Wedding Blog

While browsing a few random wedding sites, I came across the idea of using luggage tags for OOT bags. I LOVED this idea, and as we are putting “goody bags” in each hotel room, it seemed perfect. Then I had an even better idea and decided to use them as our Save the Dates. I had been working with a designer from Etsy.com for a monogram design and decided to have her make a couple of them - one that is more whimsical/tropical (STD) and one that is more preppy (invitation). We put the monogram on one side and the wedding information on the other side, set up to look like a luggage tag:

I wanted the tag to be clear on both sides and sturdy. I was having trouble finding one that wasn’t just a laminated business card or in a bulk lot of 500. Business card size was fine (trust me – DO THIS. Buy blank perforated business cards. It will save you hours of cutting), but I needed them to be cheap, but not LOOK cheap.

These were the cheapest tags that I could find that were sold in lower quantities. Sure, we didn’t need 100 of them, but we ended up using at least half of them. If I don’t find another use for them, I plan on selling them on eBay or in the Weddingbee classifieds. The one drawback is that you have to buy the strap separately. Back in the day, I was an eBay queen, and I found them for dirt cheap.

After FINALLY getting everything formatted correctly (I’m talking to you, Microsoft Word!), I went into work early to print off our Luggage Tag Save the Dates, incognito. Yeah… not so incognito when you a) can’t get the printer to grab from the bypass tray for heavy stock, b) decide to put the heavy stock in the regular drawer, c) print off a test sheet successfully, and then d) send all of them to the printer only to have them all jam up. In 4 different places.

Did I mention that I printed these on business card paper? So yes, every time I pulled on one of the jammed sheets, it would rip down the perforation. I had to perform minor surgery on the good ol’ Canon Q1 to get everything out. The last thing I wanted was for our IT guy to show up with “Kristin & Theodore” monograms shooting out of the printer.

Because I felt the need to be a masochist that morning, after the surgery I proceeded to try it again, this time one by one. With success, I might add!

Because I also feel the need to take projects one step further and therefore creating more work, I decided that a simple plastic strap would not do! I had the idea to loop ribbon (in coordinating wedding colors, of course) through the slot and to just include the plastic strap in the bottom of the envelope in case anyone wanted to actually USE the luggage tag (and I secretly hope they do! I have this vision of suitcases lined up in the hotel lobby with our lovely tags on them…anyway…).

Incorporating my love of all things preppy, I found navy blue grosgrain ribbon with white saddle stitching for this project. THEN I decided that I wanted bright pink as well, and found that in a smaller width to loop through with the navy.

THANK YOU bridesmaid A and dear friend L for joining the assembly line!

LOVE our whimsical monogram!

We set up the back to look like a “real” luggage tag, then modified to include the necessary details.

Packaging details:

I ordered small, navy metallic envelopes and DIY’ed the wrap-around labels (a post on this later!). The completed package required a 59 cent stamp which, apparently, a lot of post offices don’t have in stock. Keep this in mind. We thought about using Zazzle to make our own, but my antsy-ness trumped perfectionist and we went with this ridiculous cartoon man.

Hey, at least he’s wearing a lei, right? It’s tropical!

Back of envelope and label - also shows the envelope color much better!

I love our Save the Dates. Sure, they took a lot more time than I thought they would, but they were a labor of love and I couldn’t be happier with them!

I know I’m not the only one out there with printer and/or the demon that is Microsoft Word issues – right?

Did you spend A LOT more time and effort on a DIY project than you had originally anticipated? Is this more of a rule than an exception when it comes to wedding projects?