Gift Ideas for Guys- Part 3

Well here is the conclusion of the Gift Ideas for Guys series. The first two are here and here.
This brings us to the end of our rope. You've tried things that he might rather YOU buy for him, places to go and things to do right here to the land of randomness, because you still have no idea what to get.

1- Carnivorous Plants from ThinkGeek.com 2- Unofficial MacGyver Handbook from Amazon 3- Golden Tee for your TV from Amazon and 4-Beer of the Month Club from the aptly titled http://www.beermonthclub.com/.

As you can see there's a certain "toy from the crazy uncle you only see once a year" quality to these gifts but you know those were always the toys that went over best at Christmas.

First we have the Carnivorous Plants from ThinkGeek.com which is only the tip of the iceberg for the toys and gadgets they offer. My husband and I recently got the carnivorous plants along with the Annoy-a-tron, the Firesteel Knife, Airzooka Air Gun, Cool Shooters Ice Shot Glasses, Thundercats shirt, and Japanese Puzzle for a giant cornucopia of craziness birthday present for a good friend of ours. My husband has been strongly campaigning for small dueling helicopters ever since as well. Now as you can probably tell from the list of things we bought it's not all computer/science geekiness but there's a general spectrum of toys and gadgets and things from childhood where you can probably find SOMETHING. Also it's great if you need to round out a smaller gift that you've already got but feel it might not be enough on its own.

Secondly, we come to MacGyver which probably represents the largest segments of things I bought my husband simply because they started releasing the DVDs right around the time we started dating. The book was probably one of the last MacGyver presents but it show dedication to the MacGyver cause on my part (or at least I believe so). Now I'm not saying everyone would be thrilled with MacGyver DVDs or books BUT maybe there's something that you picked up about something he loved when he was younger. Did he watch Goonies everyday of 7th grade but you notice he only has the VHS? Was he shocked and amazed you didn't know what Airwolf was? Well the great thing about a lot of these is that they floating around the bottom of the bargain bin so you can get a little something nostalgic pretty inexpensively. And sure, it won't be something that he'll use everyday of his life, but it does show you've been listening and you're willing to watch his stuff (after all how much Sex in the City have you put him through?)

Next we have Golden Tee for the TV. I think it might have gotten this for my brother-in-law and I'm not sure I'd have put it on the list except for the fact that my friend's boyfriend is a Golden Tee nut! He is crazy for the Golden Tee and so are all of his friends. Then I remember that my husband has been known to feed in like $10 at a time to said game when we're out. $10?! For real? Photo Hunt is only 50 cents! Anyway, I feel there are a bunch of games that are sort of 80s technology that are still around and could be pretty fun! Check out Amazon as well as the game section of Target to see what they have.

Lastly we come to the Beer of the Month Club. Not the most earth shattering idea but let me tell you from experience- getting alcohol delivered to your door can make you giddy. Every time I've either given this or received it I've had to go with the quarterly plan but by all means if you're rich go for the monthly version! [Send some to me too] Also beer (or wine) is not where the "of the month" club begins and ends. This site says it has over 120 "of the month club" options from cigars to ties to steaks to oils (eating variety although I'm sure if you search you'll find of the massaging variety). I think best of all this is a gift that you ultimately forget about then BAM! new season- there's more! But they are a little expensive so if you're in a super creative mood, last Valentine's Day a friend of mine drafted an idea for a gift of the month for each month for her boyfriend. It was kind of a combination of every gift I've mentioned on the list for a whole year. Now that's a little crazy (and much too expensive we realized) but if you can think of small items of the month- let us know!

And with that-- it's time for some breakfast and some This Old House on DVR.

Stay tuned for some information on my soon to be opened Etsy store! That's right- no more teasing you with invitations- it's time to buy and cross one more thing of your list soon!

Gift Ideas for Guys- Part 2

Here we have the second installment of Gifts for Guys- Shindigs and Hootananies! Commonly known as events , parties or the like. Sometimes is the perfect gift isn't a popping out in your head maybe something you can put a bow on is in order. Many times, I think that these can be the gifts that are remembered the most because it's not here- use this- it's a built up to the event and several hours of fun after. Also great for those living in small spaces- memories are don't take up any unnecessary space next to your couch or on your desk.

