Wedding season is well underway!  Each day our wedding specialists receive inquiries questioning the reasons we use different parts of a wedding invitation.  One of the most recently popular inquiries is about the use of a double envelope with a wedding ensemble.

A double envelope wedding ensemble features your invitation, reply card, reception card or accessories tucked into one un-gummed, (not glued), envelope, which is the inner envelope.  If you have chosen to have your inner envelope lined, the inner envelope will be lined as well, not the outer envelope.  The inner envelope is then placed into the outer envelope which is addressed on the front with your guest’s address, stamped and sealed.

Double envelopes were originally invented in an effort to keep your wedding invitation safe when in transit.  In the old days, when someone sent a letter or document to someone far away, there was a large chance that the item would be tattered, worn or littered in transit.  The idea behind having two envelopes was that the outer envelope could then be worn through the mail, but when the guest opened the outer envelope they still had an inner envelope with the wedding ensemble safe and unscorn inside.  With today’s USPS standards, there’s less of a need for a double envelope, and wedding ensembles are quite often being made with only one invitation envelope.  It is more popular that traditional themed wedding invitations will have a double envelope while a contemporary styled invitation will have a single envelope.

Many of our vendors at InvitationBox.com offer double envelopes including Birchcraft Studios, Embossed Graphics and William Arthur.  Not all invitations are available with a double envelope, so make sure you check with your wedding specialist if you don’t see the option when placing your order. 

Remember when you receive your wedding ensemble that your guest’s formal name goes on the front of the invitation outer envelope.  The guest’s informal name or guest request would be on the front of the inner envelope.  For example, the front of your outer envelope may read, “Mr. James L. Smith”.  The inner envelope would then read, “James Smith and Guest”.  You would also include children’s names on the inner envelope.

Have any other wedding inquiries?  Send them our way!  Our wedding specialists are happy to assist and will help you make sure you have the perfect wedding ensemble for your big day!

It’s time to play stump the wedding specialist!  Our printing team printed a customer’s order this morning whose bridal shower theme was a “progressive lingerie shower”.  When our printer inquired to me about what type of shower this was, to be honest, I had to go look it up!  What I found was a really great party theme / idea that I knew I had to share with my readers! 

A progressive party is typically used for bridal or baby showers, however it can certainly be used for a holiday party or adult birthday party.    A progressive shower is one that moves from place to place, or house to house over the course of a few hours.  The party will begin at one residence and gradually move on and on with each next stop being a different activity or part of the event.  This is a great way to lighten the hostesses load and have everyone included in planning the shower. 

Below is a typical scenario of what typically takes place at a progressive bridal shower…

House 1 - Meet and greet with the honoree and guests at the first house with cocktails.  This is a great way for everyone to get acquainted and make sure all guests are there before the shower starts progressing.

House 2 - Serve hors d’oeuvres or a meal at the second home.

House 3 - After everyone has eaten, plan games, a craft or entertainment at the next home.

House 4 - Have the honoree open her gifts.  Remember to have one of the bridesmaids keep track of who sent what gift, for writing thank you notes later.

House 5 - End the night with snacks, cupcakes, cake and coffee before all guests return home.

When planning your progressive party, remember that some guests may not be familiar with this new bridal shower theme.  Be sure to explain to your guests on your invitation or when using your RSVP as to the plans for the evening.  Progressive bridal showers work best with hosts having a residence in close proximity so that guests can walk from place to place.  You certainly don’t want 50 cars driving from neighborhood to neighborhood and some guests getting lost.  Choose a fun bridal shower invitation from our Generic Bridal Shower Collection!

Save the date to celebrate!  With all of the fall and winter engagements, spring, summer and fall weddings are well underway for planning!  Sending a save the date card to family, friends and relatives will let your guests know of your chosen wedding date and destination to ensure your guests can attend and reserve the date for your special day. 

Save the date cards should be mailed out approximately six months prior to your wedding day.  If you are hosting a destination wedding, save the dates can be sent eight months to a year in advance to allow your guests to financially prepare to attend your big day, as well as to make travel arrangements. 

When choosing your save the date card, it can coincide with your wedding theme, or be completely different!  If you’re having a formal wedding, it’s even acceptable to send a wild and crazy save the date, like this one  here in the top left corner, the Bold and Brilliant Save the Date Magnet.  One of our most popular save the date card styles is our digital photo save the date cards which allows you to send a portrait of the engaged couple along with a few of your wedding details.  If photos aren’t your style, you can also choose from an array of casual save the date cards with outdoor themes or silhouette bride and groom couples or a more formal design with an elegant pattern or motif border. 

