The Green Kangaroo - Unique Wedding Invitations and Stationery

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!

I had the delightful pleasure of attending my cousin’s wedding last weekend in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Nearly all of the guests were out-of-towners, making this a definite destination wedding. I was so impressed with their attention to the little details that made the entire weekend flow as a seamless event, while leaving plenty of room for each guest to enjoy their own “mini vacation” in this popular seaside spot.

Note to the gentle reader: Please pardon this blogger’s sub-par photography skills!

Perhaps the most useful detail was this clever “Guide to Awesomeness” that Tricia and Will put together themselves and tucked into each out-of-towner’s welcome bag. The guide unfolded, map-style, to reveal a large, full-color road map of the Myrtle Beach area, complete with numbered pinpoints of each wedding event, recommended restaurants, and even golfing options!

The bottom half of the guide provided categorized details of each marked location. Tricia and Will incorporated lighthearted tips and recommendations for each spot so we’d easily be able to find the best spot for local seafood or the ideal destination for entertaining kids at an alligator farm!

Their helpful guide allowed me to set aside my printed, unpredictable Mapquest directions and follow their handy, local-approved map. We weren’t late to a single activity! And best of all, we felt like we got the most out of our “mini vacation” by sticking to the bride and groom’s fabulous recommendations. If you’re planning a destination wedding, take a cue from the newly wed Mr. & Mrs. Weaver and create your own “Guide to Awesomeness!”

Am I the only one totally depressed by the fact that I can’t turn on the TV without hearing how hard the financial times are right now? I was doing a little research and typed in the word “Eco” on Google and “Economic Crisis” was the 6th word in their search suggestions list – crazy!!

For all those brides out there planning a wedding during the current “economic crisis” – making savvy financial choices is more important than ever. The ladies here at The Green Kangaroo totally sympathize, and have quite a few options when it comes to helping brides save on their wedding stationery.

1. Do-it-yourself . . . all-the-way-baby!!

This option is for those brides who want to swap bucks for time (and maybe a few gray hairs). After having a number of brides inquire about buying our exclusive pockets so they can print and assemble their wedding invitations themselves, we launched the DIY portion of our website. Here you will find pockets, printing paper, envelopes, ribbon, adhesive, etc. to print and assemble your own wedding invitations.

2. DIY . . . gimme the burger, but hold the bun!!

Our most popular DIY option – this option is available on any wedding invitation that involves assembly. For instance – our Josie Claire pocket invitation is $7.20 each for 100 pockets, which normally arrive fully assembled – but if you choose to layer the invites to the pockets yourself, you save $1.10 each (that’s a 110 bucks!). The great part about this option is that your wedding invites will be professionally printed and you don’t have to wrestle with your printer at home to print (then cut all those pieces!).

3. I’m a designer and I’ve already “done it” . . . now I need help producing my perfect wedding invite!!

One of the most rewarding aspects of working at The Green Kangaroo is the collaboration between the bride and our design staff to put her ideas on paper. Though this is not what you typically think of when one says, DIY, we have lots of graphic designer brides (or grooms-to-be) work with us in order to produce totally custom (and professionally printed) wedding invitation ensembles. And though this does not directly save money, what you have is a HUGE bang for your buck (aka VALUE).

We will be talking about this further in future blogs, so stay tuned!

We are excited to announce that TGK has 2 invitations in the “You’re Invited” Editorial Feature of Inside Weddings Fall 2008 issue!

Both our Madison and Kate Wedding Invitations were pictured as part of the “Metallica” theme in this issue. The Autumn season is a great time to work in these rich shades of bronze, chocolate and gold – although – our design team feels that these hues add sparkle and depth to weddings in any season!

The Madison was pictured with a custom envelope liner in soft gold shimmer. A great way to dress up this invitation theme with a classic monogram watermark. Looking to save a little, the Madison has a DIY option (meaning you glue the invitation onto the base layer) which can save you $1.10 for each invitation!

Stay tuned, the Kate, already clean and modern in style, will be getting some exciting new updates to its design in the next couple of weeks!

In talking with brides, I have found that there are a lot of ladies out there who really want to have pocket wedding invitations, but are looking for ways to save on them. Or . . . they want to be able to say that they designed, or made their invitations, but do not want the responsibility (or headache) of printing and cutting down all of the invitation pieces (not to mention the envelopes!). Some brides have told us that they went down the do-it-yourself road with their Save the Dates, realized just how much work was involved, and decided against doing their wedding invitations themselves.

As a solution for both types of brides, The Green Kangaroo recently added a DIY option to all of our wedding invitations that involve layering or assembly work. In the short time that this option has been on our website, a large number of brides have selected it. They receive the same designer proofs and professional printing as a standard order, but complete any assembly work themselves.

Here’s how it works – when placing your order, under the Design Options Tab, you simply select the DIY option and save from $1.10 to $1.50 per invitation!

Do-it-yourself options are available on our signature pocket wedding invitations and wraps (like the Claudia Pocket, the Claire Pocket, the Audrey Pocket and the Ava Wrap), layered wedding invitations (like the Jody Ann, Grace, and Jennifer) as well as custom envelope liners. If you decide to do it all yourself, check out our total DIY section.