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I found these really cute and whimsical paper crafts for your autumn wedding from Sunshine and Ravioli via Etsy.com. These are very rustic, custom handmade pieces of paper with autumn motifs for your save-the-dates, thank you cards, favor packaging and table numbers. Perfect for any fall inspired wedding!
Autumn Leaf Save-the-Date Bookmarks
Woodland Silhouette Thank You Cards
Custom Made Autumn Wedding Cone Favors
Woodland Silhouette Table Numbers
{All Photos by SunshineandRavioli via Etsy.com
Monday I shared some options for creating your own stationery with printable invitation kits, using any bubble jet printer and a cool font or two that you can grab online for no cost. Today I’m putting the machine fonts aside and moving more into the realm of art than printing. I’m talking about completely hand-lettered invitations, crafted by a professional calligrapher and illustrator, to meet your stationery specifications. If you’re looking for the royal treatment for your wedding invitations, this is it.
Imagine your invitations completely hand-lettered in your choice of a beautiful script style by a professional calligrapher. How about custom drawn maps by a professional illustrator? Laura Hooper of Laura Hooper Calligraphy (www.lhcalligraphy.com) has put together an amazing line of stationery suites, in which she hand-writes and draws each piece! I came across this totally unique couture stationer and knew right away it was something special that I wanted to share.
After your content is individually crafted for each piece in your stationery suite, Laura’s artwork is then transferred to plates and letterpressed on paper by a professional printer. The results are totally one-of-a-kind and go above and beyond any machine printed font styles you’ll find. When it comes to weddings, it’s all about how personal you can make the details, and you can’t get any more personal than hand-written lettering.
Custom invitation sample from Laura Hooper Calligraphy
You might also want to add maps and monograms to your stationery, and these are especially charming when done by hand. It can really turn your stationery into incredible keepsakes.
Include a hand-illustrated map with your save-the-date
Photo Credits: All product photos from Laura Hooper Calligraphy
In today’s economy, frugality is more important than ever. And one of the best ways to stretch your wedding budget dollars is to include as many do-it-yourself projects as possible. One great DIY option that can save you some green is printing your very own wedding invitations, rather than having a stationery custom print them for you. Sound time-consuming? Not really. With even a run-of-the-mill bubble jet printer, a good font or two, and a step-by-step kit, you’ll be on your way to great-looking customized invitations in no time that you can do right at home.
Just a few of the free fonts available at 1001freefonts.com
There are a ton of amazing fonts available online, many for free. Just do a Google search for “free fonts” to see what’s available. Websites like 1001 Free Fonts (www.1001freefonts.com) will let you view, compare, and download True Type Fonts which you can then install on your PC or Mac for no cost at all. With all the options out there, you’re sure to find a font that matches your style and personalities perfectly.
Individually purchasing your paper, envelopes, linings, and embellishments isn’t for the faint of heart. To go this route, you want to make sure you have plenty of time or help, a smaller guest list, and you should have a real love of working with paper to create your own stationery totally from scratch. But for a cost-effective and time-saving compromise, check out the many DIY invitation kits on the market right now.
I personally recommend products from Gartner Studios (www.gartnerstudios.com), which we used ourselves for our own rehearsal dinner invitations. I can vouch for their product quality and craftmanship. I was also very kindly invited to tour their charming Stillwater, Minnesota location recently and I have seen firsthand the thoughtfulness and attention that goes into their product designs.
Purple handmade paper invitation kit from Gartner Studios. This is the one we used for our own rehearsal dinner invitations.
You can find Gartner Studios’s products at many craft and retail stores, as well as online. Their Bride’s Magazine collection is available at Michael’s, for example, and they have a line of products you can find at Target as well. The great thing about these DIY invitation kits is that you get all the materials you need along with the Word templates to set up your content. You can browse the templates for each product on their website. Some have more than one template: one for response cards and another for the vellum invitation insert, for example. Using these kits is really a snap, and by viewing the pricing online you can see how much you’d be saving with the kits versus ordering everything printed at a stationer.
Green Floral Invitation Kit from Garner Studios
Photo Credits: Font screenshot from 1001freefonts.com. Product imagery from Gartner Studios.
It’s inspiring to see how responsible and environmentally conscious today’s couples are, and it’s because of this awareness and thoughtfulness on their part that eco-friendly product options are becoming a growing trend in the wedding industry. Take stationery as an example. Beautiful wedding invitations that are friendly on the pocketbook as well as the environment are a real win-win, and some of the very best are provided by the talented team at WedVert (www.wedvert.com).
Most recently, eco-designer Yoko Chapman unveiled a fantastic collection inspired by vintage jewelry. Not only is the invitation line a gorgeous one, but it’s completely carbon-neutral! Believe it or not, the paper used comes 100% from post-consumer waste, is chlorine-free, recyclable, and the inks used are all-natural and soy-based.