1- Scavenger Hunt; 2- Tickets to show; 3- Surprise Party; 4- The Game



So the descriptions of these are a little odd as you can see but I'll do my best to explain. #1 is one of the ideas that I have not COMPLETELY done myself but I was at the end party. This was something my friend's brother did for her birthday and it was insanely well thought out. He hid things in stores and in Churches and bars and created sudoku puzzles and she had a blast. This definitely falls under the category of "Not expensive but INCREDIBLY time consuming". Also probably not for everyone but if you have an Indiana Jones or a Dan Brown fan on your hands- give it some thought. Oh and make sure to either have party and the end or the whole group come along. Don't give them the answers though- no cheating! If you like the concept but don't have the time check out Watson Adventures located in NYC, Boston, DC, Chicago, Philly, and LA. Also read on to #4 which might work too.


But we've got #2 to go over before that. #2 is probably the simplest idea but again when searching for something physically- we tend to over look the simple. Get him tickets to his favorite type of event. We have always enjoyed comedy shows so I went for some Dave Atell and Lewis Black tickets a couple of years ago but for you it could be a band he loves, tickets to a game, tickets to go see a live taping of a show (I've always meant to get us Daily Show, SNL and/or Conan O'Brien tickets but be forewarned- some of these rely on lotteries or stand by and are not guaranteed). And if you don't live in driving distance to NYC- probably not for you either (Sorry! Don't be too sad though, it's probably been spring where you are for much longer). Some places to scour for tickets are Ticketmaster, Craigslist, and StubHub. I'm people have a much longer list of place so if you have a favorite spot to get the hardest to get tickets just let me know and I'll update the list.


#3- Get someone a dark dank cavern? OH contraire! That dank cavern is filled with untold amounts of beer! Yes you DC residents might recognize it as Brickskeller, which happened to be where I had a surprise party for my husband a couple of years ago. Obviously this is best for a birthday party but maybe not. Maybe you're really creative and use it for something else. (But if you are please let me know so we can all copy you!) At the time I didn't know all of his friends as well as I do today so I enlisted the help of a girl he works with to handle the work crowd, our friend from college to handle the college crowd and one of his friends from home to handle the home crowd and whipped them into shape to try and get as many people as possible there. Friends of his came down from all areas to visit, fun was had by all and people who were just used to hearing the others names in passing got to meet. Sidenote if you plan this undertaking yourself- if you are accompanying the surprisee get someone to corral people who are waiting. We happen to walk in and run into two of his friends on a bar run (which is ridiculous b/c we had a waitress) who stopped and were like "Hey. Umm. Happy Birthday"


Ahhhh #4. The Game. This proves how ridiculous I can be. My husband like games. A big Deal or No Deal fan. (I actually won $20 at a superbowl party on his friend's "home made" version on index cards- woohoo!). Sooooo the Game is the reason I started writing this post, only I didn't know it yet. Valentine's Day this year I was STUMPED what to do. I searched the blogs and articles and scoured gift sites and NADA. So I tried to think what he might need the most and at the time- he needed to get away. Somewhere there wasn't phones ringing or a computer to do work on and the weekend after Valentine's was a 3-day weekend this year. So now the question was where to go. There was a deal on a really nice hotel on travelzoo so that was an option but we've also always talked about going back to the town we went to college in and going to the places we used to eat and drink. But which trip to choose? Well it was his present so I decided I'd let him choose but decided to make it a bit more fun than that. I got two boxes from Target and some silly things that represented each trip (a lobster for a trip to the beach/ a keg cup for a trip to where we went to college are two examples) and drew a nice map on the lid of each and then a big 1 or 2 on the lids. The morning of Valentines Day I made a trail of Hershey's Kisses to the boxes and said he could pick one, look inside and he'd then decide whether he wanted that trip--- OR (Price is Right style) he could pass and he'd have to go with whatever was the in second box. He pick the first one (beach) and off we went. It's a little tricky since I couldn't book anything until he picked but it all turned out well in the end. We even got upgraded from our Travelzoo deal to a suite!


Ok. SO there you have it! Part 2. There's still one more so until then... I have some Rachel Ray Papa al Pomodoro!

Allie and Noah

Like sorbet after a big meal, I'll slide some more previews into the mix between our Gifts for Guys posts.

This is the only one of my designs I've used a photograph before. You usually don't think of photographs in wedding invitations but, in fact, I think this is really traditional and classic looking. I hope you enjoy!

(I don't know if I've written this before but if you are a bride interested in any of my designs, just let me know. Let me know your information (via comments or (quickest method) email) and I'll get you prices lickety split!)

And, don't forget, stay tuned for the next installment of Gifts for Guys!

