I commissioned Genevieve to create a wedding map for our wedding next month and she did such a fantastic job — adding in elements from our “musically romantic” save-the-date, such as the bird, guitar and teal and orange colors.

To get a feel for how to design the map, Genevieve sent me a questionnaire with questions like, what landmarks did we want featured, whether the map should be “elevated” or “flat”, what were the boundaries (like the immediate area or cover more than one city?), and of course, what color?

Fortunately, since ProjectWedding.com hosts our wedding website, we already had a digital wedding map so that helped me answer Genevieve’s answers fairly quickly. Within a week, she sent back a proof. We had a couple more rounds of edits and we had a finished product!

You can opt to have Genevieve print it or you can buy the digital and print it yourselves.

Click here to see her pricing and in the meantime, enjoy her beautiful work. Ours is the last one below.

Photo credit: Genevieve Walker | San Francisco Wedding Map

Photo credit: Genevieve Walker | Red Wing MN Map

Photo credit: Genevieve Walker | Florida Keys

Photo credit: Vera Devera | Genevieve Walker Sausalito Wedding Map

Just spotted on Etsy:  Bay Area stationery pro Inky Livie’s cute designs will add a splash of color to your big day.

Inky Livie offers both readymade and custom items for your wedding pleasure. Check out the shop here and get colorful!!

{Photos via Inky Livie}

I was planning to make the bridal shower invitations for my friend’s wedding, but as the date neared I realized that I was going to have trouble making them and sending them out in time.  As an alternative, my sister found a great site called Zazzle.  On the site there are hundreds of different card options to choose from.  It can be overwhelming, but I was able to narrow down my choices by searching for starfish, the symbol for the wedding.

The step-by-step process of choosing and then ordering the card was super simple.  After selecting the design of the card you have the option of selecting from a variety of paper types.  This site is great because if you do not know the difference between linen, speckled, felt, etc., each one comes with a short description to help you make your decision.  There is even a recycled paper option for all of you eco-conscious brides.  After that, all you have to do is enter in the specific information (bride, address, time, and RSVP info).  One of my favorite things was that after each change the picture is updated to reflect your choices, allowing for a comprehensive preview before placing the final order.

If you are feeling extra ambitious, each design also has a more in-depth customization option.  On this page you are allowed to change the colors, font type or size, alignment, and pictures.  You can even add your own photo to the invitation.  In total we spent about 15 minutes choosing the design, editing the overall look by removing some of the starfish on the front, and adding in all of our own information.  The invitations arrived yesterday and they look just as I imagined, with no surprises.  I couldn’t be happier and am definitely considering Zazzle again next time I need cards or invitations!

Your invitations speak volumes about your wedding.  They can reflect your style as a couple, your colors, what the tone of your event will be and more.  But if you’re tying the knot in a destination location, why not showcase the city you’re celebrating in? I love these San Francisco-themed invitations by Hello!Lucky.

If you’ve been around the Bay Area wedding or craft fair scene (think hip, indie crafts, not creepy handmade dolls) you may have seen the stellar stationery created by Hello!Lucky. San Francisco-based sisters Eunice and Sabrina Moyle co-founded Hello!Lucky in 2003 with a vintage press in Eunice’s garage. Since then they’ve been creating lovely letterpress and printed items that have appeared in publications like Martha Stewart Weddings, Daily Candy, InStyle, and Real Simple.

For city-dwellers not based in San Francisco, Hello!Lucky also has invitation suites designed for London, New York, even Hawaii.  Go to www.hellolucky.com to find your destination invitation today.

In the world of digital bliss, planning is very easily managed online. If it isn’t in your excel spreadsheet, or shared google docs, it might be your online calendar, or the latest mobile app. Whatever the case, increasingly daily tasks are completed online. Why not use those same principles when planning your wedding? When it comes to weddings, somehow it is easy to end up nowhere close to where you started out. With online wedding tools, life can get a little easier.

I’ve already covered Google’s free Wedding Docs, but there is so much more ground to cover when it comes to budget friendly and green eWedding options. Here’s a simple idea to keep things PRACTICAL, and more importantly BUDGET FRIENDLY – Integrate your Wedding Invitations and RSVP process online.

eCard RSVP Online

Wedshare.com is a great resource for online wedding invitations with a seamless integration into your wedding website.

Reasons why you should consider this option:

1) Save Money – Create beautiful designs that match your wedding website and send them instantly to all your wedding guests. When you add up the costs for the paper, custom design, envelope, postage, and reply cards, it will be a nice little bundle of savings.

