Wedding Blog
I never imagined I would be saying this, but I am in love with maps. If you are not, than you probably haven’t seen Laura Hooper’s maps. If Mr. Spring Roll and I had an unlimited budget, we would commission a custom wedding map. Unfortunately, our budget is nowhere near unlimited. Instead of forgoing the map altogether, I decided to create my own:
For those of you who would like to create your own map, I have put together a tutorial:
1. On MapQuest or any map website, type in your wedding location to view a map of the area. Roughly get an idea of what the land looks like (I.e. bodies of water, edges of land, mountains, etc.)
2. Using Photoshop or a similar editing program, open a new blank window. (My window size is 640 pixels by 480 pixels.)
3. Select the pencil tool. Draw the edges of land, and any bodies of water. If your map does not have land edges or bodies of water, skip this step and leave the window blank.
4. Also using the pencil tool, draw lines to make the main roads that your guests will travel.
5. Select the text tool. Type the names of the roads next to the drawn lines.
6. Visit a free font website (I used this website), and download any Dingbats (icons) you would like to use on your map. I downloaded nature, animals, waves, and many others.
7. Use the Dingbats to decorate your map. I chose a wedding cake and hearts to show the locations of our ceremony and reception. Then, I decorated the land and water using sea animals and trees.
8. If desired, use the paintbrush tool to add color to your map.
Are you including a map for your guests in your invitations? Share your tips for map-making with the hive!
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Very impressive & totally adorable!
Sooooo cute!! We had maps too, but nowhere near as cute as this! Great job!
your map is so cute!! 
I might have to try this for our invites too.
wow you are awesome this looks great!
I love maps too! I actually blog-stalked laura hooper forever, and also tried to create my own map in word, since I do not have photoshop. Yours is very cute!
The kissy fish are adorable. And what a helpful tutorial! I don’t think I have the photoshop skills to even attempt this though . . . .
Wow…what an awesome tutorial! You’ve inspired me to make my own (or at least attempt to) instead of printing off a page off google maps and just marking places with giant Xs.
this is fantastic! I wish there was an easier way to make the outline of the land though… I’ll work on mine and let you know if there is!
PS - I think yours is just as great as the pros
Great tutorial! If I could add two cents, I am making mine using Adobe Illustrator. I took a screenshot of a googlemap of my location at the scale I wanted, and drew over it in illustrator, so the proportions, etc, would be accurate. Once I had it how I wanted, I made the original map layer invisible. Basically the same idea, I just think Illustrator is easier to work with for drawing. I love all your tutorials!
flbeachbride (me, I usually show up as anonymous 
) This is great and exactly what I have been looking for! Thanks!
too bad our invites are already out- I love the icons:)
These turned out so cute! You’re so creative Miss S!
Your map came out great! I made my map through Publisher with the same concept of drawing over the map image.
What a great tutorial…so easy to follow, it makes me feel like I could accomplish at least one DIY thing! I’m constantly in awe of all you bees and your creativity and craftiness.
Very cool and adorable! I also made a custom map inspired by Laura Hooper. I used Adobe Illustrator which is a vector based program. Phototshop is more easily available but is raster based so sometimes you can see the individual pixels. Vector files are more easily resized without distortion.
I blogged about how to do it recently…
Oh my goodness…I love your map! You could go into business for yourself there, lady
i am thoroughly impressed. you are so talented. bookmarking this page right now!
That is SO FREAKIN’ CUTE! Thanks for the instructions - I can’t wait to try this
That is the cutest map ever! I hope I can make one half as adorable!
Awesome Map! I love reading your blog- you have great ideas!
This map is frickin awesome! Great tutorial!! And I, the Geography major, am in love with maps- so you have all my geek love coming at ya
I made a map in Adobe Illustrator like Kathy did. If you take a screenshot of the map you want to use online and insert it into the document before you start drawing, it makes it a lot easier to figure out where to put your lines since you just have to trace them. Yours turned out really awesome!
[...] included a card with important information (location address, wedding website, etc.), and my DIY map on the back of the [...]
Gulf to Bay! I totally know where that is! How adorable is your map?!?!
very nice! i would like to make a map to include with the invitations. i do not own a photoshop and i checked adobe’s site there are lots of them and are very pricy..
which photoshop do you guys use??
O.M.G. I can’t believe how adorable your map is!!! I have a mac - no photoshop, so not sure how to do this myself. Hope I can figure it out! Well done!
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Mrs. Spring Roll, Tampa
Age and Occupation: 23, Certified Pharmacy Technician
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Concert Photographer
Engagement Date: May 1, 2008
Wedding Date: March 2009
Blogging Since: September 16, 2008
Venue: Beach Social Hall
About Me: I'm the stereotypical girl who enjoys sewing, baking, and decorating. I am blessed to share my life with Mr. Spring Roll and our two shih tzu's, Isabella and Gabriella. Hello Kitty, musicals, Target, and Chick-fil-a are a few of my favorite things. I have a fear of fish and Freddy Krueger. Planning our wedding has become a huge part of my life, and I love every minute of it!
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