Wedding Invitations 101

What scrapbooking and cut paper options exist for supplying “hand made” invitations for a wedding?

My wedding is May 30th, 2009, yet my guests are going to receive a wedding preview a month before. This preview will come in the mail and will give my guests a small taste of our vision for the big day. While most invitations get thrown away, they still play an integral part of setting the tone. For our wedding, we would like our guests to feel as if this will be a fun yet formal affair that celebrates our love of travel.

In order to save money, we have decided to make our own invitations. The search started online where I found myself inundated with options. One of the best internet websites I came across was www.weddingbee.com! It’s important to consider the time, theme, color, and formality of the wedding because these will help in making the invitation selections! You wouldn’t want a bright pink and lime green comic sans font invitation if you are having a icy winter themed wedding day!

Once you have an idea for these details, then it helps to take your ideas (maybe you’ve ripped out pages from magazines) and start putting them together. For Do-It-Yourself invitations it is important to understand the various components available. For example, most generic paper (like printer paper) comes in two weights: 20 and 25 lbs. For a sturdier paper, most use card stock which is 65 lbs. This paper is sturdy, comes in all colors imaginable, and makes a great base for DIY invitations. However, if you want to fold or bend the paper at all, then it is important to use a “scoring tool.” This will allow the paper to bend neatly.

Another component for DIY invitations is a paper “overlay.” Stores like Michaels have many options in the scrapbooking section. Some of the paper is actually more like fabric and may be called hand crafted paper. Transparent paper, handcrafted paper, and card stock can all be combined to create a multilayer invitation. Contrasting ribbons in one of the wedding colors can be used to tie the various papers together. This is an easy and inexpensive way to create just the look you’ve been imagining without breaking the budget!