First I want to THANK all of the wonderful people that I have gotten to ‘meet’ through this blog! While I started this to help other couples I’m amazed at how much THEY are helping ME! Its been such a help to share ideas with others going through the same thing and even have opportunities to vent to someone that ‘gets it’. The latest ordeal has been invitations! I’ve spent hours and hours (and hours!) looking for an invitation I love. I finally found a couple I ‘liked’ and requested samples. I want something that suits the occasion – classy but not stuffy, colorful and cheery, and tropical / beachy without being trite. I thought I had looked at just about every site out there. There were some ‘destination wedding’ invitations that I thought were cute at first, but then saw similar ideas over and over and quickly realized what a cliche they were. Ugh! I hope to never see another ‘message in a bottle’ or ‘watercolor beach / palm tree’ again!

While I admit the samples I ordered weren’t anything I was excited about, I have to tell you that this is the last thing I expected my fiancé to have an interest in! Well sure enough, he is interested and has his opinions! He wants something that is traditional and formal! Well I was intent on having something that reflected the informal atmosphere we will have at the wedding. So now, after I have already spent more hours than I dare to admit to looking for invitations, the search starts again, together. Luckily it took him less time to realize how frustrating it is. It was funny to see him drawn to two extremes – super formal to totally corny.

Anyway – yesterday afternoon I had pretty much given up and decided I was going to make them myself and merge a couple of ideas I liked. I get off the phone with my dad (he owns a printing company and I had just talked to him about printing an invite I design), and there is an email waiting for me from another Aruba bride. In there is a couple of her favorite invitation links and wouldn’t you know – there it is! The Decadent Designs “Destination Pocket” invitation. I’m so excited! Its the perfect compromise for my fiance and I – formal enough for him with the pocket setup and pretty script, but bright and ‘organic’ for me and even tastefully adds in a couple of small shells to tie in the beach! Thank you Thank you Cindy and Lynsey!

Lynsey of Decadent Desings LLC, does personal, hand made invitations often featuring luxury materials and fantastic embellishments like crystals, ribbons, etc. She started her small business when she went through the same thing – desperate to find the ‘right invitation’, finally giving up and making them herself! I think many of us can relate to this beautiful, young newlywed (married Feb 2008) who happens to love Aruba! Here are a couple of her other ‘destination’ designs: Classic Shell and the Boxed Starfish. While they may seem pricey at first, prices include everything you see in the photo and there is NO minimum order! We would have spent as much with someone else that enforces minimum orders and has lots of ‘add on charges’ like changing colors, adding enclosures or embellishments, etc.