When Should I Order My Book?

I get this question a lot.

When is the best time to order my guest book?

Or sometimes it's just,  Is it too late to order?

When I got married, it was one of those things that was a given. I needed a guest book for my wedding day. I had it on my check list along with types of decoration supplies for shopping a nearby party store. Yet, I didn't buy my guest book there. I wanted something more personalized and matched the rest of my wedding theme. So, I bought an old guest book and recovered it.

(One of these days I'll have to go up into the attic and pull it out so I can show you all.)

But today, guest books are either well thought of or left to the last minute. Most of the time they fall in the latter category.

I can't tell you how many nights I've prayed for a book to reach it's destination on time that even with priority shipping was going to arrive on the day of the event. Now that is close!

How do you avoid higher shipping rates and the stress of whether or not it will get there on time?

Here are some tips from my experience of working with all of you for the past several years on Etsy.

1. Know what you want when you contact the book maker and be as detailed as possible. Don't be afraid to send links or photos of your event theme or ideas of what your looking for.
2. Be prepared to compromise when time is running short.

If you were to contact me today to create a custom book for you, here is the waiting time I'd give you.

Custom hardbound (2-4 weeks completion time)
Custom paperback (1-2 weeks)
Pre-designed paperback (1 week)
Pre-made paperback (ships within 48 hours)

Keep in mind, that these are completion times. You'll need to add on the time for shipment. Most of my paperback are shipped USPS First Class mail. It usually takes about 3-9 days for delivery depending on your location within the US. Outside the US takes almost two weeks or more. And if time is running out or you choose any hardbound book, I generally ship them PRIORITY MAIL that gets it there a little faster - 2 to 3 days in the US.

I've been considering making all my books PRIORITY MAIL, but don't know how you all would feel about the $2.00 up charge in postage for the faster rate all the time. Of course, you can let me know how you feel about switching the postal options in the comments below.

And tell me, at what time before the big day did you realize you still needed a guest book?



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Baby Shower Advice Book & Photo Album in one!

It's more than just a guest book. This soft cover baby shower book has lots of space for best wishes and advice to the new parents. In the back, there are bright blue pages just waiting for all those wonderful pictures of this special occassion.

Like all my books, the photo pages are acid-free.

The inside pages are stamped with the bubble baby stamp on the top.

What a cute way to welcome a new baby into the world!

Creating Your Wedding Planner

Three imporant things you will need to create your own wedding planner.
1. a three ring binder (recommend the Avery Durable View Binder)
2. a pencil (with lots of lead)
3. a large manilla envelope (like 6 x9 or 9 x 11)
4. notebook paper or copy paper

Once you gather those things we can started.

In order to keep your wedding organized and all the details covered--even the little ones that I referred to in yesterday's post as "bugs" you'll find that a wedding planner is a bride's best friend.

However, before we get down to what lies within the pages, I want you take your binder and make it yours. No really, when you go to the store and pick out a planner, you want something that you're going to like because you'll be carrying it round with you for a long time. Calenders are meant to last a year.

Depending on your wedding date, you want your wedding planner to last just that long too.

So grab a binder and today we'll start with one of the most important milestones of creating your wedding planner.

Do one or all of the following:

1. Put your name on it
2. Go to your local hardware store and pick out some of your favorite color chips and place down into the viewable part of our binder. (Think wedding colors!)
3. Punch three holes in down the side of your Manila envelope using a hole punch. Insert into your binder. (This is where you'll keep your receipts.)
4. Come back and visit this blog tomorrow.