d.i.y. wedding invitation recipe#1: spring elegance

The wedding invitation is a “wedding trailer”.  It gives your guests a sense of the style your wedding.  Guests looking at the invitation will either think ‘okay, another one’ or ‘wow, I wanna see this.’  When I look back at all the invitations I have received in the past (mostly from my Asian friends/relatives), the ones that triggered a ‘wow’ were either 1. tailored letterpress, cost $8-$15 each, or 2. handmade, cost $1-$2 each.  With this, I think it will be nice to share some diy wedding invitation projects from real weddings.  Here is the first one in the series.

recipe #1: spring elegance
theme: simple, double happiness
products: wedding invitations, wedding program, place cards
cost: ~$180 (+ cost of ink) for 150 invitations, programs, place cards

ingredients:
1. light pink cardboard (heavy weight paper): solid color, gloss, rough texture, 8.5″x11″
– note: available at local paper warehouse, e.g. Kelly Paper, $18-$25 per 250
2. sage cardboard (heavy weight paper): solid color, gloss, smooth
– note: available at local paper warehouse, e.g. Kelly Paper, $18-$25 per 250
3. vellum paper: translucent, white, solid color
– note: available at local paper warehouse, e.g. Kelly Paper, $10-$15 per 200
4. adhesive labels: transparent, printer-friendly
– note: available at Office Depot, $18 per 750
5. pearl color envelopes
– note: available at art stores, e.g. University Art, $50 per 150
6. double sided scotch tape
– note: available at Walmart, $20
7. theme clipart:  double happiness
– note: available from Google Images: double happiness, free

tools:
1. color inkjet/laser printer
2. paper edge puncher
– note: can be purchase at Michaels, $10
3. paper trimmer
– note: available at Office Depot, $25

methods – invitations:
1. open blank document in Microsoft Office
2. insert double happiness image, change color to light red, set it to behind text, increase transparency
3. type text of your choice over the double happiness image, set font color to dark sage color
4. print as ‘2 pages per page’ on 75 light pink cardboards, trim into 150 8″x5″ cardboards (A)
6. cut 75 sage cardboards into half to make 150 sage 8.5″x5.5″ cardboards (B)
7. trim another 75 sage cardboards to make 150 sage 8.25″x5.25″ cardboards (C)
8. tape (A) on (B), and tape (A)+(B) on (C), centered
9. print the map and directions as ‘4 pages per page’ on 38 vellum papers, cut pages into 4
10. print guest’s name and address on transparent labels, place on the envelope
11. insert invitation and map/direction into envelope and seal

methods – programs:
1. open blank document in Microsoft Office, divide page into 2 columns without border
2. type text of your choice in first column and copy to the 2nd column
3. save a copy with font color as black and another copy with font color as dark sage
4. print on 38 sage cardboards and 38 light pink cardboards
5. cut cardboards into half
6. use paper puncher to punch a pattern on the top edge of the program

methods – place cards:
1. open blank document in Microsoft Office, divide page into 8 equal sized cells (2 columns, 4 rows)
2. if needed, group guests into 2 groups according to their meal selection
3. per group, type guest names into rows 2 and 4
4. print group 1 on sage cardboards, and group 2 on light pink cardboards
5. cut cardboards into 4, and fold them in half