It is hard for me to think that my son has already been married for a month! It feels weird not seeing him and Summer on a daily basis. I actually went almost 4 weeks without seeing or talking to Summer which was very odd for me. Aaron texts regularly and he stops by at least once a week. I’m glad he works on this side of town

#5 Our Wedding Binder

#4 How to Make Glitter Mason Jars

#3 They’re Engaged!

#2 David’s Bridal The Good, The Bad and The Disappointed

#1 Wedding Registry Do’s and Don’ts

The post that I thought would make this list and didn’t was The MomMaven’s Ultimate Printable Wedding Gift Registry Checklist.

I appreciate all of you following along on our  journey and i hope you found these posts helpful or that you pinned them for the future.

The post Top 5 Wedding Posts of 2014 appeared first on The Mom Maven.

Wedding Invitation Etiquette

1. Always send a physical invitation. An e-vite is fine for the save the date but not for a wedding invitation.
2. If you sent a save the date you must send an invitation.
3. Mail your invitations 6-8 weeks in advance of the wedding.
4. NEVER include registry information in the wedding invitation. It belongs in the shower invitation and on the wedding website.
5. NEVER include shower information in the wedding invitation. Separate events require separate invitations.

Wedding Invitation Wording

From top to bottom:

Host line:

• If one or more parents are hosting this information goes on top beginning with the bride’s parents.
• If the couple is hosting with the parents you can say “Susan Smith and Bob Jones, along with their parents”.
• If the couple is hosting by themselves you can start with a brief saying or Scripture or just but the bride and groom’s names here.

Request line:

• Request the honor of your presence…
• Request the pleasure of your company…
• Invite you to join them in celebrating…
• Invite you to share in their joy…

The Couple

• Usually this is printed larger and in a fancier font.
• Bride’s name then Groom’s name.

Date and Time

• This is spelled out:
• The Fourteenth of July
• at One O’Clock in the Afternoon

Venue Address

• Complete address of where the ceremony is taking place.

Reception Line

• If the reception is being help at the same venue as the ceremony, the invitation should include a reception line alerting guests to what is planned.
• Cake and Punch Reception to Follow
• Dinner and Dancing to Follow
• Reception to Follow

Those are the parts to a basic wedding invitation.

Most invitations include additional cards.

RSVP Card

• This card includes a self-addressed, stamped envelope for ease of response.
• Include a respond by date so that you have ample time to get your head count to your caterer.

Lodging Card

• If you are inviting several out of town guests, a lodging card with information about local hotels is a nice addition to your invitation.

Addressing Your Wedding Invitations

• It may be 2014 but wedding invitation envelopes must still be hand written.
• If you are using just one envelope, write the names of each person you are inviting on the envelope.
• If you have an outer and inner envelope-the inner envelope is where all the names go. The outer envelope is to Bill and Jane Smith or Bill and Jane Smith and Family.
• The return address on the invitations and the RSVP cards should be the bride’s or the bride’s parent’s if they are throwing the wedding.

That should cover all of the basics of wedding invitation etiquette and wording for your DIY wedding invitations. I hope you found this post helpful.

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Before I start this week’s Wedding Wednesday post I want you to know that, thanks to those of you that shared last week’s post about David’s Bridal, there has been an update. Go ahead and click over, then just use your back button to come back here for this week’s post.

When we first began planning the wedding we decided to not have engagement photos taken or do a Save the Date because they were unnecessary and with this small budget we had to cut the unnecessary things out. As it turns out, Aaron was able to barter with a friend to get the engagement pictures taken so that worked out well. We also decided that since the wedding is Thanksgiving weekend, we really should send out some kind of Save the Date, due to the holiday.

We decided that doing an online Save the Date would work just fine, and be free, so we started looking around. We checked out Evite.com and PaperlessPost.com. After doing some research, I suggested PaperlessPost because they had the option for asking people for their mailing addresses in response to the Save the Date. This allowed us to gather addresses for the actual wedding invitations that would be sent later. I found a few designs I liked but I didn’t tell the kids which ones. As usual, they chose my favorite without any coaching from me! We did find out that if you wanted your PaperlessPost to be sent with their adorable envelopes you would have to pay, so we opted for no envelopes!

Within about 24 hours we had a read receipt from almost every family! That is something you don’t get with a snail mail Save the Date! We are very happy with our experience using PaperlessPost and I hope you give it a try too.

Have you ever sent or received a Save the Date? Was it a card? Photo? Something else? We recently received a photo magnet for my husband’s cousin’s save the date and it is on our fridge…reminding us everyday to pray for the precious couple.

Other posts in this Series:

• They’re Engaged!
• Our Wedding Binder
• David’s Bridal-The Good, The Bad, and The Disappointed

The post Save the Date-Wedding Wednesday appeared first on The Mom Maven.

Follow Cindy Schultz-TheMomMaven.com’s board Ideas for Aaron’s & Summer’s Wedding on Pinterest.

A little back story on the happy couple. Aaron, my oldest son (21) met Summer (19) several years ago at church youth group. They have been friends a looong time. I have mentioned before that we raised our boys with a no dating policy. It is our belief that dating is preparation for marriage and relationships should not be entered into until you are 2/3 of the way through your professional education and you are financially able to settle down.

Fast forward a few years…in February of 2012, Summer moved into our home full time due to some family issues. We turned what was our homeschool room into Summer’s bedroom and she has lived with us ever since. In February 2013, Aaron and Summer presented my husband and I a long and compelling letter as to why they feel they are ready to begin courting. We agreed and presented them with a courtship contract that outlined specified behaviors and requirements of their courtship, to which they agreed.

On Sunday, April 13, 2014 Aaron and I had this text conversation
Aaron: So uh Summer and I are getting engaged today
Me: WTH?
Aaron: Yup
Me: Are you 100% sure about this? Did you ask her dad’s permission?
Aaron: Yes and Yes
Me: Ok
A while later I received a picture of the ring on her finger!

Aaron proposed out at Robinson Preserve on the tower and Summer was completely not expecting it!

Since we have 2 boys, we do not have a wedding account for them and unfortunately, neither does Summer’s family. Our goal is to help the kids host a wedding for 120 guests on a $4000 budget. The wedding date is set for Thanksgiving weekend, November 29, 2014 so follow along with us on our journey.

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