Gift Ideas for Guys- Part 1

So as promised about a month ago, here are some gifts that I think are good for the hardest group to shop for: guys.

Let me start out by saying that I'm kind of a present-giving nutjob. I always try to find the absolute perfect gift for people so much so that I kind of wish that birthdays were set up where once a year when you found something for someone you'd just give it to them then and then on their actual birthday make them food. This is because I always find the "so-perfect-they-don't-even-know-they-want-this-but-will-love-it" gift in March who someone whose birthday is in October. Or something like that. And it doesn't make sense to me to get it in March and hold onto it b/c it may no longer be perfect in October or they may find it and buy it for themselves and then I suppose I'd have to find a receipt to return it. That doesn't usually go over well.

But I digress... I think men are so hard to shop for because a) you can't just buy them what you want like you can with a lot of girl friends or sisters and b) when they want something THEY BUY IT. No, "arg should I shouldn't I?", they just buy it. Doesn't matter if it's December first and you've been asking him what he wants for Christmas/Hannauka. He'll buy it for himself. Le sigh.

So I feel like I've come up with some good ideas over the years which you can spin and make yours. Yay! I'm going to stick to things that I have actually bought over the years mostly for my husband (but also some things we got for his friend who was at one time our roommate and best man at our wedding.)

Starting off:
1) t-shirts from Threadless.com, 2) Grooming Lounge Gift Certificate, 3) Sephora Scent Sampler Gift Certificate For Him, 4) Silk Boxers


While it's kind of stereotypical to think that men hate shopping unless it's for the new big screen tv or something, in my case, it's totally true. Now I nearly got my husband a cashmere sweater for Valentine's Day (there was such a sale at Macy's!) my general feeling was "He'd like it but blah". Threadless shirts on the other hand are fun and cool. I found Threadless when they mentioned it in a little sidebar in my college's monthly magazine back in 2000 and I think between the two of us, my husband and I have roughly 20 Threadless shirts. The t-shirts are made from user submissions, voted on, and then printed on American Apparel shirts. If you think you're not seeing anything on Threadless and you're looking for funny shirts also check out glarkware.com, bustedtees.com, and there are a slew of other that are all escaping me now.

Number 2, The Grooming Lounge is from our days in DC (although they've apparently opened another store in Atlanta). They do, as the name implies, all sorts of male grooming. Hair, face, nails, skin, massages, all the things YOU'D want in a nice day spa EXCEPT the Grooming Lounge is all leather and wood and Old Boys Club rich looking.

[Start Scene] In the midst of Christmas shoppers in a horribly narrow Boston area mall, the crowd parts to reveal a slightly bedraggled woman clutching a fistful of narrow paper strips. As she passes people she can be heard muttering "top paper is Lacoste, then Calvin Klein, then Lazzaro, ralph Lauren, Hugo Boss, Burberry, Lacoste, Calvin Klein, Ralph-NO NO STUPID STUPID! Calvin Klein, Lazzaro, Ralph Lauren, Oooh my head hurts. Lacoste, Calvin Klein, which one to pick, which one to pick? Lazzaro, Ralph Lauren, I liked Lacoste but maybe the Burberry. Wait was this Burberry Brit for Men or Burberry Touch for Men... AHHHHH" She fall to the ground in madness. [End Scene] Soooo needless to say the Sephora Scent Sampler for Men basically saved my sanity this Christmas. Not only because it saved me from all my little sheets of paper (though if you do go that route-- here's a hint-- BRING A PEN not all of the colognes have pre-printed sheets at the department stores) but also because a fragrance smells different out of the bottle than it does once it reacts with your body chemistry.

And lastly, silk boxers. Come on, they're fun! I actually recommend the faux silk boxers that Target sells because how many guys that you know check the labels or - shock - hand wash some of their clothes?!

Ok this has been about 5 times longer than I expected so stay tuned to my next installment of my gifts for guys and if it's so super incredible dire that you get a present right this very minute, hey, take a deep breath then go check out my favorite online stores.

And now for something completely opulent!

For this Valentine's a preview that tres romantique as well as pain in the ass-- which is the two sides of Valentine's Day I've heard from my friends today!

Satine and Christian from Moulin Rouge. It's featured here in the over-the-top magenta and aqua but as always in available in your specific color.

Ooh la la! Satine and Christian Invitation

Detail of the Satine and Christian Invitiation

Also, I know it will be about a year late (or early depending on your view) but in the next couple of days I'm going to try and round up the best gifts for men and the best gifts for women because despite my scouring the web for the last week I didn't find much.

