The year started off with the announcement on January 10th by Playboy that they have accepted Hugh Hefner’s offer to buy the company and take it private.

The deal is expected to close sometime in the first quarter.  See more information on our GiveAshare blog.  What does this mean to us?  Basically once Playboy goes private the stock certificates are gone.  It’s created a bit of a buzz among collectors, and we are definitely seeing an uptick in Playboy stock sales on our GiveAshare.com website.  But once it’s gone, it’s gone for good.

Last weekend we participated in our first Bridal Show.  What an event!  We had a great time, met lots of brides and grooms, and realized once again how popular and how much fun our caricatures are! 
Everyone who stopped by our booth (and there were a lot), walked away laughing…and I can’t count how many times I heard the comment: “We’ve definitely got to do that for our wedding…” as they walked away.

We’re looking forward to another busy wedding season.  Our newest offering – Save The Dates definitely garnered a lot of attention, as did the Groomsmen caricatures, Bridesmaid caricatures, and the Wedding Couple caricatures with the signable mats.

But first…Valentine’s Day is coming!  We have lots of awesome personalized gift ideas…why don’t you stop by and check them out?  www.LeadingEdgeGifts.com

The order was placed as an engagement gift commemorating the day the man proposed to the woman.  He took her on a carriage ride through Central Park on a beautiful sunny Spring New York day and proposed to her while on the carriage.  The customer was hoping to recreate this scenario and this is what our artist came up with:

Caricature engagement gift

I got married in August – 25 years ago, and picking a date back then had more to do with our ministers calendar and when our reception venue was available. 

Since January 1, 2001, brides and grooms have had the opportunity to pick dates that either have meaning, or are easily remembered.  Ever wonder how many couples got married on July 7, 2007 – so that they had the lucky number 07/07/07 as their wedding date?    My unofficial research shows that three times the usual number of Saturday July weddings occurred on the lucky date of 7/7/07.    Desperate housewife, Eva Longoria, and basketball star, Tony Parker, are probably the best-known couple to get married on July 7, 2007. 

Many couples have choosen dates like  June 7, 2008 in order to easily remember the date of 06/07/08.   This year the wedding date 10/10/10 is proving very popular, as was 08/09/10. 

Newly engaged couples are already looking forward to a wedding date of 09/10/11.  But this trend won’t last forever – after the year 2014 (12/13/14) the ability to choose a fun, easily remembered, wedding date won’t occur again until …

If you’re getting married this year on October 10th, then you’ll enjoy this fun fact:  In binary, 101010 adds up to 42, the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

And, for all you 10/10/10 couples, there is still plenty of time to order caricatures as gifts for your wedding party from www.giveacaricature.com and those shares of Disney Stock from www.giveashare.com which make a great gift for the ring bearer and flower girl!

Your first step will be to determine your guest list and send out your Save the Dates.  A Save the Date announces to all your family and friends the date of your big day and simply asks them to keep that day open especially for you.  As a general rule Save the Dates should be mailed out 6 months before your wedding date and as early as 12-15 months in advance if you have many guests traveling from out of town.  There is some necessary information that should be included on every Save the Date, be sure to clearly state both the bride and grooms names and the wedding date and location. Also make sure to add any other information you feel will assist your guests in making their plans.

There are many styles to choose from but keep in mind that this will be the first thing people see in regards to the style of your wedding so you may want to make them fun, personal and uniquely “you!” Here are a few of our favorite Save the Date ideas:

Wedding website – For those going green!  Create a wedding website and announce all the information on the site.  Check out NewAngleDomains.com to buy your domain and get started today!  Several templates are available to easily create a wedding website.  Later you can use your domain name and website to use as your new family email address, post pictures of your wedding, and your life together.  

Postcards/photo cards – Many vendors offer some great printed Save the Date cards, check out printized.com for some great ideas and prices! 

Save the Date caricatures from GiveACaricature.com – You can put your truly unique Save the Date caricature on a magnet, note card, email, website, puzzle, website, etc. Lots of fun!

Video – Check out this unique and awesome Save the Date of all time!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTqLyCTESjg

Save The Date Wedding Caricature

Check them out at:

www.GiveAcaricature.com/SaveTheDateWeddingCaricatures.shtml and stay tuned as we add more settings…

Also, don’t forget, if you’re planning your wedding, we also have great gifts for your Groomsmen, Bridesmaids, and entire wedding party at www.GiveAcaricature.com.

Josh & Fergies Caricature

Looks like a lot of fun – and certainly something we can do (and have done) for anyone who wants to do something similar with their wedding invitations, and/or save the date cards!

We have done caricatures for many wedding couples, as well as for groomsmen gifts, bridesmaids gifts, gifts for the couples parents, and gifts for the ushers, ring bearers and flower girls! 

Another great idea for the wedding caricature – use it as a sign in / guest book at the wedding.  We have signable mats available, and it makes a great keepsake after the wedding.  Something the bride and groom will treasure forever. 

Here are a few examples of some of the wedding related caricatures we have done (and you can see several more examples at http://www.giveacaricature.com/gallery.shtml).

Wedding Caricatures

Don’t forget – we are donating $2.00 for every order received thru Jan 23rd to the relief efforts in Haiti.