Your save the date card should include a few pertinent details about your wedding, however it should not include all details of your wedding, as venues, times or locations may change over the coming months.  Your save the date card should include the names of the couple to be wed, a wedding date, location (city and state is sufficient), as well as a phrase such as, “Invitation to follow”.  You may even want to include a wedding website, especially if you have a lot of information for guests to review.

Below are some of our most popular save the date cards. 

When choosing your save the date card, remember to have fun and choose something that represents you as a couple.  Save the date cards will make a perfect keepsake for the beginning of your wedding album!

It’s the season for love, and I’m sure you have plenty to give!  You may not have even pondered the idea, but Valentine’s Day photo greeting cards are a great way to keep in touch with family and friends in the beginning of the year.  Maybe you got caught up in the holiday rush and forgot to send out Christmas greeting cards this year. 

A Valentine’s Day greeting card is a great way to still keep in touch, not too far from the holiday season.  Choose a photo greeting card with a picture of the kids to show how much they’ve grown, or choose a picture of the couple in love like this one here on the left which photographs an embracing couple on their wedding day.   You can even double up and use a Valentine’s Day greeting card as your marriage announcement or save the date card.  After all, it is the season of love, and nothing goes better than a wedding celebration or announcement. 

The card above is our Sprinkled with Love Photo Valentine Card by IB Designs, our very own brand of invitations, stationery and greeting cards.  This loving card features a light pink background with a white heart field growing at the bottom of the card. One of the hearts has grown large which holds your  digital photograph under a sprinkling of confetti.  These unique cards feature a coordinating printed back with a floral and scroll heart design.  Pair it with a pink round sticker or envelope seal to make a complete Valentine’s Day ensemble.

Below are some of our other favorite photo valentines that are just too sweet not to share.  You can choose from classic Valentine’s Day designs with hearts and pink, red or purple hues or choose a more modern design with a red floral valentine pattern, a heart design or a xo xo theme.  Add your photograph to the card for a personal touch.  Checkout the below designs and more at InvitationBox!

When planning a friend’s bridal shower, I was once asked, “What kind of bridal shower are you choosing?”  This was long before my InvitationBox.com days, and it kind of took me off guard.  “There are different KINDS of bridal showers??”  In a word: Absolutely!  Gone are the days of the traditional bridal showers with a generic wedding or bride and groom genre.  These days, themed bridal showers are some of the most popular bridal events hosted. 

A themed bridal shower is to help the bride, (and possibly groom), receive the gifts they actually need, rather than ten sets of white towels, three toasters and forty bath soaps that they may never use or have to return.  In the past, many couples did not live together prior to their wedding, thus many couples needed common household items to help build a home.  With many of today’s modern couples, they already have formed a home prior to marriage, and may just need a few key things to get on their feet after walking down the aisle.  Themed bridal showers are perfect for these types of situations. 

What type of bridal shower should you host?  Take a look at the fun list below and choose which shower works best for your bride and groom…

Around the Clock - Around the clock showers are great for the bride that needs a little bit of everything.  Assign each guest a time of the day to purchase a gift for.  For example, if your time is 8 AM, you may purchase a bathrobe or a set of coffee with mugs.  If your time is 6 PM, you may purchase a silverware set or serving platter.  Open the gifts in order of time from morning to night!

Around the House - Around the house showers are great for brides that need specific items for building up specific rooms in their new home.  If one room needs more than others, assign multiple guests to that specific room.  If you have the bedroom, perhaps you’d purchase some lacy lingerie.  If you have the kitchen, perhaps you’d purchase a cooking set or potholders.

Linen & Lingerie - Lacy to racy?  This fun shower theme is great for the bride who already has everything.  So instead of spicing up her kitchen, spice up her love life with a linen and lingerie shower.  Guests can purchase towels or bed linens, or spice things up with a nightie or underwear set.  Be sure the bride is comfortable with you giving out her measurements, first!!

Garden & Tools - Perfect for those hosting a couples shower for their bridal shower, a garden and tools shower will help the bride AND groom receive gifts before their wedding day.  Ask some guests to bring garden tools and some to bring ‘man’ tools, or your guests can pick and choose which they’d like to bring.  This type of shower is great to help celebrate the happy couple together.

