Congratulations, Alesia & Pete! Your wedding was beautiful and I was so happy to get to decorate for it! Love, Copper Ink
What a cute guest book idea! Every guest signed this bench that will go into Alesia & Pete's house. <3
Cute little bags of chex mix as favors.
Surprise for the groom, a Johnny Cash fan. :)
Lit branches as an archway.
Add personal touches to your wedding without spending much!
1. Copper Ink styled a wedding reception this past weekend and the couple built a wooden bench for their new home. Guests signed the bench with oil-based markers as their guest book! Another idea is to have couples send in a piece of fabric that reminds them of you and then make all the pieces into a patchwork quilt. (A variation of this is to send out the pieces of fabric that you've chosen and have guests write a message on it and bring it to the wedding!)
2. On your reply card, not only ask guests for their RSVP info, but ask them to request a song to be played at the dance! (They LOVE it when the song plays.) "If you play ___________ by ____________, we promise to get up and dance."
3. Use hand-written notes or personal photos to label each table for your seating chart.
4. Instead of a host and hostess releasing tables to help themselves to your reception buffet, label each table with a song. When the DJ plays one of your favorite songs, it's that table's turn to get up and eat! (Or the DJ asks trivia about the couple and the table with the right answer gets to go!)
5. Dry all the flowers you've ever received from your fiance and use those as flower girl confetti or for guests to toss after the ceremony.
6. Dig up both sets of parents' wedding day photos of them cutting their cakes, and put those historic photos by your cake table for a personal touch.
7. Use family heirlooms in your bouquet or dress! Use your grandma's wedding broach, your mother's veil, your great-aunts beautiful sapphire ring, etc.
8. 51% of couples personalize their favors, which means you can order flameless candles, decks of cards, sparklers, chocolates, anything that fits your theme! If it has you and your honey's names and/or wedding date on them, guests are more likely to keep it! With the exception of personalized M&M's. :)
9. Tips for your wedding invitations: Don't skimp on the save-the-dates. They're the first glimpse your guests get of your wedding! Don't get your colors too matchy-matchy. Gold is a great, classic color to use in your color palette. Using envelope liners are one of the cheapest ways to make your invite pop!
Seven years ago today, Copper Ink was born. With these happy birthday wishes come some big news. Stay tuned for Copper Ink's new name, new business partner, new location, new invitation designs and more!
Hint: Copper Ink is getting {hitch}ed!
Want to score these two free thank you notes? Stop by Renee Halgerson's booth at the GonnaGetWed Bridal Showcase on Sunday, October 13, 2013. It's from 12-4 p.m. at the Sioux Falls Convention Center. She'd be glad to talk to you about wedding invitations and custom thank you notes of your own!
Are you following these little-known tips when addressing your wedding invitations? They seem minor, but avoiding all these potential mistakes make your wedding invitations much more professional. Ask Copper Ink Wedding Designs if you have a specific question. There are many more where these came from. Here are 10 to get you started:
Tip #1. Try to find out the name of a date that your guest is brining. If you don't know his/her name, make sure that "and guest" is lowercase.
Tip #2. Stuffing your envelopes: Make sure that each smaller insert card is stacked in order of size, facing up, on top of your invitation. When the flap is opened, all pieces should be facing up.
Tip #3. Your return address should go on the back flap of the outer envelope.
Tip #4. On a formal outer envelope, spell out everything except Mr. and Mrs. You should spell the street name, avenue, city, state....everything in full. (Example: 123 Ashmont Road, Madison, South Dakota, 57402
Tip #5. If children are invited, use the second line for children.
Tip #6. The correct way to address an envelope to a widow who did not re-marry is: Mrs. James Grant
Tip #7. A Catholic priest should be addressed as "Reverend Father Robert Johnson". A minister/pastor should be addressed as "Revered Kyle Harrison".
Tip #8. When using Junior, Senior, etc., the groom can use the the title "junior" if his father is listed as "senior" and they share the same name. When spelled out, junior and senior should be listed in lowercase. Only abbreviate (and capitalize) if there is not room on the envelope (Jr. and Sr.)
