~My DIY Creations~ - Alison & Jason's Wedding Planning Bio

DIY Tissue Paper Pomander Balls

DIY Water Bottle Labels

DIY Hershey's Miniatures Labels

DIY Invitations

After I started looking for Invitations, I realized that I would be much better off to do my own. I couldn't believe the prices of invitations! Even simple invitations were as much as $2 each! And most companies sold envelopes and RSVP cards separate. I couldn't see spending that much on invitations, so this is what I did:

I purchased these invitations kits from Gartner Studios. They include 50 Invitations, 50 Envelopes, 50 Response Cards, and 50 Response Envelopes. I got them at Michael's for $19.99 for each set. They are normally $29.99, but they happened to be on sale when I bought them! I needed 200 invitations, so I got 4 packs.

Then, I designed our invitations and RSVPs in Microsoft Word. It was simple to do. Just make sure it is set to 5 1/2" by 8 1/2" (That's the exact size of the invitations and RSVPs - the RSVPs are perforated and can be separated after printing). I also decided to use www.mywedding.com to keep up with our RSVPs. So, instead of sending a traditional RSVP with a stamped envelope, we provided our guests with the website address and a telephone number for those guests who do not use the internet. (This left me with 200 Response envelopes unused...perfect for thank you cards!) Here are the templates for the invitations and RSVPs that I did:

invitation_template.docx
File Size:	14 kb
File Type:	docx

Download File

online_rsvp_template.docx
File Size:	11 kb
File Type:	docx

Download File

Here are all the invitations printed and ready to be stuffed in envelopes!

And here's a close up of the monogram I created for the invitations. I used text boxes to add this directly into Microsoft Word. And I used my colors, sage green and brown on my invitations!

I created an excel spreadsheet with all of my guests names and addresses. I created the following columns: Name 1, Name 2, Address, City, State, Zip. (Name 1 was only used if I needed 2 lines for the people in the household, such as a couple who is living together but not married, or a couple with teenage children).

Then I opened up an envelope template in Microsoft Word and used the Mail Merge feature to import all the information from my spreadsheet. It worked great! I printed all 200 in about an hour. I printed 5 at a time just to be sure I didn't have any paper jams with my envelopes!

After I printed, I stuffed my envelopes, put stamps on them, and they were ready to go!!

Total cost per invite: A little less than 50 cents! (I am estimating about $10 or $15 worth of ink used). I spent about as much in postage on each one as I did on the actual invitation!

And off to the post office they went!!

Bridesmaid Newsletters

I sent these out to my bridesmaids about 2 1/2 months before the wedding to update them on the planning process and to let them know what type of shoes, jewelry, etc. they need for the wedding. This was super easy to do! I hope they like it!

You can download the template below. This template was created by Kristen from the Knot.

bridesmaid_newsletter.doc
File Size:	1192 kb
File Type:	doc

Download File

DIY Monograms

I created several monograms using Powerpoint. I found the directions here. Make sure that when you open Powerpoint, you delete the Title and Subtitle boxes first! I started using one of those boxes to create my monogram and it would not group the elements! It took me forever to find out why they weren't grouping! I saved my monograms as .jpeg files instead of the recommended .gif files.

These first two monograms are very similar. I think I am using the circle monogram to make stickers to put on our favor bags. The second one will be used everywhere else.

I want to add that it is VERY hard to find a decent "S". I downloaded tons of fonts and most of the S's didn't even look like an S. The font I ended up going with is Tiranti Solid LET. The script font on the first two monograms is Old Script.

This is our pre-wedding monogram. I'm not sure what I'll be using this monogram for right now, but I'm sure I'll need it for something! The "&" is in Baskerville Old Face Font and the rest is in Edwardian Script.