Stock the Kitchen / Stock the Bar - If there’s one room in particular that needs help, it may be the bride and groom’s kitchen or bar.  These items can be rather expensive for a newly engaged couple, and your guests will love to help out whether they’re purchasing a mixer, toaster, kitchen utensil set or a bottle of Jack!

Remember when choosing your bridal shower theme to choose a bridal shower invitation to coordinate!  Be sure to choose an invitation that clearly explains your theme so that all guests will know how to participate.  Above are some of our favorite themed bridal shower invitations to coordinate with the themes above!

Calling all Super Bowl fans out there, it’s FINALLY been decided…The Steelers will take on the Packers in Arlington, TX this February 6, 2011 for Super Bowl XLV!  I think I’m going to have to become a Steelers fan this year, as my beloved Giants didn’t make the cut!

Now that we know who to root for, it’s REALLY time to start thinking about those super bowl party invitations, as you only have two more weeks to plan your annual super bowl party, (or to start new annual trend)!  One of our most popular super bowl invitations this year has been our ticket stub invitations by Special Event Ticketing.  These sporty ticket stub-style invitations come in your choice of color for your game day, (silver, purple, blue, light blue, green, orange, yellow, pink or red).  Choose a variety of colors, or mix it up with green tickets and yellow tickets to support your favorite team.  You can even choose multiple ticket colors for a fun combination.

Our ticket invitations are perforated just like a real ticket-stub, and you can fully customize the ticket with your party invitation text.  You can even go as far as to write your own ticket numbers on the stamp to coincide with your favorite football player’s number or the XLV theme. 

Ticket invitations ship ultra-fast, so if you’re late on the game, there’s no need to worry.  Ticket orders typically ship out within just one business day, and also have the option for upgraded shipping, to insure your guests receive their invitations on time.  Thinking about accessories?   Our ticket invitations are even available with magnets, lanyards, place card holders or RSVP card envelopes if you need a reply…all of the things you’ll need to make game-day special.  Not sure if tickets are your thing?  Checkout the entire football invitation collection at InvitationBox.com!

Come as you aren’t!  Fat Tuesday is on March 8, 2011.  It’s time to search for those famous beads you keep hidden in your closet and begin the search for your brand new Mardi Gras mask! 

Mardi Gras themed parties are more and more popular in the beginning year months as we prepare for this wild, crazy and fun holiday.  They’re really fun, and a great way to get your guests involved in your party theme.  Ask your guests to wear a mask when they come to your event and then guess who is who when they walk into the party.  Give each guest a handful of colorful beads and have them award the person with the best mask their beads.  Whoever has the most beads at the end of the night can win a prize for the best mask at the party!  

Set the scene for your Mardi Gras themed party with traditional Mardi Gras colors of purple, green, gold and black.  Spread confetti or beads across your table tops and around the room.  Use a light machine to create a dance club ambiance and have some crazy tunes in the background.  Be sure to take plenty of pictures of guests as they arrive in their Mardi Gras masks and attire.

When choosing a Mardi Gras invitation, choose a design which best accentuates your party style, whether it’s upscale or completely wild and for the books.  Our Mardi Gras invitations feature colorful masks, feather and bead designs, traditional Mardi Gras hues in gold, purple and green or festive party cocktails.  Below are some of our favorite and most popular Mardi Gras designs…

 Ready to start planning your next Mardi Gras themed event?  Mardi Gras parties are not only great for sweet 16′s, adult birthday parties or cocktail parties, they are also great for corporate events to create a team building event for all to attend.  

Planning a Mardi Gras party or have you planned one in the past?  Be sure to share with us your Mardi Gras party ideas or stories!

Valentine’s Day is February 14th and truly just around the corner.  It’s time to start thinking about a gift for that special someone in your life, whether it’s your husband or wife, girlfriend or boyfriend, best friend, parent, child or nieces and nephews.  Valentine’s Day is a great excuse to tell someone important to you that you love them, and show them how much you care.

