Wedding Blog
Oh, invites, how I abhor you. While I was never brave enough to avoid you altogether — the nerd in me still loves paper goodness — I was also unwilling to spend gobs of money and time on you. So you cost me more than I wanted, and failed to bring me any joy. I put you in the mailbox with a smile on my face, happy that you are on your way to our people, and happier yet that you are no longer in my house or on my mind.
Much as I’d like to vent and analyze, I have decided not to spend one second more obsessing over invitations. Well, except for this post. They have the correct date, time, location, and website information, and will serve their purpose — to invite. Will they delight? Not likely. Will they cause the receiver to think we’re cheap? Perhaps. Will anyone not come because they were disappointed in our invitations? Nope.
I used Mrs. Lovebug’s invites as a starting point, then hunted down the free Monterrey BT font (similar to the popular Feel Script but FREE) which I used with an Adobe font that was already on my PC. I made up the thingie at the bottom using a combination of free fonts and vectors on my free (what else?) Inkscape program. I would share, but I’m not that organized, sorry. My fellow WB bloggers double-checked my wording (special thanks to the lovely and helpful Mrs. Cupcake). Note: if you or your man go by a name other than your given name, use quotes instead of parentheses.
The initials (can I really call something so simple a “monogram”?) at the top came out of a need to hide the squiggly thing, which the mister h.a.t.e.d. While it doesn’t hide, it does distract; I even centered it better after I printed this one out.
And yes, we’re going public with the fact that we’re bat-shit crazy and live with seven animals (two dogs and five cats, as you can see). I’m rather proud of my resourcefulness and Mr. Cheese was quite happy because his little silhouette guy looks pretty dashing. Good enough for us.
Next up, the hometown celebration invitation, first in Stardream Sapphire from PaperSource that I had in my desk, then on other paper when I ran out. Since people will only see their own invite and will never know that it didn’t match the others, I decided I didn’t care. Yes, that’s my new married name… and fireworks in the corner, because I’m cheesy like that.
Then, the RSVP card, which directs our peeps to reply online via our website or to call directly. Am I looking forward to voicemails? No, so I’m hoping the website is easy enough for most people. We borrowed the possible responses off the web somewhere, then added our own. After reading it to my mom, who didn’t get it, I added the asterisk. Sigh.
This is the back of the RSVP card asking people to share their favorite songs and quotes. I have no idea if they will; we shall see.
And, with the help of Mrs. Cupcake (again!), I printed these little inserts to remind people to wear safe shoes.
I’m not gonna lie. I scribbled the addresses in my usual penmanship with a crappy Bic pen. I hit a point where I realized that it would be fine even so. Ever received a birthday card in the mail and been disappointed because the penmanship on the mailing address was messy? I didn’t think so.
Oh, yea, and since I’m purging my soul here, if we didn’t know last names (it’s apparently a man thing), we left them out entirely (”Bill and Stephanie”). Ah, yes, and if I don’t have their addresses, I am sending a link to our wedding website via MySpace and Facebook. Sue me, Ms. Post.
And all together, the whole shebang looks like this:
Is it perfectly color-coordinated? Nah. Am I happy with the quality of the envelopes (they’ve haunted my dreams)? No. Are those even our “wedding colors” (even though I’m back to “green like the grass, blue like the sky, yellow like the sun, pink like flowers…” when anyone asks)? Nope. It’ll be okay. People will still come, and I can do an ice cream bar with the money saved on invites.
Total cost: $52
2 invite packages on clearance at Walmart: $26 (I could have used just one except for all of the design attempts I printed out)
Stamps: $12 (we’re hand-delivering about a dozen and saved with online RSVP’s)
Stardream paper: $6 on sale
Cost per invite: $0.87
If you’re a guest, don’t think I love you less because your invite had no calligraphy. And I won’t think you love me less because neither will your gift card. Smoochies.
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Share this post: And Good Riddance…
I think a large part of the understated joy of receiving an invitation is knowing that you were personally picked to be part of the celebration. I love good paper myself, but even more so, I love receiving invitations from people that I love!
I love you Miss Cheese! Your invites are cute as hell and I love all your animals there!
That does the trick! I also did multiple responses for my reply cards… accepts with pleasure, declines with pleasure, accepts with regret, declines with regret. So far no one has replied with anything fun. (I think they have, but not put it on paper!)
Honestly, I think however much care and attention (or work and money) you put into invitations, you forget about it all as soon as they go in the mail. So good on you for realising that the most important thing is that people are invited, not that the vintage stamp you spent months looking for correctly represents your relationship 
I love the little silhouette scene at the bottom though - reminds me of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty!
I love them! While it’s great to drool over all of the invitation yumminess out there, they can definitely be a budget buster! Letterpress, shmetterpress.
