Hi there!  My name is Katherine Greene-Owens, new mmp production manager and one of Melanie’s 2007 bridal clients.
I absolutely adore weddings (yes, I am married—still buying wedding magazines), and am thrilled to share with you parts from my wedding that I hope you will find both useful and inspirational.

The Wedding Stamp: Make a Fabulous Statement

Don’t you love getting mail? —Retrieving those little treasures from your mailbox, gushing over the beautiful stationery.
Your wedding invitation is the ultimate piece of mail, and as such deserves a lot of attention.  Those few pieces of stationery will set the tone for your wedding, long before the first guest arrives at the ceremony.  When guests receive your invitation in the mail, they should immediately feel aware of the formality of the day, while reflecting your own sensibilities.  It is a great compliment to hear, “It looked so like you!”

Your wedding invitation serves as announcement, but just as importantly, to build excitement and anticipation for the day to come.  I find that brides (and grooms) make careful choices regarding the stationery, but they often neglect another component of invitations that can make them truly extraordinary—the stamps.

While it may be convenient to purchase the wedding stamps sold by the post office each year, stamps which reflect the unique sensibilities of the couple can elevate any invitation to the next level.  Remember, many of your guests (even those who may surprise you!) will notice and appreciate the small details.

For my wedding, we were able to find beautiful $.10 stamps with pocket watches on  them.  I immediately fell in love with the lush green tones of the stamps, especially since my groom-to-be has collected pocket watches since childhood.  I was already in love with them, but the connections to us as a couple kept getting even better.  Since we were getting married on 08.04.07, we were amazed the hands of the watch were set on the eight and the four!  Actually, the stamps were released the year prior on August 4^th. They were PERFECT—and after many calls from family and friends who had received  invitations, I soon realized that my little stamps had made quite an impression!

You can find your own perfect stamps,too. Here are a few things to remember:

· Don’t be intimidated by small denominations of stamps.  It can afford you the chance to make a beautiful arrangement on your envelope.  With my invitations we tried a variety of arrangements, including a 1, 2, 3 stack like a wedding cake.

· Vintage stamps are always an option.  Search ebay for stamps sold by collectors.  The usps website will also have things to order, with most arriving withing a few days.

· Visit multiple post offices.  They have different inventory.  I traveled to all of the post offices in the Lexington area to get enough stamps for my invitations.  It can be a hassle, but believe me—totally worth it!  You’ll love those first oohhhs and awwws from family and friends receiving your invitations.

· Your stamps can be anything that you find beautiful or reflective of yourself or your groom.

· You can always mix and match stamps from a color palette.  Make a striking statement with a stamps series in one color.

Happy Stamp Hunting!

warmly, ~Katherine~

without a doubt, one of the dreamest weddings ever!  chelsea had incredible boots (handmade in spain where she'd been living prior to the wedding) and fun unexpected pops of great personal style (like the fur bolero).  she got ready in the guesthouse on her father's farm with all her best friends and family – i love the image at the top where her grandmother, mother and sister are all helping.  and speaking of her sister, oooh to be so lucky to have *this* sister sing at your wedding!  so many sweet moments, like when chelsea laid her head on sean's shoulder during a prayer. thank you so much, chelsea & sean – for being yourselves, for being in love, and for letting me come along. -m-

wedding notes
flowers: e. stephen hein
make-up:  tina howard (859) 312-1201 (oh tina, a photographer is lucky to have you there on the wedding day!)
hair: britten tate hair studio (britten, wonderful job!!)
dress: melissa sweet @ ruth's bridal
ceremony: first united methodist church
reception: lexington country club

Here are some things we’ve found tooling around the web that seem apropos for this day in April…

– a company that recycles soda bottles into tumblers

– awesome lunch bags by Built NY (I’ve got the black & white one)

– we talked about reusable cleaning cloths last year, Uncommon Goods has some really cute ones

– and books! Happy ‘being green’! — Laura

i love the transformation that a baby brings to a household…parents rise a bit earlier, sounds are a bit more soothing,
even a trip to the grocery store requires planning (does the diaper bag have a change of clothes, how long before the next feeding?…). kelsey & chris’s preparation for riess’s arrival spoke again to their love – she had the cutest pumpkin colored nursery with the coolest rug ever, a bookshelf full of fun books to read, and of course parents who had that lovely look of adoration when she glanced their way.  thankfully, riess slept so we could have some fun (sleeping babies are great for newborn sessions!) and mom and i could talk in hushed voices (me: i love all the pom pom fringe in here!!!).

kelsey & chris, thank you for the pleasure of photographing this iconic time in your family’s life!  -m-

loved this cute d-i-y project over at twig & thistle!