Whether it is a wedding, baby shower, birthday or brunch, nothing marks a celebration like sending a printed invitation to your loved ones. However, today online invites have become equally popular as they are easy to create and deliver. Mail or e-mail, it doesn’t matter what medium you pick as long as your invitation is elegant and classy.

Want to send out a fabulous invitation, but don’t know where to start? Don’t fret! Here are some of the top websites that can help you with the content and design of your invitation.

Minted.com
With Minted.com, you can explore a variety of invitations designs for multiple occasions such as weddings, holiday or kids’ parties, baby showers, bar mitzvahs, communions, graduation, and more. You can personalize your choices through a variety of parameters such as color, format, borders, and type of paper.

Papersource.com
This website is remarkably famous for its paper products, quirky greeting cards, and striking wrapping paper. They specifically produce invitations for graduation, birth, housewarming, and memorial announcements. They tailor the frame, font, and color of the invitation according to your needs.

Luxepaperie.com
Like Minted.com, Luxepaperie.com also delivers invitations for a range of events including weddings, engagements, bridal showers, birthdays, and housewarming parties. The best part is that they have an extensive assortment of invitations. However, they are more expensive than other providers.

Shutterfly.com
Shutterfly.com creates customized invitations for all kinds of celebrations such as weddings, holidays, graduation, baptisms, birthdays, baby showers, and pregnancy announcements. Apart from invites, they also offer photo books, calendars, gifts, home décor, pet products, and more.

Tinyprints.com
Although highly popular for its baby shower invitations, Tinyprints.com also has some marvelous card ideas for holiday announcements and birthdays. An affiliate site of Shutterfly, it offers sophisticated invites at affordable prices. Tinyprints.com enables its users to personalize their invitations using factors such as frame, format, card size, paper type, and color.

Etsy.com
If you are looking for handmade or vintage invitations, then Etsy.com is an excellent choice. It has some wonderful independent designers who offer one-of-a-kind invitation designs. You can find invites for all occasions on Etsy.com, though the platform is known for its exquisite range of wedding invitations.

Wedding invitations are one of the first glimpses for your guests to see what’s in store for them on your wedding day. Wedding planners have been getting creative lately, as there is an abundance of ideas for wedding invitations out there. You can either choose one of them or notch up a level, getting creative by mixing these ideas and creating a personalized wedding invitation.

Here are some creative ideas that you can use to draft your own wedding invitation:

Maps
Using geography is both easy and creative to personalize a wedding invitation. The invitation can be drafted in the form of a map, highlighting where the wedding will take place. You can elaborate or keep the design minimal by keeping an illustrated map on one side and highlighting the accommodation details at the back of the invitation.

Mixed metals
Metallic themes have been popular in wedding invitations. Mixing metallic hues like gold, silver, and even bronze has been one of the trendiest ideas for both wedding stationers and planners. You can design the wedding invitation, the outer envelopes, and the reply cards by incorporating geometric facets and metallic designs of your choice.

Interlocking monograms
Monograms can add a classic touch to a wedding invitation. There are single or up to three-letter initials that can be used in a monogram. You can combine the design with a cursive or bold font with or without an icon or any imagery. A monogram can be bold, decorative, or letter-pressed interlocked in a decorated frame. You can mix the style with a metallic theme, as mentioned above, by embossing the couple’s name in gold or silver.

Watercolor
These types of wedding invitations have been popular between couples and wedding stationers. A watercolor wedding invitation can include a painting of the wedding venue or imagery reflecting the wedding destination. You can also use watercolor for the borders on the card and highlight the location of the wedding with matching insert cards.

Nature-inspired
What can be more stunning than colorful blooms? The answer is leaves and greenery. From large and bold palms to thin and narrow leaves, this style lets you choose from a wide range of leaf silhouettes. You can design a flat card with bright green borders and mix them with a watercolor theme, as mentioned earlier.

Wedding invitation sites such as minted.com, mixbook.com, zazzle.com, and paperlesspost.com have a plethora of ideas that are inspired by the styles mentioned here. You can use these ideas and also incorporate your own to create a customized wedding invitation for your guests.

