That said, today is Wednesday and an AskPhivy reader had asked me to post my wedding Save the Dates (STDs) and invitations! I keep a Save the Date in my office so this is an actual photo of it, but for my invitations, these are the final mocks that our vendor, Paper and Type, created.
SAVE THE DATES
As mentioned in last Wednesday's post - my sister did our first round of engagement photos so we used one of the shots as the front of the postcard and our friend who is a graphic designer, created the back / wording (note that I blurred out personal information, such as our return address and wedding URL).
We chose this photo because we liked that we were IN the image, but it wasn't completely focused on us. My sister / MOH paid for these to be printed by a local OC print shop, Select Graphics & Printing.
INVITATIONS
I came across Paper and Type at a bridal show in Pasadena and loved the envelope / postcard concept. It's a VERY minimalist approach, something that was modern and unique. Essentially, you open the entire envelope (including all the flaps), the invitation is a simple postcard, the responses would be written on the insides of the flaps, and you would flip the envelope inside-out, seal with a sticker, and send it off! There are only 2 pieces - the envelope and the invite. Ryan and I loved the no-non-sense approach (no tissue, no excess paper, no 2nd envelope, maps, etc.) We appreciate the tradition of those types of invitations, but it wasn't for us.
In keeping with the purple and black-and-white-stripes theme, we stuck with bold stripes, and a clean, crisp look.
The actual process took a bit longer than expected, because there are so many variations and interpretations, so I will say - if you are starting from scratch, be sure to bookmark and send samples, ideas, things you want to take, inspirations, etc. to send to a designer. Of course it's a lot easier to buy a template and just substitute your personal information...but Ryan and I wanted to make things harder on ourselves by starting from scratch, lol. Victoria was great to work with, she was quick, effective, and not only took all of our feedback graciously, but also put her own twist and spin on things. We did pay a premium to start from scratch and have it designed for us, but we loved the concept so much. To this day, it's one of our favorite things about our wedding.
For the future brides out there, here are some tips:
- Make sure to create a Pinterest board or keep bookmarks of invites you like.
- Dissect what you do/don't like about it
- Shop around - see where you can get something at a discount if you pick it up locally versus being shipped.
- If you have a friend who is a graphic designer, leverage his/her skills and feedback.
- Ask the printer or invitation designer/company if they're willing to work with your friend/graphic designer. Sometimes they will and sometimes they won't, but it's worth a shot.
- Ask how many iterations you will receive (a standard is 3 different versions, once you pick one, you're allowed 3 rounds before finalizing).
- Give as specific instructions as possible but don't forget that they're the experts - so they may want to change something due to ink run-off or cost. Let them do their job and understand that they're the ones who do this day in and day.
- Lastly, things may not come out 100% as you would have liked. For instance, the black stripe on the return address (S+R on the inside of the envelope) rubbed off on our invitation, which caused our actual postcard invite to look "dirty" - this was unforeseeable and unfortunate, but Ryan and I didn't flip our lids. We let our printer know for future reference, and she was kind enough to give us custom stationary and stamps as a make-good. It wasn't prompted by us, but as part of her excellent customer service, we are grateful for that. Much like your wedding - nothing will always go right, and that's okay!
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@hoisinivy
That are useful! Thanks for sharing.
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