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Guest Book Ideas

Paper Fling — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 17:21:00 GMT

There are so many fun things that you can do for your guest book besides just having a book with signatures. Here are some of our favorite ideas...

Photo Guest Book
This is a great option that gives you an actual keepsake that you will want to look at after the wedding. The idea is to take a photo of each of your guests and then have them write a message on the page. If you use polaroids the photo can be placed on their page immediately. If you use a digital camera, just make sure to leave room on each page to go back and place the picture. Other fun options for this style would be using a photo booth in conjunction with the photo guest book and/or sending guests a copy of their photo with your thank you card after the wedding.

Wishing Tree/Vase
This is a fun idea that will provide you with some fun sentiments from your guests. Create a space at your reception or ceremony with slips of paper, little envelopes and pens. Ask guests to write a wish for your marriage on the paper and then seal it in the envelope and either place it on the tree or in a vase. On your first anniversary, go back and read through all of the wishes.

Guest Book Quilt
In lieu of a traditional book, ask your guests to sign squares of fabric that can later be sewn into a quilt. This will give you a keepsake to cherish for years to come!

Be Specific
Instead of asking guests to just sign their name or write a little message, why not ask them a specific question such as "where do you see us in 10 years" or "what is one of your favorite memories of the Bride or Groom"?

Feel free to stop in for more inspiration. We have lots of fun ideas and the supplies to make a unique guest book. Or let us make a custom guest book for you!

Save the Date Magnets Have Arrived!

Paper Fling — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:45:00 GMT

I recently returned from the National Stationery Show in New York where I was able to find some really fun and exciting new lines for the store. One of my favorite finds was this great line of Save the Date Magnets. There are over 100 different options for save the dates (not to mention baby announcements, Holiday Greeting Magnets and more). On top of all of the great style options, the price point on these save the date magnets is unbeatable! They are only 132.00 for 100! Here are some examples of what is available - stop in today to see all of your choices and get your save the dates ordered!

Place Cards and Escort Cards

Paper Fling — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 17:43:00 GMT

At Paper Fling we make your escort/place cards easy! You provide us with an Excel spreadsheet of your guests names, their table numbers and/or their entree selections and we print them up for you. We can turn these around within a couple of days (although, more time is always appreciated!)

Here are a few ideas for escort cards and place cards. Stop in today to view many more!

Wedding Fan Programs

Paper Fling — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 23:41:00 GMT

As we enter what we hope will be the warmer summer months, you may want to consider your wedding program serving a dual purpose. Fan programs are a great option for an outdoor ceremony or an indoor ceremony that is not air conditioned! Check out some of these great options and let us know if you have any questions. Remember, we can also customize these to match to your custom invitation when you order them through us!

For additional information including pricing, check out the fan program brochure or stop in today!
Wedding Fan Brochure

New Favor Containers from Envelopments

Paper Fling — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 01:13:00 GMT

Envelopments new release is finally here! Along with an amazing array of new paper colors and designs they have released a line of favor boxes that come in all of their paper stocks! Come in today to look at all of the options....

Voila! Wedding Show

Paper Fling — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 20:12:00 GMT

The past Sunday we participated in the Voila! Wedding Show at the Woodmark Hotel. The show was put on by Pink Blossom Events and Panache Wedding Planners. It was a great show that had tons of unique and practical wedding planning tips. We provided the menus, programs, place cards and favors for the "winter" room design. Here are some pictures of the event provided by Azzura Photography:

ABC/ISES Table Top Competition

Paper Fling — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 00:37:00 GMT

Last week I participated in the ABC/ISES table top competition. For those of you who haven't heard about ABC or ISES, they are local networking groups for the wedding and event industry (and a great resource for finding qualified vendors).

