A group of five fabulous wedding and event planners (I can vouch for them - they really are fabulous) from the San Francisco Bay Area have decided to band together to learn as much as they can about their industry from one another and their experiences.  They have coined themselves “The Fab 5,” and they share the “Tales of the Fab 5″ on their blog….inevitably, the stories will be good.

They have met with many local vendors that maybe only one of the planners had experience with, which allows the rest of the group to learn more about this recommended vendor.  Recently they visited the Four Seasons San Francisco Hotel for lunch and a tour of their event space, and a tasting at La Bonne Catering for a tasting lunch to get a better sense of their style and food service.  When one has a question that they don’t know how to tackle, like, “where can a find the best flying trapeze entertainers,” they are always able to give referrals and help where needed.

In an industry where most would think a group like this would not form because of its competitive nature, competition simply does not exist with this group.  They love what they do, and they all do it well in their own unique way….one may actually say they complement one another.

Check out their new blog at www.talesofthefab5.blogspot.com to find out what they are up to, and get some inside photos and scoop from the industry events they attend.

Wonder-Fab 5 power….ACTIVATE!

xo, Cardgirl

The best wedding favor I have received is a CD created by the bride & groom of their favorite love songs.  Of course, it helps a little that I absolutely adore this couple and think of them every time I play the CD!
They had the cutest label stuck onto the disc….but I also know that they spent houuuurrsss of their time on these lovely labels. So I was excited to find these gorgeous CD Labels by My Own Labels (a favorite site of mine).  They have tons of different designs & colors to choose from, and you can order hang tags, water bottle labels, wine labels…you name it…to match.

If you’re really inspired, you can upload your own designs!

xo, Cardgirl

Here’s another opportunity for Cardgirl DIY readers to win an amazing prize. This time digitalroom.com has offered to print envelopes for you!  500 of them…wow.  This is perfect for save the date envelopes or thank you note envelopes.

Get creative and upload your own design (a great feature for those of you who already have a wedding invitation design you’d like to print), or they have an online design tool and templates to help you create a design online.

For those of you who are eco-chic, you’ll be glad to learn that Digital Room uses eco-friendly, soy-based inks and paper stocks that range from 10% to 30% recycled paper.

So I’m sure you want to win these envelopes. Here’s what you have to do for your chance to win 500 free printed envelopes:

Just leave a comment telling me how you would use your free 500 printed envelopes! Comments must be received by Monday, May 4th at noon PST.

Don’t forget to put your email address in the comments so that I can contact you.

NOTE: Shipping is free for residents of the U. S. and Canada. Those who reside in other countries must pay for shipping.

Good Luck!

xo, Cardgirl

I thrilled to share with you that Kelly & Nick’s wedding was featured on Style Me Pretty’s Little Black Book Blog today!

Go ahead, take a peek!

xo, Cardgirl

I love this escort card display for an outdoor wedding.

The bride, Emarie from A Savvy Event, used small clothes pins to hang the cards from an old iron gate.  Rustic chic.  Perfect for this orchard wedding.

xo, Cardgirl

This brings me back to the fill in the circle SAT questions…ahhh such fun.  But I just love this idea I came across on the Style Me Pretty site for escort cards.  Clever, sleek & practical.

You would write the guest names onto the front of the small envelope, and simply slip in the appropriately shaded card.  This way you can have the guest names written ahead of time, and save the seat assignments until the day before to account for any last minute changes.

#2 pencils only.

xo, Cardgirl

Seating your guests is a pain in the seat…but it’s a must if you want to maintain order during your fabulous affair.

Take it from me - I learned this the hard way.  When I got married six and a half years ago (I had no idea what I was doing), I decided it was too much trouble to seat my guests.   I thought, oh, they can just figure it out themselves.  Ha.  Not a good idea.  225 people roaming aimlessly for a seat.  Oh, and my new hubby and I along with the maid of honor and best man ended up sitting at a table right next to the buffet.  Nice.

Since you’re going to take on this daunting task of selecting who is going to sit at which table, you may as well have fun with it.  Name the tables after special cities, restaurants, or wines.  And create a lovely display out of the cards themselves.

There are so many creative ways to present the escort cards & table names/numbers.  I have decided to devote this entire week to seating your guests.

Today is Day 1:  Beach Wedding (photo from the Ritzy Bee Blog)

I love this natural, yet clever display of escort cards for a beach or lakeside wedding.  Line your cards up alphabetically in a large dish of sand. This looks gorgeous, and can do wonders for keeping the cards from blowing away in the wind.

This could also be done using dried peas (sounds funny, but looks really cool), colored sand from IKEA, candy (lemon heads are great for a yellow wedding), pebbles…

Take Your Seat.

xo, Cardgirl

So you’re not a born designer.  You can still print your own fabulous wedding programs…check out Custom Printables.  Valerie has some gorgeous designs starting at $10.  Yes, really.  Amazing huh?

She also designs custom candy wrappers you can print at home, creates amazing monograms, and offers a few invitation designs for free.

What a great program.

xo, Cardgirl

So you forgot to wear your green today?!  With a little Irish luck…here’s how to fold a Shamrock out of a Dollar Bill.

Hurry up so you don’t get pinched.

xo, Cardgirl