The Green Kangaroo - Unique Wedding Invitations and Stationery

Photo courtesy of Temecula Winegrowers Association’s Web site.

Many of TGK’s invitation designs have been inspired by brides searching for something entirely unique. Our design team loves nothing more than taking a customer’s vision and transforming it into a custom motif that fully reflects the bride’s personality or the spirit of the event. Such was the case when we created our Vineyard Square Pocket invitation! A couple was planning their wedding at a winery in the gorgeous Temecula region of California and was looking for a wedding invitation that perfectly captured the venue’s rustic style.

Working with the bride’s preference for a pocket-style invitation, our designers incorporated the grape vine and wine bottle motifs, showcased here on the invitation’s RSVP postcard. And the Vineyard Square Pocket was born! We’ve had numerous brides since then use the Vineyard Square Pocket as inspiration for their own wedding invitations.

Wedding venues have sparked quite a few of our invitation designs! Do you have an idea for a one-of-a-kind motif or graphic for your wedding? Most of our customers are surprised to learn that our custom design fees start at just $125. Just give us a call or send us an email to get started. After all, custom wedding invitations are at the heart of what we do best!

Dreaming of an elegant coastal wedding this summer? Our Sea Oats motif is the perfect complement! Pictured below in chocolate and turquoise ink on a rich chocolate shimmer pocket paper, this design is sure to set the stage for your seaside wedding.

Accessory options include a direction card with custom map and reply card. (They slip handily into the “clutch” pocket on the reverse of the invitation.)

Complete the look with our sea grass themed Ribbon Wedding Program, Sea Grass Menu, matching table cards and place cards. Shown here in chocolate and latte ink on antique white paper, with blue iris satin ribbon and french blue shimmer layer paper!

*Special thanks to Azul Photography here in Cary, NC for capturing that beautiful shot of our Coastal designs at a recent bridal show!

Our design team has been busybusybusy cooking up some fabulous new motifs to keep up with what our customers are clamoring for! We had such a tremendous response to our vintage-chic Bliss motif on our holiday cards and Bliss save-the-dates that we decided to incorporate this popular design into a new wedding invitation. And to make this announcement even more exciting, the Bliss wedding invitation has been added to our growing Frugal Collection, which is a favorite with brides on a budget!

Shown here in marigold and chocolate ink on champagne shimmer paper, the Bliss wedding invitation is the perfect blend of old and new, with its classic, flouncy blossom and modern use of color and off-center type.

We are also loving it in turquoise and cherry red ink as shown here …

... and in aqua and chocolate ink, seen here on the accessory card and RSVP postcard, items that are both included with each Bliss wedding invitation! How’s that for “frugal”?

Just in time for summer weddings, TGK’s designers have completely revamped the Hibiscus wedding invitation suite with stunning new artwork!

The Hibiscus wedding invitation in turquoise and cherry red ink, on diamond shimmer paper.

This bold, exotic tropical flower is the perfect theme-setter for elegant summer weddings, bringing to mind hot, bright days and steamy, sultry nights. Summer brides looking for a sophisticated way to incorporate just a splash of color will appreciate the Hibiscus wedding invitation’s clean lines and white background set off by the colorful hibiscus flower border. We also love how the designer incorporated the serene, botanical feel of this motif while letting the invitation’s style showcase summer brightness at its best!

Stay tuned for more new designs featured on the blog! In the meantime, check out a few more customization possibilities for the Hibiscus wedding invitation ... the options are endless!

The Hibiscus wedding invitation shown in lime and aqua ink on heavy white paper.

The invitation’s RSVP postcard shows two possibilities for incorporating chocolate and tropical pink inks.

We love when brides let us help them carry a theme throughout their wedding event. So we had a ball last summer creating a full suite of Coastal Couture inspired wedding stationery for Alyssa and Scott’s seaside gala. A big thank you to Brian Phillips Photography for sharing some of his gorgeous images with us!

The Couture Ava Coastal wedding invitation was the perfect way to set the stage for this upscale coastal wedding.

Alyssa chose to customize the Ribbon Wedding Program to complement the cheerful color scheme.

Even Scott’s boutonniere got the Coastal Couture treatment!

Menus and table numbers were a key element of the reception’s design. This is a great way to get the most out of your wedding day stationery!

The whole event was simply divine! To see even more pictures of this elegant beach wedding, check out the full feature on the Boston Hearts Weddings blog. Congratulations to Alyssa and Scott!

Just in time for spring and summer weddings, our design team has unveiled their newest creation: The Modern Calla Lily Wedding Invitation suite! Having carried lovely calla lilies in a few weddings myself (my favorite were the sweet miniature variety!), I love seeing these popular wedding flowers gracing a TGK design.

Several brides have recently requested calla lily wedding invitations, telling us that the ones they’d seen elsewhere were somewhat “tired” looking. (Let’s just say that when a bride describes something as looking like it came “out of the eighties,” it’s not exactly a compliment!) We decided to let these beautiful flowers inspire a fresh, modern design with a TGK flair!