The table top competition is a fun event where different planners and vendors in the industry design a table. Paper Fling participated in a number of different ways. We assisted some of our industry friends with paper goods for their tables, we designed and print the events program, and we also took on our own table to design! The event was so much fun - there were some great ideas. Here are some photos of some of the details:

Paper Fling's Table - co-designed by Lilies and Lemondrops:

We also did the paper design for Wavelink Music, McKenzie Kate Weddings, and BBJ Linnens

Addressing Your Invitations

Paper Fling — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:24:00 GMT

Another common question that we get is how to address your invitations. Here is a little background info:

Wedding Invitations used to all come with an inner and outer envelope. The outer envelope would indicate who is invited: (Mr. and Mrs. John Smith) while the inner envelope would address the guests less formally: (Mr. and Mrs. Smith or just John and Sarah if you are close with the couple.)

In the last 5 - 10 years inner envelopes have become less popular. Many couples worry about the excess of paper both for the environment as well as for postage.

Whichever option you choose, you will want to make sure to specifically address the invitation to whomever you are inviting. For example, if you want to invite a couple without their children, you should address the envelope to Mr. and Mrs. John Smith. If you want to invite a family with their children, you can address the envelope as either:
Mr. and Mrs John Smith
Billy and Susy

or

The Smith Family

or

Mr. and Mrs. John Smith and Family

A couple of other important points about addressing your invitations: If you are sending a formal invitation (which most wedding invitations are) then you should spell everything out. St. would be Street, WA would be Washington, etc.

Registry Information

Paper Fling — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:28:00 GMT

One questions that I get asked a lot is where the registry information should go on your invitation. This is a real pet-peeve of mine...

In recent years it has become more common for couples to include their gift registry information in their invitations. I think this became popular because stores started passing out little inserts with their info on it for couples to include in their invitations. If you really think about this, including this information is kind of rude. If you were having a birthday party you wouldn't tell your friends that they had to bring you a gift and that it should be selected off of a list that you created. Gifts are supposed to be given freely by the giver - not demanded and selected by the receiver.

The correct etiquette for this issue is that you, as the bride and groom, should never ask for gifts - that is just bad form! That being said, you should not include any information on your registry in your invitations or in any written correspondence with your guests. Your friends and family can spread the word if people ask them and, if someone asks you where you are registered - it is okay to tell them - but only if they ask.

Now, if you feel that you really want to include this information for your guests, I would definitely not suggest inserting the little slips of paper that the stores give you unless you really want to advertise for them in your wedding invitation. What I would suggest is setting up a wedding website that will link to your registry. You can then just include your wedding website on your invitation like this:

For additional information, please visit our wedding website at: www.ourweddingwebsite.com

There are plenty of free wedding websites. I have used theknot.com as well as mywedding.com and found them to be pretty good. If you would prefer a custom website and want to have it match your invitations (which is a great way to go!) I would recommend Blue Six Pence Design. They are a local vendor that does great work.

RSVP Card Etiquette

Paper Fling — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:46:00 GMT

Traditionally, response cards were not included in wedding invitations. Guests were expected to write a note on a sheet of their own stationery letting the hosts know if they would be attending or not. Eventually, bride's started to include a response card with their invitations to encourage guests to reply. These cards were blank or printed with one sentence such as, "the favour of your reply is requested by June 1st.) In more recent times, reply cards have become standard. These cards are basically fill in the blank style and ask guests for their name, whether or not they are coming, how many people are coming and potentially may even ask for entrée selections.

In the last couple of years we are starting to see another shift in the response card trends. Many couples, in their desire to be eco-friendly, are doing RSVP postcards or skipping the insert altogether and asking guests to reply online.

As I mentioned in the last article, I think that what you do for your reply cards is up to how strictly you want to follow etiquette. I would suggest that if you plan to have guests reply online, that you have at least a small number of traditional style reply cards to include in the invitations going out to your less tech-savvy guests. If you choose to do a reply card with an envelope or an rsvp postcard, make sure to stamp them!

Here are a couple of answers to questions that I am frequently asked about rsvp cards:

We don't want children at the wedding, how can we politely let our guests know?
The correct etiquette around this questions would be that you would address your envelopes only to those people who are invited and your guests should know that if a child's name was not listed, that the child is not invited. If that is not realistic for your situation, I would recommend including a "number attending" line on your reply card. This way, if you have invited 2 guests and they reply that 3 are coming, you can address the issue before the wedding. Alternately, you can put a small statement on the reply card such as, "due to space limitations, no children please."

