Use these following USPS postal guidelines when choosing your invitations:

1. Size: To be mailable and not have to be hand sorted (this means if  you want your invitations to mail faster and mail at the standard first class rate) your envelope must be a minimum of 3.5 in x 5 and no larger than 6 in x 11 in.

2. Thickness: 1/4 inch maximum thickness- this means if you want a cute bow or accessory you should check to see how thick it is. Anything thicker will be more likely to rip the envelope while in transit.

3. Weight: One ounce or less. So it’s best to not stuff a bunch of extra sheets of paper inside!

USPS standards template

Bride on a Budget?

Square invitations probably aren’t the best size choice for a Bride on a Budget! Squares are considered non-standard size mail and cost an additional .20¢ per envelope. So, if you have 200 square invites with a stamp on the outer and inner envelopes, that’s an additional $80 in postage to the already $176!

Why not put your wedding program text on a fan.

Email april@yourbrideidea.com to get a quote.

5-10 panels

Add text on both sides!

]]> http://yourbrideidea.wordpress.com/2009/07/18/your-bride-idea-does-fans/feed/ 0 April Wireman Panel Fan paddle fan http://yourbrideidea.wordpress.com/2009/05/16/hello-world/ http://yourbrideidea.wordpress.com/2009/05/16/hello-world/#comments Sat, 16 May 2009 13:28:40 +0000 April Wireman ]]> Choosing colors can be quite difficult if you aren’t really sure which combination’s work well together. A few things to take into account … Definitely choose color(s) that you love, but also take the following into consideration :

• What season/ month are you getting married in? If you are getting married in the Spring and Summer months you might want to use bright/bold colors or pastels. (Thank goodness I went for light yellow…My wedding was outside in June, in Ohio and it was 102 degrees outside! I guess it was a good call to dress the guy’s in white tuxes and girl’s in tea-length dresses.) If your wedding is in the Fall or Winter, deep/rich colors tend to be most popular.

• Where are you getting married? What does the interior and exterior of the building look like? Colors, textures, patterns, etc. Is your wedding going to be inside or outside?

• Do these colors match? Colors don’t have to necessarily match per say. This might sound a little confusing, but there are many color combination’s that work well together. You may have never thought of, or even really known why they work together so I will explain.A color wheel can easily help you choose coordinating colors. If you take a look at a color wheel it is made up of three primary colors- Red, Blue, and Yellow. The colors in between are called secondary colors- Green, Purple, and Orange.The colors that are in between primary and secondary colors are called Tertiary colors.

Here are some suggestions of color schemes…

• Analogous- colors that lie next to each other on the wheel, for example: Yellow, Lime, Green or Orange, Pink, Red

• Monochromatic- color variations of the same tone, such as Dark, Medium, and Light Green.

• Warm colors- Red, Orange, and Yellow

• Cool colors- Blue, Green, and purple.

Be careful when using…

• Complementary-colors that are opposite each other on the wheel, such as red and green, blue and orange, purple and yellow. Use these colors if you really want your colors to pop!

If you can get your hands on a Pantone book this is a great tool for choosing colors- Pantone (PMS colors) swatches is a universal color system that graphic designers, printers, etc. go by to match specific colors. Tip: It’s best to pick a main color and one or two accent colors. Don’t be afraid to use color! There are so many ways to add splashes of colors without “matching” Try using color in your attire, invitations, flowers, cake, and favors.