Do you want another chance to win 100 letterpress cards?

Woo Hoo!

We teamed up with The Broke-Ass Bride this week to give away another set of 100 one-color letterpress wedding invitations or save the dates! There are FIVE opportunities to enter to win, so be sure to read the details over on the blog post.

If you are in the middle of your wedding planning process, you might be familiar with The Broke-Ass Bride! If you aren’t, check them out! You don’t want to miss their video tutorials, hilarious posts, and overall awesomeness.

Dana and her team work tirelessly to collect great deals, discounts, and even giveaways from amazing wedding vendors. And they don’t stop there. The Broke-Ass team provides excellent advice and inspiration for throwing a “bad-ass wedding on a broke-ass budget. ” ; )

We truly enjoy spreading the letterpress love. Enter the giveaway today!

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Written by Katie

Planning the Most Incredible Celtic Wedding

There is no better feeling in the world than when your one true love proposes to you and gives you a beautiful Celtic Engagement Ring or Celtic Wedding Ring. Perhaps the feeling of actually getting married is better, but since you are still in the planning stages, you’ll have to decide later. So Congratulations and let’s begin to plan the most incredible Celtic wedding that anyone has ever seen.

Setting the Date

The first thing that you will need to do is decide on a date for the wedding. It’s really best to sit down with both sets of parents as well as your betrothed for this important decision. You should try to avoid major holidays for the big day as many people will have other obligations and be unable to attend your nuptials. Ultimately, the happy couple will have the final say but take the time to listen to the opinions of your parents and future in-laws. You will be glad that you did.

The Guest List

It is really important that you have a fairly accurate idea of how many people will be invited to witness your ceremony and celebrate the day with you. This will help you decide on the right venues. A small and intimate church that seats one hundred people would not be suitable for the couple inviting two hundred and fifty guests. Knowing the number of guests will help you with all of the planning stages for your Celtic wedding.

Finding the Right Location

As soon as you have your date selected, you will need to decide on the venue for the nuptials. Some churches require you to book your wedding two years in advance. Naturally, most happy couples opt to have their wedding at their family church while others opt for a more natural setting such as a park or even the backyard of their family homes. There is no right or wrong place to have a Celtic wedding ceremony.

Once you know where you’ll be having the ceremony, you will need to find a reception hall for the celebration. Most people reserve their reception hall well in advance so this should be done as soon as possible after booking your ceremonial site. Visit several locations and take pictures as well as bring home the information about the venue. This will help you to compare prices, amenities and styles of each and finally decide on the best one.

Obtaining Someone to Officiate

Those who are having their wedding ceremony inside of a church will more than likely have one of their parish priests officiate but not all priests understand the ways of Celtic tradition. Other couples might seek out the services of someone who is schooled in Celtic ways. You can always speak to the priest, other clergy or person who will lead the service about the traditions that are important to you.

Stay tuned for Part 2!

This guest post was written for Invitations by Ajalon by Sine Treanor and Steven Forsyth of www.celtic-weddingrings.com.

Save the Date with Amanda!

If you are looking for an invitation design that stands out in a crowd, Amanda is it! Contrasting fonts are at the forefront of this wedding invitation design. Mix and match your favorite fonts to personalize your invitation or save the date wording.

Amanda is fully customizable—from ink colors to paper size. We printed our 11-11-11 save the date on a 5×5, 100% cotton card. Ceremony details will work wonders to make this an amazing 5×7 or oversized wedding invitation.

Send Me My Free Samples of Amanda

One of the most adorable elements adorning Amanda is the charming hearts featured in the wedding date. Utilize your own wedding motif within the Amanda design to add personality and punch.

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Written by Katie

Digital or letterpress: which would you choose?

We’ve heard both sides of the story when it comes to the never-ending battle between letterpress and digital wedding invitations, and to tell the truth, we’re a bit torn! There are so many perks to both printing methods, how is one really supposed to choose?

Let’s think about this:

Letterpress

Letterpress is an amazing printing process that has been around for centuries. Luscious soy-based inks are impressed into Crane’s tree-free, 100% cotton Lettra, making any design come to life.

While this is a beautiful process, it is also rumored to be an expensive one! Luckily, there are some printers who have mastered the craft and can provide awesome deals and discounts.

Letterpress is perfect for brides who love that vintage feel or brides who want invitations that are classic and timeless. While old letterpress invitations were laid out letter by letter, contemporary designers–as well as the computer–has helped make this a modern and speedy quality endeavor.

After finalizing your proofs with Ajalon, your invitations can be printed and shipped within just 10 working days!

Why wouldn’t you want a letterpress invite?

