she is. Her work is incredible, too! She designs incredible Invitations and announcements and look what she did for us and our new addition! Seriously, perfect!!! And so, so, so, so sweet of her!



I cannot thank her enough!!!