Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Wedding Wedneday//DIY Invitation Suite



Just as I promised last week, here is a look at our wedding invitation suite! Currently Soon, I am will be in the car driving to California for some family time and my first of three bridal showers. I am so blessed and thankful for the amazing and gracious women in my life!

Before I get into the specifics, HUGE THANKS to WeddingChicks.com! The basic look of our invitations came from them and without their awesome free downloads, these invitations would not have been possible. I used the Mason Jar suite as the starting point for my invitations, so be sure to check them out and all of their free printables!


 Our invitations had three main components to them. The invite itself, a details card, and our RSVP postcard. While most invitations had three inserts, in total I designed six different "cards". All of the pieces were processed through Persnickety Prints. Great quality and I thoroughly recommend them!


Like I mentioned before, the invitation came from a free template. I entered our information, and they supplied an image. I was not happy with just using the two colors. I opened the image and Photoshop and altered the way things looked. Mainly it was making use of the paint bucket to change colors. 

The invite was printed on 5x7 card stock. For card stock prints, unlike photo prints, they simply put their logo at the very bottom. I could live with that showing so the invite was not backed. 



The reception is on site, so I omitted a reception card, but did add details card that I designed with pertinent info. This was not from a template. Originally, we wanted to just have a website for all that stuff, but many guests do not look or use the internet. Better safe than sorry! It was cheaper to print as a matte 4x6 photo print. Like all photo prints from all processors, there was the standard film watermark on the back.

I made the pattern for the backing card using a clipart Mason Jar. I alternated the jar between 45 degrees and 135 degrees and then repeated to cover the page. I filled in the jars with the same colors used on the invite. I played around with it until I liked the color placement. These were adhered together using the Scotch ATG that I love!
The postcard is another download from Wedding Chicks. Again, the coloring was a little off, so I imported into Photoshop and used the paint bucket to just tweak the coloring of the jars. The back was printed as is from the website.

The biggest reason we just printed as is from the site is because we love the adlib style of it! Also, they add the return address right on the post card. No need to hand address all of those as well. It is hard to read in the photo so I typed it all up. One thing I did not notice until after they were ordered, was that the reply by date is not on the actual card. I am really glad that I put a reminder on the details card!

For these I printed the front side as a matte 3.5x5 photo print. Since guests need to fill out the card, I had the back side printed as 3.5x5 card stock. Again, I adhered the two sides with the Scotch ATG. You may have noticed the tiny number in the right hand corner on the backside. When compiling our address list, I listed all wedding guests alphabetically. Then numbered them in that order. Each RSVP card has that guest's number on it making it easier to keep track! 


For our wedding party and close family, we enclosed the above card inviting them to join us for our wedding rehearsal the night before the wedding. This is another that was designed entirely by me, not from a template. This card was printed as a 3x4 photo print. I used the same pattern as the details card for the backing on this card. 

Since we had them processed as "prints" not as flat cards or from a supplier, we did not have envelopes. The hunt for envelopes was one of my favorite parts. I could really go with anything I wanted, it was just a matter of figuring it out. We knew we did not want plain white or cream envelopes. I just so happened to come across these Kraft brown A7 envelopes made from recycled materials. We both loved them! The pen used to write the addresses was a UniBall Signo Opaque White Gel Pen. BEST WHITE PEN EVER! 

And lastly, the stamps. They are my favorite! For the outer envelope we used the Arizona Centennial Forever stamp. Love Love Love that they have Sedona on them. For the RSVP we used the Purple Heart wounded in action Forever stamp. So there you go! The run down of our invitation suite. 

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