the story that started it all...

My name is Holly Williams.  I'm the designer for IntriCutz.  

When the company first started, we were primarily doing scrapbook embellishments, with the laser machine.  Nicely laser cut and layered embellishments.  Then, in March of 2007, I got engaged; and wheels started turning.  I'm a creative-minded person, and with the amazing resource of the laser machine at my fingertips, I decided I wanted to create an invitation unlike any I'd seen before.  At that point I knew my colors (red, white and black), but I didn't really want a theme that nailed me down to any particular style.  So, I began designing, and this is what I ended up with.

When I sent these out, the response was crazy.  People told me it was the most beautiful and unique invitation they'd ever seen.  Bear in mind, the black hearts and swirlies are actually cut out of that black paper, then placed on a white base layer.  The names are actually cut out also (in red)... you can run your fingers over it and feel the names.  It's not something that a picture can really capture, but here's an attempt to show you.  Granted, the design is a little too Tim Burton-esque for some, but for me, it was just what I wanted!  The design helped me in pick out my cake design (as pictured below), to do something similar.  This was just the prototype.  Ever since we started making more designs, we've learned to make them more affordable, more sturdy, and so on.  This design was the beginning of something so much bigger than we ever imagined.

Below is a mini-collage of my wedding.  The cake is on the top-left.  Top-center is a pic of one of my bridesmaids and groomsmen, both very close friends of ours.  The top right shows the back of my wedding gown.  Bottom left is a picture of us in front of the Wedding Chapel at the Mansion at Elfindale, in Springfield, MO.  

To explain the sneakers (Jordans) in my wedding pictures, my (now) husband told me when we were first dating that he wanted to wear Jordans to his wedding.  If you know him, you understand that, because he LOVES Jordans.  Sneakers are a collection item to him, and it's a big part of his personality.  I didn't know him that well yet when he told me that, and I laughed.

Well we continued dating, and I learned to understand that as much as any hobby or characteristic I had, his love for sneakers (Jordans in particular) was a huge part of who he was.  We continued to fall in love, he proposed after about two years of dating, and we began wedding planning.  We were living in separate states for the 2nd year of our relationship, so I was planning the wedding without him being present, for most of the time.  In the details, I was incorporating so much of what I wanted, and kept wondering how to incorporate his personality.  I remembered all along that he'd wanted to wear Jordans, and when I brought it up again, he told me he wasn't going to wear them.  

After lots of convincing him that I wanted it to be HIS wedding too, he decided to wear them.  I decided that, as the final show of approval on my part, and two becoming one, I was going to wear them too, at least at the reception.

I had a hard time tracking down a pair (they weren't in most sneaker stores), but finally a friend of mine in Memphis found them for me.  I wore my dainty girly shoes for the wedding, then changed into them, without him knowing, for the reception.  He didn't know until he went for the garter, and saw that I was wearing the same Jordans he was!  It was a great wedding surprise.  The picture of us in our Jordans, as pictured above, is still his favorite.  

Even if it's not something as extreme as sneakers in your wedding, it's important to incorporate WHO YOU ARE.  Not just design a beautiful wedding, but contribute some of you and your love's favorite things... the things you've always loved individually, and the things you've enjoyed together.  It will captivate your guests, not just by the beauty of the wedding; but because they'll get a more personal sneak peek at who you two really are, and an inside look at your relationship.  Your wedding should have your personality DNA all throughout it.  People should feel like they know you better by leaving... and that is accomplished by incorporated yourselves, your personalities and likes, in the details.