One of the most common ways to search for ancestry records is typing a basic query in Google. Most genealogy websites offer premium services and even if you manage to find free resources, there are a number of limitations that can stall your search for ancestry records because of the sheer complexity of the task in hand. In the end, the mighty search engine “Google” is the perfect choice to find remote links to your family history and ancestry. Who knows, a simple search could reveal you are related to Royalty and are next in line, sounds tempting doesn’t it?

So how can you make the most of a globally recognized search engine and turn it into your personal family history resource to sift through mountains of metadata and find what you have been looking for? The answer lies in the following search tips.

Search trick 1
To limit the number of search results you can use quotation marks in your search query. Quotation marks help you narrow down page requests and query hits. Most genealogy sites have online ancestry records that are open to public access and Google can narrow down the names from search query more efficiently using quotation marks.

Search trick 2
You can use the minus sign to ensure that the search engine does not throw up redundant information. Place the minus sign directly before every word in your search query with no space in between to exclude such data. This trick helps you to eliminate the possibility of getting duplicate hit because of common ancestor names.

Search trick 3
You can also get site-specific results by typing “site: SITEURL” before a term or group of terms to receive targeted results from that particular website. For example, if you want to receive specific page results from the Ancestry Records official website, simply enter site: ancestryrecords.com “yoursearchname” to get filtered results.

Search trick 4
Select a date range to narrow down specific site results. If you know the time period in which you want to track your family’s lineage and progress, simply put the year in your search query.

You might be wondering if it is even possible to get accurate results from a simple Google search query to track down results from billions of ancestry records. Note that there are many additional factors that determine the success or failure of your search query. While it is impossible to anticipate the hiccups you might face, these simple tricks can shed some light on your family history with one or multiple leads till you find a reliable source of information, naturally for free.

The study of family history and lineages is commonly referred to as genealogy. There are many factors that prompt you to search for your family history, including the desire to find your place in the family, a sense of responsibility to preserve your past, and a sense of satisfaction of purely knowing where your family roots begin.

Tracking down family history is a monumental task, which is why the following websites can ease your task of doing so.

Ancestry records
With over 20 billion records at your disposal with data from 80 countries around the world, you are in good hands to narrow down the search for your family history. All you need to do is enter the names and birth dates of close family members to start creating a family tree. With a premium subscription, you get access to data and historical records that date back to the 13^th century. You can also buy a DNA kit to further enhance your search parameters. While it is one of the most comprehensive ancestries and family history search services, you still have limited options when it comes to adding second marriage details and subsequent children on the family tree. In terms of user interface, Ancestry records is easy to use and features a mobile app to stay updated on the go.

FamilySearch
Family Search offers the best value as it is owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, for the free service, you can only build one family tree per subscription. With just over 5 billion records available at your disposal to build your family tree, it is a cheaper alternative to the premium services offered by Ancestry records. The service does not necessarily have a comprehensive database when it comes to searching historical records. However, you can still view old documents and records. On the downside, the website does not offer DNA kits to further test and provide evidence for a proper genetic match, thus narrowing down the search results. The interface is fun to use and provides multiple tabs and tools on the family tree to identify relationships.

MyHeritage
In case you don’t have the time and resources to search extensively to find your ancestry records, MyHeritage provides one of the quickest DNA test results to build your family tree. MyHeritage features more than 9 billion records and uses DNA testing to show you which ethnic groups you and your ancestors belong to across multiple geographic locations. MyHeritage promises the fastest results for testing and provides detailed reports of your family ancestry for a premium. The only drawback of the service is that you must pay for the one-year subscription in advance.

A psychic reading can be a unique experience when consulting a psychic to seek answers related to your destiny or a life crisis. The results can be completely unpredictable if you are visiting for the first time. However, there are several do’s and don’ts that you must keep in mind to have a first-time positive experience.

The following article offers information about six mistakes to avoid when going for the first session of a psychic reading.

Going unprepared
It is important to make a note of questions that you might want to ask before consulting a psychic. Giving them incomplete information can be counterproductive. However, it is also important not to divulge too much of your life’s story as certain fraudsters use it to trick you into believing that they found details of your life through the reading instead of you.

Not recording the session
It might not be easy to remember every detail of the session as you might get caught up in an emotional moment. Thus, recording a session using your phone can help you review the session later. This should be done with the consent of the psychic.

Going for the session inebriated
Often people get drunk and impulsively decide to get a psychic reading. A good psychic will always refuse to read an intoxicated individual.

