Not long after I made the mock up of the invitations, we decided to change our venue. Luckily, I hadn't printed out any of the information yet so I didn't need to order any more inserts.
All of the pieces of my invitations were purchased from Cardsandpockets.com and the invites were created using Word 2007. If you want any of these templates, email me at lovethebeach16@gmail.com
Invitation
The invitation was printed on 4x6 80 lb. cardstock using my cheap Lexmark printer. I can't believe it could handle it! I set a document in Word to 4x6 paper, removed all of the margins and added in text boxes to put everything where I wanted it to go. It took me a few tries to get everything lined up properly.
Inserts
Directions - The standard insert size for a Signature pocketfold is 3.5x6.5 inches. I set the paper size in Word to this, removed the margins and used text boxes for the information.
Information - We opted not to have a separate Map and Accommodations card like in the mock up because there just wasn't enough information for both. I sized this card to be 3.5x6 inches. The title of the card is in a text box, but the hotel information is not. Under the hotel info, I used weddingmapper.com to create a map of our venue. I followed their directions and sized it to fit on the card. Under the map it lists our wedding website.
RSVP - The size of this card is 3x5 inches. The title is in a text box but the rest of the text is not.
(I forgot to get a picture of them separately)
Decorating the Invitations
I had planned on embossing the invitations to get that neat sparkly, raised look but I could not get it to turn out. I'm not sure if its because the cardstock has some texture to it or if its because the stamp has SO many tiny lines, but it just kept blurring together and not looking very clear. So I changed plans and used a dark purple ink on the invitations. I have a stamp aligner that I used to make sure the stamp was in the same place on each invitation.
Assembling the Invitations
1. I used four Glue Dots on the back of each corner of the invitation to adhere it to the pocketfold. I measured about 1/8 of an inch in from all sides of the pocketfold at first to make sure it was even and straight, but after doing a few of them, I just knew where to place it.
2. I had to cut the Directions and Information inserts to make them line up properly in the pocket. I cut about 1/4 inch off of the directions card and 1/2 inch off of the Information card.
3. Using a pencil I numbered the back of the rsvp card very lightly to match the number line of the excel sheet with each guests name. Now if someone forgets to write their name in the line I can match it with the number on the back of the card.
Printing on the RSVP Envelope
Honestly, I should have either hand wrote these or bought a stamp. Printing on them was not fun! The alignment slide things on my printer didn't go small enough for the envelopes and I wasted about half of them because it kept printing crooked. If you want to try it, here are the directions.
1. In Word 2007 go to the Mailings tab.
2. Select Envelope.
3. Click on Options at the bottom.
4. Click on Envelope Size and select Custom Size.
5. Set the width to 6.4 inches and the Height to 3.5 inches. (It doesn't accept 5.5 inches as the width.)
6. Click on Delivery Address, Font, and select the font you want to use. I used French Vanilla Swirl to match the titles on the inserts.
7. Click Okay.
8. On the right side adjust From Left to 1.8 inches.
9. Type in your return address. (Copy it because after you print one, you need to repeat this for each one!)
10. Load your printer with the envelope and click Print.
11. The font and alignment need to be changed for every envelope you do.
I'm sure you could set it up in Mail Merge to make it easier, but I didn't feel like wasting more envelopes trying to figure that out.
4. After I added postage to the RSVP envelopes, I tucked the card inside, with the envelope flap on the left side and slid all of the inserts into the pocket.
5. Using a 7/8 inch purple ribbon I made the belly bands to go around the invitation. I cut them to slightly overlap each other right where the tiny flap of the pocketfold folds over. They were adhered together using more Glue Dots. (I've used a ridiculous amount of Glue Dots on wedding projects so far. I think I've bought 3 packs and used them all already!)
6. I had an etsy.com designer make me the monogram used on the belly band. I saved the image in Word, copied it, tabbed over twice and then pasted it. I repeated that for an entire sheet of paper. I printed these on the same color cardstock as the invitations. To punch them out, I turned the paper upside down so I could see it through the 1.5 inch nesting punch. That was definitely the easier way to go!
7. Using more Glue Dots I stuck the monogram card to the ribbon.
Printing on the Outer Envelope
Calligraphy was not an option for us and I didn't trust my handwriting to look the same or for me not to make any mistakes, so I decided to print on the envelopes. I used the same font as on the RSVP envelopes (French Vanilla Swirl). The size of the envelope for this is an A7, or 5x7 envelope.
1. Open Word 2007 and select the Mailings tab.
2. Click on Envelopes and then Options at the bottom.
3. Change the size to 6 3/4. (3 5/8 x 6 1/2 in.) Apparently Word doesn't have 5x7 envelopes either!
4. Change the font. I used a font size of 20. Even with the envelopes that had 4 or 5 lines, everything still fit, but it really all depends on the font.
5. Click okay, type in the delivery address and change From Top to 1.6 inches.
6. Repeat for each envelope.
As you might be able to see, I didn't spell out the names of the states. I don't like the way that it looks and it made the envelope centering really uneven. We're not having a formal wedding anyway so I'm sure that no one cares.
I stuffed the invitations into the envelopes, added the postage and that was it. The longest part of the DIY process was deciding on how to decorate the invitations. The total time it took for me to do everything was about 8 hours. Obviously I didn't do it all at once, but honestly I don't think that was a bad amount of time to completely design 50 invitations.
- Deciding on the word for the invitation and printing all of the invitations = 45 minutes
- Creating and printing the RSVP card = 10 minutes
- Mapquesting the directions, double checking them, creating the right size for the insert, typing in the information, adjusting it to match the other insert sizes and printing = 1 hour
- Researching hotel information, creating the map, double checking the information, creating the right size for the insert, typing in the information, adjusting it to match the other insert sizes and printing = 2 hours
- Stamping the invitations = 20 minutes
- Adhering the invitation to the pocketfold = 20 minutes
- Printing on the RSVP envelopes = 45 minutes of pure torture
- Printing on the outer envelopes = 30 minutes
- Adding postage to both sets of envelopes = 5 minutes
- Adding the inserts and envelope to the invitation = 15 minutes
- Making and attaching the belly bands for the invitations = 1 hour
- Stuffing the envelopes = 25 minutes
Total cost with postage $2.28 cents per invitation! (This is adjusted from the previous price)
I dropped them off in the mail yesterday 7/9/10. Our RSVP date is September 1, 2010. I can't wait to start getting the RSVPs in the mail!
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