The invitation and two accessory pieces are shown above in pewter and marigold ink for a sophisticated, subtle look. For the bride looking for a fresh, spring style with a burst of color, this motif in lipstick and chartreuse ink (shown below) delivers an entirely different option!

Last week we gave you the basic skinny on the standard protocol for listing (or not listing) parents on the wedding invitation. But as with so many things involving weddings and major life events, “standard” rarely applies in the real world! To help couples navigate the potentially intimidating realm of wording a formal invitation, we’re starting a blog series to address some of the more common – and not so common – questions we get about handling non-standard situations.

So let’s start with a basic: Missy’s Mom and Dad are contributing to the wedding expenses, but Missy and Mason are pitching in where they can, and Mason’s parents are also footing portions of the bill. In any situation where the event’s “hosts” aren’t necessarily obvious, you can word your invitation to more appropriately reflect the contributions of those involved. Using the above example, Missy and Mason might opt for wording such as:

Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Michael Smith

Mason Geoffrey Adams

Another option for a similar situation is to leave the parents’ names off all together:

Together with their parents (or families)

Request the honor of your presence …

We find the choice between these two options is typically easy: Some parents really want to be on that invitation! Others don’t consider it crucial. Either option works beautifully to keep the focus on the real center of the event – the happy couple.

Our Facebook fans already know how much we ADORE the Style Me Pretty Web site, which is aptly tagged as “obsessions for brides.” Yes, some of us are obsessed!

And when one of our obsessions takes notice of lil’ ole’ us on their uber-popular bridal blog, we get pretty giddy! You will adore browsing through the photos of this exceptionally elegant wedding at the Biltmore Estate. And yes, we helped Rachel and Dan tie their robin’s egg blue-and-brown color scheme into a to-die-for suite of Josie-themed invitations and table stationery. You can see some gorgeous shots of how they incorporated the stationery as a key décor element – a strategy we naturally adore! Using table stationery within your decoration plans really gives brides a big “bang for the buck” by making items you already have perform double duty. This couple was such a treat to work with – they chose North Carolina for their wedding after all!

Biltmore Wedding Photos courtesy of: Michael Oppenheim Photography

(Special thanks to Barb Bobick for your super sweet comment about TGK on the Style Me Pretty blog!)

Ahhh – Inside Weddings! We lovelovelove this elegant style magazine and have been honored to have our products featured on their pages in the past. But we still get giddy when we find out one of our very own designs (!!!!) has been chosen for a pictorial mention in the pages of one of the top wedding magazines in the country. (Let’s just say Inside Weddings is rather particular about the wedding vendors they recommend.)

The Summer 2009 issue is on newsstands now. It’s worth picking up a copy, but we’ve taken the proud-parent angle of posting “our” page right here on the blog.

Isn’t the Cari invitation stunning in citrus orange and pink?

Yeah, we’re kind of a big deal!

Wedding invitations should be ordered at least 4 months (and as far out as 6 months) before the wedding date. This schedule not only allows time for the printing process, but also provides you with time to address, mail, and receive RSVPs.

Timelines for other wedding stationery items you may be considering vary on when they need to be ordered. General guidelines for common items include:

• Save the Dates: Can be sent anywhere from 6 months to a year in advance of your wedding and should be one of the first items marked off your wedding planning to-do list.

• Wedding Programs and Table Stationery: Printed items that will be used on the day of the wedding can wait until a bit closer to the event. The ideal timeframe is 4-8 weeks in advance, since you do not have to factor in time for mailing and responses.

With this time frame in mind, at TGK right now we are working on wedding invitations for brides tying the knot in November, December, and January. And we’re printing up day-of stationery for brides marrying in September and October.

Of course, if you’ve let time slip by – or if you’re opting for a short engagement – you’re not out of luck! We can always work with brides who need to put a rush on things. (I admit to being one of those brides who didn’t even think about my wedding programs until the week before my wedding! Oh, to know then what I know now …)

If you’re a budget-conscious bride, attempting to compare wedding vendors can be like comparing wedding gowns to tuxedos – near impossible! In the wedding industry, pricing policies are by no means standard and in many cases seem designed to confuse. Wedding stationers are no different. While one invitation may at first seem to be the best deal, once you factor in separate costs for reply cards and envelopes, and extra charges for things like printing a return address on an envelope, a once inexpensive wedding invitation can turn into your priciest option.

At The Green Kangaroo, we make sure our prices reflect all of the items a bride will need right from the start so that there are no surprises. But this practice is actually pretty unusual in our industry! Items that TGK includes in the price of nearly all of our invitations (our Frugal Collection is structured slightly differently to deliver even more savings) that most other wedding invitation vendors will most certainly charge extra for are:

1. Customized colors, fonts, and motifs.
2. Matching reply cards.
3. Reply envelopes with the name and address printed on the front in black ink.
4. Outer AND inner envelopes, with your return address printed on the back flap of the outer envelope in black ink.
5. TWO complimentary proofs of each item ordered.

