The Green Kangaroo - Unique Wedding Invitations and Stationery

Okay brides, you do NOT want to miss out on this month’s promotion! Our entire line of wedding day stationery is eligible for a 20% discount, today through September 30, 2010! This is an incredible savings on all the stationery items you’ll need on the day of your wedding, including wedding programs, wedding reception place cards, table cards, and menus.

Just enter the promo code: sept20wds at check out to receive this great 20% off savings.

And just to keep things interesting … Head Kangaroo Kristen told me to throw in FREE reply postcards on Signature Wedding Invitation orders! No promo code required for this one. Simply select the “postcard RSVP” option during the Build & Buy ordering process and the discount will be automatically applied to your order. How cool is that?

Both offers end September 30, 2010 and are not retroactive to any orders placed prior to this announcement. Free RSVP postcard offer does not apply to Signature Pockets, Signature Raised, or Couture invitations.

While TGK was built on giving our customers the freedom to make their own design choices, that doesn’t mean they all make “good” choices! One area that often causes confusion is in choosing the appropriate font styles for wedding invitations. Not to worry! Our guide will help pave the way for those of you who are a bit confused about the purpose of combining one font with another on your wedding stationery.

Block fonts are typically used for the body of your invitation to ensure legibility for the key details of your event. These fonts read well even in smaller point sizes and are ideal for lengthy driving directions and information on hotel accommodations.

Now, unless you are the ultra-mod type, you’ll probably need something to soften up the block font a bit! That’s where the script font comes in!

The script font is what gives your invitation its personality. Script fonts are the class of “scrolly,” decorative type that we love to use for the names of the Bride and Groom, and for accent text on the accessory cards. Script fonts can be hard to read at small point sizes, so we don’t recommend using script fonts for the body of your invitation.

Hydrangea Invitation featuring a combination of block and script fonts

TGK’s solution to the font debate? We recommend combining the block and script fonts… using block fonts for the body of the invitation (so it remains legible), while adding extra oomph around the names of the Bride and Groom with a lovely script font.

Kristen’s fellow Wedding Ace and bridal attire guru, Jessica, recently posted a fabulous inspiration board showcasing bridal hats in place of the traditional veil. Knowing our blog readers are always looking for unique wedding ideas, we thought we’d share Jessica’s inspiration board with you. (And doesn’t the darling hat featured in the bottom right corner of the board remind you of last week’s Real Weddings bride Nicole’s use of peacock feathers as her inspiration?) How will you be capping your bridal look – with a veil or a chic hat?

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Credits, clockwise, from upper left: Unveiled Bridal Designs, Amy Jo Tatum, Erica Koesler, Erica Koesler, ItstheLittleThingsut, EMilliner, Alice Hart Couture

Are you a wedding professional looking for ways to grow your business and increase profits? Would you like to offer more valuable discounts to your brides? Do you {heart} The Green Kangaroo’s wedding invitations and wedding stationery?

If so, our Affiliate Program might just be right for you! By partnering with The Green Kangaroo, and referring your clients to us, you’ll earn lucrative rewards that you may choose to either invest back in your business or pass along to your brides! We are currently looking for high quality wedding professionals to add to our referral network through our Affiliate Program. Check out our Affiliate Program page for information on how to connect with us to learn the details of the program. We would love to work with you!

TGK’s Fall Leaves Motif on Programs, Table Cards, and Place Cards

Getting married in September or October? Then it’s time to hop to it and order your wedding day stationery! Wedding day stationery encompasses any printed items that will be used on the actual day of your wedding, such as your ceremony programs. But your options don’t end there! Depending on the type of event you are planning, these wedding day stationery items not only contribute to the overall beauty and style of your event, but can also serve as helpful cues for your guests.

~ Table Numbers

~ Place Cards

~ Menus

~ Favor Tags

~ Buffet / Food Labels

~ And labels for other items, such as the basket holding flower petals for guests to toss upon your departure, or marking the guest book and gift tables.

Coordinating your wedding day stationery with your wedding invitations and other design elements is a spectacular, budget-friendly trick for creating a cohesive, stylish event. So if you’re getting married this fall, shoot this “to-do” to the top of your list!

Sad to see summer go? We’ll help you say goodbye with a sweet, end-of-summer savings— FREE shipping on all orders placed through the end of August! Starting today, all orders over $250 will receive FREE ground shipping.

Hurry! This offer expires on August 31, 2010

Promotion Exclusions

• Offer is not retroactive and is not applicable on orders placed before August 18, 2010 or after August 31, 2010 – no exceptions.
• Applies only to UPS Ground shipping.

