25 FREE Wedding Invitations

HEY BRIDES!

Here's another great special offered by one of our paper lines:

Checkerboard (www.checkernet.com) is offering 25 FREE wedding invitations when you purchase a minimum of 25.

For example, if you need 100 invitations, you'll only pay for 75.

HURRY. This offer ends on March 29!

Make your appointment (919.462.9618) so we can help you select your pretty paper and get a great deal at the same time!

Cute Buttons Gift and Paper Boutique Bridal Open House

The honor of your presence is requested at our
Bridal Open House!

You're invited to our boutique to see what pretty paper we have in store for you! We'll happily answer your questions about paper and other accessories to help make your big day special. Bring your fiancé. Bring your friend. Bring your family.

Pick your day: Wednesday, April 6th 5pm - 7pm or Saturday, April 9th 11am - 3pm
Cute Buttons Gift and Paper Boutique
115-A West Chatham Street, Ashworth Village
Downtown Cary
919.462.9618
www.shopcutebuttons.com

The Beauty in Letterpress Invitations

How is a letterpress wedding invitation different from any other? We are often asked this question.

So to help our brides out, we found a great definition on Sugar Paper's website to help define it: Dating back to the 15th century, letterpress is the original method of printing. Today, it is considered an art form in itself. Letterpress uses the relief method, in which a reversed, raised surface is inked and then pressed into a sheet of paper to obtain a positive right-reading image. Each piece of paper and envelope is hand-fed into an antique press one sheet at a time, giving each character an impression that cannot be replicated with modern machinery.

We have two great letterpress vendors ~ Louella Press and Designers' Fine Press ~ who help us create letterpress paper suites that our brides absolutely love!

Assembling Wedding Invitation Paper Suites

Our brides often ask us how to assemble their paper suites. We are happy to show you how when you pick them up from us. But, here's a great piece we found on the Crane's website about the proper way to do so. Enjoy!

For the most part, wedding invitations are assembled in size order. The invitation itself is first. The enclosure cards are stacked on top of the invitations, not inside. The reception card is placed on top of the invitation. Then the reply envelope is placed face down on the reception card. The reply card is slipped face up beneath the flap of the reply envelope. These are the most frequently used enclosures.



Any other enclosures are added face up in size order (usually at-home card, directions card, accommodation card, pew card, etc.). The single-fold invitation and its enclosures are placed into the inside envelope with the fold of the invitation at the bottom of the envelope and the engraving facing the back of the envelope. You can tell whether or not you stuffed the envelope correctly by removing the invitation with your right hand. If you can read the invitation without turning it, it was stuffed correctly.



The procedure for assembling traditional invitations (those with a second fold) is similar. The enclosures are placed on top of the lower half of the invitation's face in the same order described above. The invitation is folded from top to bottom over the enclosures. The invitation is then placed into the inside envelope with the fold toward the bottom of the envelope. As with other invitations, traditional invitations are correctly stuffed when they can be read without being turned after being removed from the envelope with your right hand.



Once stuffed, the inside envelopes are inserted into the outside envelopes. The front of the inside envelope faces the back of the outside envelope.

The (Wedding) Envelope… Please!

By Peggy Post, The Emily Post Institute

As the great-grandaughter-in-law of Emily Post, Peggy Post helps carry on her family’s great tradition of teaching etiquette rules for all occasions. Peggy is a director of The Emily Post Institute and the author of more than twelve books.
The world may be getting more casual, but etiquette, especially for weddings, is always relevant. Here at The Emily Post Institute, we are constantly asked about wedding invitations and related stationery: "What is the proper invitation wording? What are the correct ways to address the envelopes and package the enclosures, and when should invitations be mailed? How to word save-the-date notices and response cards?" Because happy couples and their families rely on you, the retailer, to be their knowledgeable resource, here are some of the Institute's suggestions for helping your clients with wedding invitation etiquette. Let’s start with the wedding invitation envelope...

