(yes, I categorize my P&P’s by their Darcys) but I think the strengths of the photo comes from the pose which again, is just not conducive to mentally swapping in your engagement photos.

I also found this illustration that was used for a production a P&P play done by the Grand Theatre in Ontario. This is DEFINITELY a suggestion for commissioning an illustration for your engagement because, frankly, bask in the wonder:

But again, probably not what the masses are up to. Which is a shame. Also I can’t find any reference on the Grand Theatre’s website to who painted/illustrated the image, so if you know or it’s you let me know so I can give you credit!

Fear not though (well, not JUST yet) because I found THE. PERFECT. PHOTO. on a midwest photographer, Megan W.’s site. I contacted her last but I’m still waiting to hear back. I sent an email through her website but that was more like a scheduling site so not the perfect format for contacting about something else. I’m so excited about this pairing of the image that I also just left a comment on her blog. I hope I’m not too annoying…

In other crafty but not necessarily wedding news, I’ve also been absent because I’ve been furiously quilting. I know, “quilting”, strange UNTIL you look up Denyse Schmidt Quilts which is a quilting book I bought years ago and have just been looking at the photos until I started this endeavor.

I still need to add the edging and wash the chalk lines off and I had no idea how to style it but ta-da. I love it. I’ll probably post more photos when it’s DONE done. And in the meantime I’ll keep you updated about the Elizabeth + Darcy save the date!

But first the save the date:

I love the yellow on the railcar and his hat with the yellow background.

The rest of the lovely shots from that engagement session near the tracks can be found on the Wedding By Two Blog (and then there’s Part 2 with a trampoline, and more at Part 3 at a farm with some the props Jen sells at her Etsy store) but here is a variety of favorites from their site:

And then here are some of the items for sale in Jen’s Etsy store: Doing It Herself.

Gorgeousness all around, right?! Hope you enjoyed and we still have 15 (oy!) save the dates ready to be made. Next on deck: Charlie + Heather and (ooooh!) Elizabeth + Darcy.

Anyway, you’ve got me now and today (brace yourselves) we’ll be having some advice/scheming. Just what every good party planner needs!

Photo by Paired Image from their engagement session.

It starts off like this: Ren√©e and Kevin from Harry Potter inspired wedding fame (yup, there they are) came to visit to go see (what else?) the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Boston Museum of Science and while Ren√©e was here she got a very excitable message from her friend saying she had “big news” and would “talk to her later”. I’m only explaining this part of the story to maybe come up with a standard for the women of this world. If you leave a message saying you have “big news” it better be engagement, baby in the works, new fabulous job, or a spotting of an ex-boyfriend as a cult leader on Dateline or something like that because that is what the person you left the message is thinking.

After Ren√©e gets home she talks to her friend and find out the big news is drama which she shared with me because it’s something a lot of brides probably go through. Here’s the deal (I’ve changed all the names in honor of Ren√©e to Harry Potter names and also to not get her friend in more trouble) Ren√©e’s friend, Hermione, got married this past Fall but she didn’t invite Padma and Parvati Patil and now Padma and Parvati are super pissed at Hermione and have just unloaded it all on her. I’m guessing it was a case of their friendship falls in the vast nebulous between being facebook friends and knowing when their birthday is without a facebook reminder. See Figure 1 for details. They’re probably right in the middle but everyone has to make their “these people come/these people don’t” demarcation themselves.

In this case there are some crazy circumstances like Hermione had a dying relative while she was planning her wedding which was adding stress but the Patil girls were all “like you weren’t planning before your relative got sick” which- dang- is too much for me to get into except to say anything relating to a dying relative should never be your ace in the hole. Also at this point I should let you know I H-A-T-E icky feelings. I don’t like fighting, confrontations, “big talks”, and the like so this is where advice turns into schemes (i.e. dealing with it without ACTUALLY saying the words).