Have a wonderful Valentine's everyone and if your day isn't looking so bright, remember, there's a good chance you have a 3 day weekend this week! :)

Logo and design

So after much hair pulling and pacing I've finally agreed upon a logo for myself! Drum roll please... Here you have it:
One of the reasons I've been excited to throw myself back into the sometimes crazy realm of wedding is because I had accumulated so much information... AFTER I had already set everything in motion. Also, I find it's a lot easier to to pick things when it's not for yourself. Hence the ease of creating invitations and the stress of creating a logo for the company.

But after about 20 wholly different ideas then another 20 after I redesigned the web page I think I've got one I'm comfortable in sickness and health, through good times and bad.

And those dashes around the logo remind me I have several more individual invitation designs to unveil. This one was inspired first by Holly Golightly (and Paul, too, I suppose) from Breakfast at Tiffany's then an aqua and green wedding palette I saw in Martha Stewart Weddings, then that lovely font used by Blueprint and a pattern from a book I have.

I hope you enjoy!

Happy Day at the Office!

My Mr. Darcy is doing well with his new software: firepublish AND our new office chairs came so we can finally put our dining room chairs back around the dining room table! HOORAY!
The office chairs are Boss Chair model B580. They around $150 which (we found) is quite a steal as far as office chairs go.

But since office chairs aren't the prettiest thing to look at, how about a sneak peak at Rose and Jack from the Titanic...

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

The Complete Jane Austen

So with a business called "The Future Mrs. Darcy" it would be pretty remiss of me to not mention The Complete Jane Austen on PBS Masterpiece Theatre which starts... right now. Or 7 minutes ago making me get MY Mr. Darcy to go pause it on the DVR while I make the following graphic and refresh my wine.



Also for everyone else's nerves who are shot like mine, I'm pleased to report Jane Austen is 100% Manning free (nothing makes me care about sports than a bracket and potential win)

:)

Gifts

I'm working on the very un-fun task of taking my jpg of the website design and actually making it a functioning website. In the meantime 'tis the season for gifts so I thought I'd run down my favorite gift sites in case anyone is looking for a last minute holiday gift or a gift for your attendants.

To see what I got my attendants check out my knottie bio.

Now for my faves:


Mighty Goods - This is my favorite site to try and find different and interesting things for people. Like Red Envelope (another good site) you can search by occasion or recipient but I find Red Envelope where tends to be all "jewelry and home goods for women" and "golfing, booze, and grilling for men" Mighty Goods seems to have more rounded choices.




Charles and Marie- This kind of has crazy stuff and a lot of it is out of my price range but if you have someone on your list that is too cool for school this is a great place to start looking.



Greener Grass Design- To be honest I completely forgot about these guys until I went looking in my "gifts" tag on delicious to write this entry BUT possibly found a gift for my secret santa person (my husband's brother-in-law- could I have picked a harder person to buy for for the first year we're spending xmas together?!!)




Chiasso- I stumbled upon this site years ago while searching for something to get my very design oriented grandmother. It's similar to the others with very modern/rethought items.



Knock Knock- Again what would I do without my delicious tags? I must have found this awhile ago and marked it and note to self: this site is awesome- don't forget it anymore! If I haven't mentioned how much I love snarky things and (even more) well designed snarky things then... umm... I just did. WARNING: you may end up buying things for yourself instead of others. Like a "wheel o wisdom", or "Big Ups post its"


Day-Lab- has cool gifts for girls from fun jewelry and bags to instant sea monkeys aaaaand....


Night-Lab- has cool gifts for boys like hipster shirts, books about brothels in Nevada, graphic novels and comic books.


Curiosity Shoppe- has design-y, retro-y, crafty stuff which I'm realizing, after putting together this list, is what I'm all about. I don't want anyone to say "Oh my sister got this for xmas too!" when someone opens my gift. Also a lot of the things on this list fall outside of the typical scope of gifts which gives you an opportunity to find something that is even more tailored to your recipient.

Now, I really need to go through these myself and find a good husband's brother in law gift for under $25. :)

I'll have what she's having

So I maaay have said that the last one was my favorite buuuut I think this one is my new favorite. (Any bets on how many "favorite"s I have by this time next year?)

