You’re engaged–congratulations!–and everybody says they want to help. Of course, you’ll have to wait until you’ve hammered out your big decisions, such as venue, colors, ordering invitations, etc., and have some of the wedding-related goods in your hands to actually WORK with in order to take advantage of all this good will. But why NOT take them up on their offer? (Especially if you’ve chosen a date that seems like it’s coming up faster than you anticipated.)
That’s right, select just a few wedding insiders, from your family, perhaps the groom’s mom and/or sister, one or more of your wedding attendants–people you don’t mind getting a preview of your wedding details–and throw yourself a “work party.” Send out actual invitations or and E-vite, to make it fun. Set up one or more work tables–if it must be a nice wood dining table, cover it with a tablecloth, then cover THAT with a bridal-themed plastic table cover from the party store. Don’t invite more people than you can provide with room to work.
Select several hours’ worth of gal-worthy CD music, have snacks and soft drinks at the ready (provide plenty of napkins, and moist hand-wipes at the work table(s) to prevent “snacky” fingerprints from besmirching your wedding goods; and ask for cooperation in having no beverages actually ON the work tables)–and perhaps a grocery-store deli platter of croissant sandwiches for a “half-time” food break, with a simple platter of cookies or brownies for the sweet-toothed. (Put on a pot of coffee at food time.) Don’t forget to take pictures!
One huge job that can be cut down to size with several pairs of hands, is preparation of your invitations for mailing. Before this can be done, some preparatory notes:
When Ordering Invitations: When you order your invitations, you should have your return address printed on both the outer envelopes, AND as the actual mailing address on the small envelopes for the reception-RSVP cards. At the same time, order an extra pack of 25 of both the inner and outer envelopes–the cost will be very nominal, and one or two mistakes are bound to be made.
Pre-Prep for Invitation Handling: (1) You should be including driving instructions–showing a Mapquest (or other) map of the location, and giving simple, clear instructions from the two main alternative directions. 2): DO put together one whole packet– invitation, folded directions page, inner and outer envelope and RSVP card and its envelope to the Post Office to be weighed, to find out how much it will cost at the current rate to mail each invitation. ASK THE COUNTERPERSON AT THE POST OFFICE IF A POSTAGE RATE CHANGE IS PLANNED ANYTIME SOON–if so, buy the more expensive stamps. The last thing you need is invitations returned for insufficient postage. Also, don’t just take whatever stamps they toss at you–a brown stamp with a bearded miner resting a pick-ax on his shoulder is probably NOT what you had in mind. Ask them if there is a wedding-themed stamp–there usually is–and if it’s for less than the postage you need, ask for a floral stamp in a denomination to make up the difference. (The RSVP cards are small, and will take the regular letter rate. To economize, some people use a postcard-type RSVP card, eliminating the envelope and enabling them to use the less-expensive “postcard-rate” postage.) Buy enough regular stamps (or postcard stamps) for the RSVP cards, and enough of the larger-denomination stamps for each invitation. PHOTOSTAMPS are available, with a picture of the happy couple on them–they must be ordered in advance from the Post Office at http://photo.stamps.com/Store/personal-postage/index.jsp –these are a bit spendy but are a delightful and novel surprise for the recipients, so if they’re in your budget you might want to consider them. For even more painfully detailed invitation prep, see Factoid: http://factoidz.com/instructions-for-addressing-and-preparing-wedding-invitations-to-mail/.
For those with beautiful handwriting–addressing invitations. Blue ink is nicer (more social, less businesslike) than black. The helper will need a list (perhaps an Excel sheet) showing names and addresses, with a column that shows them what to write on the inner envelope–Bob and Vicki, Tom and Guest, Uncle John and Aunt Tina, etc.
For those with less-beautiful handwriting–“stuffing” invitations for mailing. After the ink has dried from the penmanship “artistes,” there’s a lot more to do before the invitations are ready for mailing. If the invitations came with protective tissue sheets, the tissue covers the printed side of the invitation to shield the lettering from damage in mailing. Next, slip the invitation and its tissue cover into the INNER envelope. The inner envelopes are not glued; you may leave them free, tuck them in, or fasten them with a pretty sticker. Then slip the inner envelope into the OUTER envelope, with the handwriting facing the back, and add any enclosures (RSVP cards/envelopes, driving instructions, etc. Note: although department stores where you register for gifts provide you with little printed enclosure cards, etiquette dictates that those cards might be tucked into Save-the-Date mailings or shower invitations, but that solicitation of gifts along with the actual wedding invitation is just not done. Still, people do it all the time, so you can make that call.)