If you simply love the way a particular element of your wedding has turned out, (say, for example, your wedding invitations!) then consider using them as a spring board for designing the rest of your event. Check out these inventive cakes that beautifully mirror the designs of some of TGK’s most popular wedding invitations.

The delicate floral filigree motif on our best-selling Josie wedding invitation is intricately captured on the subtle, monochromatic pipings on this classic wedding cake.

The clean lines and striking contrasts of our glamorous Grace wedding invitation are highlighted with black ribbons-either real or frosted-on these chic cakes.

This non-traditional, sky-blue fondant cake is embellished with real seashells and starfish, just like our divine Coastal Ava Couture wedding invitation

Have you used your wedding invitation to inspire other design elements, such as your cake? If so, we’d love to see photos!

We loved working with Nicole and David, who tied the knot back in February in Newark, NJ. Nicole’s vision for her wedding was for class all the way, with a few funky twists to keep the event fun and stylish. When she told us she used a peacock feather as her inspiration point for her colors and décor, we knew she was a girl after our own hearts!

Nicole and David settled on the subtle beauty of a champagne, chocolate brown, and gold color scheme and worked in striking hints of peacock teal. We adore Nicole’s nod to her peacock muse, tying her TGK-designed place cards to full-size peacock feathers for a fun and feathery memento for her guests!

The Floral Decor Wedding Program

“I truly loved what TGK Designs came up with for my stationery,” Nicole said. “I decided that I wanted everything to flow, to carry a similar look, so I ordered the wedding invitations, church programs, place cards, and table cards through TGK Designs. They were extremely easy to work with, knew exactly what I wanted, and they made sure that everything was flawless. I truly want to thank TGK for putting my visions together into an amazing evening!!”

Well, Nicole, it was our pleasure!

When it comes time to place your wedding invitation order, be careful in determining the actual number of invitations you need. Don’t over-buy wedding invitations! While your “headcount” is probably bouncing around in your brain as a critical number for every vendor from the ceremony site to the caterer, remember that you don’t actually need an invitation for every single wedding guest. Many, if not most, of your guests are members of the same household, which means you can double (or triple, or quadruple!) up on how many individuals a particular invite is addressed to. This translates into major savings over buying an invitation for every guest!

Circles and Dots Clutch Wedding Invitation

Here are the guidelines for determining whether or not a guest should receive their own invitation:

1. Immediate family members, living in the same household, can all be included on a family invitation.

2. However, children over the age of 18 should receive their own invitation, even if still living at their childhood home.

3. You can send a single invitation to a non-married guest who is invited to bring a date if you don’t know the date well enough to send them their own invitation. Simply pen “and guest” following the person’s name on the inner envelope.+

4. Inviting a set of roommates? Send them each their own invitation, even though they live in the same household.

Of course, you will want to order a few extra invitations to account for last minute guest list additions and several keepsakes for yourself and perhaps your parents. And most stationers will supply you with a few extra envelopes to account for addressing goofs, but it’s wise to double check this policy with your vendor. We recommend ordering 10-15 extra invitations as a standard cushion.

+Note: If you know the name of the “guest-of-your-guest,” as in a situation where you are inviting someone with a long-time boyfriend / girlfriend, it is nice to address the inner envelope to both people, even if they don’t live at the same residence. For example, you would address the outer envelope of the invitation to “Mr. Randolph Lathram” and the inner envelope “Randy and Caroline.” We prefer this practical, personal approach to wedding invitation etiquette over the somewhat impersonal choice of “and guest.”

Summer’s free-for-all explosion of blooms is the inspiration for the themes, colors, and of course florals for many a bride. If a particular blossom has struck your fancy this season, why not let that muse inspire something beyond your bridesmaids’ bouquets? Incorporate your favorite flowers into the design of your save-the-dates, wedding invitations, and wedding day stationery for a simple yet creative way to land on an event theme.

Take the idea of a “theme” as far as you’re willing to go. If your taste steers towards the classic and conservative, let your floral inspiration grace just a subtle corner of your wedding invites (as shown below) and perhaps motivate your color choices for bridesmaids’ gowns and a few other hints here and there.

Floral Decor Clutch Invitation

On the other hand, if you’re looking to make a bold statement or to carry your theme throughout your wedding for a solid, unifying effect, let a floral design take center stage. We love to help brides create “signature” designs – ranging from gracious flowers to simple leaves and other botanical elements – that appear on everything from the wedding stationery to place cards, gift bag tags, and dance floor lighting effects.