Tricking the psychic
It is okay to be a skeptic, but avoid tricking the psychic by providing wrong information to check if they are genuine. Be honest and let them know you are skeptical of their ways of psychic reading. A genuine psychic will help you clear all your doubts regarding their practice.

Expecting unrealistic results
Psychic readings do not bring change in your fortune. They are meant to make you aware of an opportunity or a stressful time that you might face in the near future. Some sessions might not yield results as expected. Be open to the readings and don’t close doors to the readings that are not in your favor.

Not respecting the psychic
It is important to treat your psychic with common courtesy. Treat them with respect even if you are skeptical. Put your phone on silent mode when in the middle of the session as unexpected calls might disrupt the reading. Avoid griping and haggling about the price.

As Halloween approaches, interest in mediums and psychics dramatically surges! If this fall, you have decided to explore or rediscover this uncharted territory filled with mystique, then ensure that you do it right. This is because there are many fraudsters out there who can cheat innocent clients by making unrealistic claims. So, before you fix an appointment with a psychic, ensure to remember the following mentioned points so that you aren’t exploited financially or otherwise.

Keep an open mind, don’t be rigid about exploring a certain agenda
Psychics are humans like you, but they have elevated sensitivity levels, which makes them more intuitive. However, they are not mind readers who can answer specific questions like who will you get married to or which are the winning lottery numbers. Therefore, when you schedule a psychic reading session, ensure to have an open mind and focus on advice that can constructively help you find solutions.

Be smart, don’t tell them the whole story
Individuals faking to be psychics often prey on vulnerable clients with the help of their story. An impostor will often encourage you to emotionally vent so that they can pick out a detail and play with your thoughts. So, always remember that you must never reveal too much about yourself. A genuine psychic will lead the session and will often ask you to validate the conjectures they make about you.

Steer clear of the ones who charge expensive rates for guaranteed answers
Psychics who claim that they will reveal answers and solutions in exchange of exorbitant fees are up to no good. They will attempt to make a convincing sales pitch; however, avoid them as you won’t find anything of worth in the end.

Don’t consult psychics that incite dependence
To flesh a client’s wallet, fraudsters will often try to encourage dependence by using tricks like cliffhangers so that one keeps coming back for more. Not only this can strip your finances but also make you emotionally vulnerable. Therefore, if you spot this red flag, back away without thinking much.

Before scheduling psychic readings, ensure to get some credible references from friends and family. Similarly, also check the psychic’s website and online reviews for more insights.

If you are tight on your wedding budget and have decided to make your own wedding invitation, you are probably wondering where to start from. It can be a little overwhelming, but with a little bit of organization and planning, it can be quite easy to make your own invitation at home. Here are 5 easy steps to get you started on making your own wedding invitation.

• Pick the design: The design of the wedding invitation reflects the personal style and taste of the bride and groom. Check websites selling wedding invitations, wedding magazines, and wedding websites to find the inspiration for your wedding invitation design. Order samples to get an exact idea of how the invitation will look off-screen. You can mix up different designs from multiple samples, or you can just go ahead and create your own design.
• Decide the budget: Before you start making your own wedding invitation, set the budget. It should not happen that you set your heart on a design, only to find that you cannot afford the design and the materials that will go into the making of your card. While setting the budget, decide on the number of guests you will be inviting.
• Pick the envelopes: Customized envelopes are hard to find, unless you are making them as well. However, it can be quite time-consuming to make envelopes along with the cards. Envelopes are available in standard sizes. Before going ahead with the making of the wedding invitation, pick the envelope. You have to make sure your invitation fits into the envelope you have picked.
• Print the inserts: The inserts are where all the important information about your wedding will go. You can take a pick from a wide range of textures, colors, and patterns. You can even use decorative papers and contrasting cards. Invest a lot of time and efforts in getting the words of the insert right. Pick a font that is easy to read and yet compliments the overall look and feel of your wedding invitation. Accent-colored foils and metallic foil inserts often enhance the look of wedding invitations.
• Get all the tools home: When making your own wedding invitations, you can buy cards that are already folded and inserts that are already cut. However, if you are on a very tight budget and need to make a lot of cards, you will need to buy card-making tools. These include paper trimmers, card folding boards, bone folders, and different types of glues.

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