Some assembly required...

Tonight we began the long, daunting process of assembling our wedding invitations. Jessica and I reasoned we should use this week off we each have from work to get some things done around the house, especially when it comes to wedding stuff.

Our invitations are beautiful. I cannot deny that. But they're a pain in the neck to assemble. No one can deny that.

We have a single-folded card with vellum attached to the front. There's a lacy ribbon attached at the top of the card.

If this were union work, I'd be described as the "unskilled labor." I cut ribbons, 12 inches apiece. Then Jessica tied them into lovely bows.

I attached the vellum to the main piece of the invitation. Vellum's that light paper you sometimes see on things, such as wedding invitation, guys. I learned that very recently. Vellum likes to rip if you're not careful with it, and it tends to bunch up when you attach it, even if you're using something that claims to be two-sided tape especially for vellum.

I realized just how uncrafty I was when we got to the point we actually attached the aforementioned ribbons onto the aforementioned invitations. I did one. Jessica looked. She told me I could trim the ribbons to make them even. So when you receive your invitation sometime in May, be sure to look at the ribbon. If it's not attached perfectly, you might be the lucky holder of the "ribbon glued on by the groom." Bring it with you to the reception for a complimentary topiary (another word I learned recently, which I believe is Latin for "expensive tree-looking thing that must be our centerpiece").

We have 36 of these done so far, which means we probably have another four of these lovely two-hour sessions ahead of us. The important thing is we did it together. Wait, no... the important part is we're 36 closer to being done altogether.