DIY Invites

tegdirb2001

I plan to make our invites by ordering the pocket folds from cards & pocket or paperand more.com...whichever has the better deal when I am ready to order.  I went into Anchor Paper this past Monday and found different shades of paper I would like to use.  Wondering for the brides that have or will be making your own invites, what did you do for printing.  Did you buy paper, have it printed and then had it cut?  I would like to go some place to have them printed (fedex printing, staples, officemax, etc) if possible and within the pricing I would like and then have the cut also.  Has anyone used this service at any printing place and know what they charge?  Any recs would be great.  Also, can you have them printed @ some place and bring back to Anchor Paper for them to cut them?!?!  I know I could just call around, but I thought I would get an insight on what you ladies did.  TIA

PS...Happy hump day

shan87

I printed them at my Mom's work and cut them myself so I am of no help. Sorry. I can say that depending on your style its not difficult to cut. FWIW I found the more I serviced out the less and less money I was saving, to the pt I could have just ordered them through a stationary company or online.

newlyseliski

My sister bought paper and then brought it into Kinkos for printing and cut them all herself while she was at work answering phones...  I think you can bring them back to Anchor Paper and use their tools if you purchased the paper from them; definitely call and check.  I'm not sure that they would cut them for you without charging.

Bimbi284

I took mine in to be printed and cut at a place here in Chicago. It was super cheap and fast too. I hear PostNet (various locations) seems to have the best deals for printing, especially if you plan on using any stardream or shimmery papers.

tegdirb2001

Thanks ladies.  I just realized too, can you bring your own paper into a printing place to have them printed or do they make you buy paper from them?!?!  I don't want to have the hassle of printing from home and figuring out dimensions and such.  Plus..the paper from Anchor is 12x12 and I dont' have a printer that fits that.  I'll def look up PostNet.  Thanks.

Steph0871

Teg- what kind of invites are you doing?  are the actual invites going to be 12x12?  If not, Anchor will cut it down to size for you (or you can use their die-cuts if needed.)  We did our invites DIY from Anchor.  I was worried about the printing as well... I actually just designed our printed parts to fit on 'normal' 8.5x11 paper, then cut it out after... just another thought!

But, to answer your most recent question- you shouldn't have to buy the paper from a printing place!  I looked into a little before deciding to print our own, and no one mentioned buying the paper from them.

P.S. If your sizes are the same, I'd be more than happy to share my actual invites/templates with you, so you can see how they fit on the pages!

tegdirb2001

Steph...Thanks.  I don't know the actual size of the invites.  I just know we will be using the A-7 pocket folds.  I was looking @ the different paper there...I noticed that a 12x12 would fit 4 invites on them (the main part of the invite) and a 8.5x11 wouldn't.  What did you do for your invites?

Good to know about buying paper from a printer.  I just wasn't sure how it would work for printing if they were already cut down to size, espcially for the inserts.  Did you print yours from home?

Steph0871

Teg- yup! We printed them at home; it actually wasn't too painful either! 

We did their 'gate' style invite.  Pictures: here: http://stephjeremywedding.weebly.com/paper-goods-more-diy.html

They were kind of half-assed pocketfolds to be honest  The gate closed around the actual invite (which was attached to the gate), and the rest of the inserts were just loose in the invite.  Anyway, if I remember right, the orange backing was about 5x7, and the actual ivory invites were about 4.5x6.5 so we fit two on a sheet of paper.  I'll double check when I get home. I still have the templates with all of the actual dimensions.  We used the 'extra' edges that we cut off from the orange to make those little buckle things on the 'belt' (or 'belly band') of the invites.  

Our inserts were both designed to be 5.5x4.25 (exactly 1/4 of a letter sheet of paper.)

ETA: eek. I just realized I'm really wordy today, sorry.  I also realized I need more pictures of the finished invites.  The ones on the bio are the rough draft invite still!

tegdirb2001

thanks a whole bunch...very helpful info

Bimbi284

When it comes to buying paper, everything I bought was the standard printer size, except for the pocketfolds which were then die-cut. Paper Depot has a nifty little chart they give you when you buy paper from them which indicates how each type of insert needs to be cut. On this chart it will indicate how many sheets of each weight you are purchasing, how many of those sheets will need to be cut in form a, b, and c for example for each different size, while wasting the least amount of paper. Its very helpful! That said, I think the printer will want standard printer size paper in order to do their job. They may charge extra to cut down the 12x12, and then you'll have a bunch of scrap left.