government glue

thank you Martha for popularizing the use of vintage postage stamps on wedding envelope systems. beyond adding a special level of detail and thematic tie-in, it is also a small gesture towards sustainable usage. stamps are currency never to be discarded! do remember to run a postage test mailing first. with vintage stamps, comes the appreciation for their modern successor self-adhesive stamps…

its probably been 10 years since I have had the pleasure of getting sloppy with a sheet of postage. now i understand why they switched. first off, the glue is the most brutal sticky stuff ever. it gets all over your hands, so washing often will keep your envelopes goop-free. also lovely, our engagement party stamps were from the 1950s and 60s so they tasted like licking an antique store floor. minty flavor is a modern convenience here people. worse, my research shows that the average stamp has 5 calories per lick. 5 cal x 250 stamps = shit! needless to say i didn’t list that in my personal training food journal that day. using a wet sponge for the job was no good, offering little control and glue goop on black envelopes was a threat.

a taste of things to come

good [wifey] things: the organizer

i am confident i could have met my wedding organizational needs with just a binder and Excel speadsheets, however i am a huge sucker for planners and other design items stemming from the "fill in the blank" craze. when i found Target's Club Wed Organizer, i couldn't resist. it is straight up brilliant-- a breath of fresh air among the vast array of mediocre planners on the market.

the worksheet-esque format allows users to record global details and manage information within beautifully designed modern, cheery pages. it is void of unnecessary content and truly focuses on user-personalization, making it a very effective tool in a bride-elect's planning arsenal. when content does appear, it is smart, to the point and well illustrated (do check out the registry section).

yet another fine example of Target's pro-design values making the world a better place.

mail merges are for sissies

one million thank you’s to Jym for his beautiful penmanship + help with addressing engagement party invitations. 80 addresses = pure friend devotion. if I didn’t have the handwriting of a 7 year old boy, I could have been of more help. we owe you one and don’t worry… we are hiring a calligrapher for the wedding invites.

we heart gutenberg

with impending wedding now a year away, we have started to further ramp up our letterpress skills. no more playing with the proofing press; time to make some real things here. thankfully we now have access to the press at HADW.

yesterday we sent off our first crack at designing for a custom plate. the design and setup process was freakishly simple and similar to what one would do for an offset press--think vector, set the bleeds, set the crop marks. the only special consideration was making sure nothing was under .25 pt lineweight. thankfully our BFAs cover the above skill requirements.

we did wuss out on printing this one ourselves. my ink and small type skills aren't quite there yet. we do however love and trust starparticle press (as featured in Martha Stewart Weddings, 2004).

we are shooting to print our 'save the dates' on the HADW press. don't hold your breath for chirstmas cards.

logical wedding investments

1. wedding dress
2. personal trainer

today was day 2/first real workout with personal trainer (aka wedding drill sergeant). when i am putting on my dress on the big day...someone please remind me that the almost puke + faint embarrassment today on the gym floor was all worth it.

06.18.07 / never forget

in case you didn't hear the story or better, get a hysterical call at 10:15pm. it went down something like this...

"After long last, Halli and I have upgraded our status to "engaged" this past Monday evening. Following an impromptu dinner of Italian food, laughter, and a random Russian accordionist, we returned home to what Halli thought would be just another evening of to-do list items and emails. But there was another game afoot...

In short, Halli was led to believe that I was going to show her some new video game (Halo3 beta, of course) footage, but the footage I actually showed her was a photo/video montage I made of our past four years together. The shock set in when, after the extraordinary display of motion graphics, I took a knee and asked her to marry me. Halli said "yes," (phew) but everything else seems like a blur because of her general hysteria (of happiness and joy).

A few days later, we're a little calmer but still really excited about what's to come. Halli is quite satisfied with the new piece of hardware for her hand. Doobie McScratches and Bizmark von Whiskers (our cats) seem only mildly interested by this latest development, but we're sure they're just internalizing the good news.

We want to thank all you, our family and friends, for your love and support throughout our lives. Stay tuned for more info — rest assured there will be plenty of celebrating over the next several months. Love, laugh, use good type, and do good work."

Our best, Halli + Nick

a blog is born

instead of boring family and friends with constant wedding chatter and planning conundrums over the next year, we have decided to document our experience via the magical interweb. we can now bore the entire world with our details. simultaneously, it serves to validate our inner design snob and masochistic 'event planning-as-hobby' skills.

in all honesty, we are looking to plan a smart, amazing, memorable weekend for our friends and family. its the least we can do for those we love the most. see you in fall of 08.