Archive for the ‘Invitations’ Category

DIY wedding invitations with style.

Adding something a little personal to your run-of-the mill wedding invitation can take your wedding from ‘pretty darn good’ to ‘fantastic’.  Below are a couple of ideas we think you’ll find pretty handy.  We’ve used the Rockabilly Tattoo and Retro Telegram DIY Wedding Templates from our store.  First, we had them printed out at a local print shop.  Next, we cut them out and got them ready for some fun personalization.

Gift wrapped DIY wedding invitations give a personal touch.

The Gift Wrap
Who doesn’t like getting a gift in the mail?  By wrapping up your invitation & RSVP with a sassy ribbon and adding a little bauble, everyone will feel like you went out of your way to make their invitation special.

On the right, we’ve just wrapped our Retro Telegram Invitation and RSVP up with a quarter inch black ribbon.  In the center, we tied in a little world charm.  And your guests take apart the invitation they have a charm keepsake.  The charms can be expensive, so be sure to buy them in bulk.  Be sure to also keep an eye out for the weight of your charms, the post office charges more if your invitation goes over 1 ounce! On the left, we wrapped up the Rockabilly Tattoo wedding invitation and RSVP with a little blue ribbon to ‘tie’ all the colors together (get it?! Tie?! Ha!).  We then used a little bead glue to adhere a small star rhinestone.  For our advanced Wedding DIY-ers we’ve also adhered some of those stars to the actual invitation to give it a little POP!  This can be time consuming but we think the final product looks pretty fabulous.

Try something new: DIY wedding invitations with a belly band.

The Belly Band
You’ll often see a “belly band” or a band of paper or fabric that wraps around the parts of the invitation to complete the look of your wedding stationery.  We tried to do something a little fun and different here.  For the Retro Telegram set, we layered and old map against a blue band and brought it all together with a gold seal.  Another nice destination wedding that touch that will help transport your guests to your wedding destination.  We also layered the Rockabilly Tattoo set with a piece of paper from an old hot rod calendar and punctuated with a glittery star sticker.  You can use anything from wrapping paper, to maps to calendars.  Its an easy an inexpensive way to personalize your wedding invitation.

A fancy fastener to give your DIY wedding invitations flair.

The Fancy Fastener
Another simple and fun way to give your wedding invitation some flair is to add an unusual paper clip or unique paper fastener.  This is particularly effective when you have several sheets to put together.  In these we made a direction card for each set that layered between the Invitation and the RSVP card.  The one on the Retro Telegram direction card is matted on a piece of thick black card stock.  We fasten it all together with an over-sized white paperclip that can be found at any office supply store.  The Rockabilly Tattoo direction card is another slice out of the calendar we used on the belly band.  A blue hot rod sets off the set while a gold spiral paper clip holds it all together.

Just a few simple steps can really make the difference with your wedding invitations.  It does take a little more work, that’s for sure.  But an evening, a buddy, a bottle of wine and a couple of episodes of Glee will get a set of stand out invitations you’ll be excited to seal up in their envelopes and send to your guests.

About Bon Moment

They specialize in Wedding invitations, DIY Wedding Invitation Templates, Save the Dates, Wedding RSVPs, Menu Cards, Programs, and Thanks You Cards. Their tag line “Wedding Stationery for the Rest of Us” really rings true as you browse their wedding invitation suites. The off-the-wall wedding invitations like a Mexico-inspired Sugar Skull wedding invitation suite, as well as a cute and geeky Retro Robots in Love invitation suite really strays from the more traditional wedding concepts.  They really cater to the alternative and offbeat bride.  Currently they’re working on developing their own website and creating new designs to add to their store.

Etsy store:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/BonMoment

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/BonMoment

Facebook:  http://bit.ly/70OSJx

 

Design invite inspiration from our Two Brides!

Stacy and I sent out the invitations the week before Valentine’s Day. We decided to send them out earlier than normally recommended because our wedding is on a holiday weekend (Memorial Day). We wanted to make sure we got to people before they started planning other things for that weekend.

So, of course we started stalking the mail carrier on Monday, February 15^th like the dorks we are. Naturally, there were no RSVPS for the first few days, but now we get a couple every other day. I am a full-time unemployed person so I am usually the one to get the mail first. It’s almost the favorite part of my day! It sounds silly, but you know the excitement you feel when you decide to throw a party and people slowly, one by one, respond to let you know they’re coming or not! It is very exciting especially since this isn’t any ordinary party.

Each day, I sort through the mail eagerly looking for the little envelopes we sent everyone for their RSVPs. Each day, I use every ounce of will power I have to set them aside and wait for Stacy to get home when we open them together. While I’m waiting, I examine each one for clues as to who it’s from. If it’s marked “California”, I know it’s someone Stacy invited. If it’s somewhere in Central Illinois, it’s my family. If it’s from here in Chicago, it drives me crazy to wait because it could be anyone we know!

Some people write notes on them. Stacy’s parents wrote a whole, touching note about how they love us, respect our relationship and that they wouldn’t miss our wedding for anything. My mom wrote “Eh, I’m planning to be in town for the Cubs vs. Cards game anyway.” That’s our family’s sense of humor.

We do get disappointed when we see that some people can’t come. Those people usually write a note as to why they are missing the wedding. We understand that some people won’t be able to come. That’s the nature of throwing a party, right? We’ve been talking about webcasting our wedding for those who can’t attend. We’ll let you know!

About the Authors/Queerlywed.com

Melissa Johns

Melissa is the co-founder of Queerly Wed, a new website dedicated to helping LGBTQ couples plan their big day. She is an activist within the LGBTQ Community and has volunteered her services at many grassroots organizations over the years. Melissa is also an avid cyclist and won two silver medals at Gay Games VII, which was held in Chicago in 2006. She is also a lifelong student and enjoys studying Latin-American culture, photography and languages.

Stacy Jill Jacobs

Stacy is the co-founder of Queerly Wed, a new website dedicated to helping LGBTQ couples plan their big day.  Stacy is a writer, marketing nerd, and web geek grrl all wrapped up into one package.  Stacy has worked in the interactive field for many years including roles at eToys (US & UK) and Ticketmaster. Stacy became a professional queer when in 2005, she served as the Ticketing Manager for Gay Games VII. You can catch Stacy on her website at www.stacyjilljacobs.com or on Twitter at @StacyJill