Monday, August 8, 2011

You Are Cordially Invited!

(To maintain some semblance of privacy I've blurred out names and addresses)

In case you can't read the text....

Invitation:
He asked and she said yes...
Or was it the other way around?
However it happened we
BRIDES NAME
and
GROOMS NAME
Invite you to join us
as we get married
on Friday, September 9, 2011
at 2:00PM
CEREMONY VENUE NAME
CEREMONY VENUE ADDRESS
Reception to follow

RSVP Reply Card:
We look forward to celebrating with you!
Please reply by August 19, 2011
We have reserved ____ seats in your honor.
Name _____________________________
____ will dine, dance, and celebrate!
____ will miss out on all the fun!
Total number attending _____

Reception Card:
Following the ceremony
please join us for dinner and dancing
as the celebration continues
at 4:00PM
RECEPTION VENUE NAME
RECEPTION VENUE ADDRESS

I made the map myself by drawing it out on paper, scanning it, then touching it up heavily with paintshop. I also used some rubber stamps to jazz up the plain white envelopes.

Because I'm cool and printed on the back side of the cards:
I left the backside of the invitation blank and used the back side of the Reception Card and Map Poastcard to type up directions to both venues. The back of the RSVP Reply Card has instructions on how to submit your RSVP and what information you can find on our website.

I also ordered some return address labels to use on the outer envelope, but since I had so many leftover I also used them to address the RSVP Reply Card envelope. Because the back of the outer envelope looked so boring I also had some seals custom made that say "We're getting married! 09/09/11."

Because I went with a lightweight invitation suite I didn't have to shell out $.61 for the typical wedding invitation stamp. This baby only required a plain ol' first class stamp.... which I gussied up by using the "Garden of Love" first class stamp.
By this point you are probably wondering how much did these wonderfully beautiful invitations cost?? Not that much if you really want to know. If you're guessing $100, I'd say guess lower... like much lower.... like right under $60.

For a grand total of $59.76, I purchased the following:
50 - 6x9 invitations with white outer envelopes
50 - 5.5x4 RSVP Reply Cards with white envelopes
50 - 5.5x4 Reception Cards with white envelopes
100 - 4x6 postcard maps
140 - Return Address Labels
48 - Envelope Seals
postage
calligraphy Pen
rubber stamps

With the exception of the postage, calligraphy pen, and rubber stamps everything was purchased from Vistaprint. This was the beginning of my love affair with Vistaprint. I plan to dedicate a whole post to the incredibly awesome deals I found at Vistaprint.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Thank You Swagbucks!

I just purchased my very first DSLR camera!! I'm so excited that I even sprung for 1 day shipping!

Please welcome to the world my new baby. My pride and joy. The fruit of my loins, er scratch that... let's just stick with pride and joy. The Canon EOS Rebel T3 is the most recent entry-level camera for beginners that Canon has come out with.
Canon EOS Rebel T3 12.2 MP CMOS Digital SLR with 18-55mm IS II Lens and EOS HD Movie Mode (Black)
You're probably wondering how my frugal nature justified such an expenditure. Well, let me tell you the ways!

I only paid $172 out of pocket for this baby!! How? Back in January I joined a reward program called Swagbucks. I've mentioned Swagbucks before, but didn't really dive deep into what it's about.

Essentially you earn Swagbucks by using their search engine, completing special offers, watching videos, completing surveys, and so much more. You can then redeem these Swagbucks for Amazon gift cards.

The simplest way to earn is to install their toolbar onto your browser and use it to search, every once in a while you'll be rewarded with a couple of Swagbucks, usually on average between 7 to 11 points. You can earn a lot of Swagbucks by completing free Special Offers, most of the time it's as simple as submitting your email other times you have to click thru a bunch of offers to get the points. It's seriously addicting!!

 I had $360 worth of Amazon gift cards to use towards my order. $125 of that came right from Swagbucks. The rest of the gift card balance was thanks to a $50 gift card I received as a graduation gift, $62 from a credit card reward program, $89 from Amazon's textbook buyback program, $20 LivingSocial Amazon gift card, and $27 from Coinstar redemptions.

Well, what are you waiting for? Go join Swagbucks now! Use my referral code and I'll earn extra points too!

Search & Win

Pictures on this blog are going to be so much better now!