One Envelope or Two? Traditionally, a wedding invitation is sent in two envelopes, an outer envelope which is addressed and stamped, and an inner envelope—containing the invitation, reception card, reply card and other material such as directions—which bears the names of the people invited. Although it may seem complicated or overly formal, a second envelope is actually very practical because it clarifies exactly who’s invited: other family members, children, and whether or not an invited guest may bring a guest. It’s perfectly acceptable, however, for a couple to omit inner envelopes.

What’s Written on the Envelopes? The outer envelope is addressed with the names and address of the person(s) invited: Mr. and Mrs. John Smith. The inner envelope repeats the guests’ last names: Mr. and Mrs. Smith. It’s also fine to informally write the names of close relatives and friends: Grandmother, Aunt Sue, or Jessica and Henry on the inner envelope.

Addressing Envelopes 101:
• Addressing a married couple: Wedding invitations are always addressed to both members of a married couple, even though the bride and groom may know only one or think that only one will attend.
• Addressing an unmarried couple living together: Invitations to an unmarried couple residing at the same place are addressed to Ms. Nancy Fellows and Mr. Scott Dunn.
• Addressing a married woman doctor or two married doctors: If the woman uses her husband's name, the address is: Dr. Barbara and Mr. James Werner. If she uses her maiden name: Dr. Barbara Hanson and Mr. James Werner. If her husband is also a doctor and they use his last name, the address is either: The Doctors (or Drs.) Werner, or Drs. Barbara and Robert Werner.
• Handwrite envelopes: Wedding invitations are special. Address them in handwriting—the bride’s, groom’s, friend’s, host’s, or a calligrapher’s. No computer-printed labels!
• Avoid abbreviations: Street and Avenue are written out, although two-letter state abbreviations are okay (due to US Postal Service preference). A person’s middle name may or may not be used. If it is, write it in full instead of abbreviating; omit it if the name won’t fit on one line. It’s okay to abbreviate Mr., Mrs., Ms., and Dr. when addressing envelopes.
• Inviting guests for guests: Write "and Guest" on the inner envelope right after the invited guest’s name. If no inner envelope is used, the "and Guest" phase is not written on the outer one; instead a note is included in the invitation or a verbal invitation is extended by the couple: "Please bring someone with you."
• Inviting children: If children are invited, their names are written on a line below their parents’ names on the inner envelope. If no inner envelope is used, children’s names are written on the outer envelope. Children aged thirteen and over usually receive their own invitations.
• Using a return address: A return address is necessary for the US Postal Service. The USPS preferred place is the upper left-hand corner of the envelope, but the back flap is okay, too.

Get 25 FREE Wedding Invitations!

Hey Brides: Here's another great special offered by one of our paper lines: Checkerboard (www.checkernet.com)is offering 25 FREE wedding invitations when you purchase a minimum of 25. For example, if you need 100 invitations, you'll only pay for 75.

HURRY. Offer ends November 1. Call us to make your appointment so we can help you select your pretty paper and get a great deal at the same time!

Cute Buttons Couple - Kelly + Tyler

We love working with other wedding vendors in the Triangle to help make our bride and groom's day memorable. Here's a shot of the pretty paper we produced for our clients, Kelly and Tyler. It was taken by local photographer, Michael Williams, of www.michaelsmemories.com during their reception at the Prestonwood Country Club in Cary. We did their festive holiday card/save-the-date card last year and helped them create their beautiful invitations (simple, yet elegant with a monogram) in time for their June wedding. Thanks to Michael for sending us this pretty pic!

Proofreading Wedding Invitations

Hey, guys and gals.

I saw this great blog post on Hip Ink's Blog called "How to proofread your invitations (the right way!)", so I just had to re-post it word for word. I hope it is as helpful to you as it was to me. Enjoy:

In order to avoid confusion and social faux-pas (perish the thought!), it is critical that you proofread your invitations several times until you are confident that all of the information is correct. Proofing your event information to ensure that is complete and contains no errors will help to avoid guest confusion and additional costs caused by missing or inaccurate information.

