DIY Wedding Invitation Set

Lots of work. 

Whew! If you noticed that Heather has been doing all the work on our blog lately, it's because I have been busy with my day job plus making wedding invitations.  Yes, they are for my own wedding! Before I go into this, I just want to tell anyone who is thinking about making her/his own invitations that YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE GETTING INTO. Do you think you will save money? WRONG. Do you think you will be able to crank those puppies out in a weekend? WRONG. Do you think your $69 inkjet printer is up for the job? WRONG.

But there's an upside to making your own invitations. First, they are yours and yours alone, and there are no others like them in the world, and that makes them more reflective of you and your betrothed. However, if you aren't somewhat skilled in graphic design, just use or modify one of the millions of wedding invitation templates out there and feel good about it. I, however, could not do that because I fancy myself as a designer of sorts. So I sat down and scoured Pinterest and other sites for ideas. I decided to design a set that was understated and simple because I knew that effects like letterpress and embossing would be tough to do on my own.

The edges of the cards were gilded with a gold stamp pad. 

My first challenge was color. Every blue I chose was too bright or too baby-showerish. The blues also weren't printing out right on my little Canon inkjet, so I switched to my gigantic Canon photo printer (the PRO-100), which became the workhorse for the entire project. I finally found a "Desaturated" palette in Adobe Illustrator, which contains a nice shade of deep medium blue. The second challenge was size. I had ordered 100 recycled paper folders from paperandmore.com. They were A7s (don't worry, you will QUICKLY learn about A-sizes if you make invitations of any kind) and fit into the Kraft paper envelopes I bought at Michael's. I really liked the folders because they have little speckles in them, but they were on the small side and a precut 5 by 7 card wouldn't fit. I had to make a slightly smaller card and CUT THEM ALL MYSELF. Sorry for all the caps, but I just want to reemphasize the amount of work that's involved. I also cut the reception cards, the folder liners, the info sheet, and the band flyer. Oh, and the sashes -- I cut those, too. Thank goodness I bought a professional paper cutter on Craigslist a while ago.

One of many receipts for supplies. 

All of these materials cost money -- the card stock alone was at LEAST $100 (OK, I did use the expensive kind). The folders were $80. The envelopes were about $30, and I used the inexpensive kind supplemented by a Michael's coupon. Ink for the printer was about $115. I also designed and printed stickers for the back of the envelopes, so add another $25 for the sticker sheets. We're up to nearly $400 now, which is about what I would have spent had I ordered them from Vista Print. Add to that the $25 I paid for the artwork and $15 for the decorative paper I used for sashes and you'll see the advantage of hiring professional invitation makers and putting your time and energy elsewhere.

But, in the end, I have no regrets. I think they turned out great and -- truthfully -- I enjoyed every minute. In fact, as I was stuffing and stamping the very last of them, I was already designing bachelorette party invitations in my head. Stay posted!


PROJECT SUMMARY

Software: Adobe Illustrator
Font: Adobe Jensen and Futura Condensed
Paper: Soft White Cardstock, Paper Source; Chocolate 60 LB, Hollander's (for folder liners); two poster-sized sheets of decorative paper, Paper Source; Kraft paper envelopes, Michaels; A2 envelopes, Michael's; 100% cotton resume paper (for info sheet), Office Depot; Recycled paper folders, paperandmore.com
Artwork: Flower Essences, Myfonts.com
Product Count: 100 invitations
Production Cost: Approximately $500