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So, I'm not a big cry baby but...

Lisa50Lisa50 member
2500 Comments 5 Love Its Combo Breaker
in Retro and Vintage Weddings
When I went to pick up the invitations on Friday, they just weren't what I was expecting.  :(

As background, I found the "perfect" invitations months ago, but FI couldn't really wrap his mind around ordering online (that's okay, I get it) and so we found ones in a store that were fine.  We went with letterpress, both of us love the look and feel.

So, invitations come in and look beautiful!  When I pull off the shrink wrap to feel them (letterpress is ALL about the feel), it just doesn't feel right.  The manager agrees.  I leave them in the store ... walking out in tears (not big crocodile tears, just baby ones, welling up in the corners of my eyes).  *sigh* 

Later that afternoon, I get a call.  Basically, the explanation from the printer is that this is how traditional letterpress feels.  Well, sh*t (I scream in my head!), why the hell do letterpress invitations in the store (and elsewhere) feel otherwise?  Crap!  I could have ordered thermal press on heavy card stock and have saved enough money to buy another f*cking pair of custom made shoes for God's sakes.  Okay, vent over. 

Next step, FI and I are going to the store today (manager wasn't in yesterday).  I have decided to defer to him (I will drive myself crazy).  They have offered to reprint, but honestly, I don't want to feel too squeezed on time.  We would not meet the planned mail date if they reprint (it takes a week).  Ugh.  I just didn't need this hiccup on invitations (which, literally, will be around forever) ... of all things.
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Re: So, I'm not a big cry baby but...

  • kelleyku05kelleyku05 member
    1000 Comments
    Sorry they didn't turn out the way you wanted!  I'm sure everyone will still think they look great!

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  • memSomervillememSomerville
    100 Comments
    Oh, that is teh suck. And I don't know how the re-printing would help if they are not being honest on the feel of them anyway....

    But I agree with kelley, you will probably be the only one that knows they weren't what you intended.

    I'm trying to remember any wedding invitation that I ever got that I spent more than a millisecond on thinking about the letterpressing....
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  • NukkeNukke member
    Fifth Anniversary 1000 Comments
    Oh Lisa, that sucks.  Reprinting isn't going to fix anything though.  You're talking alot about the feel, but try to concentrate on the important thing--you loved the look of them, eh?  Remember that some people are a lot more tactile than others (actually, very few people are so sensitive of how things feel) so remember that your guests probably aren't going to know how you thought they would feel like.  They will certainly notice that they have a cool pressed surface, though.

    One other thing.  Before you continue doing any other wedding things, you need to consign yourself to the fact that things WILL go wrong with your wedding.  You need to develop an attitude now about how you're going to deal with this.  On the day of your wedding, you don't want to be upset about how the flowers turned out, or whether or not the DJ played your favourite song, or that your Dad wore the wrong tie, etc.  You probably know better than to ruin your wedding day with unnecessary worrying, but the same attitude goes for the wedding planning process.  You can either have lots of fun wedding planning, or it can be the most stressful part of the process.  It's how you choose to respond to the hurdles thrown at you that will determine whether or not you come out with a smile on your face or tears in your eyes. 

    At my wedding--the one thing I was most excited about (my flowers) and the thing I paid hords of money for, were the most hideous pieces of garbage you can imagine.  My mother and mother-in-law saw them and knew they were horrid, and neither of them even knew what I had chosen.  I saw the looks on their faces as they brought them into the bridal suite.  I saw the flowers and immediately thought, "well, we won't be using those.  Let's forget about them and have a great day".  And I did.  I didn't care one ounce about them the entire day. My mother(s) were shocked at how well I took it, but imagine how horrible my wedding day would have been if I'd gotten upset about them.  I got my revenge on the florist afterwards.