Hibiscus Wedding Invitiation

Hydrangea Wedding Invitation

A simple, well-defined theme and color scheme can significantly aide the bride struggling with narrowing down the limitless choices available when planning a wedding. So even if you don’t consider yourself a “theme person,” consider choosing a lovely summer flower to serve as your inspiration point for selecting all manner of wedding accoutrements.

Last week we gave you a few tips for assembling wedding invitations. Which got us to thinking about a few more tricks of the trade we wanted to share with you – this time relating to addressing wedding invitations.

1. Address all of your envelopes first, before you begin stuffing the invitations. This allows the ink time to dry and prevents smudging and smearing all over your lovely invites.

2. Address your envelopes in sets, keeping the inner and outer envelopes together for each family. This tactic helps you be sure to put the correct inner envelope in the corresponding outer envelope when stuffing!

3. If you’re enlisting help with addressing your envelopes, be sure the handwriting on each envelope set matches. Guests will notice if your straight, small penmanship graces the outer envelope and your mother’s large, flowery letters adorn the inner!

Of course, you can always opt for our time-saving guest addressing service, and let us take care of the hard part!

The Green Kangaroo just received word that we’ve achieved 2 awards, from OneWed and WeddingWire, for ranking among the top reviewed vendors featured on each site! The best thing about these awards? They are all thanks to the wonderful things our dear customers have said about us! We know it takes time and effort to return to a Web site to leave a comment about a vendor you’ve used, and we are so incredibly grateful when our customers sing our praises in this way! So thank you, dear TGK customers, for helping The Green Kangaroo achieve the Reviewed on OneWed and WeddingWire Rated awards! We are honored!

If you’d like to read what some of our customers have said, or if you’d like to leave your own review (hint hint!), just visit OneWed and WeddingWire!

We often receive questions from brides seeking the proper etiquette guidelines for stuffing wedding invitations. And in fact, there is a certain “protocol” for assembling your invites and placing them in the envelopes. While we always include a fully assembled sample in every order to serve as a visual reference, here are a few tips to streamline the process:

1. Layer accessory pieces from largest to smallest on top of the invitation.

2. Place your invitation with the accessory pieces into the inner envelope so that the printed side of the invitation faces the back side of the inner envelope.

Image courtesy of Invitation Advice

3. The inner envelope is inserted into the outer envelope in the same manner, with the front side of the inner envelope (with the guests’ names) facing the back side of the outer envelope.

If you keep in mind that, when a guest opens the envelopes, the printed side should always be what is seen first, this will be an easy trick to remember!

Hop to it!

For one week only, TGK is giving away FREE Favor Tags and Note Cards!

July is almost over, and relief from the heat is no where in sight. We’re cooling off by giving away FREE note cards or favor tags with every purchase of:

• Save the Dates
• Signature Invitations or Signature Pockets
• Wedding Programs

Qualifying invitation orders placed between July 24 and July 31 are eligible for your choice of free matching note cards or favor tags! Simply make your selection in the “Design Options” tab when you are customizing your order.

Hurry! This offer expires on July 31, 2010

Promotion Exclusions

• Offer is not retroactive and is not applicable on orders placed before July 24, 2010 or after July 31, 2010 – no exceptions.
• Promotional Item Dimensions are as follows: Notes = 3.5” x 5.0” (flat), Favor Tags = 2” square
• Promotional items defined above will be printed on the same stock, in the same ink colors, and at the same time as the invitation. TGK will provide equal quantities of your invitations and selected free item. You can opt to purchase additional items by contacting us.
• Customer will receive a proof of their selected free promotional item with their invitation proofs.
• Not valid on Couture, Signature Raised, or DIY Collections.

When brown became the “new black” several years ago, pairing it with all shades of blue and pink became a major style trend. And for good reason! These modern color pairings maintain an understated, classic feel that has broad appeal for those who want to work with color without going over the top. And while these color schemes continue to prove their enduring popularity, more and more brides come to us looking for a fresh way to use these colors they love.

That’s why we adore the emerging trend of incorporating pops of green into the standard blue-and-brown palate, as we showed you beautifully executed in Rachel and Dan’s Biltmore wedding on the blog last fall. (Thanks to Michael Oppenheim photography! for all of these gorgeous photos!) Their addition of bright, lime-y greens revitalizes the tranquil blue-and-brown color scheme with crisp, unexpected pops of vibrancy.

Experiment with adding green to traditional color combinations and see where inspiration will take you. With more color options available to brides in inks, papers, ribbons, and fabrics than ever before, expanding your color palate to create a truly original look has never been easier.