The Great Lobster Invitation Reveal

My biggest DIY undertaking for the wedding was definitely our invitation suite. I designed the whole thing with a little help from some purchased stock images. By the time I created this gem, I had already completed at least six other designs. Since Mr. Rucksack and I couldn't agree, it was back to the drawing board. Maybe someday I'll open an Etsy shop so that all of those designs don't go to waste. I thought some of them were pretty darn cute:

A small sample of my nixed creative work

I decided to go back to our Save the Date roots and incorporate the lobsters again. I mean, who doesn't love an adorable lobster? I also stayed with the navy and white color scheme to appease Mr. Rucksack since he wasn't a fan of the pink and aqua colors I had used in the other invitation sets I created. After playing around with layouts, I went with a tri-fold card with lots of lobsters and shells:

The front of the invitation

Partially opened

All the deets

Back of the postcard Response Card

Invitation & Response Card

The whole suite, including the thank you card

For some reason, I naively thought that designing our invitations would actually save us money. (Our Save the Dates had been so inexpensive!) What I didn't consider was that we were now a) printing on both sides b) using much longer paper that had to be cut down to accommodate our 6x18 cards and c) having folds included. Folds cost money. Mad money. I was able to negotiate the price a little so they weren't ridiculously expensive, but we definitely could have saved money (and time!) by going the stock online route.

I used Allegra out of New Haven to print everything because I’ve worked with them for years through both my day job and my outside design work. They were wonderful to work with as always, but I was a little disappointed with how long it all took. They were a few days late on both of the proofs and then a day late on the final invitations. We were cutting it close to the advised 6-8 week mark as it was, so I was panicking a little. Everyone’s incessant nagging of “where’s my invitation?” did not help matters.

They ended up going out at the 7 week mark which Miss Manners assures me is just fine. And I have to tell you, all of the praise we've received made them seem well worth the wait and the price.

One of my favorite parts of the invitation was our envelope. In Photoshop, I manipulated our lobster graphic from the invitations so that his claws would hold our stamps. The body wrapped around the top of the invitation and became part of our address label. I know I would smile if I had a little lobster delivering my mail!

Did you DIY your invitations? What was your biggest challenge?

Chow Down! The Rucksack Menu!

A couple of months ago our menu tasting with our caterer was rescheduled due to a conflict. It was a sad day and an anxious 3 weeks as we eagerly waited and crossed our fingers that the food would be as amazing as we hoped. (Spoiler alert - it was)

I found Forks & Fingers through Weddingwire, saw a menu on their website that I liked and then emailed with Stephanie a few times to get the price and feel where we wanted it. When we met with Mark & Stephanie the first time, we talked a little bit more and then sort of left it up to them. They're totally brilliant and came up with a menu that's beyond perfect and definitely matches with our casual beach chic wedding. 

Onto the tasting! It's nearing lunchtime here and looking at these pictures definitely has me salivating over my keyboard here.

First up, we tried one of our signature drinks: a vodka spiked watermelon lemonade. Mr. Rucksack really needed it after a long day at work. I don't usually love watermelon, but this was tasty. 

We arrived a little early with Momma Rucksack, so we waited and drank and chatted until the hor's devores came out. Stephanie even put on some Buble to set the mood.

The first thing we got to try was a watermelon spoon with jalapeno oil and cilantro. They were so refreshing. Again, this made me change my outlook on watermelon. If you peek in the background you'll see our gourmet pizzetas too. New Haven is known for its pizza, so this was really important to me. We tried two kinds: a classic mozz with basil and fire roasted tomatoes followed by a goat cheese and raspberry pizza.

The Rucksacks don't eat usually gluten, but we cheated a bit to taste a bite of each pizza. Obviously we had to try them for the sake of our guests, right? The raspberry pizza may be one of the best things I have ever put in my mouth.

Momma Rucksack is halfway through her first Whole30 on her way to joining the Paleo cult, but she was kind enough to join in the tasting too. Thanks for taking one for the team, Momma Rucksack! ;-)

When I asked for steamers, I had no idea what Mark and Stephanie had in store. When each serving of clams came out in their own individual pots, I just about peed myself from excitement. There are also some chicken fajitas on that little plate. They were good too, but OMG individual steamer pots!

 Trying the fajitas. We're not in pain, I promise.

Next up we tried the salad! Mr. Rucksack thought there was too much stuff on it, but he is crazy. I got to have a bite of goat cheese, strawberry, golden beet, pomegranate and balsamic with every piece of lettuce. That's my kind of salad!

We tried hard to pace ourselves so that we'd have room for the entrees, but we were still shocked to see the big feast we had ahead of us. Below is our buffet in action (minus the veggie kebobs which I didn't get a photo of.). You guys, we each got one of these plates so I didn't have to share with anyone! From left to right: asparagus risotto, grilled lobster tail, summer corn succotash, grilled steak kebobs, and some sort of amazing chicken with asparagus, kalamata olives and feta. It was incredible times a million.

This was the best "wedding food" I've ever had which is pretty perfect since our one big requirement was "no typical wedding food." Honestly, I would have been thrilled to order any one of those items at a restaurant. (I asked if I could come back every night for dinner, but apparently they have other events....boooo)

My mom agreed that it was incredible, but said she's planning on playing down the awesomeness when telling everyone else about the food. "That way, their minds will be blown!" She said. She's weird.

Did you choose a caterer that would give you non-traditional wedding food? How did your tasting go?