by | Aug 16, 2012 | DIY Invitations Ideas, DIY Wedding Invitations, Wedding Invitations Ideas
A Save the Date card, or ‘STD’ as it is known in the wedding planning world, is an ideal way of letting your family and friends know that there is a wedding a foot and that you would love them to join you on your special day, and of course to reserve the day for merriment and joy. There are many ways in which you can convey this message, and important when it comes to etiquette.
The thing about Save the Date cards is that if you are opting to use them, then it will be the first item of wedding stationery the guests will receive. If you want to create an impression, then you may need to put some thought into the design, especially if you want the wedding invitations to follow suit. However, some brides and grooms opt to have their Save the Date cards stand out from the rest of the wedding stationery, and then opt to use folded cards, to postcards and magnet cards to act as reminders, some couples even send out bookmarks that are customised to their wedding theme. Let us find out more on Save the Date cards, how you can DIY them and much more.
The main reason why one should have a Save the Date card would be for two main reasons, one being the fact that they are hosting a destination wedding or that their wedding falls on a holiday season. If you want your friends and family to attend your special day, then you need to give them prior notice so that they make the necessary arrangements to be there to share the joy. When it comes to sending out your Save the Date cards, eight months would be considered polite, giving them time to take care of financial considerations and other such things.
When it comes to a DIY Save the Date, then you can take on much more. You could opt to use a word processor and do them yourself by selecting clip-art and putting together the save the date wording, which would usually include the names of the bride and groom, the date of the special day and of course the location. You could opt to illustrate it too, or even use fun typography. If you really want to keep it personal, then opt to have your DIY save the date as a photograph with no text whatsoever, and only featuring the wedding date and your name in banners in the photograph itself.
by | Jul 17, 2012 | DIY Invitations Ideas
The newest trends when it comes to wedding is, will you be a DIY bride or not? DIY makes things fun, exciting, and one of the best projects to work on as a DIY bride would be the wedding invitations and stationery. In this edition of DIY Wedding Invitations, we are focusing on Paper Cutting and how you can put this great style into use for a beautiful, elegant, and classy DIY wedding invitation. Amaze your family, friends, and guests with such a great creation. Here is how and what you will need.
Essentially, what you will first require would be a vision for your DIY wedding invitations and stationery. If you have a theme in mind for the wedding, then you can start from there, and find inspirations for the rest. Find a beautiful design, or even make a beautiful design, by sketching it out on paper and ask your family and close friends for their opinions if you want to, and then set your heart on it. Once you have this design set, this will act as your template, and you will need to make sure that the design has outlines that are distinct in order for them to be visible to be cut.
Materials Required for Paper Cut DIY Wedding Invites
- DIY Wedding Invitations Kits/ Paper
- Exacto Knife
- Swivel Blade (best used when cutting curves)
- Scalpel (with either a rounded blade or straight blade)
- Cutting Mat
- Snap Blades
- Punches
- Pin Tools
- Either the following:
- Printer (to print the template onto the DIY wedding invitation kits, as well as invitation wordings, if you are not opting to have the invitations retailer carry out printing services)
- Tracing Paper/Carbon Paper and Stylus Tool
The Next Step to DIY Paper Cut Wedding Invitations
Once you have your design template, you need to determine what you want to cut, that is for positive or negative space, but essentially, what you are usually aiming for is a cutout. Some of us have difficulty transferring the pattern or template for your paper cutting. There are a number of ways in which you can go about it whereby the easiest would be to print it onto the wedding invite facing itself. However, you can also opt to make a template cut-out or print the design or image, stick it onto the wedding invite card and then cut out the design till its complete. Another way would be to use either tracing paper or carbon paper to transfer the template onto the wedding invite paper.
After that, use the knife and blades appropriately and carefully to get your result. Remember that the beautiful outcome that would be your wedding invitation requires a lot of patience and time, as well as commitment to it and the end result.
by | Jul 10, 2012 | DIY Invitations Ideas
Every bride wants a perfect wedding, and her groom wants only the best for her. However, weddings can be expensive, but that does not always mean that you have to give up your dream wedding. There are ways in which you can go with the same vision, with the likes of DIY wedding invitations. You have various options, and in this edition of DIY Wedding Invitations, we are going to focus on how and with what you can accomplish this.
There are two ways in which you can save money when opting for DIY wedding invitations, buy paper from scratch or buy DIY wedding invitation bundles for your to customise. The choice of buying paper sometimes is considered the cheaper alternative, in terms of money spent, however in terms of effort and time on your part, and possible your friends and family it can take a toll. Besides, you need to purchase more items to achieve a professional look, such as box cutters or even paper cutter (guillotine), to paper folders, cutting mats, and creasing equipment, which is available at stationery stores. This could add to more money being spent if you do not have these lying around the house or have the ability to borrow them from friends and family.
The ideal alternative would be to shop around at wedding invitations stores that offer DIY wedding invitations kits in varying colours, shapes, styles, and paper quality. In terms of paper, you have options from the standard paper, to the paper with the sheen and also recycled paper. From there you have options of colours that vary from white and black being the traditional choices to ivory, gold, silver, pink, red, purple, blue, yellow, green, orange, brown, and neutral tones. Certain invitation kits come in the pocket variety, tri-folds and no-folds, so if you have a vision in your mind with these styles, there is nothing holding you back.
