Smilebox

A few months ago my girlfriend got engaged. You know what that means, wedding planning, bridal showers, and all that goodstuff. She decided to send out an engagement announcement.

I'm old school. I immediately thought about all the dainty and beautiful invitations that would announce their whirlwind romance to the world. She chose to share their love through what else...the internet. She put me on to a site called Smilebox. It is like Hallmark E-cards meets digital scrapbooking...on steroids.

Here's her blog post from "The Hostess Chick Network"

Now, I'm usually not one to totally rip off of someone elses idea. But when my fiance proposed July I just had to snag this nifty idea...

Rewind to spring '08. I'm just plucking along through my email when what do I spy?

Subject: K & E's Engagement!

When I opened the email, I had my very own little smilebox waiting for me. "Smilebox you say? What on earth is a Smilebox?" I know, maybe I'm a dinosaur when it comes to the internet, but I had never heard of such a thing.

Well, turns out, the Smilebox is a really chic way to send out annoucements, postcards, and photo books to friends and family on a dime.

I opened the photobook and a cascade of beautiful happy couple photos came pouring out. It even had romatic music too!

So as I'm weaping for joy and maybe feeling a slight twinge of jealously, I make a mental note to myself..."When he asks, remember this site!" And I did. Just a few months later, I was on my computer putting together my very own Smilebox.

Now there are some key features to the Smilebox that you ought to know:

- Its customizable. I picked a template that I liked. It even allowed me to move around the page formats and some of the seemingly static decor.

- It has great music options. FREE is always my first choice, but they have some really wonderful music if you pay the nominal $2.99 for a premium Smilebox. Not bad in comparison to paper invitations!

- It allows you to add text. I went with a short "Story of US" and added some details about the proposal. Of course, you can customize anyway you like.

The proof in in the pudding chicks! And I certainly got rave reviews for my Smilebox engagement announcement. So if you're looking for something fun, unique, and thrify you might want to try a Smilebox....

Check it out.