WedVert Bloom Design
WedVert Botanical Design
WedVert Cameo Design
WedVert Deco Design
WedVert Quill Design
WedVert Woodland Design
There are even free do-it-yourself templates available to download in PDF format that match your stationery. Download and print your own matching details for projects like candle shades, envelope wraps, votive wraps, even fortune cookie inserts!
Download free DIY wedding project templates that match your stationery.
WedVert’s VERT line of stationery products also match WedShare wedding website designs, so your theme is consistent both online and off.
WedVert stationery also has matching WedShare wedding website designs
The WedVert eco-friendly line of wedding stationery will make a big impact on your guests, not the environment. Check out the WedVert website for more green wedding tips and resources.
Photo Credits: Stationery showcase photos from WedVert.com
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While browsing the web I came across this fun guestbook idea from The Guestbook Store. They offer unique guestbook pages for every occasion, but their wedding and bridal shower pages are just too cute! Each guest is given their very own guestbook page to complete front and back during the wedding, bridal shower or rehearsal dinner. You can choose between casual or formal style pages, and the option to customize with your names for a more personalized look. You can also have your guestbook pages include a photo or Polaroid of each guest that filled out a page.
Albums hold up to 100 completed guestbook pages and are designed using a three ring album system so you can easily arrange your guests’ pages. Pages are sold in quantities of 20 for $8.00 each standard design package, and $16.00 for the customized page design package. Each page is printed on a high quality 80lb card stock that contains 30% recycled post-consumer fiber and is also acid and lignin free for great quality that does not yellow, fade, or deteriorate over time.
They have an easy 6 step ordering process where you get to choose each aspect of your guestbook.
Step 1 - Choose an album design for your guestbook - They offer many album designs to suit a variety of tastes and color schemes.
Step 2 - Select from their casual or formal style guestbook pages, with or without guest photo option.
Step 3 - Select your guestbook page design from Wedding Prediction Guestbook or Wedding Memories Guestbook Pages.
Step 4 - Select the number of pages you’d like.
Step 5 – Complete your FREE title page information. You get a free title page to introduce and personalize your guestbook.
Step 6 - Select additional accessories for your guestbook such as invitation pages, wedding day reflections pages, gift receipt pages, and acid-free color markers just to name a few.
{All photos provided by GuestbookStore.com}
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In an effort to stand out and do something different for their wedding, couples are getting very creative, and it’s really fun to see what they’re coming up with these days. I’ve seen nearlyweds take the time to make some of the cutest save-the-dates and wedding invitations ever, and one growing trend in this area is the stop-motion video. These take hours of work, but with a little planning and lots of patience the results can be something that’s surely unforgettable, totally personal and as unique as you can get.
All you really need is access to a digital camera, a computer with enough space to load your photos on, and a video editing software to create your stop motion video. You can use a tripod to set your camera in place for a better quality video, and just shoot away or have someone take the pictures for you. Remember, have a basic plan on how you want your save-the-date or invitation to progress, sketched out beforehand; it’ll make things so much easier for you. There are lots of articles and how-to videos out there that can help you make these cute stop motion videos. Just do a search for the keywords “how to make a stop motion video” to get some great tutorials.
There’s a number of free and shareware video editing software for Windows and Mac, such as Windows Movie Maker and JPGVideo freeware for PC, or iMovie for Mac. Give them a try!
Making a stop motion save-the-date or wedding invitation video is a great way to be eco-friendly as well. Just post your creation on your personal wedding website, blog or favorite video sharing site such as YouTube or Vimeo instead of printing and mailing them the traditional way.
The following fun and clever stop motion wedding videos are some of my absolute favorites. Enjoy!
Josh & Julia’s Save-the-Date Stop Motion Video
Jason & Haley’s Save-the-Date Stop Motion Animation
Corey & Rachel’s Wedding Invitation Stop Motion Video
Tom & Courtney’s Save-the-Date Stop Motion Video
Meghan & Jon’s Cute Save-the-Date Stop Motion Video
Bobby & Carrie’s Wedding Photo Booth Stop Motion
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Handmade Invitation via Wikipedia
Have you been searching for wedding invitations and stationery, but aren’t satisfied with the options out there? If you love working with your hands and designing with paper, and if you have enough time (or assistance) available, then you may want to consider creating your own wedding stationery yourself. After all, you can’t get any more personal than handmade invitations, and it’s a great way to really put your very own personal stamp on your big day, especially for smaller guest lists.