Here are some tips to help you proof your invitation suite. Make sure you proof not only your invitation, but also your RSVP, additional enclosures etc.:

TIP: Proof from a printed source
If you have received a full physical sample of your invite, you should always proof from your printed invitation. If you received only a digital proof, it’s best to print your invitation and accessories and proofread a hard copy rather than relying on the on-screen version.

Read your invitation aloud
Proofread all parts of your invitation suite by reading it out loud. If possible, have another person listen and read along while you read it out. This method is a good way to catch missing words or doubled words, as well as general grammar issues.

Read everything backwards
Read everything backwards focusing on the words themselves. It may sound strange, but this is a powerful tool for finding spelling errors, as sometimes your mind will subconsciously fix errors making it appear as though everything is correct when it really isn’t. In this case, familiarity breeds mistakes, so taking time to concentrate on each word out of context will make your proofing that much more effective.

Check names
Check the spelling of all names on the invitation (including parents, children etc.). You would be surprised at the errors you might find!

Check addresses, dates and numbers
Check all dates and numbers carefully. This includes things like making sure dates are correct, day and date match, addresses are complete and correct (especially street numbers if included) and also checking telephone numbers etc. Having guests arrive on the wrong day or at the wrong location is an unfortunate consequence of these types of errors, and it happened to me at my own bridal shower!

Check response methods and additional information
Check to ensure your RSVP information is correct, along with information like website addresses etc. Make sure to proofread any cards with additional information as well (accommodation cards, itinerary cards etc.).

Check the overall invitation layout, graphics etc.
It’s important that you make sure the details of your invitation are accurate; but, it is also very important to proof the entire invitation for errors in colour, spacing, fonts etc.

Find a proofreading partner (or two, or three)!
Once you have proofread the invitation a few times, have someone else proofread it as well. It is easy to overlook a mistake on your invitation when you know what the invitation should say. Have a few people who aren’t familiar with all the details (co-workers, neighbours, friends) go over your invite for an unbiased review.

As a designer, I think one of the main issues is that clients can often forget that we don’t know the details of their event as intimately as they do, and unfortunately proofreading isn’t part of the service. I can’t say that I don’t “read” your invite, but I don’t know how to spell your father’s first name correctly or what time you’ve decided to start cocktail hour, so that means the responsibility of proofing has to rest completely with *you*.

Don’t be a statistic. You know, I’m only telling you this because I care. Friends don’t let friends make errors on their invitations

Wedding Programs and Escort Cards at The Matthews House

Beautiful wedding programs and escort cards add just the right touch to outdoor summer weddings. We had lots of fun working with Morgan and Michael (...and Morgan's mother, Donna) for almost a year helping them get ready for their big day at The Matthews House last month. We thank them for allowing us to create their save-the-dates, wedding invitations, thank-you notes, wedding programs, table cards and escort cards. Our calligrapher does wonderful work we might add! Thank you to Scott Clevenger (www.scottclevengerphotography.com) for these fabulous pictures. Did we say we love summer weddings?

Enjoy!

Questions from Cute Buttons' Customers - How Do We Say 'No Gifts, Please'?

q: My uncle and his fiance both are in their 70s and are getting married this year! They don't want their guests to buy them gifts because they feel they have enough stuff to last them two lifetimes. How do we help them let their guests know not to bring gifts?


a: Who says young love is where it's at? Love the second time around is sooooo sweet.

It can never be said enough.It's not acceptable to put "no gifts" on your wedding invitations. By the way, it's also not acceptable to put your registry on your invitation either, but we digress. We worked with a couple who didn't want gifts, nor did they want anything donated in their name for a charity. We printed "Your presence is the only gift we request" on their reception card. Short, but to the point. We recommend the same language ~ or some variation of it ~ for your uncle and his bride-to-be. Also, word of mouth is the other acceptable option. You can help them let friends + families know of their wishes.

Of course, there are going to be people who feel like a party is not a party if they don't bring a gift. That's okay, because that's on them. Remind your relatives to be gracious and by all means, make sure that guest is thanked appropriately.

Please be sure to save a piece of wedding cake for us!


Be Sweet!
Keep your questions coming