Save the Date stress...

[karasue91]

We had a friend take some pictures of us in Grand Central. She does photography as a hobby, she''s not professional or anything, but I''ve seen stuff she''s done before and I was impressed. So, we met up after work last week to take some pictures. FI was in a funk and getting annoyed by the picture taking it was 5:30pm on Friday in Grand Central so there were a ridiculous number of people there. But, I had wanted to go at a time when there would be people around because I thought it would be cool to get some pictures that were in the middle of the crowds.

Anyway, we didn''t get one good shot but we got a few decent ones, so we thought a collage of pictures might be a better idea. So, I put the one below together. I didn''t get a great response out of FMIL or FSIL and they are usually very excited about helping with wedding stuff. They didn''t really tell me what they didn''t like about it, so I thought I might post it here to get some ideas of what I could do to fix it up?

Background: We are moving from NYC to Calgary, so I thought this would be a good way to kind of announce that too, since I haven''t seen some of the people these would be going to in a long time. Also, the writing on the sign I just threw in really quick, it would look more like the block letters in the final edition. This would be a 4x6 card and on the back would say names, date, location, and formal invite to follow...

I''m feeling so overwhelmed with the feeling that I have to do something UNIQUE!! For the whole wedding actually, but especially the STDs.

I found a really funny one online here so maybe if the picture thing doesn''t work out, we''ll send these ones out to our friends and nicer ones to family...

Help please! Or, tell me the scrap the idea and order online to save myself the stress!

 

[karasue91]

better in black and white?

 

[ladyciel]

I can completely relate to the FI who can get in a funk when in comes to crowds or other things that annoy him. He WANTS to be happy and in the moment, but he just can''t help it, and knowing he''s lost control of his mood just makes his funk worse. Sadly, and I''m so sorry to say this, I think some of that came through in the photos. I don''t know you or your FI, but the two of you just don''t look honestly happy to me. Combine that with the location, and my mind goes to weary travelers, not excited bride and groom to be.

I realize you''re probably in a difficult position now since you asked your friend to do the photo shoot and it may be hard to set up another one. However, if you''re set on wanting to use a photo (or photos) of the two of you, I think my suggestion is to try once more.

Also, I think the idea of using the sign in the photo for your message is really fun and interesting, but I didn''t even notice it until I read where you pointed it out. I wonder if there''s a way you could make it more prominent?

 

[surfgirl]

kara, what about using only that one photo with the STD on the train announcement board? I love that, very unique, creative and fun!

 

[laine]

I have to say, I don''t love the collage thing. It comes across as too busy to me. If you wanted to use more than one picture, I would use 4 equal sized photos, so its more orderly. But, I think just one photo would be best, and Ladyciel is right, none of those are great. The one with the board is probably the best out of all of them. If you can give it another go, I''d do that, but when its less busy. Crowd shots could be cool, but its more important to get a good picture of the two of you.

 

[karasue91]

Ugh we don''t really have time to take more pictures because our friend who took the pictures is out of town for a while. I think I''m just going to scrap the idea, we need to get these out before Christmas and it''s stressing me out too much!!

I found these really cute ones maybe I''ll just do these!

Thanks for the opinions

 

[Class n Sass]

Kara....I have to agree with many of the other women....But I do want to say that if you decide to go with magnets from magnet street you will definitely be happy with them. I received mine and mailed them out about a month ago. I sometimes get a little nervous about ordering things online but when they arrived I was extremely happy with the quality and their customer service. Good luck!

 

[laine]

Can we see just the kissing picture with the sign (without the others)? That one looked cute, and with the writing on the sign, I think it might work great!

 

[aljdewey]

It was a good idea, but I agree that his discomfort does show through, and there''s very little emotion *between* you both. For me, that''s why the pictures don''t work.

I really think that if you want to do this, you should pick a place with a little less activity (either do the train station in the middle of the night with few around) or a different location where you''ll both be less self-conscious and focus on each other more.

I think B&W would be much better with the right flow if you stick to the train station.

 

[karasue91]

i think our kissing faces look a little weird....i would take out the rest of the glare at the upper left corner of the sign...

 

[karasue91]

FMIL just had an idea to put some wording on this picture like ''Kara xxx and David xxx are getting married!...please save the date...08/09/2008...formal invitation to follow" ...I like this picture

 

[misysu2]

It seems like your theme is travel, but I saw this idea somewhere?? and LOVED IT--

Some rock star and his wife went into one of those mall B&W photobooths and took a series of photos where they were holding up a sign in each photo that gave information about the STD. I think they made these into magents. Anyone know what I''m talking about?

 

[misysu2]

Something like this, except not fake:

 

[karasue91]

the filmstrips are cute....i wouldn''t have idea where to go to find one of those machines! plus it seems like lots of people are doing those filmstrips right now anyway....

i''m about to just rip some paper out of a notebook, write the date and location on it, fold it up and stick it in an envelope!! ahhaha

 

[AceP]

not sure how crafty you, but could you incorporate these somehow? http://www.whiteaisle.com/new_york_postcards.htm

 

[karasue91]

Date: 11/1/2007 12:18:33 PM
Author: AceP
not sure how crafty you, but could you incorporate these somehow? http://www.whiteaisle.com/new_york_postcards.htm

those are cute, and they would only cost us about $50 for all of them!! do you think if we took them to kinkos or something they could print our information on the back? hmmm...

