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?

The Buttons' invitations: the design

After the trials and tribulations I experience with assembling my Save the Date's, I wasn't particularly excited about the impending doom that could be our invitations. There are so many beautiful options out there, and I was completely and utterly indecisive about what I wanted. Did I want beautiful, classic letterpress? Did I want fun colors and funky prints? What about taking the easy route and just using the pre-made ones at Michael's or Target? I couldn't make up my mind.

And then, a little birdie told me about Mrs. Gloss' new invitation design business, 4th & Folded. Do you remember her wedding invitations? Well, if you don't, go check them out...here! They were absolutely gorgeous; a blend of tradition with modern patterns. I was hooked. After perusing the designs she offered, I fell in love with the "Graham" suite, with a few twists of course! Remember the custom monograms that I commissioned?

I really wanted to incorporate one of them into the suite, and Gloss was extremely gracious to accomodate my request! The monogram is featured not only on the invitation itself, but on our custom envelope liner...how cute!

So, my invitation suite consisted of:

• Invitation (double sided)
• RSVP card (also double sided)
• Envelope liner
• Wrap around address label for the RSVP envelope

I was so excited about how the suite turned out; we used a combination of leafy green, night blue, and white. I love that each of the pieces were different in regards to their colors/patterns, but were cohesive overall with the color combinations! They were unique and fun enough for our younger, hipper guests, yet classy enough to make our more traditional guests happy!

Oh, I'm guessing you want to see what these bad boys look like, don't you? Well, here is a little sneak peek at how the design turned out:

Were you absolutely in love with your invitation suite? What styles were you most drawn to?

You want a sneaky peek?

I just thought I'd poke my head in to let you all know that I have NOT disappeared off the face of the Earth...I've just been very very busy! I am up to my neck in invitations: response cards, envelopes, envelope liners, stamps....you get the picture! I don't have pictures of the final product yet...but I thought I'd give you all a super sneaky peek of the suite...because I am THAT nice...

Do you have your invitations finished yet? Was it a huge process for you as well?