You did a fabulous job with your invitations, you should feel great about ‘em 
And they’re out the door, woo hoo!!
you are so funny, practical and unique.
I think these invites match your style perfectly!
ahaha. I love your post. It’s so dayam real!
I absolutely love the little image at the bottom with all 7 of your animals!
I think towards the end of my DIY invites, I had the same approach as you. I had purchased “white” cardstock from 2 different craft stores…after printing and cutting everything, I realized some of my “Accomodations” and “Directions” cards weren’t the same shade of white.
If people have enough time to review and critique your wedding invitations, they clearly have more problems in life than you and I. =)
Great job, my dear!
Miss Cheese, I personally love your invites. The silhouettes are adorable. And I agree that people will care less about the invite and more about actually being invited! Congrats on being finished with this task!
I love it! Its different and so nice. I love the illustration at the bottom of the invite… so cute!
These are Awesome! I love the little family of silhouettes! I think Mr. Beagle would kill me if I included our basset somewhere on the invites.
You’re so wrong. Cheap, No! Delightful, TOTALLY!!! You sell yourself short, it’s totally charming!!!
Amazed at the final cost. I think your invites are quite cute (love the animals), and love that your personality (”you’re supposed to laugh [,MOM]“) shines through on each piece of paper. Bravo!
Cheesy, you are so a girl after my own heart!! Clearance invite kit + inkjet printer = $60 invites for 100 people!! Invites are so something I care nothing about, but they do happen to be in one of our wedding colors which is pretty much the reason I got them. Do I like the paisley design??? UMMM NO but do I think that 99% of the people who get them will throw them away since they already have a STD on the fridge - definitely
You Rock, Cheese! Your post just gave me the ok to use a paperclip (a round one) instead of creating inner envelopes from paper I can’t find
Oh…and I LOVE the animals!
Oh and I may just have to creat my own silhouette with our dog and kitty to put on the bottom of our invites too…
I LOVE that you included your animals - that’s a great personal touch! You’re guests should be thrilled to receive these invites!
Aw, shucks, you guys are sweet. Our friends have even figured out which animal is which (the cat whacking at the dog, third animal from the left, is Frank, the cat-who-tries-to-beat-up-dogs, etc).
Your invitations look great, and the silhouette is so cute! And it’s so nice to see a someone who didn’t spend tons of money invitations and addressed their invitations herself. I didn’t diy my invatations but I didn’t spend much on them and I addressed them myself (not even in cursive, oh my!) and printed labels with our website info on them and stuck it on the inside. I knew people were just going to throw them away, so I just didn’t see the point in spending tons of money on them. It’s nice to finally see someone else who doesn’t feel bad about not spending $500+ on their invites. You did a great job!
I happen to think your invites are adorable! And I love the fact that you put your humor in there as well… gotta love someone brave enough to break away from the stuffy, formal invites! Kudos to you, Ms. Cheese!
I heart them. And I think its great you included all your pets/family. Also I would love it if I got an invite and all those colorful papers were in there!
Like others have said- your invites are adorable!! You did a great job!! Don’t sell yourself short.
THANK YOU.
I’ve been super stressing about the amount we’re spending on invites (not much) and how people will react and blah blah blah.
It’s great to see a Bee as budget conscious as me! <3
FINALLY….a bride that isn’t all bogged down in the details! Your invitations are lovely and show that even if you aren’t obsessing over details like font, colors, etc., you can still send out heartfelt and personal invitations to what is sure to be an awesome wedding!
*GASP* DIY invites? And you didn’t match the paper throughout… Oh the horror.
LOL… or should I say “Oh the fun” of thinking how Ms. Emily Post might be shocked, and loving every moment of her shock! I think that we get so wrapped up in invitations, when they don’t really matter that much. I am not crafty AT ALL, so I didn’t DIY. I paid an arm and a leg for standard invites. I liked them a lot, but I didn’t go crazy over picking out the fonts and colors. In fact, I looked at all of the script fonts and when I said “This one” after glancing at a few, the woman handling my order said “Um, are you sure?” And I glared at her and said yes, and she stopped asking questions!!!
Like you said, NO ONE is going to decide not to come based on your invites. (Which are very nice, by the way, and I love the RSVP choices!) And their gift cards sure won’t be calligraphied, nor will their wedding cards to you, and you won’t find those any less lovely!
I think your honest post will go a long way with brides who are currently struggling with out of this world invitations, and their out-of-this-world price tag.
I love how very real you are about things. And I do love that you included your “family on the invitations.” I had one of these moments as I made the Save the Date Signs that we would hold. I obsessed over which font to pick for like an hour, and then finally said “what is my deal, no one is going to decline our invite because they didn’t like the font on our save the dates.” And anyone who would (can’t think of anyone) I don’t want at our wedding anyway!! Good for you Miss. Cheese
You are so funny. They are great and I really like how all your animals are represented. As I’m knee deep in STD craziness, I’m wishing I had gone the more simple route.