    The bottom line is that your invitations are spelled right, they look great, and they do have a letterpress "feel" to them--just not the specific one you were hoping for.  It sounds like you have some lovely invitations that your guests will gush over when they show up in their mail boxes.
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  • Lisa50Lisa50 member
    2500 Comments 5 Love Its Combo Breaker
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-theme-boards_retro-vintage-weddings_im-not-big-cry-baby-but?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Theme BoardsForum:667Discussion:b5952a55-1c52-4cde-bab2-e6d2d0408f83Post:a61d8d66-8d23-4474-8a62-dc59fb38a287">Re: So, I'm not a big cry baby but...</a>:
    [QUOTE]Oh Lisa, that sucks.  Reprinting isn't going to fix anything though.  You're talking alot about the feel, but try to concentrate on the important thing--you loved the look of them, eh?  Remember that some people are a lot more tactile than others (actually, very few people are so sensitive of how things feel) so remember that your guests probably aren't going to know how you thought they would feel like.  They will certainly notice that they have a cool pressed surface, though. One other thing.  Before you continue doing any other wedding things, you need to consign yourself to the fact that things WILL go wrong with your wedding.  <strong>You need to develop an attitude now about how you're going to deal with this.  On the day of your wedding, you don't want to be upset about how the flowers turned out, or whether or not the DJ played your favourite song, or that your Dad wore the wrong tie, etc.  You probably know better than to ruin your wedding day with unnecessary worrying, but the same attitude goes for the wedding planning process.  You can either have lots of fun wedding planning, or it can be the most stressful part of the process.  It's how you choose to respond to the hurdles thrown at you that will determine whether or not you come out with a smile on your face or tears in your eyes. </strong> At my wedding--the one thing I was most excited about (my flowers) and the thing I paid hords of money for, were the most hideous pieces of garbage you can imagine.  My mother and mother-in-law saw them and knew they were horrid, and neither of them even knew what I had chosen.  I saw the looks on their faces as they brought them into the bridal suite.  I saw the flowers and immediately thought, "well, we won't be using those.  Let's forget about them and have a great day".  And I did.  I didn't care one ounce about them the entire day. My mother(s) were shocked at how well I took it, but imagine how horrible my wedding day would have been if I'd gotten upset about them.  I got my revenge on the florist afterwards. The bottom line is that your invitations are spelled right, they look great, and they do have a letterpress "feel" to them--just not the specific one you were hoping for.  It sounds like you have some lovely invitations that your guests will gush over when they show up in their mail boxes.
    Posted by Nukke[/QUOTE]

    Great advice. 
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  • graysquirrelgraysquirrel member
    2500 Comments 5 Love Its Combo Breaker
    I'm sorry that they didn't come out right! Since they're messed up, can the store do anything else for you? Give you a discount on them? I'd ask because that sounds like a mistake on their part that they should do something to rectify if they want to give good service. 
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  • Lisa50Lisa50 member
    2500 Comments 5 Love Its Combo Breaker
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-theme-boards_retro-vintage-weddings_im-not-big-cry-baby-but?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Theme BoardsForum:667Discussion:b5952a55-1c52-4cde-bab2-e6d2d0408f83Post:2e54133a-758d-4ff5-837a-fb83b57f2b0d">Re: So, I'm not a big cry baby but...</a>:
    [QUOTE]I'm sorry that they didn't come out right! Since they're messed up, can the store do anything else for you? Give you a discount on them? I'd ask because that sounds like a mistake on their part that they should do something to rectify if they want to give good service. 
    Posted by graysquirrel[/QUOTE]

    They could, I guess.  Bottom line is that we took them home today.  They meet FI's expectations and that's fine for me.  The manager was, again, <u>extremely</u> apologetic and offered to reprint (rush) on another paper stock. 

    But honestly, it would not be worth the stress (I have a TON of other stuff going on) to sit and wait another week to 10 days.  If my target mail date were a couple of weeks later, I'd go for the change, but not now.

    Thanks so much for the support -- they look gorgeous, don't get me wrong.  And no one else will know they didn't meet expectations.  Lesson learned.  If I ever want another letterpress job done, I'll buy my own press and do it myself.  LOL!!!  <img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-tongue-out.gif" border="0" alt="Tongue out" title="Tongue out" />
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