This months spotlight is on Celadon Home; a precious shop that is dedicated to creating one of a kind personalized wedding gifts with that artistic touch that will keep guests talking for years to come.

Invitation Buzz is a fairly new concept started by two savvy ladies looking to help you collaborate the joys of 'event planning'.
'Swarming with all things stationary' they are determined to bring you the largest selection of designs to help solve your stationary needs.

Their site continually includes features from the highest quality stationary producers from across the country and around the world.

Invitation buzz has so graciously chosen to feature a save the date set currently on sale in my shop

These are the newest fonts I have available as of April 2010. To review all the original fonts, still available for use, please visit my older post "Script Fonts---Now Available"

Just another way I love to help make wedding preparations easier for you! Enjoy!

There is no design out of reach with my personalized service, customizing any look you wish to incorporate into your wedding stationary.


I work side by side with a very talented designer: Merrilee of Modern Renaissance

Together we can create the look you are dreaming of!












You can incorporate location concepts....















Specific decorative accents....

























Overall design schemes...

































Decorative motifs...


































Seasonal elements....






















As well as "personal" inside jokes, between you and your love...

The older I get, I'm only pushing 30 but still, the more I come to realize what the definition of "Vacation" really is. As a military family I used to think "Vacation" was any time we had a chance to hit the road for a week or two and visit with family.

Well...after quiet a few "family" visits gone wrong; I have a new found longing for just a quite, relaxing time enjoying the playful laughs of my children and flirtation banter with my hubby. None of which can be found in the midst of a long road trip and the bustle of a family get together.

With the recent closure of my shop and my frequent "disappearing" acts I'm sure some of you have thought I have found myself on some sort of extended vacation. Not the case, quite yet.


Paper Perfections has grown more successful than I originally anticipated, in which I owe God all the credit. I have now found myself in the place of having to close my shop doors of the month of March.

Since the quality of my product as well as customer service is on the top of my priority list I have had to close down in order to give all of my brides the attention to detail the deserve. I plan on opening back up on the 20th of March, featuring a "Grand Re-Opening" with new styles and professional photos in order to give a better visual effect to the Wedding Stationary I provide. I will also showcase a calendar schedule to keep each bride current on the slots available.

I look forward to seeing you there!
In the mean time please feel free to enjoy the current blog posts.

As the very ingenious, thoughtful, bride you are...you have
taken extreme care in choosing your wedding stationary.
As your invitation sets the whole tone
for your wedding you have spared no expense to make sure
they match just as closely as your flowers match your linens.

Whether you have worked closely with a designer, like myself, hand picked them from a local stationary shop or even taken the time to make them yourself; how do you go about to ensure they make it to your guest's hands just as beautifully?

The simple answer is, "Be sure and Hand Cancel." But as with most things in life, to get something done right the first time a bit of thought and careful planning must go into it.

First of all, for those of you who are new to hand canceling, I'll briefly explain.
Hand Canceling consists of a postal marking placed upon a stamp, envelop or post card by hand and by a postal authority. This indicates the date and location, and prevents the stamp from being reused. A canceller, which is applied by stamps, by hand. A cancellation applied with a hand-held device, as opposed to a cancellation applied by machine.
A common misconception at this point is they will "never" run through a machine. While hand canceling prevents your precious package from running through the traditional 2-3 machine route, there is a high possibility they will have to pass through a few sorters.

With that said, finding a post office willing to take on this task takes as much "shopping" around as it does to find those perfect shoes.

If you live in the city, I highly suggest driving to a post office on the outskirts of town. As hand canceling is supposed to be a federal service provided by all post offices, many have the choice to deny that service based upon the amount of employees available.
So when you hear "No", most likely they can, they just don't have the time or don't want to take the time. If they don't have the time you don't want to have them do it anyways because the greatest of care will not be taken with you stationary.

In all the research I have done on this subject it seems about 50% of brides have been happy with hand canceling and 50% have not. This is why I think it's very important to start off with a post office filled with workers you trust and are pleased to take the time to ensure your Invitations are handled with care.

The HoneyBee Wedding Blog actually had a very precise article on hand canceling to include photos with the difference between hand canceling and not.

Sure hope that helps! Enjoy

Looking to put a fresh spin on things that none of your friends have tried?

Consider some of the creative touches regarded as traditional of an Australian wedding.

Claire and Daniel are a vibrant Australian couple planning a very special blend of what’s old and new as they prepare to tie the knot.


Seating:

I think this seems to be a big one; it seems like there alot of couples who just have the names near the entrance and people can sit anywhere. Normally in an Australian wedding, half the stress is sorting out the all important 'seating plan!' Guests don't choose where they sit you basically allocate them to a table and a spot. When guests attend the reception the plan is displayed so you know where you'll be sitting and when you get to the table your name tag is set for the spot that you'll be sitting. I don't know which system is better really; I know just letting people chose would be easier but I guess this avoids the whole 'oh Auntie Joan must be kept away from cousin Bertha type issue' although it does involve more planning!

I asked Claire if there was any ever issues with guest following the seating chart?

“Yep guests always follow the seating chart. So when you get to a reception you have the seating chart usually outside where you may have pre dinner drinks or something telling everyone which table they are on. They get to that table when they go in and each seat is marked out with a place card with their names so each seat has been specifically allocated. Yes, time consuming! But, yes, also avoids any awkard situations so you don't end up with people that don't like each other near one other.”

Favors:

We tend to call favors “Bomboniere”. It is actually an Italian word for favours given to wedding guest. As traditionally it was an Italian tradition to give the almond as “bomboniere” for wedding favors.

The “Wishing Well:

In Australia most people these days have a wishing well. With the invite they include a little card telling people that “as they have most things they request money instead.” usually this is in form of a poem of some sort. I guess its a bit of a strange one and I know one that we struggled with; asking for gifts by including a note where your registry is set up seems a bit wrong but asking for money even worse! It was one that we really went a bit back and forth about. However, it's very practical and now days everyone here does them. We have four weddings in the next few months and they all have a wishing well card. We thought; maybe if its acceptable now, we'd do it too.
We did try and word our card accordingly however, to let people know we weren't expecting a gift and it was entirely up to them if they wished to: A - get us anything and then B- if they wanted to get is money instead. A bit of a sticky one however and I guess if its something that you aren't used to it can appear quite rude but like I said here its the done thing.
Normally couples use a well (hence the term) but now days people have all sorts of things from a display of pretend boxes all wrapped up with a slot in them, to luggage (to symbolise the honeymoon) I've heard of people having a little post box! Now a few people, me included, are having a old wrough iron bird cage that you drop the envelope in. Normally these will sit on a table inside the reception

At the reception: it’s the speeches, games and dances

This is where each couple puts their own special twist on the overall entertainment. I've heard of Guitar hero to karoke where the best table wins something; To quizes about the couples. oh actually one that I heard of that I liked involves the garter being put on a football (good for football fans out there) The groom turns his back and all the guys get up and try and catch it. The one who catches the ball gets to keep the football and the garter.
Tieing up the Wedding; “What to do with the bouquet?” Sometimes the bride gives her bouquet to someone that she thinks has helped her or that she wants to thank rather than throwing it

Enjoy!