If it sounds like a lot of work, it probably is. If it sounds like a fun activity that you can throw yourself into and create results that will make an impression, then it most certainly will be. The point: if it’s something you love to do, then it’s a project, not a chore. And if you’re one of those who see handmade stationery as a fun and personal way to solve your invitation search, then have I got an online resource for you.
Create your own wedding invitations and stationery!
Cardgirl DIY is a blog and website full of all sorts of ideas, inspirations, and advice for those looking to create their own invitations and stationery for any event. The website was created by the owner and founder of Cardgirl Invitations, Nessa Sander. In 2002, Nessa found herself up against the same wall of not finding the right stationery to match her wedding style, and decided to create them herself. One thing led to another, and Nessa found herself running her own full-time invitation business!
As Nessa puts it, she hit plenty of bumps along the way, and learned much of it all the hard way. She created Cardgirl DIY so that you can learn from her experiences and those of others. Check out her recommended invitation kits and print companies. Get advice and resources on everything from paper and letterpress to colors, accessories, and even wording etiquette. Do it yourself, with style!
Do you like the idea of handmade invitations but are strapped with such a sizable guest list that creating invitations for your entire wedding by hand would just be impossible? Some couples choose to create their own invitations for other, smaller, aspects of their wedding…such as the rehearsal dinner or bridal luncheon. Anytime you can DIY, you can be sure you’ll add a hefty dose of personality to your big day–always a good thing–and you’ll most likely save quite a bit of money in the process.
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It’s very easy to create your very own photo booth styled save-the-date cards or wedding invitations. You don’t necessarily need to be in an actual photo booth to get the same results; all you need is a little creativity! Set up a backdrop with either sheets or curtains and have a tripod or some other support for your camera. Set the auto timer and snap away!
If you prefer, have a friend take the photos for you, like Amber and Jimmy did. They picked the four pictures they liked best and gave them to another friend who put them in a photo booth format using Adobe Photoshop, and converted the photos to black and white–all except for the letters and the sign. I think this is such a fun way to announce your wedding to all your friends and family. I love these shots!
{Photo Credit: Amber & Jimmy via MyAimIsTrue Blog Photos by Nicole and design by Cassie}
If you are a little more computer savvy or know of a friend that is, and have access to Photoshop or similar software, you can pose for your pictures and pretend to be holding the letters instead of actually making them for your photos. Then just upload your photo shots to a computer, open them in Photoshop, and add the letters and wording with your preferred font. Savanah and Chris’s photo booth strip below was home made using just that technique. They just created the vintage photo booth effect and added the letters in Photosh, then had them printed and mailed to all of their family and friends.
{Photo Credit: ChrisGoodwin.info}
Sarah & Jeffrey’s photo booth save-the-date cards were designed in Illustrator. Their photo booth pictures were taken on Sarah’s iMac and then put into photo strips with Photoshop. These are simply adorable!
{Photo Credit: Sarah & Jeffrey Photo Booth Save-the-Date Cards via Wedding Bee
Julia & Jonathan’s fun and original photo booth wedding invitation is perfect for couples with personalities! I love their creativity and the fact that they included their cat in the making of this clever invite. How cute is that!
{Photo Credit: Julia & Jonathan Wedding Invitation by Arravan314 via Flickr}
Save the Dates – they’re not required, but would be a courteous gesture to your guests, especially for couples who hope to have out-of-towners attend, or are planning a destination wedding.
So maybe you’re thinking that you’re already shelling out the cash for fancy invitations, or will be spending a lot of time on DIY invites, do you even have the extra money or time to have Save the Dates?
Before you pass on this optional step of the wedding process, visit Vistaprint.com. Personally, I wasn’t planning on having Save the Dates, but after viewing this site and seeing all the discounts, I almost couldn’t help it.
Using Vistaprint to order your Save the Dates will save you both money and time. Just register your email address to receive their promotions, and soon you will receive discounts and special offers – like 100 free postcards! You can order more at discounted rates, and order other free items in the meantime – like a free car magnet?
It’s also a pretty quick process from choosing what you want (postcard/magnets/letterhead, whatever), selecting the design and entering your info to actually receiving your order.
I made my Save the Date order of 200 small magnets, 250 postcards, plus an additional 100 free postcards within an hour or so. I received my order only after 1 week, even though I chose the standard shipping. Best of all, this set me back just $55.47 with discounts from one of the emails I received from them!
Marivic & Greg's Save the Date
Don’t worry if it’s so far in advance that you haven’t decided colors or themes yet (neither have I), they have templates you can choose from. You can make your Save the Dates as generic or fancy as you’d like – add pictures, your own designs or make free caricatures of you and your partner to add on.
Also, if you change your mind after you’ve already ordered, you can cancel – within a reasonable amount of time - and receive a credit to your Vistaprint account for a future order.
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