I feel that your Save the Dates & invitations set the tone for your wedding. Guests start to see what your style will be like for the wedding. I feel in the past the most traditional invitations were all white with black font script. However, the trend these days is having that pop of color or some cool design or flourish on your invitations with some really chic fonts. It is such a great way to express your personality and style as a bride. Trendy, but chic. I love it!
I never noticed such chic invitations with color until I saw my step sister Laura's invitations. They had a hint of blue with a modern font. So clean and chic. So her. She had purchased them from Wedding Paper Divas. Since then Wedding Paper Divas has been my source of inspiration when it came to invitations. I wanted to purchase my invitations so badly from there. However, my budget couldn't handle the costs. So I decided that I would DIY. Not only helped me budget wise, but allowed me to make my invites exactly how I wanted them.
Invitations are not very hard to make. The hardest part is deciding what style you want because there are soooo many! Below are the steps I took in making our invitations. My sister in law liked mine so much she asked me to make hers! I was honored.
1. Decided on the main invitation size & layout
There are various sizes to choose from. Long strip size of 4x9.25, Rectangular 5x7, Large square 5.25X5.25. Remember if you choose an odd shape the postage is more. I chose a 5x7 size, which took the standard postage rate.
You want to decided if you want the layout of your invitation to be portrait or landscape
2. Decide your color palette for the main invitation and your inserts (if you choose to have inserts)
Typically you would go with the colors of your wedding. Mine were brown, teal and ivory. I had always wanted brown to be my main color and teal to be my accent.
Optional inserts:
3. Choose the font type for your names and main invitation wording
I used 2 different fonts in the invitations. Things I wanted to accent and stand out like our names I used a Script font. The rest I used in all lower case "century gothic".
I downloaded a ton of fonts from www.dafont.com . This website it awesome! Another great one is www.abstractfonts.com .
Both were my savior with their free fonts they offered. I even used my flourish as a font (dingbats) and just used a large font size for it. I tried looking for a graphic, but I had to pay for it. I didn't really want to do that. FREE is good for me.
Choose how you would like to word your invitation. There is an etiquette on how you word your invitation based mainly on who is covering the cost for the wedding. Traditionally it is the bride's parents, but this day and age it just not always the case. There are parents that are divorce, both families help, the bride and groom helps with a lot of the cost. I would google for the exact wording that you are looking for that is appropriate for your situation.
5. Use Microsoft Publisher or Photoshop to put it all together
I used photoshop because it allowed me to move boxes around like power point would allow you too. Gave me more control of where I wanted positions the text.
Set your size, layout, color background, color font, & font style.
6. Don't forget about the RSVPS
You can either make a smaller version of your main invitation and have RSVP wording on there. There are 2 types of RSVPs you can have.
1. RSVP card and have self addressed stamped envelope
2. POSTCARD RSVPs: This is becoming very popular and cost effective. You save money on your postage because you would pay for postcard postage (.28 cents) instead of the standard postage rate (.44 cents). Also, you don't have to pay for a smaller envelope for the RSVP to go in. Just remember the dimensions requirements by the USPS for postcards.
6. Print, Stuff and Send
I would highly recommend www.vistaprint.com to print your invitations. They offer many discounts and specials. Their quality is pretty good.
For envelopes I would go with www.paperandmore.com they are at a great price.
If you do decide to do pocket folds. I would go with www.cardsandpockets.com they have a great product and the best prices.
My main invitation
My Sister in Laws Main Invitations
I never noticed such chic invitations with color until I saw my step sister Laura's invitations. They had a hint of blue with a modern font. So clean and chic. So her. She had purchased them from Wedding Paper Divas. Since then Wedding Paper Divas has been my source of inspiration when it came to invitations. I wanted to purchase my invitations so badly from there. However, my budget couldn't handle the costs. So I decided that I would DIY. Not only helped me budget wise, but allowed me to make my invites exactly how I wanted them.
Invitations are not very hard to make. The hardest part is deciding what style you want because there are soooo many! Below are the steps I took in making our invitations. My sister in law liked mine so much she asked me to make hers! I was honored.
1. Decided on the main invitation size & layout
There are various sizes to choose from. Long strip size of 4x9.25, Rectangular 5x7, Large square 5.25X5.25. Remember if you choose an odd shape the postage is more. I chose a 5x7 size, which took the standard postage rate.
You want to decided if you want the layout of your invitation to be portrait or landscape
2. Decide your color palette for the main invitation and your inserts (if you choose to have inserts)
Typically you would go with the colors of your wedding. Mine were brown, teal and ivory. I had always wanted brown to be my main color and teal to be my accent.
Optional inserts:
- Map & Directions
- Accommodations
3. Choose the font type for your names and main invitation wording
I used 2 different fonts in the invitations. Things I wanted to accent and stand out like our names I used a Script font. The rest I used in all lower case "century gothic".
I downloaded a ton of fonts from www.dafont.com . This website it awesome! Another great one is www.abstractfonts.com .
Both were my savior with their free fonts they offered. I even used my flourish as a font (dingbats) and just used a large font size for it. I tried looking for a graphic, but I had to pay for it. I didn't really want to do that. FREE is good for me.
- our names were "Scriptina"
- main invitation wording "century gothic"
- flourish on the side "Floralia"
Choose how you would like to word your invitation. There is an etiquette on how you word your invitation based mainly on who is covering the cost for the wedding. Traditionally it is the bride's parents, but this day and age it just not always the case. There are parents that are divorce, both families help, the bride and groom helps with a lot of the cost. I would google for the exact wording that you are looking for that is appropriate for your situation.
5. Use Microsoft Publisher or Photoshop to put it all together
I used photoshop because it allowed me to move boxes around like power point would allow you too. Gave me more control of where I wanted positions the text.
Set your size, layout, color background, color font, & font style.
6. Don't forget about the RSVPS
You can either make a smaller version of your main invitation and have RSVP wording on there. There are 2 types of RSVPs you can have.
1. RSVP card and have self addressed stamped envelope
2. POSTCARD RSVPs: This is becoming very popular and cost effective. You save money on your postage because you would pay for postcard postage (.28 cents) instead of the standard postage rate (.44 cents). Also, you don't have to pay for a smaller envelope for the RSVP to go in. Just remember the dimensions requirements by the USPS for postcards.
Postcard | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Any item smaller than the minimum dimensions is not mailable. For postcards, length is the dimension parallel to the address. Postcards must be rectangular and be made of unfolded and uncreased paper or card stock. Large cards that exceed the maximum dimensions of a postcard pay the First-Class Mail letter price or First-Class Mail large envelope price. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Front RSVP
Back of RSVP
My sister in laws RSVP Front
RSVP Back
6. Print, Stuff and Send
I would highly recommend www.vistaprint.com to print your invitations. They offer many discounts and specials. Their quality is pretty good.
For envelopes I would go with www.paperandmore.com they are at a great price.
If you do decide to do pocket folds. I would go with www.cardsandpockets.com they have a great product and the best prices.
My main invitation
My Sister in Laws Main Invitations
Liz - Glad Wedding Paper Divas was useful for inspiration! Going DIY is growing in popularity and can be great if you have the time and skills. But, as an employee, if there is anyway I can assist you or one of your readers in purchasing from us or our sister company Tiny Prints, please feel free to look me up...I might have something up my sleeve:)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the nice mention!
Your invitation card is very nice and of unique style..i like it very much..specially back of RSVP..innovative and different style..even i am also considering it for my sister's wedding card..
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