 

[Haven]

First, as for you feeling pressure to be unique--maybe you should reconsider allowing others to make you feel pressured like this. Remember--the save the date card is literally a card you send out to your guests as a courtesy to give them time to prepare for your upcoming wedding. We''re doing everything traditional formal, so we''ll be sending out a traditional formal save the date, which will be a correspondence card with the proper information engraved on it. And that''s it--easy as pie! No pressure, no stress.

As for your save the dates, it looks like you have some really nice pictures of the two of you, and I really like Surfgirl''s idea about using the one in front of the announcement board. I agree that the collage is a bit busy, especially since I''m guessing they will be small.

And I know you mentioned this in jest--but a handwritten note to each of your out-of-town guests would be lovely, and in line with formal corrspondence for a wedding. If you don''t have too many out of town guests, I think they would just adore receiving a handwritten note on lovely stationery from you.

 

[karasue91]

Date: 11/1/2007 3:08:39 PM
Author: Haven
First, as for you feeling pressure to be unique--maybe you should reconsider allowing others to make you feel pressured like this. Remember--the save the date card is literally a card you send out to your guests as a courtesy to give them time to prepare for your upcoming wedding. We''re doing everything traditional formal, so we''ll be sending out a traditional formal save the date, which will be a correspondence card with the proper information engraved on it. And that''s it--easy as pie! No pressure, no stress.

As for your save the dates, it looks like you have some really nice pictures of the two of you, and I really like Surfgirl''s idea about using the one in front of the announcement board. I agree that the collage is a bit busy, especially since I''m guessing they will be small.

And I know you mentioned this in jest--but a handwritten note to each of your out-of-town guests would be lovely, and in line with formal corrspondence for a wedding. If you don''t have too many out of town guests, I think they would just adore receiving a handwritten note on lovely stationery from you.

A handwritten note would be a nice gesture, but basically 90% of our 175 guests are out of town. Plus, my handwriting is atrocious! We just aren''t traditional wedding-type people.

FMIL likes this one, if I could just get the writing to look more like it is written on the glass, I think it would be great...maybe smudge the edges a little or something?

 

[laine]

Thats definitely the best picture of you both (the doors). Could you maybe put some lettering down the wood in the center, so it looks a little less like its dividing you, make it more part of the whole thing...

 

[gtn]

I''m not sold on the idea of having all of the information "written in glass" on the picture. I''m thinking you could use the picture of the doors in black and white or in sepia. Then mount the picture over a black or white background. In contrasting ink, write the stuff on David''s side of the picture in the under-mounting.

Save the Date
David and Kara are getting married

Formal invitation to follow

All the stuff on your side of the photo is left where it is. To make it look like writing on the glass look for a font that is used in older buildings. That blocked serifed font. Also put each sentence in it''s own line

I would also recommend getting a website for more detailed information. You could get one from www.googlepages.com.. Make sure you sign up for a google account first. Then your url would be:

Your_google_user_name.googlepages.com

The nice thing about this is that it is free and you don''t need any web design knowledge to do.

I would love to see what you end up doing. Good luck.

 

[karasue91]

thanks gtn! i like the black and white idea with a border. maybe we could just leave it at that and have all the info on the back of the card?

here is my effort...

 

[karasue91]

I was also just playing around and did this!! It turned out so cool!!! If I could fix the lettering, I really like this one. Also, it blots out the weird details of our lips kissing and just gives you the general idea...

 

[karasue91]

Well here is the final product....I think it looks Warhol-esque!! Not sure if we''ll use it or the black and white door one, but I think this one turned out so cool!! I would put the rest of the info on the back of the card.

 

[partyjewels]

I like the last version you posted of the kiss with the train sign behind it Otherwise, I think the door picture is great too! In the picture that we ended up using for our save the date, the sun was in my FI eyes so he's got a weird look on his face, however, it's still a pretty nice picture, and you can tell in the pic that the sun was in his face, and I'm squinting a bit too, but we decided that we weren't going to keep agonizing over what picture to use (ok, I decided, because he didn't care too much what it looked it, as long as it went out sometime before the wedding, hehe). I'm so indecisive that I just bit the bullet and used that picture, and now I'm waiting for them to come in the mail, hoping I didn't do any typos for the info!!!

Can't wait to see what you end up using!

ETA:

Ok, so you put up a finalized one after I posted, and i love it. Though I gotta say, I like the door thing to, I don't see it as separating you so much as you guys about to walk through the door to the rest of your life or something cheesy like that Anyways, it's awesome! Where are you printing them? Make sure to do a test print to see how it comes out, because while pictures looks so cool on the computer sometimes they don't come out so well when printed

But again, I LOVE IT! No matter which one you pick will look great!

 

[Haven]

Kara--I LOVE what you did with the picture of the two of you kissing, the lettering is absolutely perfect! That picture at the door is great too, so now you have a difficult decision to make.

My vote--kissing picture, it is both unique AND memorable. (You should do this for a living! I can''t believe how great it looks!)

 

[karasue91]

yay!! thank you!

pj - i like the symbolism of the doors too! i''m going to take them both to kinko''s tomorrow morning to get them printed up and see which one turns out better.

thanks so much for everyone''s opinions and feedback!!