WEDDING INVITATIONS

I've been anxious to share these with you, but wanted to wait until they were in the mail since some of my readers are also invited to the wedding and I didn't want to spoil the surprise.  I always love getting wedding invitations in the mail; the beautiful handwriting, wedding stamps, special envelopes....not to mention, feeling so very special to be a guest at such a special occasion.    For me, the invitation says so much about the families and the couple, plus it sets an expectation for the guests. 

I still remember when my daughter and I spent time at Hobby Lobby choosing the papers (it was months ago) we were going to use.  We chose three different types of paper; a hard card stock in green, a natural fiber paper with a leaf and fern imprint and a vellum.

 As you know from previous posts, the wedding is in September, so the autumn theme is throughout all aspects of the wedding; from the invitations to the flowers to the decor.    We were really excited when we found the papers; the green background of the card stock would be a great frame and the leaves coming through the vellum would add just the right touch.   I've always liked the clean and elegant look of vellum invitations, so you'll see that the RSVP cards are made with a vellum overlay as well.

I will tell you, I was a bit nervous about how my printer would handle vellum.  It's been known to have fits with some unique papers.  But, I was pleasantly surprised that it went very well.  My daughter brought a paper cutter home from her work and I went to town trimming everything to just the right size in a fraction of the time it was going to take with my pattern shears.  The picture below shows the backside of the invitations.  I chose to purchase pocket cards to assemble the invitations.  I used glue dots to adhere the invitation to the front side and then added the map, RSVP card, "Things to do in Colorado" (for the out-of-towners) and a silk leaf.  I liked the nice, neat presentation with everything all organized inside the pocket.

 To the right are the three papers that I used.  I made the leaf paper and the vellum about 1/8" narrower on each side than the green cardstock.   I placed two holes at the very top and tied a bow with a sage green velvet ribbon to hold the layers into place.

 I ordered the pocket cards and all the envelopes from lci paper.  There are a number of companies available to choose from; I found their selection and pricing hard to pass up.  To the right is the response card with the vellum overlay.  I'm in love with the font; dafont.com is a great resource.  I've gotten lost in that website for hours looking for just the right font for something I was working on.   So, the guest lifts up the vellum, and either accepts or declines on the card beneath.  Cool huh? 

 As you can imagine, I'm looking forward to checking the mailbox over the next several weeks.   While we have a pretty good idea who will be able to attend, it's still going to be fun to check the mail.  Anything other than bills is a treat and for something as special as your daughter's wedding, I'm tickled!