There are people in this world who spend everyday making important decisions, troubleshooting, refereeing fights, nursing egos, doing damage control, and multi-tasking. They are called mothers. – Linda Poindexter
(THANKS MOM!)
Are wedding programs required? No. Programs are optional, but they are so nice for your guests to have. Programs are particularly nice for guests of different faiths or if they don’t know your family and friends very well. They make a great keepsake too – so be sure to save one or two for yourselves!
What’s included? In a nutshell, the program is a communication tool where you have the opportunity to let your guests know what will be happening and who’s who. Programs often have 4 parts: the title page (bride and grooms’ names, location, date), the wedding participants, the ceremony order and a brief note of thanks from the bride and groom. In addition, I have had clients include the following:
- an explanation of any traditions, rituals or ethnic customs.
- moving announcement with new address
- directions to the reception
- a poem or song lyrics
- a surprise element that will be included in the ceremony
- remembrance of family or friends that have passed that would have played a big part in your big day
How many programs should I have printed? There are no steadfast rules on this. The determining factors are your budget and the number of people attending. You know that not every person will take a program, but you don’t want to run out. My theory is that the number you need depends on how the programs are distributed. If your ushers are handing them out, you will need a program for each person. If you are putting the programs in baskets or on tables near the entrance(s), my guess is that about 85% of your guests will take one.
When should I order my wedding programs?
Plan ahead! There is usually a little bit of a lull between the time you send your invitations out and the time you start receiving your rsvp’s. Most of your other decisions have been made, so it is perfect timing for planning the ceremony! Work with your officiant and get samples from your stationer for ideas – then put your own personal touches in. Once you have that done, you are ready to order! A good rule of thumb is to give the final okay a month prior to the wedding. This allows time to make sure any specialty stock can be received without expedited shipping, time for the printer and any assembly.
Other thoughts…
- Programs do not have to match the invitations, but it is a nice touch if all of your wedding stationery can tie in somehow.
- Have fun with the programs! The program is a great place to show your creativity. Pinterest is a great tool for finding program ideas.
If you are looking to place a wedding invitation order in the near future, you may want to hurry!
William Arthur’s 2013 Wedding Sale ends on March 31, 2013 — until then, for every 75 you order, you will receive 25 free. That includes every piece: invitations, reception cards, response cards, envelopes, envelope liners, tags, ribbons… anything from the William Arthur wedding volumes I & II and the Truly Album.
Schedule your appointment at Stone Hill Paperie using the online scheduling system to shop the albums and place your order.
Wedding Season is in full swing at Stone Hill Paperie. Planning a wedding can be daunting. There are so many different things that go into your big day. Below is a little checklist that you can use in your planning. Of course there are very few people who need all of these items, but the list may help get your creative juices flowing.
This blog is a repost of a blog from one of my favorite stationers, Smock Paper.
Fracking has been a huge topic of discussion in Pennsylvania for a while now. I love that Smock is taking a stand… in a unique way… with a tattoo to boot!
Save the world: stop fracking
We’re so excited to introduce our newest card in the “Change the World” letterpress card series, where we donate 100% of profits to a critical environmental issue. The second card in our series is called Fracking, and will benefit Earthworks. The cards also come with an anti-fracking tattoo!
Here’s the problem: In the U.S., we’re drilling around 2,000 new oil and gas wells per month. 90% of these new wells use a process called “hydraulic fracturing”, also known as fracking. To get the natural gas out of the ground, fracking requires 3-15 million gallons of water plus a lot of chemicals. Rarely do we know what these chemicals are; the oil and gas industry is exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Superfund law. A large percentage of this chemical laced water remains in the crevices of the earth, soaking into the ground, and threatening our clean water supply.
Is there a realistic solution? Fracking is scary, but it’s only part of the problem – change needs to happen. Earthworks’ Oil & Gas Accountability Project is working to reform the entire oil and gas industry. Earthworks believes that corporations should be allowed to extract and process mineral fuels only if they can do so without harming human health or contaminating the air, water, and soil, with an eye on impacts at all levels: local, regional, and global. This means achieving the following goals:
- No water pollution: protect public health, the environment, and the climate from toxic, hazardous, and carcinogenic chemicals used in the extraction of fossil fuel energy resources;
- Low emissions: protect public health, the environment, and the climate from pollutants emitted during the drilling and ongoing production of energy resources;
- No-Go Zones: protect sacred areas, fragile ecosystems, neighborhoods, drinking watersheds and densely populated areas targeted for energy development;
- Landowner or Community Consent: continue to develop and then implement laws and policies ensuring that landowners have essential co-equal rights to negotiate with, and to say ‘no’ to, energy development.
Take action now:
- Contact your legislators and ask them to protect our clean air and clean water from fracking by supporting the FRAC Act. The FRAC Act would close the “Halliburton loophole” in the Safe Drinking Water Act that allows drillers to inject hazardous materials — unchecked — directly into underground drinking water supplies.
- Get informed: learn more at Earthworks.
