warehouse club sellout

May 1st, 2006 @ 10:45 pm | wedding | Post a Comment

Remember back in the day when I whined about the outrageous costs of printed wedding invitations and swore that my pack of crafty girlfriends and I were going to march home from the local Michael’s with a few dozen supplies and make our own fabulous ones that would knock the socks off your grandma? And save gajillions of dollars at the same time?

Well, I think the little elves at Costco.com got word of our plan and decided to put their invitations on sale for 25-50% off and send me a fancy email with lots of links to click to redeem this limited time great offer. Of course, within three minutes I had clicked the links, custom-designed some pretty invitations with pink thermography ink, and priced them out to be about $2 each. Right then and there, the bargain-lover in me beat out the arts&crafts diva I was once so proud of.

It’s just that the idea of slaving over the LaserJet afterhours at the office, feeding cardstock into the manual tray, and slicing the paper to precise measurements just didn’t sound sexy anymore. And pink ink! That’s where they really got me.

My friends are all still invited over for an afternoon of beautifying the invitations, addressing them, and drinking wine, but in the meantime I am going to hand my soulAmEx over to Costco to help get us started. I figure it will save more time for the wine drinking anyway.

In other wedding news, I also caved and hired some help. Although the woman I hired is indeed a wedding planner, I am calling her my day-of coordinator because I already did all the planning myself. But I decided I need someone in Mexico who speaks Spanish and has a local cell phone to be on duty at the hotel that day. I need her to to be the one worrying about napkins and delinquent vendors so I have plenty of time to apply my fake eyelashes, boss around my bridesmaids, and other very important bridal duties.

comments

  1. I went to the website… very pretty invitations! You made a good decision… we all need more time for wine-drinking!

    written by Kelly

    May 2nd, 2006 @ 5:44 am

  2. Good move with the day-of coordinator. I really wish we had done that. I am sure it will make the day much less stressful.

    Sorry bout the invites, but the store bought ones sound very pretty, and cheap/easy.

    written by jessica

    May 2nd, 2006 @ 5:47 am

  3. Pink Ink?!? You are my hero! Selling out was the right decision. Saving stress and money and saving the perfectionist in you from freaking out over 2mm is always worth it.

    written by Sarah

    May 2nd, 2006 @ 5:56 am

  4. Let the wine drinking begin!

    written by Alli

    May 2nd, 2006 @ 8:17 am

  5. Such a smart, smart move to buy them. I did my own. WAyyyyyyyy too much trouble. Good job about the coordinator too. I fought that. It would have been in my best interests to concede and have one. It really takes a lot of pressure off.

    written by Paige

    May 2nd, 2006 @ 9:21 am

  6. I refuse to be ordered around!!!! Oh wait – I’m happy to be ordered around. I’ll even wear fake eyelashes if you want me to. Nothing is too much for my bridal bf!

    written by Alison

    May 2nd, 2006 @ 9:37 am

  7. I think it is a great idea that you buy them from Costco, and then we can add a little flare once you get. But, I’ll only help add flare if you promise to wear the fake eyelashes for your wedding…or maybe just the rehearsal!

    written by Liz

    May 2nd, 2006 @ 10:35 am

  8. I just finished making my invitations using envelopments. I can confirm that it took an ENORMOUS amount of time. I am very pleased with the outcome, but it was a significant effort. Especially because I hunted down the best price for the envelopments (envelopme.com), searched for large quantities of the perfect background paper (doodlebug designs) and vellum (paper company), discovered the proper size for postcards (for the reply), and made three visits to officemax to have them cut the cardstock to just the right size. After all that, it wasn’t less expensive, but it did make a beautiful invitation (alas, no pink ink!).
    As for the day-of coordinator, I did the exact same thing for the exact same reason. I want to eliminate all possible sources of stress so that my wedding day can be the best. day. ever.

    written by Jenn Bo

    May 2nd, 2006 @ 1:10 pm

  9. i wish i could partake in the wine drinking. i will be thinking about ya.

    written by CatWise99

    May 2nd, 2006 @ 2:37 pm

  10. I like wine. You should still drink lots of wine. I’m thoroughly impressed by the deal you got. Which did you choose? I don’t usually get wrapped up in things I neeeeeeeeeed for my own wedding in the distant, very distant future, even though I look at so much so often, but invitations do me in. I love them. I love them so much. Well, unless they have Disney characters or Prescious Moments figurings on them…

    As for the day of coordinator, in the case of a destination wedding, especially where there is a language barrier, I think they’re essential. Does she have a lot of experience working with your venue? You will love, love, love her. And she’ll be able to help with your lashes.

    written by Bebe

    May 2nd, 2006 @ 10:17 pm

  11. Ooh, promise me that when the final invitations are done you’ll post a picture! Crafty Janet!

    written by Tanya L.

    May 4th, 2006 @ 8:50 am

  12. Wow…pink ink? That would have sold me also. And 50% isn’t too shabby!! Hooray for Costco (they also have great deals on baby wipes..fyi!)

    A “day of coordinator” who speaks Spanish is a very good idea.

    (Oh, and fake lashes are so much fun! Good for you!)

    written by Isabel

    May 4th, 2006 @ 3:52 pm

  13. You are very smart not adding another task (making invitations) to your wedding planning madness! And you got a great deal! You can’t beat that!

    written by goldmoon

    May 4th, 2006 @ 4:31 pm