I can't begin to express my love for Etsy, the one-stop online shop for unique, handmade items. It has been my "go to" for my wedding planning needs, and my experience with both the marketplace and the shop owners has been impeccable.
I purchased my wedding invitations from the Whimsical Prints shop and a woman named Leanna; she stood by me, month after month, question and after question, and change after change, offering up her expertise and experience with wedding invitation design and wording. For example, I came across questions I had never considered before, such as "is 5:30pm the afternoon, or the evening?" and "who comes first, my Mom's name or my Dad's on the return envelope?". I love her design approach, too – simple and using high quality materials that you can then dress up with personal touches if desired; my invites were a total hit among friends and family.
And I wanted something unique for my ring bearer to carry rather than the standard generic pillow – something that tied in the garden theme on my big day. I found Courtney, with her shop Courtney Alison Design, and she is creating a beautiful custom birds nest ring "pillow" (my ribbon is a dark, fuchsia pink). She also offered me one invaluable wedding tip:
Wedding Day Tip: Remember to enjoy the big day. Nothing matters at that point except that you and your new husband enjoy every minute possible.
Ok, that brought tears to my eyes again! And I am most recently working with a woman named Lisa, and her shop The Handmade Boutique, to create a custom guest book using designer fabrics and materials. She is fabulous.
I don't know what I would have have done without Etsy, and the wonderful designers that I have met on the site, as a key, grounded part of my wedding planning madness; perhaps I otherwise would have had stale, traditional wedding accents, like formal white invites with gold script, a generic ring bearer pillow, and a Staples guest book? If you haven't checked Etsy out, be sure to, you can find just about anything; and more likely than not, no one else has that same something.
Love etsy! They have such cute kids stuff :)
Posted by: Andrea Mazzini | May 15, 2009 at 09:52 PM
Thanks, Louise! It's great to hear that you are and Etsy fann too!
Posted by: Kate | May 14, 2009 at 07:45 AM
I really love Etsy too.
The sellers that I've worked with have been so friendly, kind, and incredibly passionate about their work.
It's lovely to hear that Etsy has made your wedding planning easier and all the elements more personal.
Oh - and CONGRATULATIONS on your upcoming nuptials!
Posted by: Louise (shopaphilia) | May 13, 2009 at 09:54 PM