Invitations your Guests will Cheer to

I heard about this on a Wedding Podcast I listen to at work. (If you have an iPod, podcasts are another way to get some amazing wedding ideas). In this particular episode, there was a guest speaker who makes custom wedding invitations. She was talking about a destination wedding on the beach, where she created wedding invitations in a bottle (the idea being a "message in a bottle"). That may be for you, if you planning on getting married on the beach.

I, however, plan on getting married at a winery. An idea sparked in me and I did a little research, and its been done before, but what a message it would send to your guests! Why not make custom wine bottle labels to have your invitation printed on them, paste them to a wine bottle, and send each family an actual bottle of wine? Sites like Bottle Your Brand and My Own Labels let you create your custom label online.

As you can imagine, this may get pretty expensive. So unless you have the unlimited budget, this is probably better for small weddings. At least take into consideration the prices for each bottle of wine, the custom labels, and shipping of each bottle (est. $15 per bottle), but deduct the price of actual wedding invitations, although you still may want to purchase save the date cards for out-of-town guests.

If you think that is a bit much, thats fine. It's your own wedding and you have to make your own decisions. But just imagine for a moment the looks on the faces of your guests when they get a bottle of wine in the mail! That sends a message from the beginning that your wedding will be one they don't want to miss.

There is one issue, and that making custom wine labels is easy, but most sites are accustomed to making labels as wedding favors, and not invitations. You'll need to make it clear what you are looking for. In fact, I couldn't even find an example online of a wine label as an invitation.

So Where Have I Been?

In my defense, I did say I couldn't promise how often I would post. But I did plan on post more than I have lately. School has started back here at EKU, and I've been having a real hard time finding a balance between working full time, and taking upperclassmen level, writing intensive classes.

I know it's been done before, but the fact that only 10% of college students work full time and go to school full time says something about how hard it is. I would gladly work part time at the same job, but I can't work part time at a min. wage paying job. So since my job doesn't have part time, I just have to stick it out I guess. It isn't even really the 40 hours a week that gets me, its all the overtime we have to do, and overtime isn't optional where I work.

But anyway, thanks for letting me whine a little. My boss offer the encouragement that overtime shouldn't last anymore than a month longer. So hopefully I won't be as stressed out as I have been lately.

Up Next (I think): A cheaper alternative to live flowers, without sacrficing the look your going for.