Who should the rsvp card go back to?
The correct etiquette answer would be that whoever is hosting the event would receive the reply cards. These days I am seeing a lot of Bride and Grooms who want the cards to return to them, even if their parents are technically hosting (paying) for the wedding.

What does RSVP mean? What does the M stand for?
RSVP is French and stands for Responde Sil Vous Plait which means please respond. The M that comes before the line for your guests names is where they would put in Mr. or Mrs. If you don't like this, you could alternately put Name:________

Wedding Invitation Etiquette

Paper Fling — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:28:00 GMT

Wedding Invitation Etiquette is such an interesting topic to me. There are some very specific etiquette rules around invitations but that doesn't necessarily mean that you need to follow every single rule! I think one of the most important considerations when determining if you will follow etiquette guidelines is to think of your guests and what makes the most sense to them. Really, this is the most important rule in etiquette, in general, if you ask me - make sure that everything you do is gracious and helpful to your guests! If you come from a family that knows etiquette guidelines and will be offended if you don't follow them, then etiquette is for you. However, if you come from a family that is much more laid back and may not be aware of the subtle guidelines of etiquette (such as knowing that only the people named on the envelope are invited) then you may want to step outside of etiquette guidelines to make the process more simple for your guests. The other consideration should be how formal of a wedding you are planning. If you are having a formal wedding, you will generally want to follow etiquette guidelines more closely to start setting the scene for your formal wedding.

In the coming weeks I will share with you some fun and helpful information on etiquette and let you decide what is best for you. If you are lost and need help - come see us! We love helping you word your invitations and address your envelopes.

Paper Fling featured in Seattle Bride

Paper Fling — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:03:00 GMT

Paper Fling was honored to be featured in two different articles of this month's Seattle Bride Magazine. For the first article, Erin Lindeman of Lindeman Weddings and Events asked us to collaborate with her on a two page spread featuring amber and teal as a color theme. We created a 7x7 invitation that featured a fun Envelopments brand patterned paper and envelope liner as well as matching menus and place cards. Judy Tallant of Tallant House created mini cakes using the Envelopements pattern - we love the way these all tied together!

The second article featured a wedding that we provided place cards, favor tags and table numbers for. This couple had a super creative wedding with a dinosaur theme!

Wedding Stationery Timelines

Paper Fling — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:10:00 GMT

As we are getting back into "wedding season" I thought I would share some information on wedding invitations with you. I am often asked about proper timelines for sending out wedding stationery. Here are some thoughts on the different pieces:

Save the Date cards should be sent 1 year - 6 months prior to your wedding. These are particularly important if you are having a destination wedding, if your wedding will take place on or near a holiday, or if you have a lot of out of town guests.

Wedding Invitations should be sent out 8-12 weeks prior to your wedding. (If you have sent a save the date, you should be fine sending it closer to the 8 week side.)

Reply By dates for your response cards should be no more than 3 weeks prior to your wedding. (I know, I know, you can't wait to get your guest count nailed down and would much prefer to have your reply by date be a couple months before the big day. If you do this though, you will find that many people are unable to let you know that far in advance and end up not sending back the card which leaves you in a big mess - yes, I am speaking from experience!)

Thank You Cards can be sent as soon as you receive a present and should be sent no more than 3 months past the date that you received the gift. Ideally, you should send the thank you card out as soon as you receive the gift - it is so much easier this way than letting them pile up and having to write 100 thank you cards all in one sitting.

Come Greet Santa as he flies into Country Village!

Paper Fling — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:17:00 GMT

Come celebrate the holiday season this Saturday with the annual tree lighting and arrival of Santa Claus at Country Village. will be staying open until 8:00 for all of your holiday shopping needs. (There's still time to order your Holiday Cards!)

Check out www.countryvillagebothell.com for more details.

Photo courtesy of Chapters Photography

Do-It-Yourself Holiday Cards Classes

Paper Fling — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:31:00 GMT

Do-It-Yourself Holiday Card Classes are back by popular demand! Last year we had a great time in our little studio helping you design and make your own beautiful holiday cards. We are so excited to get the party started this year with our new and improved assembly studio in the bigger and better Bothell location!