Since the base of the DIY wedding invitation is sorted, which essentially is the paper, the quality of the paper, the shape and fold and not forgetting the envelopes, the next move is to look into accessorising the DIY wedding invite. The options are many, and if you start with embellishments, they are a dozen and more. From gems & sequins, to paper miniature banners with a personalised handwritten wording, to rhinestones, miniature items like bells, hearts and rings, crystal or diamante buckles ad adhesive gems, feathers, skeleton leaves, to ribbon bows made out of satin and organza to miniature bows, strands of pearls and lace accents are just a handful of your choices. Apart from this you also can opt for die cut paper shapes such as brides and grooms, hearts and the likes, while stickers include peel-off embossed stickers with writing, and well as seals.
With such options, you can easily accessorise your DIY wedding invitations from the get-go, no matter where you start or which option you take.
by | Jun 22, 2012 | DIY Invitations Ideas
A wedding invitation is a number of things, but mostly, it represents the joyous union between the bride and the groom to be. For them, it is important how their first entree into the matrimony is presented. Your wedding invitations need to be well thought out, especially when you are opting for DIY wedding invitations. We have compiled some advice and well as tips to ensure that your vision comes to life. Everyone knows that words make the difference, so we are going to focus on how you convey your message in a beautiful way, which is perfect for your personalities.
The Basis of the Visual and Design Concept
It is always important to have a vision or even a visual or design concept for your wedding invitations. Sometimes, some of us opt to sketch it out before you go about looking for the one that best matches it, or we have them handmade, or we make them ourselves, the point of a DIY wedding invitations itself. Keep in mind that when deciding on the font for your wedding invites, that there are some predefined preferences in the industry, which carries an elegant look for your invites. These are usually curvy and stylish, where the typefaces are cursive or even serif. You rarely see san-serif fonts, and cartoon like fonts; unless that is the theme, you are going for. Choose your look carefully, try out a few samples, and put them side-by-side for an evaluation.
The Mood and Visual Aesthetics
There are various types of fonts, and are characterised by various factors such as the stroke weight, the width, slope which in turn refers to the types of scripts, serifs, which are divided into san-serif and serif, as well as cursive. You need to decide which font best suit the design you have in mind. If you were going for a modern look, san-serif would be apt, while if there were ornate or floral designs, then cursive would be the best choice. This also reflects the theme and mood, such as whether you are going for a romantic and warm look as opposed to something else.
Legibility and Readability of the Type Category
Being able to read the font clearly is very important when deciding on how best to convey your message in a beautiful manner, so make sure to try out the fonts you love and see whether the invitation wording and other information you are including are legible and readable.
Tips for Choosing a Font for Your Wedding Invite Design
- Try out different options of fonts and types and put them side-by-side to differentiate and assess
- Ensure that though the font looks beautiful, that it is also readable/legible
- Select the font sizing appropriately, depending on what you want to emphasize. Try out a few possibilities before you decide
- If you have chosen several fonts to be used on the same invite card, ensure that they blend or gel together.
- Ask for somebody else’s opinion too
by | Jun 11, 2012 | DIY Invitations Ideas, DIY Wedding Invitations
When it comes to DIY weddings, brides and grooms put on their thinking caps and think of a great new way to add some glamour and finesse to their special day. One of the easiest ways is with DIY wedding invitations, because you can base your entire wedding on the inspirations you draw into that, and that would be your first stepping-stone.
A great way to add glamour to your DIY wedding invitations is adding sheen with various types of uses that are available in the market and probably lying around the household. From the type of paper to the type of paint or materials you can use and how you can use them, this week’s article from DIY Invitations looks into them all.
Types of Paper
Gloss Paper, which is also known as glossy paper, is known typically as that of the same quality as printed-paper used in a magazine. With a high sheen, glossy paper is not bulky and does not hold much opacity, as well as is cost efficient compared to that of matte or dull paper, due the lack of thickness. However, if you opt for this kind of paper for your DIY wedding invitation, whether as a base or as decor, it would be ideal, as your weight levels are in fact kept in mind.
Matte Paper is the least glossy form of paper, and is thick and holds a texture too. However, due to its finish, it is heavy and bulky, and lacks opacity. This type of paper is best used as the base paper, or for large decorative use on your DIY wedding invitations.
Dull Paper is low in glossy effect, and some would say it is categorised in between glossy paper and matt, there is a smooth finish lacking texture and a slight sheen.
Types of Ink/Paint/Materials to Use to Add Sheen
The best and easiest way you can decorate or adorn your DIY wedding invitations would be with the use of material such as ink, paint or something equivalent. There are various types of ink available, from the likes of normal ink to glitter ink that would be ideal to add that touch of glamour to your wedding invites. If that is not what you are looking for, opt for the likes of paint, which can be purchased from paint shop such as vinyl satin, silk, and matt emulsion. These paint types usually require special brushes for application such as the below mentioned, therefore keep this in mind when you use them on your DIY wedding invitations and trying to achieve the sheen you are looking for. These brushes are available at local stores, in the sizing that is convenient, if not ask around or check the World Wide Web.
- Liquid paint – Brush, roller, pad
- Non-drop – brush, roller
- Solid – rolling tray, roller
