Anyhow, back before I became a crazy crafting bride-to-be, I was checking out the DIY kits by Gartner Studios. Nothing fancy, but they do appear pretty user friendly. I wasn't incredibly impressed by the prices, until I found a kit on clearance. And then a kit on eBay. I purchased two of these on eBay for a total of $44 (which included shipping). The kits include: invitations/envelopes/ribbon, response cards/envelopes (50 of each), place cards, programs, and a few miscellaneous cards that could be used for menus or something (100 of each). A sweet deal, but by the time I had them in my hot little hands, I had seen the magic worked by the crafty brides on such sites as Weddingbee, and I was a little disappointed in my plain invites. In the end, I think I was able to turn them into something a little more special, and still pretty much on the cheap (price breakdown to follow).
First, I snazzed up the envelopes with liners. I purchased wrapping paper from the Container Store, cut my own template out of cardstock, trimmed the corners with one of those corner rounder things, and used double sided tape to adhere the liner to the inside of the envelope.
I also dressed up the outside of the envelopes. I found this template for address labels from Martha, and it was exactly what I was looking for. I obviously couldn't afford calligraphy, and the plain white Avery labels didn't scream wedding invitation to me, but these worked out really well. I bought 8x11 sheets of kraft label paper online (I don't own a Xyron), printed out the labels on my home inkjet, trimmed them with a paper cutter, and used a deckle edge shears for the ends of the label. While I was at it, I ordered round kraft labels to use to seal the envelopes (the smaller green ones came with the Gartner kit). I figured if I used the glue on the envelope itself, odds were that people would rip the envelope liners that I spent so much time on, and they would never get to appreciate them.
The invitations themselves I just printed up in Word using the template from the kit. For fonts, I used Adobe Garamond Pro for the regular font and LainieDay for the script. I printed these on the laser printer where I work--names in green to match the little fern, and everything else in black--simple. The ribbon was a little more of a challenge. Tying bows was a pain in the butt, plus the knot caused a bump in the envelope, meaning it wouldn't fit through the magic USPS mail slot and would cost me over a dollar to mail instead of just 41 cents--that's right baby, one ounce. So instead of a bow, I just made a little band out of the ribbon, secured it in the back with those Zots glue dots, and slid the enclosures under the ribbon as well.
Finally, the enclosures. Response cards were your basic. However, this next bit of DIY goodness represents one of my proudest moments. I made my own map. If you are a graphic designer, this will not impress you. However, it was a big step for me. :) I used this great tutorial from the Knot, and it basically told me everything I needed to know. I printed the map and a directions/accommodations card on kraft paper (important, as I couldn't find white cardstock to exactly match the invitations), trimmed with the paper cutter, and I was done!
Here's the price breakdown:Gartner kits (2)--$44 total (also includes place cards, programs, menu cards for future use)
Kraft label sheets, round labels, paper--approx $50
Paper for lining envelopes--approx $20 (also used for rehearsal dinner invites)
Miscellaneous (double sided tape, zots, corner rounder, deckle edge scissors, paper trimmer)--I am not going to count these, because I will and have already used them for so much other stuff.
Total (not including postage)--approx $115 (mailed about 80 invites)
I was proud of myself. :)
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