TABLE | CARDS

Like almost every other project or piece of stationary for our wedding...  I decided to create, print & cut out the table cards myself to keep our budget down.  The plus, was I got to make sure they were all custom to our theme.  Here's how:

TABLE | CARDS

I used PowerPoint to create my template.  I was able to print out 4 cards per page, which means I could make 200 table cards with 50 sheets of metallic card-stock.  

The easiest way to create a template is to create 4 square outlines, and then put a fold line horizontally down the middle of each square.  The bottom of the square will be the front of the card, the top of the square is the back side.  Anything you want printed on the back should be upside-down.

Here's an example of how ours were laid out:

We thought it would be cute, instead of just having table numbers, to have each table named after a famous person (real or fictional) from the 1920s.

Our table names were:

 - Great Gatsby

 - Daisy Buchanan

 - Al Capone

 - Roxy Hart

 - Velma Kelly

 - Bob Fosse

 - Louis Armstrong

 - Nucky Thompson

 - Arnold Rothstein

 - John Dillinger

 - Charlie Chaplin

 - Josephine Baker

Annnd finally, using my favorite 3-in-1 Swingline paper cutter....

....this is how they ended up once printed & folded:

Next - choosing THE DRESS

MENU | CARDS

This is one of those projects you have to wait to do - luckily it isn't very time consuming so it is easy to get done in the last couple of days.  You will most likely finalize your menu with your caterer or venue once you have your finalized list of attendees.

THE | MENU | CARDS

I used the metallic cardstock from Office Depot (50 sheets for $10) and went with a soft silver tone for the menu cards.  By printing 4 per page, I was able to print 200 cards with only 1 pack.  I used Photoshop to create the design - but you could really just use PowerPoint to create this as well.

I used clipart images to add a little flair to the cards, and organized them by Hors D'Oeuvres, Soup/Salad, Main Entree & Desserts.  I found it was easiest to outline each one with a border, so once it is printed, you know where to cut so each card is even.

Here is how they were made:

1)  First I cut around the entire outside border

2) Next I cut across the inside lines to create 4 cards

3)  In almost no time, I had 200 menu cards ready to go!

Next project to tackle?  THE | NAME | CARDS

THE | PROGRAMS

I went through a couple different versions before I came up with our final program idea.  Like everything else, I wanted it to be fun as well as serving it's purpose.  We had a very set time for our ceremony space, so it was important our guests were on time to get the ceremony started on time... so we put an earlier start time on the invitations (which was advised by our venue).

For our guests who arrived before or by the time given on our invitations - I wanted to make sure they weren't just sitting around bored for 30 min waiting for things to start...  which is why we decided to include a game in our programs!


THE | PROGRAMS


Our programs were made as a kind-of-3-fold arrangement - but the center portion was wider than the 2 side portions so it created a slight overlap when folded.  Here's what the front looked like:

For the back side, we decided to include a THANK YOU for both sets of parents, as well as a quick thank you to all of our guests for coming.  Below this - we included a personalized WORD SEARCH.  We purchased plain black pens in bulk and used one pen to "clasp" each program together so each guest had one to use for the game.

To create your own word search for free online, go to:  http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/WordSearchSetupForm.asp


On the inside, we listed each member of our wedding party on the sides, and the processional / order of events down the center.

All the programs were printed from my own printer, but I found really nice Metallic Cardstock from Office Depot that was $10 for 50 sheets.  We used a champagne colored cardstock for this project - and they really looked sharp!

The final product:

TISSUE | PACKETS

I had also seen something online that I thought was cute, which was to include a tissue packet for each guest.  I decided to use up the rest of my reply card envelopes (4x6 ivory envelopes) for "Emergency Tissue" packets.  I used microsoft word to create labels that said:

FOR USE IN CASE OF:

Extreme Happiness

Makeup/Lipstick Smudges

Chewing Gum Disposal

Cell Phone Screen Cleaning

During back to school times, they sell these in packs of 8 (each pack has approx 10 tissues) for $2.00 at multiple retailers.  They also sell packs at The Dollar Tree too.  We stuffed each envelope with 2 tissues and then sealed the envelope with one of the labels.  These were placed inside each of the programs before clasping the programs with a pen.

Unfortunately I don't have a photo of these.... so you'll just have to imagine how fun they were!  :)



Next item to create...  THE | MENU | CARDS

THE | INVITATIONS

All of the stationary for our wedding, including invitations, programs, menu cards & name cards were designed & printed by me, and then cut, folded & stuffed by me & my family or bridesmaids.  I can't even express how much this helped us to be able to stay in our budget - and make sure that every piece of stationary fit our theme and personalities as well.

THE | INVITATIONS

I used Photoshop to create my documents, but there is a similar program that you can use online for free called PIXLR that can really help out with projects like this.

Most of the items were printed myself using my home laser printer - I only used an outside source for our invitations and went through staples via VistaPrint.  Keep an eye out for online deals for VistaPrint - they usually have 25-40% off on orders and for some products, free matching envelopes!


FOOD | FOR | THOUGHT:

Here's something I've never understood.  What is with the square shaped invitations that seem to get thicker every year... with tissue paper, engraved print and an unnecessary amount of inner envelopes with hand printed calligraphy?  Honestly I feel like this is just an excuse to make brides pay too much money to invite the people they love to come to their wedding.  I think they are beautiful and elegant, don't get me wrong - but I would just rather use that money for a bigger part of my wedding.

According to the US Post Office, you'll incur an additional $0.13 surcharge on one oz. or less envelopes if any one of the following apply:

• It is a square letter
• It contains very rigid items such as wood or metal
• It has clasps, string, buttons, or similar closure devices
• It has an address parallel to the shorter dimension of the letter
• It contains items such as pens that cause the surface to be uneven
• The length divided by height is less than 1.3 or more than 2.5

OUR | DESIGN

OK.  Here is what your guests absolutely need to know:
  - who is getting married to who
  - when the wedding date is
  - what time the ceremony is & the location
  - is there a reception to follow?  when & where
  - RSVP by date & contact person
  - hotel accommodations?
  - RSVP card & stamped return envelope
  - directions  (optional... 99% of people will just use GPS anyways)

What I decided to do was create an 8.5 x 11 image that could be printed on one normal sized sheet of (nice) cardstock paper, with cut lines so each sheet of paper included our invitation information, reply card, hotel information, directions - and even had room for an "attire card" since we encouraged all of our guests to dress to our 1920s theme.

Here's what it looked like:

HOW IT WAS PRINTED

HOW IT WAS CUT OUT

And here's the kicker - because I designed the invitations in thirds - once all the parts were cut out, they all compacted down to fit in a regular, #10 sized envelope... which means only 1 stamp per envelope!  YAY!

You can find "fancy" #10 envelopes at most office supply stores.  I found ours at Office Depot:

I also found "reply card" envelopes from Office depot that fit inside the #10 envelopes.  If you are choosing to do this for your invites, make sure you design the reply card to fit inside the reply card envelope!  They were just plain, ivory colored 4x6" envelopes.

The hardest part was printing each envelope.  However, I was willing to put in the extra work to make them look nice because I knew it was helping us to save money to put towards another part of our wedding.  I created a 4 x 9.25" image using Photoshop, and then only had to change the name & address and then save each one as a separate file.  Once I had them all saved, I selected all the files, went to print and set my paper size as a #10 envelope!  Boom!  Done.

PS - we had so much fun reading through our reply cards!!  I would definitely suggest sending something with personality - we got a ton of compliments from our guests about our invitations.   Here are all the pieces close up!

Next on the list:  THE | PROGRAMS