Operation: Invitations...

DONE AND SENT!

I'm not going to lie though...I had a minor panic attack when I walked out of the post office today. They've sat on my work space for two weeks now and I'm sort of sad I won't get to look at them 12 times a day anymore. But! I can't wait to hear people's reactions and to start getting RSVP's in the mail!! :)

Off to the post office!

 My boss insisted on taking pictures of me with them before I took them in to the post office though...

Now, an explanation...

I am sending them just under three months early for two reasons. 1, we have a ton of out of town guests. Like, 85 percent of our guest list is coming from out of town and half of that, from out of state. I just felt like we needed to get the info to them sooner, so that hopefully, more people could make it. 2, We really couldn't wait any longer! TG and I are both pretty impatient so this is what happens. 

We're so excited though! Less than three months now...woo!

Invitations: FINISHED PRODUCT!

I don't know how we did it but our invites are done two weeks before we want to send them out. The assembly process was the most fun because each guest address label I put on the envelopes I imagined them opening the invite... so exciting! 

Here is our entire invitation suite:

Like I said before, I had so much fun assembling them...

To add more of a personal touch we decided to create custom postage that would pop on the front of our envelopes. And what pops more than two smiling faces...? :)

Cost breakdown:

• Invites (designed by me, printed on Zazzle.com): $66.00
• RSVP's (designed by me, printed on Zazzle.com): $71.50
• Belly bands: $18.29
• Wrap around labels: $21.61
• Postage on invites: $56.70
• Postage on RSVP's: $25.20

Total: 259.30 ~ $2.88 per invite

Invitations: Wrap-around Address Labels

I absolutely love the idea of wrap-around labels. It's very modern and clean in design and I am obsessed. So I bet you can guess that I made some for my very own invitations.


I have to start by saying TG was skeptical... but in the end, he loved them! :)


I used Adobe Illustrator to design my very own wrap-around labels. After a lot of tweaking this is the finished product...

I printed them on full sheet labels and used my Fiskars rotary cutter and a ruler to cut them out.

All of the graphic design is by me except the border with I got from istockphoto.com.

And on the envelopes...

I'm pretty much in love with them.


Cost:

• Full sheet labels from onlinelabels.com: approx $0.14/sheet; 24 sheets: $3.36
• High Resolution Border pack from istockphoto.com: $18.25 

Total: $21.61 (approx $0.24 each)

Invitations: DIY Belly Bands

In order to save money, TG and I decided not to do 100 little inserts and just let the wedding website do it's job. So we opted to only do a invite and an RSVP, which you can see here. 


However, I didn't want to just throw them into the envelope and call it a day either. I wanted some sort of form and organization to them. I googled and searched wedding blogs for ideas. I came across the idea of belly bands and was intrigued.


I found some at Cards&Pockets but at $11.25 per 25, I decided with a little labor, I could do them myself. 


Tools:

• Fiskars 45mm Rotary Cutter
• Self-healing mat - I used this one.
• Cardstock
• Pencil
• Ruler and/or sample belly band

I had ordered a sample belly band so I had a good example to begin with.

I essentially used the sample as a ruler too. It was about a quarter inch shorter than 11 inches so I just made my bands an even 11 to save time.

After tracing them all out, I could fit four on one sheet of cardstock, I cut them out with my rotary cutter. This was definitely an arm work out--the paper was pretty thick and I had to push pretty hard to get a clean cut. I absolutely recommend spreading this job out over a couple days or your arm with be super tired.

Then, in order to make the folding easier I rolled over the band using the rotary cutter (without going all the way through, of course) at approximately 3 inches and 8 inches, just enough to cut maybe a quarter of the way through. 

And the finished product...

 

Cost:

• Cardstock: $3.89 (25 pack so there are extras)
• Fiskars Rotary Cutter: $14.40 on Amazon (which I will use for so much more, love it!)

Total: $18.29 for 92 belly bands

Invitations

I'm pretty picky when it comes to... well, everything. Not one website or catalog could give me what I wanted. Nada. So I just decided to do them myself. Now, I am picky but I'm also my own worst critic. I had a minor panic attack when I ordered them... I thought they were going to look horrendous and people were going to know I did them. Like in a bad way.

I'm excited to report... They turned out perfectly. I'm really excited.

I'm going to show you... But please remember I'm still very self conscious about my designs... so criticism is welcome, as long as it's constructive. Thanks dolls. :)

The invitation:

The postcard RSVP front:

The postcard RSVP back:

...I bet you can guess what the theme is.... :) The color is a little off but hopefully you get the picture.

Hello!

I have been wedding planning for almost three months now and whoa, talk about overwhelming. But in a good way. I'm having a blast. The only thing I complain about is not having enough time to do it but when I graduate in a little over a month that will change. CANNOT. WAIT. 

So far our big accomplishments are...

• Choosing and booking our ceremony/reception site
• Creating a wedding website
• Deciding on a color scheme
• Invitations and RSVPs DONE!
• Booked caterer

The next hurdle is flowers.