E!It's time for that next big step in the wedding planning process...the invitations!
The options are literally endless nowadays. You can head to a stationary store, do it completely yourself, go paperless (email invites), or my personal preference, order them online. A part of me wishes I could create my own invites or go into a store and physically put them together, but the truth is, I ain't got no time for all that (nor am I that talented).
Paperless was out immediately because we already had all of our guests' addresses from our save-the-dates and there was no way I was going to hunt down everyone's email address. Plus, I just enjoyed working with Jenica Blaire from Wedding Paper Divas, who did our save-the-dates. She was great at holding my hand through all the tasks and we can do it all via email, which is perfect for my crazy schedule!
So when it came to the invitations, I have a little confession...I got a little cocky after doing my save-the-dates.I thought I'd knock them out in no-time! But let me tell you, the wedding announcements were a breeze compared to wedding invitations. These badboys were a whole other ballgame.
It's so much more than just the cute card and envelope. It's a formal invite with a details card, RSVP card with self-addressed envelope, inner envelope, outer envelope and of course, those pretty matching address labels. It's like the longest list of things...ever.
Nonetheless, no time to whine, I had to get these babies out before I crossed that "poor etiquette" deadline.
I started scouring through the hundreds of styles by Wedding Paper Divas and picked out a few favs. After talking it through with my mom, fiancé and Jenica, we ultimately decided on "Dazzling Lace" in the beautiful hazelnut colors with a pop of rose gold foil. It was just so pretty and romantic. How could I resist?
Jenica showed us numerous ways of formatting the wording on the invitation and after a whole bunch of revisions (I had to see every possible option; I can be annoying like that), we finally got the font, font colors, wording and spacing just perfect! Then, we slowly made our way through the details card, response card, return address labels and all the envelopes. Whew! Lastly, Jenica asked me how we wanted to package all of the cards together and naturally I responded, "The one that will require me to do the least amount of work." Layered pocket card it was! It only took about a hundred emails, but we designed our invites! I'm pretty sure I celebrated with a glass (or two) of Pinot Noir that night.
In a few days, the completed order was on my doorstep. I'll be honest, when I finally saw the full printed version, I may've quietly said to myself, "Damn, we're good!" Joking aside, I was really proud of what we created. Like most things you put a lot of time and effort into, the outcome carries that much more weight.
In my humble opinion, the invites came out perfect with just the right touch of elegance! They are a great little sealed-up preview of our very big day!
Special thanks to Wedding Paper Divas for providing the invitations free of charge.