My Favorite part of the Holidays!

I just wanted to say I hope everyone had a magical holiday surrounded my family and friends. This time of year I always feel so blessed and grateful for all the people that are part of my life. One way I let these people know I am thinking about them is through my Holiday Cards. Tony and I send one to our friends and family and I send one for By Invitation Only.

I LOVE picking out my card. Sometimes I start with the photo (taken by Hayes & Fisk The Art of Photography) and other times I pick the card first. But either way I always have the perfect photo and card combination.

As most of you know I don't have children, unless you count my Boston Terriers, Willy and Annabelle. I am so lucky that I can take them to work every day. Because they are such an important part of my life I include them on both cards. We have customers that stop in sometimes just to see the dogs so they are an important part of By Invitation Only.

This year for the store I selected a fun, whimsical card from Julia D. Azar. I just LOVE her designs and I wanted something that would simply make people smile. Jamie Hayes, of Hayes & Fisk, photographed them in front of a red backdrop and it just made for a perfect photocard!



For my personal card I used one of my favorite letterpress companies, Designers' Fine Press. I fell in love with this simple but dynamic card as soon as I laid my eyes on it. The card is a thick 600mg Crane cardstock with the words peace, love and joy impressed without ink all over the front and "Wishing you peace, love & joy - The Horsleys 2010, Monica, Tony, Willy & Annabelle" letterpressed in red. I paired it with a red envelope and a white and red polka dot liner. And I must say that I think I created one of my favorite cards to date! (And I have had some good ones!)





Hope you enjoyed! And I hope you received lots of cards from your friends and family!

Inspired at Engage!10

I wanted to share with you a blog post I wrote for Envelopments on one of my latest business trips. Hope you enjoy!

Click here to view the post.

Monica's Favorite Things

So I don't normally write post about personal things but this one was too good to pass up! Last night my girlfriends took me out to a belated birthday celebration at DeLux in Richmond, Virginia. At this point in our lives a great dinner out with friends is enough of a gift but my friends tend to go a little overboard...

At the end of dinner they presented me with this beautiful packaged, extra special gift.



The packaging itself was part of the gift, who doesn't LOVE a Scout Bag! And if you look closely on the tag it says "Monica's Favorite Things". (YES, think Oprah's Favorite Things - which my friends know that I use as gifts myself - one Christmas every gift I purchased was from Oprah's Favorite Things from that year.)

But what I found inside was so delightful and my friends definitely know me because I LOVE everything. Check out these amazing gifts that will make for a fabulous ME day!

I will start the day with:
1. A Starbucks mug with gift certificate

Then do a little Shopping:
2. A Talbot's Gift Card

Then Relaxing:
3. A cosmetics bag, my favorite OPI color polish and a gift certificate for a pedicure

Now I need a pick me up:
4. A bottle of Vodka and a can of Red Bull

And finally some wine and a bite to eat:
5. A bottle of Wine with a gift certificate to Barrel Thief

I hope this inspires you to put a little extra time into the next gift you give, it truly makes the recipient feel special when their friends put so much thought into making their birthday so special!

xoxo
Monica

(Thanks to Mary, Corbin, Jessie, Brandon and Terry - you guys are AWESOME)

Exciting New Gift Ideas Abound At By Invitation Only!

Summer's in full swing and new products abound at By Invitation Only! From new invitations for all of life's special occasions to specialty gifts for friends and loved ones, we have some exciting new things in store for you.

Come check out our new Stationery Bar from Donovan Designs. This chic new concept allows you to mix and match a card, envelope and liner for that perfect look that's uniquely you! Take them and print yourself or let our staff of experts personalize them with your name or monogram for just $10 more.

Your life is busy and you have lots of responsibilities. Manage every area of your life with our adorable momAgenda planners! Keep up with daily tasks and those of up to four children with this unique agenda. Not a mom? Stay organized with the myAgenda bound date book featuring weekly and monthly calendars, and lots of space for notes! Personalization is available in script or print and the books come in a variety of beautiful colors.

Welcome the new bundle of joy into your life with a beautiful customized photo baby announcement card. New from Oh How Lovely, a division of perennial favorite Whitney English, these cards will wow your friends and family as they share in the excitement of your little one.