Here's how it works...
Sign up for one of our DIY Holiday Card Class times to come in and get your card designed and your paper ordered. Come back 1 week later (at a time of your choosing) and use our equipment and guidance to get them put together. This is a lot of fun as well as a great value! 10.00 reserves your space and then just pay the cost of the paper you choose - we'll throw in the printing and assembly goods for free!

Available classes are:
Sunday November 22nd 11:00 am or 3:00 pm
Monday November 30th 6:00 pm
Saturday December 5th 11:00 am
Thursday December 10th 6:30 pm

Call the store today to reserve your space - classes are limited to 4 people/class so sign up soon to get your first choice of times!

10% off Holiday Cards through November 15th

Paper Fling — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:47:00 GMT

Beat the rush and order your holiday cards by November 15th and we will reward your excellent planning skills with a 10% discount off of all customized holiday cards! We have a great selection to choose from including Photo Cards and Customizable Cards and Invitations. Check out some samples here: www.paperfling.com/Holiday and then stop in today to get your order placed!

If you prefer to make your own holiday cards, you will definitely want to check out our DIY Holiday Card classes! They offer many different styles and options plus the ability to use our studio and equipment for assembly. Check out the class schedule here: www.paperfling.com/Classes Make sure to sign up soon as classes do fill up and re-registration is required.

Happy Halloween from Paper Fling!

Paper Fling — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:47:00 GMT

Come Trick or Treat at Paper Fling!

Paper Fling — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:52:00 GMT

Come trick or treat at Paper Fling this Halloween! Country Village will be holding their annual "safe halloween" trick-or-treating from 4:00 - 6:00 this Saturday. It will be great fun for kids of all ages! Caleb is really looking forward to dressing up like a penguin and seeing all the other fun costumes you all have. I am still trying to decide what to dress up as. Let me know if you have any good ideas!

See you on Saturday!

Association of Bridal Consultants Meet at Emerald Downs

Paper Fling — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:20:00 GMT

Did you know that Emerald Downs hosts weddings and events? This month the Washington Branch of ABC (Association of Bridal Consultants) met at Emerald Downs and checked out their facility. We had a great time seeing the different locations that one could host a ceremony, reception or party. The main event facility that they offer is the Emerald Room. This room is easily divisable into two sections by drapes so that you can host both a ceremony and reception. There are also suites available which are perfect for an intimate party or for use as a dressing area for the Bridal Party. You can also get married out near the paddock next to the horses - what a perfect location for horse lovers!

The ABC event was a lot of fun. Emerald Downs hosted a mock race since their racing season ends in September. I bet on "Dark Charmer" and lost - but had fun cheering him on! The meeting was planned by Stacy Gavino of Cherishing Moments. She did a great job of bringing in some unique vendors. Red Carpet Valet provided parking. Absolute Music provided MC and DJ services. The Prop Gallery, Choice Linens and AA Party provided rentals. Jack Young provided photography. Creme de la Creme provided printed cookie favors. Extra Hands Catering provided drink service. Paper Fling provided menu cards. And finally, Clowns Unlimited provided a photo booth as well as a Charicature Artist which we all had fun with! (Check out my photo booth picture with Dixie Duncan from Seattle Metropolitan Bride and Groom Magazine.)

Celebrate Halloween with a Party!

Paper Fling — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:50:00 GMT

Halloween is the perfect time to throw a party. There are so many fun options for themes, decorations, activities and invitations. Here are some of our favorite ideas for Halloween Parties and Invitations...

Owls are a great theme for Halloween - Here is one of our Paper Fling Fill-In Invitations available this year

These napkins would make any Halloween Party more fun! They actually stand up on their own to do double duty as table decorations. (We still have a few packages of these available in the store.)

Sarah found this idea on www.marthastewart.com We love the idea of transforming something simple (like a mini pumpkin) into a super fun bat placecard.

Here is one more fun invitation idea from our Paper Fling line

And this is one of my favorite table settings from www.countryliving.com. It is elegant yet fun which is a great mix for a Halloween Party! Notice that they didn't use any black which is what helps it feel more elegant.