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DIY Wedding Forum
Knottie2017523
member
DIY Invitations?
Has anyone on here DIY'ed their own wedding invites? Was there a website you based everything off of? I am pretty decent at graphic design and photo shop, so I will probably being designing my own, but I am open for help 
I love scrapbooking and so does my entire family, so I thought that this could be something fun that we could do together.
Please post pictures or any tips if you have Thanks!!
I love scrapbooking and so does my entire family, so I thought that this could be something fun that we could do together.
Please post pictures or any tips if you have
Thanks!! This discussion has been closed.
Re: DIY Invitations?
Your invites probably won't be as involved as scrapbooking, even if you have assembly to do. I would avoid asking your family to help just because it's kind of a mundane task and they may not want to do it. If they offer, though, feel free to take them up on it!
I did mine a little at a time. Got my cardstock cut at Office Depot. I used a tape runner tool to attach the invite to the backing. Hot glued some lace into a circle for a belly band. Stamped a design onto each envelope. None of the steps took long and I did them at different times. No need for a big assembly line.
I got more creative with mine. I had a destination wedding, so my invites looked like passport books that included all the travel info in them. I designed them from scratch, printed them on my laser printer at work and cut and assembled them myself. They were more time consuming than I had expected, but turned out awesome.
My sister's invites were more traditional. She wanted pocket-style invites. We bought the pockets pre-made from www.cardsandpockets.com, because it was about same price to buy them pre-made as it would have cost to buy the paper and cut them myself. We also decided to buy the colored backing paper from there, pre-cut, as it wasn't much more than DIY-ing that portion. For the actual invite & inserts, I bought cardstock from Michaels and printed & cut them myself. Then assembled it all myself. It took less time than I anticipated.
I am wanting more of a traditional style, but with an elegant rustic look to it was well.
I don't get it, but try these: https://www.invitationsbydawn.com/rustic-wedding-invitations/?gclid=Cj0KEQiArJe1BRDe_uz1uu-QjvYBEiQACUj6oqJIx7oxN6WBbnzPs5GVBOy3bd76m3lVbBRQEwJZ9qsaAmgZ8P8HAQ
My biggest advice is to keep them simple. Like I said, I got more complex with mine and it turned into a big (expensive) project. I went a lot more simple with my sisters and they were much easier (and cheaper) to make.
I just realized you can't see the middle wording because of the lace band but it's just "request the pleasure of your company as they are joined in marriage."
ETA I'm also realizing now that I didn't say anything about a reception on the invites. Oh well. (It's all in one location anyway.) Hopefully everyone will understand that they will be hosted with food and drink.
Since you printed these yourself, is it too late to redo them?
There are some wording rules than can be changed to suit the sender, but there are also rules that cannot, should not be broken!
1. The bride and groom never directly invite guests to their own wedding. It is not necessary to name parents on an invitation, but if the bride and groom are self hosting, the passive voice is used.
2. The wording must specifically state who, what, when and where. "Celebrate the marriage" sounds like you are already married, and this is a celebration party.
3. Cash bars are rude. No argument. Announcing them on your invitation is equally rude.
4. Gifts may not be mentioned anywhere in the invitation. This includes references to "All we require is your presence."
5. The only permissible dress code is "black tie", and this would only be for a very formal wedding where all guests wear tuxedos/long gowns. To tell your guests what they should wear is insulting.
6. It is very rude to mention people (children) who are not invited on the invitation.
My post was not meant to insult you. If your wedding has already taken place, I hope you had a lovely day. That does not change the fact that you did break some important rules, and you posted them here on an open forum. I hope to prevent other brides from making the same mistakes.
My own wedding invitation was copied straight out of Amy Vanderbilt's Etiquette book.
OP, I DIY'ed our invites, and especially since you have graphic design experience, I'd say go for it. I used publisher to design ours using drawings from my late grandmother and then had them printed at Staples with cardstock I bought on amazon. I kept them really simple apart from that: no bows, appliques, etc. So I'd recommend doing them in stages. Start with the basics and then if you have time/inclination you can add more little things.