How I created my homemade wedding invitations

When I designed these wedding invitations I was going for the most simple and inexpensive wedding invitation possible while keeping it somewhat elegent. My wedding was very casual in nature (semi formal I guess you'd call it). I wanted an invite that spoke that to my guests without looking like a common party invitation. I also wanted it to be slightly country/rustic.

I was able to do this on very short notice and spent under $40 on 100 of them. Not too shabby!

At the time I had enlisted the help of a family friend to help with the invitations but this ended up falling through at the very last minute. I had less than a week to design, construct, and send them to get to my guests in time.

Here's what I did:

First: I high-tailed it to a nearby office supply store to buy paper.The paper I selected was a 8 1/2" by 11" letterhead made especially for sending through a computer printer. The pattern on the paper was a faux hand pressed paper made to look like there were dried flowers and leaves pressed into it. I also picked up some nice cotton paper envelopes which fit the size that I intended to make the invitations.

Step two: I hopped onto the computer to lay out my text to print onto the paper. I chose to design the invitations 2-up (or two invitations to a page) to help save money, ink, and paper. This would make each invitation (after they have been folded in half) the size of a quarter of a page.

Step Three: I wanted to include both an RSVP card and also directions to both the ceremony and the reception. I decided to create a RSVP card with the directions written on the back to insert into each invitation. I set up the text in a postcard format. or 4-up to a page, and printed them back to back.

Step four: I printed my invites and cards onto my faux hand pressed paper with the text all in a lavender/purple hue. This paper had the pattern on one side only and was white on the other side. I printed the front of my invitations on the side with the pattern, and also the rsvp side of the cards. The inside text was on white as was the directions.

(clockwise: RSVP card, front cover of invite, inside of invite, directions)

* Need wedding directions cards or even a wedding map? visit the custom printables page to order custom text templates or printable wedding invitation maps.

Step Five: I brought my printed papers to a local copy shop where I had them cut my invitations text paper in half and my RSVP/directions cut into quarters. Having them cut professionally rather than to do it myself saves time and you are guaranteed a perfect, clean cut. It is very inexpensive to boot!
For more information about cutting and folding your invitations go here.

Now for the finishing touches! and here's where it gets a little tricky.

I bought some thin ribbon and tiny brads from a local craft store. After folding all the wedding invitations in half I then started with the embellishments. I cut the ribbon into lengths of about 6-7", and attached a brad to the middle of each ribbon by pushing the brad's sharp edge through the fabric.