- Make a contribution: help Earthworks continue the good fight by making a donation. If you follow this link, you can get your very own “Gas and Water Don’t Mix” temporary tattoos (created & designed by Smock!) when you make a contribution to Earthworks (while supplies last).
- Join the conversation on our tumblr blog: In collaboration with Earthworks, we’ve created a tumblr blog called Gas and Water Don’t Mix (gas-and-water-dont-mix.tumblr.com), a place where those who care about fracking can build a communal voice around the issue. Concerned citizens can go on and add a photo of themselves in a place they love, and include a few sentences about why they are freaked out by fracking. We’re encouraging everyone to don the Gas and Water Don’t Mix temporary tattoo in solidarity of the issue on the blog.
In May, I attended the National Stationery Show in New York and I have ordered some new lines and I am still obsessing over others that I will be carrying soon! I learned after last year not to order everything at one time… it’s more fun to be receiving new items all throughout the year!
Coming Soon… Gorgeous Wooden Recipe Boxes and Recipe Cards (above). I love these recipe boxes! Suzy Jack put so much thought into these; from the customizable label on the front to the little notch cut into the top of the box for your card to fit into. The card design itself is beautiful and there are 3 to choose from and matching linen towels as well.
Neon… I’m a child of the 80′s and have to laugh at all of the neon making a comeback. I think that officially makes me old. I do love some of the neon I saw at the show and am still obsessing over these cards:
Letterpress your own signature! I love this idea from Jigsaw Graphics. Have your signature or have your children design their own letterpress stationery. Wedding Gift? Have the bride & groom sign their names to a card and send it in to Jigsaw and they will create an amazing gift for the newly married couple!
Ridding the world of ugly notebooks! I fell in love with these little notebooks with their bright colors, great price point and personalization options… these are available through the studio now!
There is too much more to mention, but you can bet I will be posting more as I add more products to the studio.
I just spent the day in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia with my family. We walked the streets and talked about how easy our lives are now compared to the 1700′s. We visited many of the little shops and trades and the printer. The printer! It is so easy to type something up on the computer and print it or send it out on the internet. Newspapers, magazines, books, kindles – all available to the masses. Make a mistake? Highlight and change it or delete it altogether. The Viriginia Gazette, published from 1736 -1750, required 25 hours work to set type for one page! And it all had to be set backwards! The newspaper was available to the community, but owning a book was a sign of wealth & education.
What a great experience to think about how difficult life was and to appreciate all that people did to make our lives easier now. It was quite a hot day with a little whining from my kids, but so easy.
{© 2012 Stone Hill Paperie | Amy Hammond | Photo © Colonial Williamsburg}
Yesterday was Mother’s Day. Saturday would have been my Grandmother’s 94th birthday. It all makes me think a lot about my own childhood and some of my most treasured memories and possessions. My Grammy didn’t have much money, but she had more love to give than anyone I know! Just ask my brothers, my cousins, any of the people we never knew that she would help in any way she could, and all those people invited to family picnics that she “adopted” into our family.
One of the ways my Grandmother showed her love best was through her cooking. As kids, we would all get excited to go to Grammy & Grampy’s house for ice pops made from Tang, strawberry lemonade, strawberry shortcake, Grammy pickles, Grammy’s chocolate chip cookies, brownies, ginger snaps, and pancakes topped with homemade strawberry jam! My grandparents owned a strawberry farm – where we wandered the fields and woods freely and our imaginations would take us all over the world… with constant pit stops for a little strawberry picking nourishment.
I have Grammy’s recipe box. It is one of my most treasured possessions. It is a tangible piece of Grammy that I have. The recipe box is unattractive, does not go with my decor one little bit, and it doesn’t matter. When I open that recipe box, I have those delicious recipes and memories in my Grandmother’s own handwriting. When I look at those recipes I feel like a piece of Grammy is still here. Those are love letters from heaven. I miss Grammy and think of her often, especially on her birthday and Mother’s Day – but in a way she’s still here.
Incidentally, I have since discovered that many of those Grammy amazing recipes were not Grammy originals. They are Nestle Tollhouse Cookies and that my Grandmother could have had a few episodes of “Semi-Homemade” on the Food Network. I just thank God that she actually wrote out the recipes instead of cutting them out of a magazine!
Consider writing those recipes out by hand! You never know what it will mean to someone 30, 40, or 50 years from now. Recipe boxes are available at Stone Hill Paperie with matching recipe cards if you want to put together a keepsake of your own. I’m starting mine today.
{© 2012 Stone Hill Paperie | Amy Hammond | Photo © Amy Hammond}
I get to work with so many wonderful people and companies. Clairebella has beautiful designs, quality products and a heart at the center of it all. I’m proud to work with such an organization…
To find out more about Clairebella and their products, visit www.clairebella.com – and as always, I’m here at Stone Hill Paperie, on your schedule, to help you place your orders and show you some wonderful samples!
Clairebella Supports Foster Care to Success
by Clairebella Studio on 05/01/12
