enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

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I am planning on having five bridesmaids (and a possible sixth depending on the Peace Corps and the price of flights from Guatemala) and I asked them via phone, email or text message last week. I told each girl to wait for the "official invite" which would come in the mail.
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I printed up 4 different cards for each girl: 1. who they were, 2. what they might be wearing, 3. the events they would be attending and 4. "I promise to not be a crazy-nut bride". Each card was typeset in Photoshop (that lovely font is Susie's Hand) and then printed onto an A6 card.
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I made pockets out of two envelopes by sticking the flap of one envelope into the other and then "lining" the part where they overlap with a piece of paper that was about 6.25"x8.5". This is an old Paper Source trick that I am fairly certain Caroline invented. It works great when you have a lot of different pieces to an invitation.
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The four cards fit neatly into the envelope pockets.
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The envelope flap that did not get tucked in was glued down to the "front side" of the other envelope. I tied the package with ribbon and stamped and signed the back.
IMG_2128 These would be just perfect hand delivered, but as my girls are all across the country, I slipped them into larger envelopes and mailed them out.

All supplies from Paper Source: A6 gravel envelopes, A6 superfine soft white cards, bracket stamp, heart stamp, cream patterned paper, ribbon and tangerine Colorbox chalk ink not listed.

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I have had requests to share the text on the cards :

Attire:

Dress – I plan to find something that will flatter
each of you and allow you to be in a tie for the
second hottest girl at the party. I will have
you each choose from a few different styles of
dresses, all in the same color family. It is not a
big deal to me that you match exactly, just that
you all feel fabulous in what you are wearing.

Shoes – you are responsible for finding your own
that match the dress – if you already own them,
that is fantastic. If you find something you love,
email it to me and I will yay or nay. (This feels so
much like rush, I can’t believe it.) Please, no black
shoes. And no match-matchy. Your shoes should
not be the same color as the dress. We’ll chat.

Hair – do whatever you like. I think most of you
are the hair down sort of people – which works
for me. My hair will be up, but please do what
you wish. I am hoping we’ll be able to get some
stylists for the day of. We may also schedule a
practice round… we’ll see.

Makeup – you all know what you look best in.
Again, I am hoping to bring someone in to at
least do mine, if you are interested in that, I am
sure we can arrange it.
Let me know if you start to see anything you love.
I may love it too.

Expectations:

The only events that you are required to attend are the
wedding, the reception and the rehearsal.

The ceremony/reception will be April 24, 2010 in
downtown Sacramento. Everything will start at 4PM,
followed by cocktails, followed by a sit down dinner and
dancing.

The rehearsal will be at 5PM at the church on Friday 4/23
and will be followed by a fabulous dinner thrown by Paul’s
parents. You will not need to worry about transportation
to any of the events. Between my family, Paul’s and the
friends we have in Sacramento, we should be all set.

I realize that most of you are out of towners so I will be in
touch about hotel arrangements for Friday-Sunday.

I imagine there will be a bridal shower or two before the
wedding that you will be invited to, but there is no
obligation to make it to those. I totally understand the
expense of flying back and forth.

I would love to have a grand bachelorette party – maybe
Vegas? Maybe 901 club? Maybe Sacramento? I will let
you all plan as much of that as you are interested in. I
would love to combine the college and high school girls
for a big bash, but let me know what works.

You are more than welcome to bring dates. You will be sitting with your
dates and friends for the reception, so no worries there.
I won’t make you sit at a front table, but I would love for
you to make a toast or say something if you are interested.

I Promise:

To not turn into a bridezilla. I do
understand that this day is about Elise
and Paul. Not dying flowers or a bad
spray tan. I promise to keep things light
and fun and exciting. I will count on you
girls to tell the jokes and BE HONEST
about if I look weird or if I am getting too
worked up. Or if I really need to NOT wear
a blue bird on my head.

Thank you for being part of all this! I am
so excited to spend so much of it with
you five.

The six of you:

This card included each girls' name and email address plus a little blurb about how I know them, etc. It was a "get to know each other" card. And they all promptly started emailing each other so it worked.

Posted in ,

66 responses to “envelope pocket love.”

