It may still be winter, but before you know it June will be here and with that comes weddings. In the meantime brides all over the country are planning their special day. Weddings take a lot of planning, and you only get married once (hopefully) so you want to get everything right.
Now days more and more people are taking to do things themselves instead of buying things ready made. People are getting craftier, and a wedding is one of the best places to use those creative juices because the memories you have of the things you made will be all the more special. Think about it – what do you think will mean more to you and be more memorable ten years from now, the time you spent ordering invitations or the time you spent making them with friends?
The invitation in particular is probably the number one thing that most people who want to have some hand crafted items in their wedding make themselves. There are two reasons why home made invitations have become such a big hit. First, the cost. Regular invitations cost a small fortune. They can be one of the biggest costs of a small wedding. Second, hand made invitations immediately create a certain atmosphere, a certain “ahhhh” if you will, that makes the guest feel part of the day. Third, you will have a memory of making these invitations that will last you forever.
So how do you begin making your invitation? There are kits, of course, but a kit really isn’t necessary. All you really need is a paper cutter. Choose good quality paper, and decide what you want for an embellishment. Sometimes it is a good idea to go online and view some invitations just so you can get the wording in a way that you like it, but remember, homemade invitations shouldn’t be worded as formally as ones you buy. That doesn’t mean you should be completely casual either. The invitation should reflect the personalities of the bride and groom and how the wedding will be carried out – an extremely casual invitation would not be appropriate for a formal wedding, for example.
Designing my niece’s wedding invitations was a special challenge because her wedding colors were so unusual – purple and black. However, we came up with an invitation that perfectly fit her personality. The invitation was long and narrow – approximately 3.5 inches by 8 inches. We used black card stock with a smaller overlay of purple card stock. This gave a nice black edge all the way around. We bought a rose hole punch and punched through the purple so that we had a black rose showing under the words. Then we ran some purple ribbon through the black edge and stuffed them in lavender envelopes. I would show it to you, but I don’t have her permission.
Although you can make a folded invitation, an unfolded, on page invitation is so very much easier and will save you a lot of headache. You want to have fun doing this and not have to deal with getting folds straight. However, if you are insistent on having a folding invitation, you can either buy a device for folding or take the pages to Kinkos and pay to have them folded. Regarding envelopes, you can either buy colored or plain envelopes, or you can make them yourself. The Envelope Pro is a nifty tool for making envelopes although it takes a few times to master. It is sold at Joann.com and other online sources.
Some instructional sources for wedding invitations show adding 3-D embellishments like small silk flowers and the like. Not only will these add to the price of your invitations, but these will also add to the price of mailing. They might also make it difficult to fit your invitation in the envelope. Cutouts, stamps, or ribbons, classy stickers are all much more suitable for this purpose. Save the larger items for the wedding itself.
I wasn’t as crafty as I am now when I got married, and I look back at what we paid for invitations and I cringe. We had lovely invitations, to be sure, but they were plain, one page, invitations, and they were still quite pricey. We bought a house instead of taking a honeymoon, but when I think of all the little expenses we had that we could have used the money that went toward those invitations…well! Besides, it would have been so much fun to make them with my friends!
I hope some of you will think about the joy you can have making invitations, how someone can take pictures of you while you do it, and of all the memories you will have of the event. It is more than the money you will save – it is in the creating!
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