DIY: Wedding Water Bottle Labels

For our out-of-town gift bags we decided to put in two bottles of water, and to jazz it up a bit we decided to customize the labels. It was a good way to use our engagement photos. The wonderful Erich Camping came to Washington, DC to take our photos since he was unavailable for our wedding day. My family loved it so much that we decided to label some of the water bottles for the reception as well.

People kept commenting about this so we feel that it was very much worth the effort -- it was a little detail that stood out. However, we created five designs and people at the reception were trying to 'collect all 5' and I'm worried that's a reason why the water ran out (it was a hot day to begin with but with people hording... not a good idea). So if I had to do it again, I would limit the designs to two or three.

Product: We ordered the 8.5" x 2" waterproof labels from Online Labels* (they come in virtually any quantity and various sizes that you could imagine). The labels we ordered fit around Aquafina water bottles. In the end we found Eco-fina (Aquafina's eco-friendly line) at Sam's Club and the labels needed to be trimmed a little bit on one of the five designs for it to fit without overlap.

Design: Online Labels has downloadable templates which were easy to use and we had no troubles printing on them. For the design, we just took a photo and popped it in and added our names, wedding date and a quote/verse. We kept it simple. Here is how they turned out:

We had our engagement photos taken at the Franciscan Monastery in Washington, D.C.
These are screen shots of the design which accounts for the squiggly red line. I also added the black border to help visualize what it looks like.

It was a perfect day: hot but not blistering and sunny.

Tips for taking engagement shots: bring water, wear comfortable shoes, and you do not have to wear the same color as your significant other. I really like how the red and the blue works in the photos.

This design incorporates our "Shuffle off to Buffalo" theme for the wedding.

We wanted to take our engagement photos at the tidal basin with the Cherry Blossoms, but they came too quickly and ended too soon, so by the time Erich got to DC we decided to have a plan B, and we still got beautiful flowers!

It was super easy to put these labels on the water bottles. We put them on four cases of bottles in under 20 minutes. It's as simple as tearing off the labels and attaching the new ones.

Other options: we also looked into printing the designs on plain white paper using a laser jet printer, and I even tried it to see if the color would run with water....and it didn't. However we decided that it would be too laborious (print out, measure each one perfectly, hand cut out or pay Fedex kinko's to cut them out, and glue them on...and wait for them to dry).

Plus, the price of the labels was very reasonable: 9 cents a piece. Totally worth it!


* Product Number OL1985LP; 5 labels per sheet; weatherproof polyester laser

Registries: REI and Bed, Bath and Beyond

In order not to get random gifts from family and friends, we decided to register for some items, despite having lived on our own (and now combining households) for many years.


Registry Experience #1: REI

I looked into a registry with EMS (Eastern Mountain Sports), a favorite backpacking/hiking store, but they do not have a registry service (and I really needed a 'footprint' for my tent...the groundcloth that goes under the tent to protect it). REI, a similar store, does have a registry feature.

It's been effortless -- we've been building the registry only online (have not set foot in the store). Catholicgauze needs hiking boots and a backpack for our adventures, and I'd like to get some add-ons to the JetBoil I purchased at EMS a few years back. We'd be purchasing these items anyway, so if family and friends would like to give them as a gift, that would be great.


Registry Experience #2: Bed, Bath and Beyond

We decided on Bed, Bath and Beyond (BBB) for multiple reasons. First, they have locations all around the country (important for family and friends that are from far-away lands). Secondly, they have a wide variety of merchandise and options. While we already have most household items that we need, there are a few items that would be nice to have, but we're indifferent if we receive them. This registry is structured more towards those that are inclined to purchase a gift off of a registry than give money.



The folks at BBB were great. They took the time to explain the process, and the associates around the store were quick to say "hello" when they saw us coming with the 'scan gun' and when we had a few issues, they were quick to solve it and eager make it easy on us. They even offered us something to drink. You can build the Registry online as well, but it's nice to be able to touch the towels and sheets in order to select the one you like best.

Out of Town Guest Bags

We're going to be giving a welcome bag to those traveling for our wedding (a majority). On many websites there are ideas for welcome boxes, baskets, tins, etc.; however, since people will be traveling on an airplane, we decided that a bag was the best option.

I was worried that a small cute paper bag may break after putting in some bottles of water, etc. so I started to price canvas and polypropylene bags. We're going with cotton, as it is the easiest to decorate (for instance, you cannot use an iron-on transfer on a polypropylene bag as that is essentially plastic).

I looked for bulk/wholesale/etc. bags and came upon many that were rather expensive (especially if the website was wedding-related).

Here are options I narrowed down looking for 100 bags:

Company: Discount Mugs

Size: 15" x 15"

Price per bag: $1.09

Shipping: Free/included

NB: They offer volume discounts (order more, save more); they also offer printing services

(the bag in question: http://www.discountmugs.com/nc/tote-bags/2039/blank/colored-cotton-tote-bags.htm)

Company: Cheap Totes

Size: 14" x 16"

Price per bag: $0.99

Shipping: $22.99

NB: $0.99/each regardless of the amount ordered

(you can find it here: http://cheaptotes.com/canvas_tote_bag_8.html)

Company: Tan's Club

Size: 15" x 16"

Price per bag: $0.75

Shipping: $27.48

NB: It's cheaper if you buy them by the dozen; they also offer volume discounts (making it cheaper than 75 cents each!) if you order more than 19 dozen.

(interested?: http://www.tansclub.com/blplcotobagd.html)

I placed an order for the Tan's Club bags! Stay tuned for more updates and what we'll be doing with the bags.