DIY invites...

aimex

hi guys,

wanting to make my invites myself, mainly to save money but havent got a clue where to start! am thinking its going to be quite tricky. anyone got any tips or templates? or any pics of their invites to share?

xx

Yellowbug

Hiya

I make invitations (and other stationery) mainly for vw people, but have done 'normal' stuff too lol

Firstly I would say decide what images you want to use?
Do you want hearts, flowers, or something more personal (as I say I do vw stuff which is usually the cars being used for the wedding in a cartoon style or the couples own cars) I have done some invites using a photo the couple took on holiday, where they had written there initials in the sand in a heart, I had the photo printed out quite small to make a topper for the front, and put a colour piece of card beneath it before putting it onto the card itself


Why dont you get some pictures and some bits of paper and have a play around with things to see what you like the look of (also look online at invites..google...to see if you can get inspired)


As for materials, I get all my basics from the paper mill (you usually find them in outlet centres but they are also online) you can fill up a box with different colours, so depending on guest numbers you may be able to get one box, and have enough for the invite itself and the detail you want to put on top

I do a lot of designs myslef using illustrator, and then print and cut these out by hand to use as toppers
But obviously you can buy toppers from craft shops...be carefull tho these can be very expensive

hth

Tigerlilley1980

Hi there, first of all I bought some card blanks, inserts and envelopes. I then decided on the theme of my invites and made them up using pictures printed on photo paper and added diamantes. I printed the wording on the inserts using my home pc and a template I found on the web, I also downloaded a free font from the web. There are loads of examples of how to word your invite on here and I'm sure someone else will be along soon to give a hand with that. I also got rsvp stickers printed with our name and address and stuck them on the back. Good luck xxx

bluezone

I ended up doing mine as an A5 postcard, this gave me the extra money to add a A6 sized reply card. I can send you my template if you like?

I used a white hammered effect card

malamay

I want to do square invitation cards that slide into a card pocket. Has anyone seen blank ones like these in their travels?

wordwizard

HI, just make sure you have enough time to make the invites because bear in mind that you will be doing time and time again depending upon the number of guests. I had to make 80 day and a further 54 for the evening and boy did time. Then of course there are the inserts and other stationary bits such as order of service, table place names and table plan. I to made pocket type invites - DL size which is basically A4 card folded into three sections. Again you can buy the pockets but you can also make your own. Just becare that what ever size you get you can get envelopes to match up size wise.

IF your making your own just be prepared for the amount of time and effort you have to put in. From my own experience I did not realise just how much was entailed when i decided to make mine, however that said I was so proud and they ment soo much more when I sent them out and everyone was impressed they had not realised i had made them.

The other peices of advice i can give is that ebay is fantastic for bits such as heart sliders/butterflies decorations etc depending upon your theme for your wedding. Another website that i can highly recommend is "confetti pront centre" it has many templates which help you if your printing from a home printer in terms that spacing and alinement is correct - all things i did not think about until i had started making the invites.

One thing which helped me was sending off for free invitiation samples from various website so i got an idea of what i wanted and then took them apart to see how they were constructed, where glued etc etc. Hope this helps and be patient - you will be proud of your hard work when they are finished!

ncv2

Here are some sites which have helped me out.

http://mcdonaldka.googlepages.com/papergoodness

http://diy.weddingbee.com/topic/mrs-cupcakes-twelve-steps-to-creating-diy-wedding-invitations

√http://diy.weddingbee.com/topic/mrs-ballet-flats-how-to-make-your-own-pocketfold-invitations

Also try the DIY forums on theknot.com and weddingbees.com

angle

Hi, Congratulations on your wedding.

I made our invites when we got married. I kept them simple as I'm not arty and I don't like fussy invites.

I used Word and made my own template by putting the page landscape and working out the measurements for having the text central and folding the sides inwards so it looked like a door. I hope that makes sense as I don't think I have any photos. When both sides of the "door" were opened the invite text would be displayed. I bought a stack of card from a craft shop that was a pale cream and was textured, then I tied a wide purple ribbon around the middle of the invite. I was happy with them and they didn't take too long to make.

I made different ones for the evening invites (mainly because I couldn't decide between the 2 designs that I came up with).
The evening invites were A4 card folded in half (landscape again) so it looked like a normal card. Then I stuck a tiny piece of card with the words 'Evening Invitation' (which I bought from confetti.com) on the front about a 1/3 from the top. I tied thin purple ribbon around the fold of the card, but so it displayed at the front.

Hope that makes some sense. I looked at a few wedding stationary catalogues and tried to copy some of their easier designs as I'm also a bit lacking in the imagination department

Good luck

s4aRainyDay

I tired to make my own and got far too stressed! bought them and managed to get everyting (120 invites, menus, order of serivce etc) for less then £150

I'm much calmer now!

Lemon_Tree

i made all of our stationery and loved every minute of it, i do make cards anyway so that's probably why it was a pleasure. One thing i'm really glad about is that i started ages before they were needed, which was good as i decided in my wisdom to twist thick gold wire into a heart and wrapped it with thin gold wire threaded with beads. I worked my way upto 3 in an hour and made 121 of them, thankfully i didn't hate them at the end but that's probably because i started early.good luck i'm sure you will come up with something beautiful which you will be very proud of.

svjenni

I made my stationery is dead easy - the first thing though is do you have time? I am getting married next year so am doing about 20 items per month which is very slow but i'm not stressed or bored by it.

look online for what you like - sneakily but a sample to see how its put together and copy it!!

or post a pic on here and i'm sure we'll all give you some tips