An Unanticipated Delay

Complications arise with the Dubious Bride's save-the-dates.

By Sara Cardace

Our first problem was that the envelopes we ordered, while lovely, were a bit smaller than we thought they'd be. So John is working on adjusting the sizing of his design so that the save-the-dates will actually fit in the envelopes...Meanwhile, I headed to the famed Lee's Art Shop in midtown to pick up some paint pens, where the helpful shop clerk advised me to go with the Sharpee version in order that I not give myself Carpel-Tunnel syndrome with all the pen-shaking that the other brands require. (A very welcome tip.)


We also realized that there isn't really any room on the design we came up with to advise people that the cards were printed on seed paper. So I guess we may have to somehow affix an extra little tag with that info so people don't just throw them away once they've saved the date. I'm thinking we can maybe just make a tiny hole in the save-the-date card and affix the info tag to it with string. I'd be lying if I said I knew in advance how complicated this would all become. (Yup--there's hindsight, arriving at the precise moment when I no longer have any use for it.) Anyway, I started addressing the envelopes and I actually think they're looking pretty good. Of course, I totally didn't give myself enough time given the fact that my competence with regard to addressing said envelopes seems to evaporate once I hit the 30-invitation mark. It seems I can basically address about thirty of them at a sitting before my mind starts to wander and I start making dumb mistakes and writing like a three-year-old. The law of diminishing returns, I guess? Although, to be honest, it may well have been that I was making my way through a margarita while I addressed that first batch. Lesson learned. Anyway, John's in charge of printing up the invites, which I'm told is going to happen tomorrow. After that we just need to cut them up (they'll print out in sheets of 4 or 6), stuff the envelopes, and then ship them out. Which actually brings me to the next issue I've encountered: Stamps! Since I never, ever keep any stamps on hand (not a big letter-writer, though I wish I were), I guess I'll drop by the post office sometime over the next few days and pick some up. I've been perusing the USPS website and they actually have some really lovely ones. I think these "Vintage Black Cinema" ones are my favorites, despite the unromantic moniker they've been given. Think they'll go well with a chocolate-brown and silver color scheme? I hope so. Now if only they actually have them available at the post office when I go. Fingers crossed!