Invitation Inserts - RSVP

Our RSVP cards were postcards. It saved us money on stamps for them as well as on the weight of the actual invitations. Two got lost in the mail, but the rest arrived no problem.

One of the coolest things we did was create an online RSVP. I searched and searched for a "widget" or "doodle" or whatever the things are called you can insert into blogs, but couldn't find one that would create a form to collect information.

We used surveymonkey.com to create a free survey and on our blog we linked to it. The data that was entered by our guests was then accessible in a spreadsheet for us to sort and look at. The majority of people used our surveymonkey survey and it was a great way to collect email addresses, song requests (which were a HIT on the dance floor), and to make sure we were spelling names correctly. The only bummer with survey monkey was that they don't email you when new people have responded to your survey, so we had to keep checking back.

Invitation Inserts - Information

We created a wedding blog for our guests (and for us) because the normal wedding website templates just wouldn't work for a homegrown wedding like ours. We ended up using it to tell them about our journey together and exciting details about the weekend. It was another "project" but a fun one that we both used often.

Even though we told them about it everywhere on our invite, people didn't start going to our blog until I sent a mass email with a link.

Invitation Inserts - Accommodations

Since each invitation had a different accommodation listed, I used the old fashioned 'fill in the blank' method. I wish I had taken the time to print each one individually or used a mail merge. The reverse side of the invitations had the names of the people they would be sharing a house with and their contact information so they could plan on food sharing.

Invitations Inserts - What to Bring

This was a very important insert. Since the houses were equipt with full kitchen and bathrooms, I wanted everyone to know they needed to bring food, but not much else. We still ended up needing to tell people in person, through a mass email, and still through word of mouth, but this was the beginning of their understanding of what a homegrown wedding weekend would look like. We had three different inserts for "what to bring." One for campers, one for people who were staying in a house, but didn't have a room, and one for people in the houses that had a room.

Invitation Inserts - Map & Directions

(you can click on the pictures for a larger image)

I made this map using the DIY instructions here

It was a challenge, but I am very happy with the way they turned out. Our location is in a very remote location with no signs - so the map and detailed directions were KEY.

Invitation Inserts - The invitation itself

One of the things I struggled with on our weekend long wedding was how to convey the ideas and the flow of the weekend to people. We had a lot of room in the invitations to try, so I thought I'd post the components in case you want to borrow.

I used Microsoft word for all of my invitations. Should I have used Publisher, illustrator, or some other programs actually MADE for graphic stuff? Probably. Would have have saved me TONS of time? Probably. Was it in our budget? Nope!

Invitation wording:

Together with our parents Bubbs McDude & Gigi Geegerson

invite you to

join us for a weekend

among the redwoods

as we celebrate

our love &

join our lives

together

Magical Place
Redwood Valley, CA

May 29-31, 2009

Ceremony at dusk
May 30, 2009

Reception immediately following

Homegrown papercuts...I mean invitations

If there are lessons to be learned from the long road of my invitation making, I would love pass them along.

I made my invitations, from scratch (except the pocketfolders which I bought).

Lessons learned:

1) Search the internets, magazines, stationary stores, and blogs for invitation inspiration. I got started on the invitations early because we didn't have a budget to have them made, and I knew I would have fun working on them.

2) Start early. Play with them while you watch TV, in between turns on scrabble, and during your breaks at work (if you really want to bring your wedding planning to work :). When I would work on them and be able to put them away for awhile, I would figure out the problems I was having and come back refreshed and ready to work again.

3) Don't use black ink for cutting lines if you are printing more than one "insert" or item per page. Use the lightest grey possible. This was a VERY painful lesson to learn. I spent a lot of time re-cutting the lines to get rid of the black thin line along the edge.

4) Sometimes its worth it to just buy something pre-made. I knew I wanted to make the invitations myself (The wedding just wouldn't seem like our wedding if someone else made everything), but after over $20 worth of supplies and many frustrating attempts to make the pocket folders, I found them on sale for about $20 total. Buying them was well worth it.

5) USE ETSY! The tree graphic we had was "borrowed" from a painting we found online. After many failed attempts to make the tree brown (and we're talking over 5 hours of work) and also white (you'll see another earlier version of the invite later), I put an alchemy request on etsy to have someone turn the painting graphic into a high resolution image. 15 minutes later and $10 out of my paypal account, I had two graphics that were PERFECT.

6) The $4 corner rounder is well worth the effect. My poor husband gave his thumbs to me over many evenings and rounded the corners on all 6 inserts of our invitations and they were SO worth it. When people found out we made the invitations they all wondered how we got the corners round.

7) Making a pretty map is easy - and fun. I used these DIY instructions and got a lot of great comments on our map: http://www.weddingbee.com/2007/05/04/diy-invitation-map/
8) We used this motto again and again in our wedding planning, and it really helped with the invitations: If someone is going to be offended by us __________, do we really want them there? In the case of the invitations, the "blank" was that we typed the names and addresses on the front of the envelope. We went down the list of guests and decided that not one person would object - or at least say anything. Our wedding was going to be different from any they had ever attended - and this was the perfect way to introduce them to that.



9) Send yourself a sample in the mail and also to someone who hasn't seen it yet for a fresh set of editing eyes.