Invitations: the assembly

Now that the wedding is over, I realized that I never fully revealed our beautiful invitations and how I assembled them! Many apologies...

Once I procured my invitation files from Mrs. Gloss, it was time to determine my printing and assembly options!

After driving back and forth to a number of printing locations (Office Max, Staples, Kinkos, etc.), I decided to use Kinko's. They offered a variety of colors of cardstock, and their "mesa white" was a perfect color of eggshell with some natural colored flecks in the paper. We had the invites run off, and I paid an extra fee to have the main invitation cut on their laser cutter. I was confident with cutting the rsvp cards myself though!

I ordered my beautiful envelopes from Cards and Pockets. They had a huge array of different color and size options, and the prices were incredibly reasonable! I also loved that you were able to order samples for $1 a piece (which I did), and you are able to order an exact number of envelopes...thank goodness for not having tons of leftovers! I selected a color called "meadow" for both my invitation and response envelopes. They have a slight metallic sheen to them and are so pretty!

Source

Once again, I downloaded a free font from Fontspace to use for addressing my envelopes. Yes, I did take the easy way out, but I didn't have the patience to handwrite all of my invitations! I selected a font called akaDora:

Source

I printed each envelope and then lined it with one of Mrs. Gloss' beautifully designed liners! For the rsvp envelope, we had designed a wrap around label that I glued on. I used a corner rounder for both the invitation and the rsvp, just to create a more finished look!

Traditionally, invitations feature an inner envelope that features the names of the individuals that are invited. Well, I really didn't care to purchase MORE envelopes on top of the ones I already had, so I wanted to come up with an alternative. For inspiration, I walked the aisles of Michaels until I found a wonderful solution! I purchased a tag punch and a bag of raffia to complete my invites.

I had purchased some extra pages of blank cardstock from Kinkos when I printed my invites. I used a 2x4 label template to print my guests' names. After they came out of the printer, I used the punch to make tags. The tag served as the "inner envelope" in my case! Also - to add a bit more detail, I used a stamp to create a design on the back of the tag.

I used a piece of raffia to tie the invite and rsvp together. I added a few extra pieces of raffia to the knot to make it look fuller, and tied the tag to the top. Annnd voila! The invitation was complete! I was very satisfied with how it turned out!

From there, it was time to stuff, seal, and stamp...and then fight with some US Postal Service workers...but that story is for another day...

How long did it take you to assemble your invitations?