save the date!

C and i are so excited to share our save the dates today. like most things in our lives right now, they were a labor of love and a lot of fun. hopefully the recipients felt the same.

first, a little bit about our big day. throughout our relationship we have talked about the importance of an intimate wedding. we are self-proclaimed loners and really want to cherish that magical moment of "i do." for us, that meant escaping to a beautiful land with our immediate family. therefore, we are getting married in a little Catholic church on the beach on December 23rd. and we could not be more thrilled.

but, we couldn't end there. we both wanted to celebrate this huge year we and so many special people in our lives are having, so we decided to host a new year's eve bash. partially to celebrate our marriage, but mostly to celebrate a great year for so many people. 

which brings us to the save the date. i wanted this piece of the celebration to get people excited about the party as well as incorporate the new year's eve feel. enter confetti poppers. 

i found this tutorial online and enlisted the help of my parents to give it a whirl. about eighty man hours later, these babies were in the mail [some still need to get in the mail. gah! never ending! sorry for those of you who get these late!]. 

here's what happened.

we printed, cut and strung confetti bunting of information. the bunting read: as the new year begins and the old one ends, chris and ashley would like to celebrate their union with family and friends. save the date! december 31, 2013. more information: ashleypluschris.com

we then purchased confetti poppers from party city. i ordered them in june, so the theme was 4th of july. 

i unwrapped the 4th of july paper and found my confetti. the tutorial said to pop the popper and then reload it, which i did for about twenty-five of them. but finally, i realized i could just take the top off and pour out the confetti [leaving it loaded and ready.]. this epiphany saved me about one hundred hours and ten fingers.

we made "turn here" labels and "caution confetti ahead" toppers. we applied them and they were complete!

the recipient [hopefully] was then able to pop their tube and reveal their save the date! i was most nervous about the mess they would have to clean up, but so far, i haven't heard too many complaints.

we mailed them in tubes from staples. i simply printed labels, wished them good luck and farewell, and sent them on their way.

we are ecstatic to celebrate 2013 and the promise of 2014 with our family and friends!