  1. Katy Avatar

    OH MY! They are just amazing … love them and the idea is just fantastic, so sweet of you and so creative. Just lovely.
    My sister asked me on Sunday to be her Maid of Honour at her wedding next Summer, so I’m happily following along with your and her excitement. 🙂

    Like

  2. Breanne Crawford Avatar

    DANG. they are AMAZING!! what lucky girls you have to be a part of your wedding!

    Like

  3. molly Avatar

    Oh that is too cute. I mean … just the right amount of cute, actually. fun!

    Like

  4. summer Avatar

    could these be any more perfect?!
    no. i really don’t think so.
    simply smashing.

    Like

  5. Heather Avatar

    Your blog makes me so happy I could cry =) I LOVE THIS IDEA!!! Would be cute also for a destination wedding where you have a lot of info. So neat!!!

    Like

  6. remember moments Avatar

    Elise, you are just so darn creative. Those are gorgeous and sooooo adorable too!!!

    Like

  7. desiree fawn Avatar

    well these are just lovely!

    Like

  8. Nadia Avatar

    you are so darn cute! (crafting and wedding all in one!) lucky bridesmaids! ciao!

    Like

  9. Kristy Avatar

    Oh yes, five gold stars! These are so darling!

    Like

  10. Brianna Avatar

    Those are very cute. I’d love to see what your card about not being a crazy bride said for future reference.

    Like

  11. Elaine R Avatar

    what a FANTASTIC trick! These are brilliant! I’m jealous!
    So have you decided on the orange/peach/gray yet? Just wondering because your little bridesmaid invites were of the brilliant color scheme. :]

    Like

  12. sarah Avatar

    what a lovely, fantastic, creative idea!

    Like

  13. karen Lee Avatar
    karen Lee

    Those look lovely.. LOVE the orange.
    I am enjoying watching your wedding plans blossom!
    Thanks for sharing… & congratulations!
    Karen

    Like

  14. Sandra Avatar

    Loooove the idea!!! Have to fav++ this post to not forget about it until Tom asks me 😉
    I think it’s so cool you can have many bridesmaids! Here you only have 2 people you can choose who have to kind of testify your marriage… Makes it really hard to decide, if you have more girlfriends…..

    Like

  15. veronica Avatar
    veronica

    this required that i actually come and comment.
    i. am. so. excited. to. be. a. part. of. this!
    !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    love you!
    (and i am getting a blog soon. i promise!)

    Like

  16. melanie Avatar
    melanie

    feel so lucky to be one of 5 especially when i get ridiculous creations like this in the mail = )
    love you so much and looking forward to everything that has yet to come…

    Like

  17. Emily Sutton Avatar
    Emily Sutton

    awesome. how special!

    Like

  18. kirsten Avatar
    kirsten

    Those are so freakin’ awesome!

    Like

  19. the craftivist Avatar

    every part of me wishes i had known of this cuteness four months ago when i asked my bridesmaids to be in my wedding.
    however.
    i’ve got a ton of people coming out next week that are staying in hotels for my wedding (yay! one week! yay!) and i may just have to do this for them. i made them gift bags, and was just going to put in a few pieces of paper with itineraries and fun stuff to do in town, but this is SO MUCH CUTER!!

    Like

  20. Mel Avatar
    Mel

    So gorgeous!! :0

    Like

  21. April Avatar

    Too cool. I think PaperSource should just go ahead and sponsor the wedding since you’ll be using plenty of their products! 😉

    Like

  22. Kathleen B Avatar

    This is the most amazing thing ever!! My brother recently got engaged and as much as I love his fiance, she is totally NOT into wedding planning or anything…so I pretty much love your blog– it gives me a creative wedding fix 🙂

    Like

  23. leni Avatar

    so cute. I’m going to have to try that envelope trick!

    Like

  24. Heather Brittany Avatar
    Heather Brittany

    OMG I LOVE THIS!! When my time comes I will be calling you like crazy… “Elise… remember when you did _______, well I’m covered in glue… help!” 😉

    Like

  25. kristen Avatar
    kristen

    I am ridiculously excited to be a part of this! These invites were so gorgeous that I pretty much squeeled when I opened the outer envelope 🙂
    Love you!