Some of the most popular and traditional Valentine’s Day gift ideas are chocolate candy hearts, Valentine’s Day stuffed animals, jewelry, cards, balloons, a dozen red roses, a romantic dinner or tickets to a sporting event…pretty much anything special, thoughtful or romantic.  At InvitationBox.com, we have a collection of Valentine’s Day stuffed animals that are perfect for Valentine’s Day gifts, whether you ship it to yourself to have ready for Valentine’s Day or you send it to a loved one from afar.  In the top left corner, we have displayed our Love Cubs collection of miniature teddy bears which hold a colorful conversation heart with a sweet Valentine’s message printed upon it.  These tiny bears are great for gifts for kids as well as a decoration to put on the outside of a gift for an adult.

Our Valentine’s Day stuffed animal collection currently has each item discounted to help you purchase the perfect gift for your loved one. We have Yowler, an adorable brown and white hound dog with droopy ears who wears a red bow tied around his neck.  A tiny red dog tag sits under his head which reads, “Forever Yours”.  He’s the perfect gift choice for giving a furry animal to a loved one or significant other.  We also have Lovely the Bear and Honeybunch who are two adorable white teddy bears who also wear red bows around their neck. Lovely holds a red heart.  These two bears are great for anyone you love whether it’s a kid or an adult. 

Checkout these lovable, huggable stuffed animals below…

Hoping that someone sends YOU one of these furry love animals this Valentine’s Day?  Someone just might!  Do your part and send a huggable animal to someone special this Valentine’s Day and truly make them feel loved!

Dear Jacob,
I like you.  Do you like me? 
Circle one: 
YES  -  NO  -  MAYBE

Will YOU be my valentine?  Valentine’s Day is not too far away, and pretty soon your kids will be ready to choose their perfect valentine.  Remember how much fun it was at school on Valentine’s Day to create your own valentine mailbox and go around the room handing out valentines to your classmates?  You may have even made an extra-special valentine for that special someone that you’d been crushing on.

Bring the love and fun of valentine’s day to your child with a personalized valentine from our Valentine Card Collection.  Our vendors have worked hard to provide the cutest valentine designs for the 2011 holiday season.  The new designs feature traditional valentine designs with hearts in pink, purple and red as well as more modern designs that kids love with guitars, peace signs, cartoon characters, candy hearts, monsters, trucks and princess themes.  Your child can choose the valentine design that best matches their personality and interests.

Our valentine cards come with fun characters as noted above, and some even have your child’s photograph printed directly onto the card!  This works great for those who like to keep valentines for keepsakes to look back on over the years.  Our valentine cards also take the work out of hand-writing 50 valentines to friends, as they are already personalized with your child’s name and valentine message.  Simply add the recipient’s name to the envelope, and you’re ready to hand them out!

Take a look at some of our brand new valentines below…

In the mood for love?  Our valentines ship out very fast at 2-4 business days for most items.  Shop our entire Valentine Card collection at InvitationBox!

Pocket wedding invitations are one of the most popular wedding styles for the modern bride and groom.  They are elegant, chic and sometimes extravagant and also portray an essence of formality to your wedding ensemble.  Pocket style invitations are also perfect for keeping your wedding details organized and together in one convenient location, where you can tuck your reply card, reception card or directions card into the pocket flap of the invitation.

IB Designs, InvitationBox.com’s very own brand of invitations, has introduced a brand new line of elegant pocket style invitations which are printed on shimmer card stocks in a multitude of different colors including ebony, pink rose, red linen, green linen, antique gold, classic silver, navy or lagoon.  The pocket is paired with a white crystal shimmer or ivory shimmer card stock which is printed with your invitation text.  A pre-tied satin ribbon tops off the ensemble and slides around the pocket base to hold the ensemble together.  Combined together, these three pieces create a wedding or formal party ensemble that cannot be outdone.  Each pocket style invitation also includes a coordinating shimmer envelope to match the ivory or white crystal card stock.

The chic pocket invitation you see above is our Lagoon Pocket with Ivory Card and Brown Bow invitation.  This contemporary colored invitation is perfect for brides with Tiffany’s themed wedding colors, or a tropical wedding theme.  The lagoon pocket is a teal shimmer color with a brown satin bow to create an appealingly striking color combination.  This invitation would be great for wedding invitations, sweet 16 party invitations, formal party invitations or even a Bat Mitzvah.

Below are some of the newest formal pocket invitations you’ll see when browsing through the IB Designs collection.  Like the colors but don’t see your desired combination?  Check with our customer service reps to mix and match the colors we have available…