I’ve thinking this over a bit and I think you should try to avoid uttering the words “I’m not inviting you to my ” unless you want a crap-ton of repercussions, have a DAMN good reason, or just CAN NOT get around it (see below). The reason I say this is I can’t imagine an instance where someone could say that to me where I wouldn’t feel hurt. Of course I’m talking about big things like weddings and other big events. Brandy wouldn’t have to invite me to Karaoke Extravaganza 2K10 because I live several states away (although she did because she is nice like that and Karaoke Extravaganza 2K10 doesn’t cost $75 a head for her to invite people so, hell, if you want to, I can get you invited).

A way you can get around that is, perhaps, if it’s an entire large group of people like co-workers. Saying to a co-worker, “I feel bad I can’t invite anyone from work” is better than singling out someone that THEY THEMSELVES aren’t invited. Now I think a good groundwork to all of this is people are going to ask you about your wedding/event and wedding/event planning. If you know or have an inkling you are not going to invite them make sure you start bringing up what will be reasons why you will not be inviting them. Here’s a good example of some: small venue, just inviting family and a few friends, those darn budget concerns, the wedding will be far away, etc. Honestly, I know this is probably contrary to other info on the web on this subject but if you tell people how you’re really limiting the guest list and it’s really hard to do and you feel really bad about it they won’t be surprised if they don’t get an invitation. Especially if you make a puppy dog face when you talk about it. Aww see how sad I am (this is a pretend situation- there isn’t a photo).

Okay back to the Hermoine/Patils issue because I think it brings up one of the most difficult situations. A lot of times it’s not so cut and dry. You want to invite Luna Lovegood because you’re closer to her but you, Luna and the Patils are all friends from school. Invariably if these are the types of people that if you invite hoping they won’t come– they totally will. This is a coin flip to whether the roundabout hints will work or if you may be forced to say something. Ugh. Sucks, I know. If they’re not getting the hint or come out and ask if they’re invited be SIMPLE about it. People (read: me) may have a tendency to start talking more when nervous. Saying something like “I’m really sorry, I hope this doesn’t hurt our friendship/make things weird” is good. Don’t start trying to explain your thought process of why Luna gets to go but they don’t. The heart of the matter is you like them enough to be having this annoying conversation but (to be blunt) not enough for them to come to your event. The most important thing though is after you have this little talk or after they kind of get they’re not going– don’t be chatting it up with Luna about the wedding/event when the Patils are around. If they bring it up– fine– be polite but know their feelings may still be hurt a bit.

Also that “I’m really sorry. I hope this hasn’t hurt our friendship– I should have mentioned it before” might work for Hermione now. If she wants.

If anyone has any good ideas or has done this successfully let us know. My first two thoughts when I heard about it were “hm they should delegate- that’s what bridesmaids are for” and “maybe I could make a Mad Lib that people could fill out” so OBVIOUSLY I’m not the best at this stuff.

We’ll be back to pretty pictures next time.

When Meredith contacted me about doing her invitations this is how she described her wedding:

It will be an outdoor wedding at my parents home in Texas under a large live oak tree, that is the focus of the wedding. The wedding is going to be based on the Southern Comfort theme, home style food and beverage, all out doors with natural light and floral of the season with the colors being marigold and pewter.

I loved the marigold and pewter spread from Martha Stewart Weddings and after working with Meredith and hearing more about her wedding I was really excited how the invitations turned out.

AND THEN SHE SENT ME PHOTOS FROM THE WEDDING!

Martha Stewart- you got served.

It’s like a magic combination of stunning and fun!

All the photos were taken by their Jenny McCann, a portrait photographer serving Dallas/Fort Worth who specializes “in portraits of children, families and really cool people.”¬† She has more photos of Meredith and Patrick’s wedding on her blog (including a great slideshow) and from the 3 emails we sent back and forth for me to get the photos I can tell you that not only is she very talented but nice and easy to get in touch with too!

So, now we’ve seen the invitations, the newlyweds get a first crack at naming them but feel free to influence them as much as you’d like in the comments!

If you wouldn’t mind taking a gander at some options below and casting your vote, well, that would be just lovely of you! (Double click on the images for larger versions)

I’m not entirely sure the javascript version will work so just in case, here’s the direct link

Gracias!