My DIY projects (so far)

[jojo194]

So in saving money for our wedding and with some free time we decided it would be best to do some stuff on our own. We started out with our save the dates. For this project we sent everyone a welcome letter on beach paper (sorry no pictures) and bought magnet paper from staples. We printed our design to the magnet paper (after pricing it at other places and realizing we didn't want to spend as much money as they quoted us). My fiance wanted to design the magnet so I let him. Here is the final product:

 

 

We sent those out just over a year from our wedding to give people plenty of notice.

 

When the second deposit date was due I sent out a newsletter that I designed on publisher (it took hours and hours to do this) to keep everyone updated about our wedding. Here is the final product:

 

 

The fourth page of the newsletter contained information about the passport. Another benefit of doing it in this format was that we didn't need an envelope. We just sealed it with a sticker, left room for the address, and put our return address in the top left corner. We sent these around early/mid-October 2009.

 

In January I began the invitations. I had gotten several ideas on here (thanks everyone for all the help) and really wanted to do the passport. However, my fiance was not a fan. I also liked the pocketfold so I did a mock pocketfold and my fiance decided he did like that. However, they were a TON of work (completely DIY...cardstock paper from Michaels in cape cod colors). One of my bridesmaids suggested I just put the passport in the pocket instead of inserts. That was an awesome idea because the passports weren't really as hard as formatting inserts may have been. I used several different ideas from this website for the passport template and eventually put it together to get all the information across (destination weddings require so much information to be given to the guests).

 

Then I created a pocketfold template that would fit into cheap envelopes that you can get at walmart or target (I lined the envelopes with wrapping paper). The template also only required 8.5x11 paper for 1 pocketfold which again saved money. I also decided I would just use all the different blues in the cape cod pack because it would save money (as that paper only cost 2.50 on sale for 50 pages). I also weighed the invites and they were regular postage! However then the post office rep told me it may be safer to go up to .64 stamp because of the thickness, but it may be ok. I sent most with the .64 stamp and some with just the .44 stamp and all made it to their destination. The pocketfolds took about 10 minutes each for me to complete. I ended up doing about 40. We did a simple invitation without a mat (hoping to save some weight which didn't matter in the end). We used a small ribbon with a piece of cardstock with our logo on it to act as the "belly band". For those not coming or those coming that we didn't really know we just sent the passport to those guests since that contained the bulk of the information. I then just added a small post it note so they didn't feel pressured to come if I knew they weren't coming. Finally here are the pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

I also just wanted to thank everyone for posting all their ideas and samples on here. It really has been so helpful.

 

Next projects are OOT bags and stuff for the at home party.

[coley88]

Thanks for all the details, and I love the idea of sending out a newsletter to remind your guests before the 2nd deposit was due, that's a great idea.

 

thank you so much for sharing.

[snoopAsh]

WOW! You guys have been busy! Everything looks wonderful!

 

GOOD job!

[bridej9]

Wow great work!!

[latoya1908]

Great job!

[Fivecents]

Very nice!!

 

I hope when i start doing my DIY projects that everything comes out just as amazing as yours!

[sfrench0621]

These look amazing! One question for you- where did you tie the band?

[PaperBagPrincess]

Those are amazing! Amazing DIY, they look ordered.

Any advice on directions/template for a pocketfold like you did here? I really like them.

 

Your logo is also super cute.

[heidilynn28]

I love those invitations.. just not sure if I can handle making them all myself like you did.. so good job!

[**Kat**]

Thats awesome! Great job!