Weddingbee Blog

I was struggling to find a way to hold all of the elements of our save the date together, and I did not want to invest in pocket folders (seriously, we started out with a one card design… funny how things evolve). I decided on utilizing one of my favorite things—ribbon! Thus, I placed an order for Paper Source’s satin ribbon in Night color.

I gathered all of the pieces:

Lined envelopes with custom Martha labels – check!
Color coordinated detailed save the date and accommodations cards – check!
Matching magnets with rounded corners (oh yes I did!) – check!
A few extra items: copies of some of our engagement pictures, some glue dots, the ribbon, scissors, a corner rounder, and a lighter (I’ll explain).

If the cards were going to family members, I also grabbed a picture (printed to 4×6 size) and rounded the corners (the ones that are going to our friends were exactly the same, only, no photo).

Then, I stacked the picture, the accommodations card, save the date card, and magnet (centered).

Next, I cut a length of ribbon and affixed it to the center of the magnet with a repositionable glue dot.

I then flipped the whole thing over. This is where the lighter came in – I used it to melt the edges of the ribbon so they didn’t fray (16 years as a ballerina finally paid off!).

After that, I pulled the ends together so as to hold everything together snugly, and placed a final glue dot to hold the ribbon together.

I tucked it all together in a DIY lined envelope.

I ordered A6 envelopes in Night from Paper Source, as well as their envelope liner template.

Let me just say that this process was INCREDIBLY easy with the template! I also purchased a bunch of scrapbook paper (12″ x 12″) at Michael’s in various prints, as well as double sided tape, glue sticks, and a bone folder.

Seriously, this is a super easy little project. I simply traced the template onto the back of the paper and cut it out.

I then flipped it over, slid it into the envelope and lined up the liner to the innermost edge of the envelope adhesive. Next, I slid a paper clip on to both the right and left sides of the envelope to hold the liner in place as I folded the flap back.

I didn’t know which would work better, so I tried both adhesives. The verdict? When the glue stick dried it was a SUPER seal – I mean, it held so tight it seemed like it had been heat fused on. However, it was messier and I went through it pretty fast. The tape was FAR easier to use than the glue stick and it seemed like I used less. However, it there were a few “gaps” between the liner and the envelope. I decided that you really couldn’t tell the difference and switched over to the tape only about 1/3 of the way through (the fact that I ran out of glue sticks and didn’t want to drive to Michael’s may or may not have had something to do with that decision).

Once the liner was adhered to the envelope, I flipped the flap back up and folded it over as if I was closing it. I ran the bone folder over the seam to make a crisp, professional crease. Finally, I removed the paper clips, and voila! Finis!

I also made address labels for the envelopes. The labels were equally easy to knock out. I fell in love with the Martha wrap around labels, but I wanted something a little more custom. So, I whipped up a little something in Word, then printed each one out on more of the Paper Source Luxe Cream paper.

Once they were all printed, I sliced them up into strips and rounded off the corners. A quick run through the good ol’ Xyron, and we had labels!

And there you have it, our save the dates, all ready to mail!

Was your save the date project much more complicated than you originally envisioned it to be?