Send Me My Free Samples of Letterpress Printing

Digital

You might have thought letterpress was the ONLY way to print your wedding invitations until you saw the crisp, clean, digitally printed pieces available for equally astonishing prices.

Digital invitations are perfect for brides with large wedding celebrations. Multiple events, maps and directions, and accommodation cards are sometimes necessary items to include in a wedding suite, and all that letterpress CAN add up– a smart reason why digital may be the way to go for you.

Digital invites also allow you to use more technology within your design. Adding photos of you and your sweetheart will make your save-the-date something to be cherished, and maybe even framed!

Send Me My Free Samples of Digital Printing

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It all really depends on YOU! What are your needs and preferences? Talk with your wedding invitation consultant to discuss all of the little details and settle on the perfect printing method for your wedding invitations.

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Written by Katie

Invitations by Ajalon’s Proposal Story Contest

Happy new year, lovebirds! Did you get engaged in 2011? We want to know how it happened!

Did your sweetheart make your heart explode by jumping off the side of a building? Maybe it was something a little more romantic. Perhaps the spoon you used for your morning tea contained the big question.

I want to hear them all! Share with us your romantic—or just plain goofy—2011 proposal story to enter our giveaway for 100 letterpress invitations or save-the-date cards, over a $300 $500 value!

The winner will be able to choose from any of our gallery designs, fonts and our standard ink colors.  They will receive 100 one-color, one-sided 5×7 letterpress cards with 110 blank envelopes. Printed with soy-based ink on 100% cotton Crane’s Lettra stock.

Here’s a sampling of our most popular designs:

Send Me My Free Samples of Oahu

Send Me My Free Samples of Park Avenue

Send Me My Free Samples of Keri

How to enter:

Comment on this blog post with your proposal story below.

Like Invitations by Ajalon on Facebook and let us know you added us in a comment below for one additional entry.

Tweet this: “I just entered to win 100 letterpress invitations from @ajalonprinting! http://goo.gl/GIDcx” for one additional entry.

Contest will end March 1, 2012. The giveaway winner will be selected by a random number generator and notified by email on March 2, 2012. All entries will qualify for a free sample pack, a $15 value.

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Written by Katie

Hello @techbrides! #doyoulikecookies?

Modern brides are blessed with new technology to spread nuptial news FAST. Our phones can connect us to any social media outlet we can imagine, and everyone seems to be using them.

Photo Courtesy of Mashable

The moment after my own sweetheart proposes to me, there is no doubt in my mind there will be a few status updates to follow, but I am still a fan of spreading the word to those closest to me in a special way…such as with cookies. : )

Photo Courtesy of Mashable

These awesome cookies probably take a little longer to make than merely updating your Facebook status, but something tells me your friends and family will “like” finding out the news with a sweet treat attached!

Photo Courtesy of Mashable

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Written by Katie

Go to the Invitation Gallery

Check out our special on letterpress invitations and save!!!!

Give Your Guests (and Yourself) Time to Plan Ahead

If you despise last minute wedding invitations, you are not alone. Most wedding guests really appreciate several weeks notice before the big event. If you send your letterpress wedding invitations out to friends and family at the appropriate time, not only will they be more able to prepare for your big day, but you will be too.

Some couples cannot hold back their excitement and send out a save the date card to friends and family. Save the date cards are appropriate to send out months or, in the case of a destination wedding, even a year before the proposed event.

The wedding invitation itself is usually sent to guests about two months before the ceremony, and definitely no later than six weeks before. Giving your guests enough time to fill out and return your letterpress printed RSVP cards will help you attain a final count, thereby making other planning duties, such as meals, seating charts, etc., a smoother process.

Send Me My Free Samples of Kira

If you are planning a destination wedding, give your guests another four weeks (at least) to make travel and accommodation arrangements.

Plan ahead with affordable letterpress wedding invitation deals, including Ajalon’s November 2010 special of 100 letterpress invitation cards and envelopes and 100 RSVP postcards! If you haven’t already, all you Spring 2011 brides should be sending out your save the dates right about now…

Written by Katie

Invitations by Ajalon
View our letterpress wedding invitation gallery.

Nothing Leaves an Impression like Letterpress (no pun intended)

If you are looking for a wonderful way to make a bold first impression with your wedding invitations, then you have come to the right place. Letterpress wedding invitations designs hold an understated elegance that is impossible to beat with any other printing method. When thinking about your guest’s first impressions of your reception, ceremony or save the date cards, don’t forget the power and appeal of letterpress printing.

Take it one step further:

Foil Stamping

Nothing spices up your wedding invitation quite like a little foil stamping. It comes in a variety of colors (not just silver and gold) and can be applied to your invitation set in fun and interesting ways. When added to your invitation, foil stamping creates a glistening shine that always helps to heighten your guests first impressions of your wedding celebration.

