Wedding Do It Yourself Invitation

The invitations have been printed but when should you mail out a wedding do it yourself invitation? If your wedding is in the same city where you live, mail the invitations out about eight weeks prior to your big day.

I know. You want to invite all of your friends and relatives and so do your parents, not to mention the groom and his parents, but you do have to stay within budget. So everyone cuts some potential guests and they get put on the "B" list.

Address all of the invitations to everyone on the "A" list first. Have your attendants and/or family members help you do this. Use black ink only.

Don't forget to put your return address on the outer envelope along with a stamp for whatever the postage is for the weight of your invitation. You may need extra postage. Then drop them in the mail.

Wait for about two weeks. Some thoughtful guests who know they cannot make it will send back replies right away. Others will call you. Either way, you can cross them off of your "A" list and as the declines come in, you can begin to address and mail wedding invitations to those you want to come on your "B" list. Yaaayyyy!

The secret of inviting folks on the "B" list without having them know that they were on the "B" list is to mail the second round of invitations six weeks prior to the wedding. Definitely no later than five weeks prior!

We all have budget constraints and cannot afford to pay for everyone to come to the wedding, but as the regrets begin to trickle in, you can make room for more.

Remember, those who make the "A" list may not necessarily be who you want at your wedding. They may be friends or coworkers of your parents or of the parents of the groom. Since the parents usually pay for the wedding, the bride and groom must accommodate some of their wishes. Now as some of Mom and Dad's coworkers decline, this opens up space for some of your friends who got cut.

Address and mail wedding do it yourself invitations from the "B" list quickly and instruct your helpers that they are to say nothing to any of the invitees about being on the "A" list or the "B" list.

If you are having a destination wedding as so many couples do, mail save-the-date cards out three to six months prior to the wedding. A save-the-date card does not take the place of a wedding do it yourself invitation. These are sent so guests can make arrangements for childcare, pet sitting and house sitting. Also, travel arrangements, hotel reservations, and car rental reservations must be made, usually the sooner, the better so please be considerate and get these out as soon as possible.

It is fun and a whole lot cheaper to make DIY wedding invitations. Here are some instructions for making a simple, yet elegant invitation.

You will need:

1/2" sheer ribbon, 5" per invitation

Fine, translucent typing paper, 1/2 sheet per invitation. This paper should allow the photo to be seen, but not clearly, through the paper.

Colored card stock, 1/2 sheet per invitation

A 5x7 photo of the engaged couple
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Good quality glue sticks

A 2-hole punch

Colored ink

Stickers with a wedding or love motif

Cut the colored card stock sheets in half. Cut the typing paper in half.

Punch 2 holes, 1" apart up at the top of the card stock and typing paper so they align. It is best to put the two papers together and then punch the holes to make sure the alignment is correct.

Decide what your invitation will say. Arrange the words, line by line so they fit on the half sheet of paper. Now, you can either print the actual invitation on the translucent typing paper in colored ink or take them to a print shop and have them printed. In the long run, this may be the best option as it will save you time and money if you have trouble with your printer. I would take them to be printed.

Once they are printed, place matching wedding stickers on either side of the DIY wedding invitations at the bottom.

Glue the photo onto the card stock. After the glue is dry, place the two sheets of paper together, with the typing paper on top of the card stock that has the glued-on photo.

Fold a 5" length of ribbon in half length-wise.

From the front of the invitation with the printed words facing you, insert both ends of the folded ribbon evenly through both holes. In the back, cross the ribbon and put the ends back through the opposite holes to the front of the invitation. Allow 1/2" of ribbon on each side of the hole as in the photo below.

Wedding invitation crafts make wonderful gifts for the bride and groom. They also make thoughtful keepsakes for their parents and grandparents.

When my niece got married several years ago, I made her wedding gift. I turned the invitation she sent me into a decorative plaque. She said it was her favorite gift which made me feel great.

I framed her invitation in a glass and wood frame, 8.5" x 11". I bought some decorative paper and foil in her wedding colors. I used some of the decorative paper as the background. I then trimmed the ends of the invitation with decorative-edged scissors and glued it on to the paper with the invitation wording showing. I cut out some hearts and shapes in contrasting paper and put some foil stripes on the paper as well.

I curled small pieces of ribbon on to the foil. I wrote their names and the date of the wedding at the top of the paper and framed it. I wish I had thought to take a photo of it but I did not.

Another idea is to decorate the front cover of a scrapbook or a photo album with the invitation. Trim the invitation down to size and then use some fun decorative-edged scissors to give it an interesting look. Glue it on. Sprinkle a little white glitter around the edges. If you choose to do this, put some glue down first where you want the glitter to be. Decoupage the invitation on the front cover to protect it and to keep the glitter from coming off.

If the album has a see-through pocket, trim the invitation with decorative-edged scissors and slide it in the pocket. These crafts are so appreciated and treasured by the happy couple.

Wedding invitation crafts given to the bride and groom and to their families will be cherished for years to come.

Framed Wedding Invitation

by Ann
(New Braunfels)

Some wedding invitations are so pretty that you don't need to make a craft out of them. Just stick it in a frame with a glass and you have a beautiful framed wedding invitation. You can put a matching colored paper in the frame first so you have a pretty background.

If your frame is big enough, show the front cover and the inside of the invitation in the frame. Or get two matching frames and show the front cover in one frame and the inside of the wedding invitation in the other frame. Hang them above your special wedding display table that includes some wedding photos, your unity candle, your unity sand vase, or your cord of three strands as keepsakes. This can be in your entry way, in your bedroom, or in a den or office, even in a corner of your living room. You can also keep your wedding albums there and maybe even the cake topper you used on your wedding cake. Your framed wedding invitation will make this corner of your home have meaning.