Wine-bottle labels. Are you economizing by serving a wine that’s perhaps even won an award or two, but has an unimpressive label? Why advertise the fact? Look for a piece of scrapbooking paper in a wedding design or floral pattern that matches your colors. Scan it to your computer, then choose a frilly font in a darker, complementary color (or white if your chosen background is dark) and carefully center your names and wedding date. Cut-and-paste onto address labels (available at office supply stores)–either standard size (about 3-1/2” X 4”) or “large” (about 4.5” X 5”). Fill your bathtub with warm water to just above the label line and let the bottles stand in the water. When the original labels have softened, scrape off with a small spatula. Clean off any residual glue with dish soap (or “Goo Gone” if it’s very stubborn, but be sure to wash off the bottles afterward, as it’s toxic). Affix your new labels evenly in place (make some extras, because getting them on straight is a LOT tougher than it sounds!) Your guests won’t think “oh, they’re disguising cheap wine,” they will think, “what a cool idea,” or even “did they REALLY need to splurge on custom wine labels?”
Having silk flowers? If someone you know is making arrangements and/or bouquets for you, one of the long, boring tasks they face is to wrap every single stem with waxy-sticky floral tape. This simple task is frustratingly time-consuming for one person, but a group could pitch in and make short work of it while gossiping and giggling non-stop.
Wedding favors–home-made or home-personalized. Are you making your own wedding favors, such as tulle-wrapped packets of Jordan almonds, potpourri, or–well, anything? Printed tins of candies or mints? A wedding work party is a fun and excellent opportunity to set up an assembly line to get them done. Even if you have purchased more expensive favor options, they often come packaged in clear plastic “display” boxes, pre-tied with white ribbon–and the ribbon is always crushed beyond hope. Consider replacing the ribbon (usually it’s inexpensive organza ribbon, available for very little at Michael’s or a fabric store) and re-doing the ribbon on the boxes. Or, if the favor lends itself to the idea, remove from the box altogether and tie on or hot-glue a small white or ivory bow of ribbon personalized with your first names and wedding date (available on e-bay), with a tiny silk flower (again, available at Michael’s, fabric stores, even Walmart’s wedding aisle) in the center.
Pew-bows: large, lovely, white or ivory bows really breathe the word ‘bridal’ into your festivity. These often adorn the ends of church pews (or chairs) in the rows bordering your trip down the aisle–sometimes plain (elegant!) and sometimes centered with a silk blossom or two to coordinate with your colors. A bolder statement can be made by using colored ribbon or even patterned ribbon. You will need a HUGE box in which to lightly place your bows so that they don’t crush. It’s best to use wide (2” - 3”) home décor ribbon that is lightly wired on the sides, so that any packing-related scrunching can be easily straightened out. The bows should be of uniform diameter, 8” to 10”, and you may or may not wish to have a long pair (or 2 pair) of trailing ribbon hanging from them. If you have a friend in your work party group who knows how to tie large bows, ask them to be willing to demonstrate. If not, here is a link to one helpful bride’s DIY help-site, with a video showing how to make the bows: http://www.mymagicalwedding.com/pewbows.htm. Costco is a great place to get your ribbon, as they stock rich, beautiful ribbons with a LOT of yardage on each spool for a very reasonable price–BUT, they only stock them twice a year: spring/summer ribbons in February or March, and then a larger batch (because of the coming holidays) in about October. Typically you may have to hit more than one Costco and rummage among all their boxes to get enough of the one you want, but the savings is huge for this premium ribbon. Craft shops such as Michael’s carry suitable ribbons as well, but the prices aren’t as friendly and the spools are much smaller. You might also check e-Bay for wedding décor shops, which carry ribbon, the biggest that I know being e-favormart. You’ll also need some wrapped (easier on the fingers) craft ribbon, which comes in packages of specific lengths or in spools.
In addition to adding ambiance to the aisle, puffy bows are also lovely in a room with electric sconces, tied or wired into place just below the light–a great way to get some of your colors up on too-neutral walls. For a cake table, sweetheart table or head table, they add a lot of punch at table-top level, anchoring swags of tulle along the table’s sides (or topping a swag of tulle along a stairway bannister). If you’re interested in a large quantity of big bows, a bridal work party is the perfect place to get them done.
Whatever idea you may have that can be done ahead and would lighten the load with some helping hands, a Wedding Work Party is a fun and very useful way to allow your inner circle to share in a preview of some of your wedding details, while allowing them to help as they would love to do.
03.18.09