Colors Galore

Many brides are afraid of straying from the traditional white paper with black text invitation style. If you are looking to make a strong first impression with your letterpress wedding invitation designs, then consider mixing and matching different colors combinations that suite your personality, wedding theme or season. Adding some personalized colors can work wonders in helping you achieve that exceptional first impression that you want.

After receiving her invitations from us, see what this bride’s first impression was:

“I received my invitations yesterday. They look AMAZING!! I can’t wait to give them out to my family and friends. Thanks again!!!” ~ Linda

Written by Nick

Invitations by Ajalon
View our letterpress wedding invitation gallery.

New Spring Contest for Indian Wedding Cards Designs

For all you south Asian brides out there have we got some news for you! This week we are having a gift certificate giveaway contest and everyone is invited to participate. We have been hard at work designing new south Asian letterpress wedding invitation cards and we would like to hear from you. Just search our gallery of Indian letterpress wedding cards and leave a comment here indicating which one you liked the most and why it will fit your wedding style.

If your response is selected we will give you a $50 gift certificate that can be used toward your order of any of our wedding invitation cards in our gallery and even custom design work too. When writing your response, think about the different color options, foil stamping, design aesthetics and overall shape and size.

Even if you do not want to enter the contest, you should still check out our extensive new spring arrivals in our letterpress wedding invitation gallery. The new colors, themes and styles are sure to put a smile on your face and impress your guests.

We would like to thank our friends over at Maharani Weddings A Haven for South Asian Brides for hosting this contest.

Written by Nick

Invitations by Ajalon
View our letterpress wedding invitation gallery.

Don’t ya just love how the blogosphere brings us into contact with people all over the world? Just recently, our letterpress Save the Date Giveaway was helped along by some of my blogger friends. In the spirit of “one good turn deserves another,” I’d like to thank the bloggers who posted our giveaway. Here are there links and a little about them. I encourage you to check them out:

http://digunderrocks.blogspot.com/

Sandy I am an Apparel Designer, Jewelry Designer and Poker Player living in LA… and I sell on Etsy.. and I like cats.. Dig Under Rocks Blog is dedicated to all things jewelry, textile, vintage and apparel design.. I create handcrafted modern bohemian jewelry and blog about works in progress, inspirations, new techniques and upcoming events.. Also, I discuss the challenges and adventures of starting a handmade business out of my apartment.

http://www.hmgiveaways.com/

Bit by the giveaway bug? This site is full of great goodies.

http://surviveweddingseason.com/

Best friend turning into a bride-zilla?  Not sure what to spend on a gift?  Choosing between close friends who picked the same wedding date? Survive Wedding Season provides creative and practical solutions to all your wedding-related questions and concerns.  

http://smittentheblog.blogspot.com/

Cindy – I’m a floral designer and an addict of all things vintage. I love unique weddings, old fabrics, ephemera, letterpress, photography, and anything handmade.

http://awaysoiree.com/

Events by Evonne is a boutique full service planning, coordination and design company that specializes in highly personalized weddings and events in all of the Hawaiian islands, the San Francisco Bay Area and wherever your dreams may take you. We limit our events every year in order to ensure that we can provide exceptional quality, service and attention to all of our clients; and all of our services are custom designed to suit our clients’ needs.  Congratulations! We’d love to be a part of your very special event!

http://weddingsunveiledblog.blogspot.com/

Weddings Unveiled sprang from the minds of a wedding planner and a fashion photographer. They imagined a beautiful magazine reflective of the South’s modern sophisticate with a fresh, edgy take on classic style. The result proved to be the most exciting, talked-about wedding publication in the South by brides and wedding professionals alike. Weddings Unveiled is everything weddings with vivid imagery, lush editorials, incomparable fashion and a sophisticated manner that appeals to intelligent, modern brides.

http://weddinggenius.wordpress.com/

As a professional wedding consultant, I saw the need to reach brides and help them along the somewhat overwhelming path of planning their wedding.  With so many things to research and so many aspects to a wedding, it’s nice to know that there is somewhere to go for helpful information, hints and tips to ease the process, ideas and inspiration to create your dream wedding, and a place where you can ask questions and get answers.

So I saw the need to bring some of these professionals together in one site to better educate and inspire brides.  We are each specialists in our own wedding service industry and it is with our expertise and experience that we will be able to help you along the way.  One person can’t know everything, but a group of us can guide you along the way.

We hope that you will find ideas and inspiration that will make your day memorable for a lifetime. Congratulations!  And remember to have fun!

http://brideonashoestring.wordpress.com/

Great ideas and inspiration from who else? A bride on a shoestring…teriffic read.