Just like your kids, your pets are also a special part of your life and important members of your family. Show off your furry friend with our line of pet ink stamps from PJ Stationery. After you purchase the in-store package, simply take a photo of your pet, email it to the company, and you'll have a lovely return address stamp featuring your pet in no time!

All this and more await you at By Invitation Only! Stop in to say hello and to browse these and other cute and fun gift and stationery ideas today.

Cute New Custom Cupcake Wrappers Make You The Hit of the Party

New to our fabulous selection of gifts and accessories are these adorable cupcake wrappers. These customizable wrappers from The Paper Menu (@ThePaperMenu for all you Twitter folks!) can be personalized with your event's colors, your monogram or even your company logo! You're sure to give your guests a sweet surprise with these beautiful wrappers, which come in a pack of 30 and are ready for your event in as little as seven business days.

For a special touch, add a cute cupcake box from Krepe Kraft to let your guests take home their cupcakes as a tasty party favor.

Stop by the store and let us help you coordinate the perfect look for your sweet treats!

Exciting Things In Store For 2010

The first month of the new decade is officially behind us, and what a month it was! We've met hundreds of brides and the two Bridal Shows we participated in and we have helped many of them find the wedding invitation for their special event.

As February gets underway, we have some fantastic sales going on. Sweet Pea Designs is offering a Twice As Nice deal. Order 25 enclosure cards or any quantity of bag tags, and we'll double your order for FREE! Offer expires February 28th.

We're also offering 20% off all Sweet Pea birth announcements through March 31st. This is an amazing deal for all of you new mom or soon to be moms!

To take advantage of these great savings, stop by the store or click here to buy online: http://gobyinvitationonly.myspstore.com

In addition, the following sales are going on:

Embossed Graphics is offering raised print stationery for just $29.95 and embossed stationery for just $24.95. They're also running a special for free return address printing on wedding invitations and 30% off all Keepsakes and Memories Announcements. Foil Stamped Napkins and Guest Towels are just $28.95 for 100 through March 31st.

William Arthur is offering free return address printing when ordering 100 or more notes, correspondence cards or letter sheets, and 25 free wedding invitations when you order 100 or more.

We're also excited about all of the new products that have been arriving daily. We have over 50 new in house invitation designs, new boxed notes and gifts for every occasion.

We hope you will come in soon and check out the great new 2010 products and take advantage of the wonderful discounts.

It's Bridal Show Season!

With so many couples planning their Spring and Summer weddings, January is a busy time around our store! It's frankly our favorite time of year. Helping brides and grooms-to-be pick out the perfect invitations and other paper products to set the tone for their big day is truly an honor and one we don't take lightly.

On January 10th, we had the opportunity to meet lots of fresh faces at the Richmond Bridal Showcase downtown at the Richmond Convention Center. By Invitation Only, along with Hayes and Fisk The Art of Photography and Jason Paige's Celebrity Radio DJs teamed up to collectively form Club Wed.

A lounge-style environment complete with a couch, two flat panel TVs, mood lighting, music and even free popcorn, Club Wed was a huge success and drew in hundreds of visitors throughout the day.

The very talented Jason Paige talked with show-goers about their wedding DJ needs and demonstrated his abilities throughout the day, all the while providing the perfect soundtrack to set the mood for our lounge.

Jessie Arnest from Hayes & Fisk showcased beautiful wedding portraits and photography from recent clients, including our own Store Manager Corbin Ryland, who was just married in September!

We brought out some of our best-selling invitation books to give guests a small sampling of the more than 100 in our inventory. Jordan Slayton showed off a wide range of invitations to suit every style and budget, alongside other complimentary products such as our ever-popular "save the date" magnets.

Our Head of Graphic Design & Printing, Trevor Dickerson, "live tweeted" the event to bridal show visitors and everyone around Richmond on Twitter, giving away gift certificates and other prizes to those who came by the lounge in response to our tweets. Guests were invited to relax on the spacious couch and take a break from the hustle and bustle of the show and send a tweet to everyone at the show from a laptop computer.

It's been great helping all the future brides and grooms we met out at the show pick out their invitations over the past two weeks! In fact, we had so much fun out at the Richmond Bridal Showcase that we're doing it again!

Come visit Club Wed again this weekend at the Richmond Bridal Expo! We'll be at the Richmond Marriott downtown from noon until 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 24th. We can't wait to see you, and don't forget to follow Club Wed on Twitter for the latest updates!