Invitations Part II: Wording

                        Hello my Bride’s & Grooms! So last Post we talked about Invitations. We covered mostly the look of the invitation and the content, However I want to give you some samples from our fabulous legacy Brides & Grooms of the direct invite wording. I have been dealing with this lately in my own planning adventures and I was able to pull from the famous Forest House “Idea Box” and thought you might like to as well. 


Form & Function


When wording your invitations you want to capture your personalities as well as the overall theme of the wedding and then wrap it all in blanket of elegance. Our legacy couples definitely pulled this off. Let’s learn from them shall we?

Together with their families

Jennifer Louise Sawyer

&

Sean Gregory Smith

Invite you to share in the

Joyful celebration of their marriage

Friday

The seventeenth of September

Two thousand and ten

Half past five in the afternoon

Forest House Lodge

24590 Main Street

Foresthill, California

                                                                    ---------------------

“We’ve come so far since that day

And I thought I loved you then”

Together with their parents

Kristie Lynn Trimble

And

Craig Alan Kersey

Request the pleasure of your company

At their marriage

Saturday, the twenty-third of April

Two Thousand Eleven

Four o’clock in the afternoon

Forest House Lodge

24590 Main Street

Foresthill, California 95631

Reception to follow

--------------------------------

Because you have shared in our lives

With your friendship and love we,

Anne Marie Wanken

&

Vernon Paul Elarth

                                                    Request the pleasure of your company

At our wedding celebration

On Saturday, September 25, 2010at 4:00pm

Forest House Lodge

24590 Main Street, Foresthill, California

Feast and merriment to follow

Respond by August 27, 2010

At wedding@gmail.com or (555) 555-5555

In lieu of presents, donations to the Placer SPCA will be accepted.

----------------------------------------

To celebrate the next chapter of their lives

Amy Rocha

And

Nathan Grijalva

Together with their parents

Invite you to be present at their marriage

The sixteenth of April

Two thousand and eleven

At four o’clock

Forest House Lodge

24590 Main Street

Foresthill, California

------------------------

There are many other options too. You may have a poem you would like to insert or you may want to include the parent’s names. Just make sure that no matter what you do it is truly yours. Don’t forget directions! Here is a very simple way to guide them;

Directions From Sacramento

Take I80 East to exit #121 Foresthill/Auburn Ravine Road in Auburn

Turn Right onto Foresthill Road and go 17.4 Scenic miles to historic Foresthill

Destination will be on the right;

Forest House Lodge

24590 Main Street

Well, this information has certainly proved helpful for me; I hope it has done the same for you. Thank you to the Brides & Grooms that left us these wonderful examples! If you have any other questions regarding Invitations or any other planning matters please feel free to ask!

With love and care,

Sienna Forrester,

Wedding Journalist,

Forest House Lodge

Sienna's Idea Pulse; Wedding Invitations

             Good Afternoon everyone! So as you move along in your planning process you will notice that invitations play a large and obviously vital role. There are so many different styles of invitations. I am going to give you a few ideas of what you may like your invitations to look like, as well as what should be contained inside. Invitations depend primarily upon personality and the amount of information that needs to be enclosed. Here are some invitation styles you may like;

Here at the Forest House your day flows a little differently than it would at another venue. Due to the all-inclusive packages that we offer some will want a few guests to arrive early on their wedding day and join them for lunch if that is the package option they have chosen. However, they may want the rest of the guests to come up a little later nearer to the ceremony to keep the "during the day" guest count to a minimum.  You then may wonder; ‘how would I word that in my invitations?’ Well, for this I direct you to our planning mastermind herself, Kathryn Gardenhire. The same questions you have asked us, I have asked Kathryn, and here is what she has to say:

“Invitations are tricky, because of all of the activities associated with a wedding at Forest House versus a wedding anywhere else.  I usually recommend leaving the main body of the invitation formal with the parent’s names, bride and groom names, ceremony time, date and location.  Then, I recommend using an insert to explain the lunch, pre-ceremony cocktail party, post-ceremony cocktail party, etc.  Since the invitation is usually a keepsake of the event, I recommend using the actual ceremony time.  If you don't want to use a separate insert for the "time line" information, you could add a note at the bottom of the invitation that says something like the following:

"Please join us at Forest House Lodge starting at 4:00 for cocktails and appetizers prior to the ceremony.  The ceremony will take place approximately 1.4 miles from Forest House Lodge at Grand Sierra Pointe, please see a staff member for directions.  Cocktails and appetizers will be available back at Forest House Lodge immediately following the ceremony, and dinner will begin at 7:30, with dancing to follow."

Also, we have had some confusion regarding rooming arrangements. Here is what we suggest to help eliminate any confusion: we strongly advise that you give rooming information about the Lodge strictly to those who you have chosen to stay at the Lodge over night. In the Invitations for those who will be staying in one of our overflow hotels, please give ONLY the information regarding those hotels. Forest House Lodge has a list of overflow hotel information that has been provided in your planning packet, if you would like to receive a secondary copy of this insert please feel free to contact us. One more thing: for the guests who are staying with us here at the Lodge PLEASE remind them that they are to make their reservations through you. This ultimately gives you complete creative control of your guest list and makes it less of a hassle for them in not having to do the legwork of reservations. Keeping these things in mind will help contribute to a clear, informative invitation.

    Hopefully this is a big help to your planning process. Another thing to keep in mind, as some of you know, is that we have an ‘idea box” here at the Lodge for your use at any time. It is a collaboration of past Bride & Grooms invitations, save the dates, dinner menus and even a few favors. In this way you are able to get your creative juices flowing and even come up with some of your own ideas. Please feel free to call us and ask about coming up to take a look! Hope this helps! As Kathryn always says; Happy Planning!

With Love and Care,

Sienna Forrester, Wedding Journalist

Forest House Lodge

Shoes Shoes Shoes!

                          

                                      Good Afternoon Everyone! So, you all knew this was coming, and if you love shoes anywhere near as much as I do, you have been anxiously awaiting this day! This is the first of many Bridal Shoe Updates! Each bride has their own individual style. Sometimes the gowns are long and the shoes are hidden. Depending on the Bride, the Shoe may come before the gown. Here are some common style choices;

1)      Classy

2)      Elegant

3)      Bold

4)      Bright

5)      Comfortable

6)      Character

7)      Vintage

8)      Personalized

And the list goes on!

 Each time I go through the Bridal Shoe pictures I am going to choose a Featured pair. I will always choose the shoe that catches my attention, the one that is exquisite and unique of the batch. I think you will absolutely love this group’s featured pair! Please continue to send me your shoe pictures! You can send them to: fhlsienna@gmail.com. Here are a few I have received so far:

                                                     Bryanna Galloway (Classy Red)

Cristie Lo (Summer Elegance)

Lauren Gustie (Vintage Beauty)

Rachel Adams (Classic Royal)

                                              My Top pick!

   Jessica Mendenhall (Personalized Beauty)

These are my favorites! I really thought Jessica’s shoe idea was a perfect execution of a personalized wedding shoe, with her own adorable flare. Before Jessica took her first steps down the aisle and into wedding bliss, each of her girls wrote a little something on her shoes. In this way she was able to carry their thoughts and love with her. Such a cute Idea! Thank you for sharing Jessica!

 Please don’t forget to send in your shoe pictures so that I can share them with others!

Have a wonderful day everyone!

With love and care, Sienna Forrester,

Wedding journalist,

Forest House Lodge