Real Brides Spotlight - Meg & Brian's Starfish Themed Wedding 10.10.10

Meg found us online and really loved the look of our beach thank you cards and wanted to order some for her engagement party.  Lucky for us, she was even more pleased when she received them in the mail because she decided that Fine Prints would be her go to for all her custom wedding stationery.  With Meg in New York and Fine Prints in Virginia, we simply worked everything out over email.  Thus began the year long relationship between Meg & I as we worked on designs for her amazing destination beach front wedding.  

Working with Meg was so much fun!  When I first asked Meg what she wanted for her wedding invitations, she told me "Pink, pink, and more pink - oh, and starfish!".   Once I told her that we could have a custom wedding monogram designed for her to use on the invitations and anywhere else she wanted, her creative wheels started turning too.  Meg used her monogram whenever and where ever possible from the stationery, to the aisle runner, to some pretty awesome pub cups she had made for her guests.  

Meg & Brian's Custom Designed Wedding Monogram

Pub Cups Meg Ordered With Her Custom Wedding Monogram Printed On Them.   Meg & Brian had a great wedding weekend planed complete with a pub crawl.  These cups were the perfect touch for her guests.

With the monogram, colors, and theme worked out, the designs just kept coming.  If there is any Bride who has tested out most of what Fine Prints has to offer, it would be Meg.  She kept us jumping designing beautiful petite pocketed star fish wedding invitations complete with custom envelope addressing and designs.  After that we created place cards, specialty cocktail signs, program fans, out of town guest layered information packets, a card box monogram seal, stickers, and more.

Details, details, details!  This Brides is all about the details and that is what made her wedding so special.  I'm sure her guests walked away amazing, buzzing about all the personalized details.  (Be sure to check out her wedding video below to see what I mean).   Future Brides take note - memorable weddings are built on details like these.    

    

What part of the wedding planning was the most fun?

I think that I had the most fun planning all of the extra little details.  I loved working on flowers and also picking out the candy for the candy buffet.  I was so excited to see how all of the pieces would come together.  I couldn't have been happier with how it all turned out.  Especially how all of our pinks looked together :)

What part of the wedding planning was the least fun?

I definitely had the least fun creating the guest list.  Because we had a destination wedding we limited the number of guests that we invited.  We really wanted to be surrounded by the people who have meant the most to us in our lives growing up and as adults.  We had about 90 people fly to Florida from New York to be with us, and we couldn't have asked for anything more!! 

Did you receive comments from your guests regarding the invitations and accessories?

At 11:00 am the day after I sent out the invites I started to receive text messages from my friends and family.  Everyone loved them!

 Please list anything you would like to include regarding your experience with Fine Prints:

We worked with Fine Prints starting from the thank you notes for our engagement party.  Amanda was so great to work with and was always 2 steps ahead of all of my ideas.  Everyone loved our  wedding logo that was used on the thank you card labels, invites, card box, photo strips, programs, and out of town brochures!  Amanda has such great ideas and is so professional!  She responded to all of my emails so quickly and sent everything packaged perfectly.  She even had things sent directly to Florida for us.  

Do you have any advice for the bride-to-be currently planning her wedding?

Do what you want!!  Don't let anyone else tell you that you should or should not do something.  At the same time, pick your battles.  If there are things that won't make a difference to you but someone else wants it, it's easier to give in than stress.

Check out Meg & Brian's amazing wedding video featuring our Custom Program Fans.

meghan {and} brian // coming attractions from Tampa Wonderworks Films on Vimeo.

Vendors

Ceremony:  Lido Beach Resort
Reception:  Lido Beach Resort
Bride’s Apparel: Kleinfeld
Groom’s Apparel: Mens Warehouse
Floral/Lighting: Flowers by Fudgie
Photography: Kimberly Dyer
Videography: Tampa Wonderworks

Reception Entertainment: Bryan Kudlek
Cake: Cakes by Ron
Stationery: Fine Prints Design

Real Brides Spotlight: Valerie's Fall Wedding

Valerie and her family own Nalls Produce in Alexandria, Virginia (Check them out!!!  You'll find the best in local produce and an amazing garden center.)  After meeting with Valerie it was clear that she didn't want to give her guests the typical wedding experience.  Church ceremony, yes.  Stuffy reception, no!  She wanted everyone to have fun.  I'm not talking a fancy dinner, some cocktails, and you're on your way - kind of fun.  I'm talking pig roast, moon bounce, apple butter favors, cupcakes, and dancing until the sun comes up - kind of fun.    After all, a reception is nothing but a big party and she wanted this to be her kind of party.  

It was clear from the start that her wedding invitations had to reflect her love of the season by showcasing beautiful fall foliage and crisp colors.  Once we were done brainstorming, the details really fell into place.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE how these turned out!  The tea length invitation is elegant and classic.  Accented by beautiful swirly leaves, layers of creams, coppers, and rich browns, these invitations are perfect for a beautiful fall wedding.  To complete her wedding stationery, the details of her invitations were carried over to coordinate with bi-fold wedding ceremony programs. 

Thoughts from the Bride -

"My wedding planning was hard for me. I don't consider myself a "girlie girl". I had not been planning my wedding from the age of five like some. I have a hard time picking out decorations for my own bedroom, much less colors, themes, and styles for an event with 200 people! I was stressed. I knew what I didn't want - I didn't want super-traditional, I didn't want stuffy, I didn't want silver on white. The challenge was what I did want. That's where Amanda with Fine Prints came in. I met with her and told her all of this. I told her when the wedding was going to be and what feelings I wanted from my guests - happiness, love, enjoyment, and fun. Amanda was able to take my abstract thoughts and feelings and translate them to textures, colors, and fonts. From one meeting I was able to actually get a handle on my wedding. I knew what my colors were, I knew what my style was, and the rest fell into place from there. Amanda was very easy to work with. She knows what brides are going through and she wants to make the process as simple and painless as possible. My invitations were gorgeous. Just what I wanted. I got many, many compliments on them! Invitations or save the dates are really your first formal correspondence with your guests and it is what sets the tone for the whole event. Fine Prints gets that and won't disappoint!"

Vendor Recap - Who did you choose for your big day?

Ceremony: Saint Lawrence Roman Catholic Church
Reception: Banks Family Estate
Bride Apparel:  LaBella Bridal Boutique and Consignment Shop, Occoquan VAGroom Apparel: Mens Warehouse
Cake: Sweet Ladies Bakery and Georgetowne Cupcake
Floral: Flowers by Charleen Tschann
Photography: Laura Fulmer Photography
Invitations/Stationery: Fine Prints