Without further ado:Left to right from top to bottom: Invitations/RSVP/Accommodations/Map (see below for more description), Menu, Table Number, Place Card, folding diagram

This one takes some explaining too. First of all, all the designs posted are usually at about 60% of their size once you double click to get the "full" size otherwise you'd have to scroll all over the place to see them. Since this design is 4 times the length when it's unfolded- it's about 30%.
In the bottom right corner there's a small mock up how the invitation would look folded. BUT for jollies I'll walk us through it.

The invitation is 4 panels printed on both sides. This is another one where you can go to town customizing it to tell your story. For Harry and Sally the first panel says:

1 roadtrip
3 introductions
12 years
4 new year’s parties
2 friends
and in 3 months

Then the second panel opens to say:

1 happily ever after

Open to the third panel is a traditional invitation. The fourth panel is a photo of whatever your heart desires. An engagement photo, a drawing that has meaning to you, a family tree- it's up to you! That photo also happens to be the reverse side of an RSVP postcard that your guests fill out and mail back to you.

So that brings us to the back. As I said, the first back panel is the RSVP. The second panel is what I generally refer to in my head as an "extras" panel. I did "accommodations" for this design but you can do "directions", other events for the wedding weekend. For the last two panels I did a big map, so please if you're having your wedding in lower Manhattan- please make my re-drawing of half of Manhattan for something other than a fictional couple! :)

The rest of the elements are back to the 60% size you're used to, as opposed to giant-like compared to the invite.

What I really love about this series is that it has less to do with "My colors are 'BLUSH' and 'BASHFUL' and everything WILL be in one of those two colors even if it looks like the Church is covered in Pepto Bismol" (oh don't worry, though, we'll get to Shelby and Jackson from Steel Magnolias, oh yes we will) and more about creating a feeling for your big day. This says swank sophisticated fun wedding to me.

Hopefully it's saying nice things to you too.

That's what she said! [Old Version with added New Version]

I love the Office so when I started picked couples for invitations Jim and Pam were one of the first to come to mind.

These are a little farther out of the box that most marketing managers would go for but have endless possibilities for customization, and in case you missed it, they're a lot of fun. Also you can adorn them with as much office supplies as you can pilfer from your current employer!

Clockwise from top to bottom: Invitations, RSVP (front) and RSVP (back) [the RSVPs for this design are a postcard that your guests can mail back to you after filling out the proper forms and notarizing it {kidding}], Directions, Place Card, Table Number, and Menu.

The "Inter-Department Delivery" on the front of the RSVP is customized to highlight key moments in your relationship, jokes you may have with each other, or can introduce your wedding party.

Make sure you double click on the image to get a slightly large version so you are able to read all of the fields. If it's still too small and you'd like clarification just leave me a message and I'll let you know what it all says.

Finally some quick ideas I've had while creating these if you want to take it to that level:

• Organizing the place cards in a Rolodex


• Artfully paper clipping everything together in the envelope


• Having coffee drinks (with alcohol) as your signature drink at the wedding


• Powerpoint slideshow of the bride and groom at the reception


• Coordinating website for the wedding

If you have any more suggestions let me know and I'll add them to the list.

[Edited to add: Some things seem hard to read even in the larger size so under the names in the invitation it says "first name, last name" and under the Church it says "enter meeting location in the space provided above". On the RSVP the choices to reply are: "I plan on attending this meeting/I plan on attending this meeting and have cc’ed the request to these others in my department/I am unable to attend due to a previously scheduled budget conference call". Hope this helps]

[Edited to add- July 10th, 2008- the above picture is for the original design I had for this. I liked the concept but was never 100% about the actual outcome. Right before I opened the etsy store I had a burst of creativity and redesigned the line to the following.]

You're the one that I want!

Do-wah-do-wah-do-waaaa! Oo Oo Oo!

Grease fans? Anyone?

Well here it is: my 50s girlie-girl invitations. This will be available in a multitude of colors besides pink so don't freak out if you like it but haven't worn pink since your Mother stopped dressing you.

Clockwise from top to bottom: Invitations, RSVP, Menu, Table Numbers, Place Card, and Details (This can be anything you'd like. I've featured "accomodations" and "weekend events").


I'll also let you in on a little secret: I'm putting the finishing touches on one of my absolute favorite designs today so check back later and there may be another set featured that's wayyy down the other end of the spectrum from these... Curiosity piqued? See you later!

I'm back!

Sorry for the delay, folks. I had a lovely Thanksgiving and have been up to my ears in my freelance work since I got back.