    Like

  26. Sarah Avatar

    Those are really fun & girly & cute!
    Your wedding is going to be simply marvelous.
    🙂

    Like

  27. Alison Avatar

    oh i love this….totally keeping this idea tucked away for when i get married! 🙂 and love the colour scheme!! 🙂

    Like

  28. Rachel Avatar

    Oh, those are absolutely lovely!
    I’ve been enamored with orange lately as well. It will be a beautiful wedding. 🙂

    Like

  29. Megan Avatar

    LOVE how these turned out 🙂

    Like

  30. Signe Avatar
    Signe

    Hi Elise,
    Wow, this is a good one!

    Like

  31. Amy Tangerine Avatar

    you are dang good.
    i shall hire you when i have this to do. (which should be no where in the near future, but I would like to just put this in writing now)

    Like

  32. Rachel Avatar

    WOW, that is straight up awesome! I would love to link to this on Friday if you didn’t mid. Such a great idea. I love your colors too!

    Like

  33. Jessica Avatar

    I LOVE these! I would be your bridesmaid if I received one of these! 🙂

    Like

  34. Kelly Avatar

    These are adorable! I am so excited to follow your wedding and see all of the other amazing and adorable ideas you have! -kb

    Like

  35. Mollie Neff Avatar

    Holy cow this is the best idea ever! So cute! 🙂

    Like

  36. Ami @ Elizabeth Anne Designs Avatar

    i love these – you are so crafty and i can’t wait to see what you come up with for the wedding!

    Like

  37. TwoHeartsTogether Avatar

    This is so dang cute! You need to make your handwriting into a font I LOVE IT! I like the part that says you promise not to turn into a bridezilla… 😀

    Like

  38. Adrienne Avatar

    These are awesome!! I am sure your girls loved them!

    Like

  39. Victory B. Avatar

    Wow! I’ve become a new Paper Source addict now that there is one down the street here in Atlanta. I’ve got to know, what size envelope did you enclose the A6’s in??
    Thanks!

    Like

  40. Joanne Avatar
    Joanne

    adorable! do you mind sharing what the text on the cards say?

    Like

  41. Melissa of {craftgasm} Avatar

    Just found this post via the Craftzine link regarding it, and am now in love with your blog. Even better, I saw your photos of Pizza Paradiso and Bardia’s New Orleans Cafe and realized you’re also in DC (or at least, the DC area). Yay fellow local bloggers!
    Thanks for sharing. 🙂

    Like

  42. snarflemarfle Avatar

    I love these! I’m here via Craftzine and I just love this idea! Though I’m 9 years past my wedding, I think I might just have to make up a little gifty like this for my college-bound niece, my sister and my bestest friend. Good luck with your upcoming nuptials!

    Like

  43. Katy Avatar

    I’d also really love to hear about the text in the invites. I’m getting married in 3 months and have my 5 girls lined up, outfits mostly bought and so on, but would love to give them a little extra reminder of how happy I am to have them beside me on my big day, and a little more practical information.
    Thank you for sharing this (found you via Craftzine.com)

    Like

  44. Mrs. Priss Avatar

    This has to be the most adorable idea I have ever seen! Wonderful job!

    Like

  45. sarah Avatar

    okay, for some reason i’m currently obsessed with weddings. something i never really have been obsessed with before. i’m not even dating anyone let alone getting married. anyway, i came back to your blog to look at some of your cool wedding things and i wanted to say THANK YOU for posting the text of these bridesmaids notes! i really wondered what they said, but felt weird asking when i saw them the first time. so thanks! they remain one of my favorite ideas of yours.
    xx.

    Like

  46. Bridal Registry Avatar

    This all sounds very reasonable! I hope you have a great wedding and best wishes!

    Like

  47. LindseyBee Avatar

    I’ve been in 8 weddings so far, & have admired those who’ve allowed us to pick our own with some guidelines in mind…& this card package idea is THE BEST!

    Like

  48. wench wear Avatar

    That’s some cool envelope you got there! 🙂 Thanks much for sharing. I’m sure you had the best time in your wedding..

    Like

  49. Shruti Goradia Avatar

    You’re one creative gal Elise. Love the invites – the design, presentation and writing.

    Like

  50. chanel bags Avatar

    I really enjoy reading you blog which spirit me up and pursue for future.You really an outstanding person just the same as your articles.I really have a nice time with you.Thank you very much!

    Like

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