Tip #9. When addressing someone in the military, put the rank on the same line as the name, and the service on the line below. Example:
Lieutenant Commander Thomas Johnson
United States Navy
Tip #10. When listing the year, never include the word "and". Example: Two thousand thirteen. And speaking of dates and times...a 5:30 wedding is still an afternoon wedding and should be listed as "half after five o'clock in the afternoon".
For more great tips on the modern details of wedding invitation etiquette, read "Invitation Essentials" by Jennifer Fought. It's excellent.
Kerry & Tommy. Oh, you and your wedding were so beautiful! Enjoy this flashback to your day. Copper Ink Wedding Design was so happy to help style your reception!
A pretty chandelier in the center of a elegant room.
The first thing you see when you walk into Kerry & Tommy's wedding!
The guest book, card table and gorgeous floral arrangements.
It's a fairy tale head table. <3
Reserved with love.
Kerry the beautiful bride! (With her new husband doing the Harlem Shake in the background). Love these two! xoxo
Let Copper Ink Wedding Designs help with your wedding programs. Even if we didn't have the honor of helping with your invitations, we're happy to help match your invitations to your programs! Take a look at more program options on our website or our Facebook page.
Here are Kerry & Tommy's from last weekend. Pretty.
These Mad Libs wedding cards are so _______ (adjective)!
Have them out at your wedding for people to fill out, put an "advice for the bride and groom" on the back side, or even send them out as rehearsal dinner invitations and have people bring them along when they attend the evening before your wedding.
So ______(adjective), Maria & Jared! Love it.
There's even a line that reads: "Jared, you should always ______ (verb) Maria's _____ (noun). And Maria, you should always _______ (verb) Jared's _______ (noun).
Get a couple of drunk groomsmen together, and these cards could get real dirty real fast. But memorable, nonetheless.
Thank you, Kara & Nick. The pleasure is all mine.
“Renee, you are such a wonderful person and made the process of creating invites and programs a breeze! You are so creative and have so many unique ideas to make things our own! You custom designed our invites to meet our needs while staying within our budget. You were so quick to respond and make changes and were so focused on us, the couple, and what we wanted for our special day! You were willing to help make changes to things to keep it within our budget, which was fantastic!”
The night I decorated for Susan & Kirk's wedding, I posted a before-and-after photo on Facebook, and one of my dearest Emily's (I have lots of Emily's that I call friends!) sent me a text which read: "Renee, your talents open up the doors for people who need a more affordable venue or want to be married in their hometown, but only have the old Elks or Legion Hall to work with!!"
Those words are so special to me because---let's be honest---not every wedding is a $30,000-$50,000 wedding in a vineyard. I love the fact that I can bring beauty and elegance to even the most modest weddings. And I'm a small-town South Dakota girl, so I know the value of being thrifty and I'm a huge do-it-yourselfer. That's why although this wedding didn't have the biggest, fanciest budget, I LOVED how it turned out. And I LOVE the family I styled it for. And I LOVE that they LOVED it. That's a lot of love.
I'm pleased to share with you the transformation from church basement to gorgeous wedding reception in these photos. It was a beautiful wedding for Susan & Kirk.
Thank you, Andrea, for these amazing photos. Here's the finished room...
Here's their rustic card box, which is also for rent through Copper Ink Wedding Design...
We hung globe lights and swooped fabric from the ceiling. Both elements are for rent from Copper Ink Wedding Design...
Curious what's on the chairs? With a limited budget, we "glammed up" the chairs a bit with a piece of fabric tied with a navy ribbon...
These worn, wood boxes were the centerpieces, filled with small white and blush pink roses. Simple and pretty--that a theme. Fifteen wooden boxes are also for rent through Copper Ink Wedding Designs...
Susan & Kirk set up two old wooden ladders and strung childhood photos from them, complete with vases full of roses below...
These vases of roses lined the appetizer table at the reception with twinkling branches in the background...
And last but not least, a photo of the happy couple. Congratulations, Susan & Kirk! It was a pleasure working with you. (You too, Teresa!)
There's something special about sending your thank you notes out with a photo from your wedding day. It's worth the little extra money to have custom thank you notes printed. And that's what Copper Ink specialized in---anything custom.
