DIY Wedding Invitations, Programs and Comment Cards

Happy weekend, friends! Today, you learn Cowboy's real name. :)

Yesterday, I shared a summation of our DIY Barn Wedding. I promised project details, so I'm starting at the very beginning--invitations. These were the very first project we took on, as they had to be completed first. We decided not to do save-the-dates, so we sent these out in mid- to late-September. (Since the wedding was the week before Christmas, we wanted to give people plenty of notice to make plans, but we also knew that--since the wedding was the week before Christmas--the timing would either help or hurt. Because of this, we decided to save the money we would have spent on save-the-dates.)

We have such a fun story that my main priority was to include and showcase it. I'm also a fool for beautiful typography. So, I set out to tell our story in a way that was appealing to the eye. Once I had designed the interior portion and monogram for the front, I handed things off to my mom, who makes beautiful, hand-stamped, layered-paper cards as a hobby. 

She hung the inside sections from pop dots at the top, so they hung like banners from within (pictured below). Then, she folded them into a tri-fold and wrapped them in a piece of gray scrapbook paper and secured it with twine and a vintage button (from a collection that her friend Lisa had scored inside of a mason jar at a garage sale). (P.S. You'll also notice that we did not ask for RSVPs. Since we weren't having a meal, we didn't really need the RSVPs, therefore saving the extra work and postage for those.)

My mom ordered light gray envelopes and my step-mom addressed each invitation with her beautiful calligraphy (people asked me who I had hired...she's that good!).

Here is the actual file of the interior, so you can read the text (click on the file to make it larger)!

Then, a few weeks before the wedding (OK, like one week), I carried over the same typographical story design into our wedding programs.

The only cost was the paper (a ream of white cardstock from Walmart will run you about $5) and the printing (we printed two to a page to be efficient). From there, we cut them in half and called it done!

Again, I included the actual file below so you can read the text!

The third piece I designed was paper holders for our sparklers. We purchased short-burning sparklers (they were SO much cheaper), so we gave everyone a pack of three so that our sparkler send-off wouldn't burn out before we could get to the car. To contain them (and to help communicate the plan), I designed these simple holders. We printed six to a page (again, on our own paper and cut them ourselves) and then used exacto knives to slice small openings for the sparklers to run through. 

Finally, in place of a guest book, I designed comment cards for guests to leave us a note or their best marriage advice. My favorite came from J's grandma, who said, "May the love lights keep shining forever...and ever...and ever..."

Seriously...adorable!

So there you have it! The main "cost" was the time my mom, step-mom, Cowboy and I spent designing, putting pieces together, addressing, printing and cutting. We got SO many compliments on our invitations, which made it that much more gratifying to tell them we had done them ourselves.

Have you made your own invitatons--wedding or otherwise--before? How did you do it?

We're off to work on projects...the never-ending list of projects that I dream up and subject my husband to. :) Have a great Saturday and a restful weekend!