As a graphic designer, I knew I wanted to design my own wedding invitations and stationery to match the modern rustic theme of our wedding. I fell in love with a font called Braveheart – a modern spin on classic calligraphy. I based my whole design around this very unique font.
I chose kraft paper as the primary color for my stationery, keeping with our rustic theme. Cards & Pockets had the perfect shade of straw kraft paper, which stood out beautifully against a white mat.
After designing and printing everything myself, I recruited the help of my family in assembling my invitations! We created our own assembly line around the dining room table, each person carefully working on one piece at a time. It was a fun moment for us during the chaos of wedding planning!
Diy Tutorial: Vellum Wedding Invitations
I printed everything myself on an HP photosmart printer. I used an old, but trusty paper slicer to cut the card stock after printing. A ruler was crucial in making sure my dimensions were correct. I used glue dots to matte the invitations and double-sided tape to secure the lace. An envelope moistener also came in handy when sealing envelopes.
4.) Cut lace and twine. Wrap lace around invitations, open to the back. Use double-sided tape to secure lace. Wrap twine around invitations, over the lace, tying a bow in the front.
* Test everything ahead of time! I ordered samples from Cards and Pockets so I could run test prints through my printer and see the final result before ordering everything. This also ensured a smooth assembly process, since I had already tried it out a few times.
Diy Wedding Invitations: Benefits And Printing Tips
* Order more paper/envelopes than you need! There will be mess-ups, so have extra supplies on hand so you don’t run out.
* Be sure to weigh the final product (envelope and all) at the post office BEFORE buying postage! You may need more or less postage than you realize.
* I used a blacklight marker from Amazon to mark each guest’s name on the back of the response card. It writes in invisible ink and only shows up with a blacklight! Just in case you can’t read someone’s handwriting or they forget to sign their full name when responding.
Diy Wedding Invites In 5 Easy Steps
At Cards & Pockets, we love DIYers. We also know that one of the best ways to be inspired is to see and learn about other people’s experiences. We’re excited to share stories of our customers unique DIY invitation process.
Do you have a unique DIY story for your invitations? We would love to hear more about it. Simply visit our “My DIY Story” entry page and fill out the submission form and you could be selected for our next featured story!When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site.
Jaimie Mackey was the real weddings editor at from 2013 to 2015. She also worked as a luxury wedding planner and produced over 100 high-end weddings and events in Colorado
Save Money With Diy Wedding Invitations
While letterpress wedding invitations and hand-lettered save-the-dates are undeniably elegant, the cost of invitation suites can certainly add up. Who knew paper and printing could be so expensive? But if you’re on the hunt for a budget-friendly alternative (and aren’t afraid of a little DIY work), there is another option—printing your own invitations at home.
There are plenty of talented stationers and graphic designers who will deliver downloadable filesthat can be customized and printed at home. For a fraction of thecost of a custom invitation suite and printing services, you can get a semi-custom invitation that will match your wedding's style and theme. Cost is definitely the biggest benefit, says Kate Weber, owner and designer of West + Pine, a paper company focused on designing invitation templates for weddings and other special events. This way you're not having to pay someone else to do the printing service.
According to Weber, printing your own invitations from a downloadable template gives you the option of finding an invitation design that suits your style, customizing it to fit your specific wedding information, and then quickly printing invitations on your own and shipping them off. You could easily do it in an afternoon with the right planning, she says.
Elegant Bow Wedding Invitations
If this sounds like something you can handle, we've put together a guide to help you navigate the DIY wedding invitation route. Read on for 13 steps to consider, along with tips and tricks from the pros.
Even if you are printing at home, the cost of ink and paper will still set you back a bit, especially if you spring for high-quality paper stock or heavily saturated inks. Be sure to factor in details such as the size of your invitations, your paper type, whether your invitations will be flat or folded, and other embellishments such as a belly band or wrap. And don’t forget postage and envelopes. All of these elements will help you determine if the cost savings outweigh ordering from a pro.
Before you spend hours searching online, consider the style you want for your invitation. Do you want something simple and elegant? Bold and colorful? A watercolor motif? Take some time to look at different options before searching through designers' profiles. It's helpful to create a Pinterest board as a mood board to identify your style, explains Weber. Pin everything you love, and then go back to look at what you're pinning a lot of. Weber suggests that if you find a trend in certain fonts being used or similarities in colors, you should consider starting with designers who utilize those elements.
Inspirational Diy Ideas To Transform Your Laser Cut Wedding Invitations
Designer and DIY lifestyle expertLia Griffith advises keeping in mind that some designs are better suited for at-home printing than others. Designs with more white space and lighter color backgrounds will look better on home printers—and save on your printer ink bill, she says.
Printing your own invitations may be more affordable than having them printed by a pro, but that doesn't always mean it will be faster. Be sure to give yourself time, grace, and patience when printing at home because it can get a little complicated. As Amy Gonzales, a designer at Smitten on Paper, a custom wedding invitation company, points out, invitations should be mailed eight weeks before the wedding date, so plan your printing time accordingly. Make sure you have about 10 percent more supplies than you actually need (like ribbon, paper, ink, and envelopes) in case of mistakes or the need to reprint something, Gonzales explains.
Online optionssuch asMinted, Shutterfly, andZazzle offer gorgeous invitation templates at affordable prices (and discount codes, too!). And typically, you’re able to find a design complete with everything you’ll need for a full suite, from invitations and menu cards to thank-you cards. You can also find a variety of talented designers on Etsy who will customize their templates for you.
Diy Wedding Invitations Examples You Can Create At Home
For printing, take into consideration the print-at-home option along with the option of sending your completed file to a larger printer such as Costco, Office Depot, or your neighborhood printing shop. A print shop will be able to help select the best paper for your design, trim the cards to the perfect size, and provide that professional touch your wedding invitations deserve, says Griffith.
According to Weber, you'll typically have the option of either doing the customization on a template yourself or having the designer do it for you. If you're going to do it yourself, it does limit the ability to change things such as fonts or colors, she says.
The most inexpensive option is to download the template and change the details on your own, but if you want any of the design elements changed, the designer is typically able to accommodate and send the ready-to-print file back to you. As you're editing the wording and finalizing your design, be sure to run it past multiple sets of eyes before you hit the print button to avoid any mistakes.
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Even though you’re choosing the DIY route, you still want your invitations to look hot off the professional press. Susy Fontaine, the co-owner of Invys, advises using a design that bleeds for the most professional look. The trick is having a design that reaches the edge of the paper with no white margins, she explains. This effect, called a full bleed in the printing industry, is achieved by creating a design slightly larger than the final cut size. The extra will be trimmed off and discarded. For example, a 5x7-inch standard invitation design would actually be 5.25x7.25 inches, and an eighth of an inch