Amanda & Curtis won 100 free thank you notes at a door price drawing for stopping by the Copper Ink Wedding Designs tradeshow booth. Congratulations to the beautiful couple!
This postcard can be sent out with only a $0.33 stamp to save some money.
That's all a girl needs. Congratulations, Jenna & Brian! They also chose feltweave textured paper so the burlap background actually feels like burlap. And the lace on the side is complemented with twine and soft pink.
Want to see more burlap and lace? Check out these wedding invitations as well:
Thanks again, Ashton, for your amazing designs. Everyone loves it--Jenna and Brian most importantly. :)
Love this three-page invitation set, BoShana & Sean!
With a pretty shimmery light pink envelope.
All three pages, front and back
Custom monogram
A tasteful way to list subtly list their gift registry.
Pretty font.
Some burlap love.
Julianne and Corey chose programs, menu cards, thank you cards and an Instagram option, all that matched their invitation set. It was beautiful, thoughtful and cohesive.
First, their program on pearlized cream paper:
Then, the front side of their menu card, tucked inside each napkin at the reception dinner:
When guests flipped the menu card over, they found a thank-you wish from Julianne & Corey and an invitation to take photos and post them to Instagram:
Thank you Jenny M Photography for the amazing shots of these pieces. You're amazing!
Copper Ink Wedding Design can design wedding shower invitations too! Jessa's were purple and shimmery white with square cotton envelopes and purple shimmery envelope liners. They were perfect for Jessa's party day!
Thank you, Ashton, for the cute design! Your work is amazing.
What a transformation. From church basement to an elegant wedding reception. Copper Ink was honored to help with your wedding reception styling, Susan & Kirk! Congratulations! More photos to come...
Want to hire Copper Ink to help design your wedding reception? Want to see centerpiece options and rentals? Here's the link for you.
Before and after: Susan & Kirk's wedding reception!
Four-panel fold-out programs with their ceremony order, their wedding party listing, and a paragraph/story written about each person in their wedding party. Their programs make you smile and fall in love with their wedding even more. Aw. Congrats, Kara & Nick!
Want to see more program ideas?
Photography by Burow Photography
Like any good recipe, everything at Copper Ink Wedding Designs is made from scratch, just for you. When we make you a personalized wedding graphic, monogram or design mark....it's yours! It's yours to use on your unity candle, cake topper, banners, programs, and anything you'd like to add your look to.
Well crafted and blended with perfectly mixed elements...here is Andrea & Willie's:
There are tasteful ways to put photos on your wedding invitations. And why not? 1. You paid good money for your engagement photos. 2. Your guests will keep your invitations longer when they have a photo of you two. 3. It's a great way to personalize your invites and your day.
Check out these cute invites for Molly & Ryan! Burlap, wild flowers, mason jars, two folds, a custom map and beautiful photos of a beautiful couple. Can't wait for your wedding this weekend, Molly & Ryan!
One thing that's trending for brides in South Dakota is to send out a "Dance Only" postcard invitation to those on your guest list who didn't QUITE make the list. It's a fun and formal way to invite them to come celebrate with you at your dance only. (It's perfect for old college friends, co-workers, friends-of-friends who you'd like to see there, but aren't close enough to add to the reception list). Here's what Molly & Ryan's looks like!
Thanks for the great photography, Andrea!
Copper Ink Wedding Designs. Many have asked how I came up with that name. Well....it's a combination of my love of science and art. I'm a geek who needs creativity. I'm right-brained and left-brained. It kind of breaks down like this:
Copper: Copper is "Cu" on the Periodic Table of Elements. It also conducts heat and electricity, therefore, Copper Ink is the "element of design and conductor of creativity." I know. Nerdy yet nice.
Ink: Ink is for my love of color on paper. Putting ink on paper is far more satisfying to me than designing on a screen. I guess if I ever have an online store for ordering/customizing wedding invitations, I could call it Copper Pixels. But until then, I will still send hand-written cards to people, draw with Sharpies, look forward to my new paper sample books each month, and put ink on paper. Copper Ink, that is.
If there is ever a physics/wedding/biometrics/design/screen-printing/nanotechnology conference...sign me up.
Renee Halgerson, Copper Ink Wedding Designs
