On my way to IAMPETH

I'm sitting in the Atlanta airport waiting for my flight to Orlando for the IAMPETH conference at the Hilton Disney World.

I will hopefully be taking photos of what I learn at each session and posting each night to show what we are learning/doing.

Stay tuned for reports from the conference!

Putting the Sexy back in the RSVP

This post is more commentary on a growing trend that I must say, disappoints me in so many ways.  It's the lack of the RSVP.  Everyday people are getting invited to various events and not responding if they will be there or not.  My guess is they are waiting to see if they get a better offer, which I can kind of understand, but can't anyone commit to anything anymore?  Don't people know that it's polite to RSVP? Miss Manners and Emily Post say it is.

I'm a calligrapher, so seeing invitations is part of my job.  I'm addressing all of these beautiful invitations for lovely events and every time I send them out, I tell the clients that they can be sure that at least 10%, if not more, won't reply by the deadline.

I'm also a wedding planner with Pineapple Productions.  This is something that we tell our clients we are happy to follow up on if people don't respond by the date if they'd like us to.  Or we tell them to divide it up among family/friends and just start making follow up calls.   This can take a LONG time.  The last thing someone wants to do, three weeks before their wedding is call a bunch of people to see if they are coming.

I'm also someone who likes to host a party or two.   My friends and I are always trying to figure out new ideas for social gatherings and we invite people we know, some we don't know, and tell people to bring people if they want.  When you are preparing all the food and drink, it's nice to know who is coming.

So, I'm going to try to put the sexy back in the RSVP.  I'm going to try to get my RSVPs in as quickly as possible and not only that, I'm going to encourage friends who I know are attending the same event to RSVP as soon as they can too.  I'm going to make it cool to commit to an event.  Just decide if you are going to go and tell the person.  It can't really be that hard, can it?
  

Amanda and Jon's Wedding

It was a real pleasure working with Amanda's mom Gail on the calligraphy for Amanda and Jon's wedding at River Farm in Alexandria, VA.

I did the envelope calligraphy for them, for their beautiful invitations

I also did the escort cards for the wedding, which were placed in wheatgrass at the table.

And, finally, I did a sign for their Soda Float Bar at the end of the night.  What a cute idea for a summer dessert bar, old fashioned soda floats!

Many thanks to jan michele photography for letting me use the beautiful pictures.  And congratulations Amanda and Jon!!