DIY Wedding Challenge No. 1: The Invitation

I don't know why someone didn't slap me when I decided I was going to create my own invitation. Kelly and I did some shopping around and found that for 100 invites, we would likely end up paying between $600 - $800 for an invitation that we (I) didn't LOVE. So, after much research, I decided to go with envelopes.com and custom order our stationery. I then worried about the quality of running our cardstock through an office printer, but for the price, I think they look damn good! We won't factor the time and energy that Kelly and I, my mama, sister Madeline, and stepmom Donna put into creating these. I will say this, if you received an invitation to our wedding, know you are loved. It was difficult for me to part with these handmade creations, and I deeply appreciate the help of my generous parents, lovely sister, and darling fiance.

I was inspired by an invitation I saw on Etsy, of course, via Pinterest. I played with several fonts and sizes before choosing "our" design. Kelly, my family, and co-workers had to preview many samples before we made our final selection. From there, we decided to back our invitation with burlap to capture the rustic, casual feel of our big day! We included a direction card and an RSVP card (also back with burlap) and tied the whole bundle with twine. A quick trip to Michael's, a large roll of burlap, several printing sessions later, and a week for my calligraphy skills to be exercised ... Voila! We mailed out only a week behind the schedule I had set for us.