2) Save Time – When you send the invitations out to your wedding guests, they can instantly reply with their response with just a click of the mouse. The wedding responses are populated into your wedding guest list hosted on your Wedshare wedding website. No need to create a manual wedding list because the process is complete for you.

3) Save Paper – This is obvious. No paper trail.

For those of you who still want paper invitations. I have an alternative option for you.

4) Zero-Carbon Wedding Stationery – You can still be GREEN! Wedshare.com partners with Wedvert.com to provide you with a “zero-carbon wedding stationery line. The paper used for the VERT line is made from of 100% PCW (Post Consumer Waste), and is FSC certified (Forest Stewardship Council). The paper is Processed Chlorine Free (PCF), made Carbon Neutral (CN), and can be recycled. Soy-based inks are used which are biodegradable and do not necessitate the use of toxic cleaners.”

And…you can still match your wedding invites to your wedding website design!

If you follow the philosophy, KISS, this is a great option. No need to make your wedding process more difficult, or more expensive than it needs to be. For the PRACTICAL and BUDGET wedding couples, this is for YOU.

Lately I’ve noticed an increasing number of party invitations arriving via e-mail.  I know it is cheaper and much less time consuming than creating paper invitations, but how do you make an evite classy?  The answer…Paperless Post!

Invitations sent by Paperless Post arrive via e-mail and look like a typical envelope you would find in your mailbox.  When you click on it, the envelope opens and out pops the invitation.  Clicking on the invitation generates an RSVP to the host.

I decided to give Paperless Post a try and created an invitation to a bachelorette party.  The choices for invitations seemed endless with a large variety of colors and backgrounds, font styles, and pictures.  For more personalized invitations you even have the option to upload your own photos.  In under ten minutes, and for about thirteen cents a card, I was able to create something environmentally and user friendly.

With Paperless Post you still have a classy invitation but at a much lower cost.  What do you think about going paperless?

If you are looking for something a little non-traditional for your wedding invitations, you’ll definitely want to check out Bon Moment.  I recently talked with design duo Denise Stockman and Maureen Jann, a Berkeley and Seattle-based pair of artists who are pushing the envelope on wedding stationery.  Here’s a look at their desirable designs, plus a few tips on timing from these pros.

BABG: How did Bon Moment get started?

Bon Moment: We strive to create wedding stationery for the rest of us.  When we think about weddings, flowers and swirls never seem to fit. Pastels and petals seemed a bit too fussy for us and we don’t think we’re alone.  That’s why we’ve created wedding invitation suites that befits a couple that dances to the beat of their own drum.

As for how we got started…  Maureen was planning her wedding and she couldn’t find anything that really reflected what she was looking for in wedding stationery.  That frustrating experience inspired the idea for doing a wedding stationery business, but she knew she didn’t want to do it on her own. She needed a capable and inspired partner to make the business as amazing as she thought it could be.  She hooked up with her long time friend and crafting buddy, Denise.  Together we formed Bon Moment and built a product offering that we think will inspire other brides and suit their tastes, just like ours.  So far, we’re kicking butt and taking names.

BABG: What are some of your other favorite designs?

BABG: Do you have any tips or tricks you’d like to offer our couples?

Bon Moment: We love Save the Dates! They are helpful and informative. Generally we recommend them to couples who have guests coming from out of state or flying to remote locations for their destination weddings. It’s best to send your cards out between 6 and 9 months before you’re getting married.  If you’re getting married on a holiday weekend or you’re tying the knot in Ireland and your friends and family are from California, you might even want to send it a year in advance to give people time to plan.

A little Save the Date Tip: Be sure to include your location on your Save the Date!  It seems a little obvious, but when you’re getting caught up in the planning it would be an easy thing to overlook!

Invitations usually go out about 60 days before your wedding. Destination weddings invitations can go out 90 days before the wedding, but some couples opt to create a wedding website and include the web address on the Save the Date so guests can get up-to-the-minute information about lodgings and events.

The Manners Maven Emily Post recommends that couples send out Thank You Notes within 3 months of receiving the gift and we agree.  There’s nothing like waiting for the Thank You note that never comes, or maybe even worse, a Thank You note that comes too late.

A little Thank You Note Tip: When opening your gifts, be sure to designate a note taker. They can note the gift and who its from to make writing your thank you notes easier!