It's nice to get out of wedding madness for a little while (and getting paid doesn't hurt either) but those projects are wrapping up so I started working some extras for my Sandy and Danny (from Grease) invites. It's quite weird to find yourself getting too "into" fictional characters wedding plans! A lot of the characters I use are characters that I love so I can't just stick any old reception location on there. Bogey and Bacall were by far the easiest since they actually did get married so I can use their wedding date and location but wikipedia didn't quite say where their guests stayed or their wedding menu so I end up researching place in the area and scanning menus online.

Thankfully all my fictional characters have an unlimited budget so Sandy and Danny have reserved all of the rooms at boutique hotel Amarano in Burbank for their guests, Sloane and Ferris (from Ferris Bueller's Day Off) are having their ceremony at the Art Institute of Chicago (which was featured in the movie), Satine and Christian (from Moulin Rouge) are having their ceremony held at Sacre Coeur and (obviously) Holly and Paul (from Breakfast at Tiffany's) are having their reception at the famed 5th Avenue jewelry store.

But after working on Sandy and Danny's menu (with a Smashed Potato Bar- mmm so good!) I need to find some non-fictional food of my own. :)

As always check back for more previews of upcoming designs and for website release info!

Bogey and Bacall

As promised while we're all waiting for the website to be finished here is a preview of Bogey and Bacall:


From top to bottom: Invitations, RSVP, Details (This can be anything you'd like. I've featured "accomodations" and "other events"), Table Number, Menu, and Place Card.

Feast for your eyes!

I took some time from the getting the website together today to add some extra pieces to my Bogey and Bacall line. Or rather, Bacall and Bogey. I'm trying to create a system where (properly) the womens' names come first but you'd be surprised how often it's common to say the complete opposite.

Perhaps I'll post some pictures tomorrow but in the mean time here are some great links for your wedding planning needs.

Rebecca Thruss

Can you hear my Homer drool? I cannot believe I found this website AFTER my wedding?! Rebecca has worked with my high priestess of weddings (Martha) and represent all that I love. Want to hop on the inspiration board band wagon? Consider this your ticket. This is a great place to get ahold of a couple of key ideas that will guide your wedding planning process.


Jamali Garden
Ok I'm bringing you straight to the "metal" section here. This is from my days of mint julep cup adoration on the wedding homefront. In the end I didn't go with bud vases on the tables but everytime I see that picture on their website I try and creatively think of a reason why I NEED those vases. And they're only around $5 a piece! When spring rolls around and ranunculus (I think that's what those are) start to bloom... LOOK OUT. I'm going to order a whole slew of those.


Cox and Cox

Again I'm showing you a specific page but for an intimate winter wedding these would be perfect. Cox & Cox has a ton of beautiful things that can make reception or at least help you define a "look" for your wedding.

Hope this helps with all of your planning. Stay tuned for some sneak peaks at TFMD design and more wedding planning links!

Knottie Bio Finished

After two long days finding just the right pictures and cropping and writing and coding my Knottie Bio is FINALLY DONE! There weren't many Upstate New York brides when I was looking so hopefully it'll be a good resource for some local ladies or maybe just spark an idea or two for someone else. And if I'm really lucky hopefully it'll drum up some business!

Check it out here at: kreinertsen knottie bio

If you have any questions just let me know!

Welcome!

Greetings and Salutations! This is the first blog post for The Future Mrs. Darcy, wedding paper goods maker extraordinare. (Yeah, still looking for a way to consolidate and shorten).

The blog is the companion site to TheFutureMrsDarcy.com which will be going live soon. In this blog I'll let readers check out wedding invitation designs in the works and make sure we're providing exactly what brides are looking for. In the meantime we have lots to do to get the site up and running.

To peak your interest though some interesting features at The Future Mrs. Darcy:

• All designs are named after famous couples.
  When I was getting married I'd look at wedding invitations and I'd like "Jen and Michael" but 10 days later when I was trying to recall which one it was I'd spent hours click through each one going was it "Grace and John? No. Liz and Nick? No." Not only is this a good way to get a handle on each design but maybe even to help you gravitate to styles you like.
  
  
• Designs are available in customizable colors.
  Fall in love with the aqua "Rose and Jack" from the Titanic invite (so sometimes we fudge the stories endings a little...ok A LOT) but you had planned on having everything pink? Not a problem!
  
  
• And what we're most excited about- so you've fallen in love with "Jim and Pam" from the Office but how would you and your fiance's name look? Preview your information in real time for all our designs!

We can barely wait to bring it to you so make sure and come back often to see what we're up to!