So when you’re shopping for wedding invitations, don’t be beguiled by appealing “discount” wedding invitations. Be savvy and always be sure you’ve calculated each and every a la carte charge before handing over your Visa card!

Red and black wedding invitations have become a popular selection for brides looking for classic elegance with a modern twist. The use of black and red in wedding invitations is also one of our favorite trends as there are a few die-hard UGA and NCSU fans in the TGK family!

Recently, we had a couple select our very popular Josie invitation design for their red and black wedding theme in New Orleans: The traditional floral filigree motif lends itself exceptionally well to unique color combinations. We love how they turned out!

One of the great things about The Green Kangaroo is that we can customize wedding invitations to fit your personal style, including an array of color choices. You can select from our extensive color portfolio to customize any invitation in our Signature Collection of unique wedding invitations – or even have us create a new design just for you! Let us know what color schemes you’d like to see and we might just show a few samples here for your consideration!

Wedding stationery is unlike any other mailed correspondence. Its uniqueness of design and packaging tells the recipient that they’ve received something special. Yet until I got married myself, I had never paid close attention to the individual packaging elements that actually make wedding invites so distinctive.

One of those atypical elements is the inner envelope. Originally used to protect invitations from dirt, water, and the eyes of messengers back in the days when correspondence was hand delivered, today the inner envelope serves a more social purpose. While the outer envelope is used for the guest’s name, address, and postage, the inner envelope is addressed simply with the names of each member of the household invited to your wedding. Formal etiquette dictates the use of surnames (last names) on both the outer and inner envelopes, but many brides today opt to employ last names on the outer envelope only and to use more informal–and more personal–first names on the inner envelope.

While this approach sounds stuffy to some, the key purpose of this social standard is to clearly indicate who is invited so that there is no confusion for your guests. For example, if you are choosing to invite a married couple but are not including their three children, you would address the envelopes as follows:

Outer Envelope: ‘Mr. and Mrs. Bartholomew Guilders’

Inner Envelope: ‘Mr. and Mrs. Guilders’ or ‘Bart and Bitsy Guilders’

And if you did want to invite the children, the inner envelope would read:

‘Bart and Bitsy Guilders’ on the first line and ‘Betsy, Tacy, and Tibb’ on the second line.

Inner envelopes differ from outer envelopes in additional subtle ways. The outer envelope is slightly larger than the inner envelope (making it easier to stuff). The inner envelope does not have any sealing gum/glue on its lip (because it’s not necessary to seal it) nor does it bear a return address on its back flap (since it’s not being mailed on its own).

At TGK, we include inner envelopes in the cost of all invitations. And for brides who want to spice up their envelopes with patterned designs coordinated to their invitations, we can do that too! The envelopes shown above are embellished in this way to complement our Josie invitation. To try out and price this option, simply click on the ‘Design Extras’ tab within any of our invitation product pages.

Most people seem to have their own little pet peeves. Having been in the printing industry for eight years, one of mine is the common misspelling of the word “stationery”. I realize that most people have never really given it much thought and that it is a very common thing to do, but here’s a little history on stationary and stationery and why in the world they mean something totally different.

Apparently, the two words originated from the Latin word stationarius (a person based at a military station). During medieval times, a stationarius was a trader with a permanent location – verses a traveling peddler. Many of these permanent traders were booksellers located near universities. In the fourteenth century, the English word stationer was recorded. These book peddlers, or stationers, also sold pens, paper, etc., but after the invention of movable type, two kinds of traders emerged – those who sold finished books and “stationers” who sold writing materials. By the eighteenth century, using the word stationery to describe writing materials became more common, but because the word stationary had been used for more than 100 years to describe something that does not move around, there was (and still is!) some confusion. The easiest way to make sure you are using the correct form of the word is to remember – the “e” in stationery equals “envelope”!

This word is so commonly misused that many websites selling stationery have at least one reference (or even an entire page!) dedicated to the word stationary. Funny, huh? If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em . . .

If you are curious, here is a list of the top 50 most often misspelled words, and a cool website that has all kinds of word trivia: www.worldwidewords.org. Happy Friday!

Sunday marked six years that my husband and I have been married, but because it was also Father’s Day – AND my husband’s very first father’s day (here’s the little princess and her daddy) we are celebrating this weekend instead. I started thinking about what we had given to each other for our past anniversaries and realized that we haven’t paid much attention to the traditional (or modern) gift ideas list.

For instance, paper is the traditional gift item for the first anniversary (listen up husbands) and The Green Kangaroo has just added personal stationery to our website. So, keep those monograms and favorite graphics from your wedding day alive by choosing this very customizable form of personal stationery for your spouse.

Because we have so many requests for postcard style save-the-dates and reply cards, we are thinking of introducing a new type of personalized note – a “thank you postcard” (especially since you now pay almost the same amount for a regular stamp as you do for a pack of crackers!). Post your comments about this idea and be on the lookout for the new designs!