Seriously you are awesome! The invites are great and I am totally with you on not caring what is standard “etiquette” for some things, and deciding what is priority to you. (The ice cream bar is def.worth it) The invites are great and super cute! We included registry info in ours because 1) many of our family members are older = no computer access, and 2) if anyone seriously thought it was rude or that we cared if people sent gifts or not then they really don’t know us!! Love this post!!
Miss Cheese, I love you and I totally LOVE your invites. They show your fun side (I love the responses) and your love for your pets (I am jealous, I wish I could have worked my cat into the design) and totally charming. I love them, they are cheery and happy.
Miss Cheese, I love your posts…you sound a little jaded about wedding related stuff, but it can happen! I like your wit about it though, and I think your invites came out perfectly fine:)
Oh my goodness do I ever love the row of animals?
Also I think invites are the kind of thing that brides care about way more than their guests, who are unlikely to pay attention to all the little details. So good on you for keeping it simple if that’s what worked for you, because I doubt anyone else would care. Seriously, does anyone notice if the invites match the bridesmaids dresses or whatever? No.
I too am dreading the invitation process and can’t be more ready to get them out and over with. I’m glad to see someone else is in my boat!
This post is so awesome! Thank you for being so honest! I love your invites, btw.
i love you miss cheese. good plan to funnel extra money to the ice cream bar. that’s something people will remember!
and i do adore that you got your cats and dogs on the invite as well. such a great touch!
I’m DIYing my invites too and am totally at that point where I just DON’T care any more whether they match at all. I just want to GET THEM OUT THE DOOR!
I’m crossing my fingers that the end result reads “eclectic and vintage” rather than “sloppy and cheap.”
I love your silhouettes! Where did you find the vectors?
I think you and your invites are great. While I’m full of awe and admiration for all the epic triple pocket folded beauty, I could never do something so…epic. I love yours! I certainly don’t care about handwritten envelopes!
I also used Monterey font - I LOVE it!
@lmariea: I don’t recall, I’m sorry. I tried to keep good notes, but in the end, expediency won over organization. I basically Googled “free vector cat” and “free vector dog.” I found a “free vector man” businessman, but couldn’t find a bride — so I took one of those completely cheesy graphics that you can find anywhere (of a bride, obviously), then blacked her all out, except for the tiny little pink bouquet.
Thanks, y’all. I was so completely over these stupid things, having melted down more than once on a poor man who didn’t get what the problem was, so I was a little jaded.
I love your honest practical approach to your wedding invites. The wedding world needs more of this. Love the post!
The invites look great!
We’re totally getting married on the same day, at the same time.
I live in Knoxville, but we’re getting married in Maryville.
You did a wonderful job with these!! You should feel very proud of them! 
@valerie: Oh, neat! What a small world, huh? I totally chose 4pm arbitrarily, so I’m glad you’ve lent it some credibility.
I agree with Miss Perfume, you sell yourself short!!! I looove the illustration at the bottom. So cute!
I love your invites!!! The Main reason why……
I HAVE THE SAME EXACT ONES!
I will be doing something a bit different. I love my invitations from Wal-Mart.
I will be putting them in pocketfolds just add a little bit of pizzaz to them.
Love the simplicity of yours
Miss Cheese, yet again, I feel a kindred spirit. Our invitations were giving me SUCH a headache, that I squashed it all and just went with something plain and simple. Cherry blossoms adorn the top and bottom, with very simple wording. (Cherry blossoms have NOTHING to do with our wedding, but I have four tattooed on me, and love them.)
The one thing we did do (well, my FI did) was come up with hilarious reply card responses. I had to share with you:
Please circle the response that applies:
A. Oh, It’s on! I’ve been waiting all my life for a chance like this.
Name(s) of attendees: ____________________________
B. Oooh, sorry, can’t make it. ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ is probably on television that day.
Note: ___________________________________________
Awesome. I did the same thing.. after scoring and folding a ton of little cardstock folders, I realized I didn’t have enough. So about ten people got totally different invites! They’ll never know!! Excellent work not stressing over stuff that SO doesn’t matter
@MissStout: I love it! That’s the worst TV show, ever, in my opinion.
@Miss Cheese: it runs a close second to Dog the Bounty Hunter for me.
These have got to be the best invites I’ve ever seen on weddingbee! And, I LOVE that your animals are on the invite!! I also scribbled addresses in my usual penmanship with a crappy Bic pen… I couldn’t imagine being bothered to do anything else. I heart your posts the mostest!
Ditto to what everyone else has said… I love your invites! DIY is so wonderfully personal!
And thank you so much for posting where to find Monterey font for free! I’ve been hunting for it for months and was THISCLOSE to paying for it. Cheesy to the rescue!!!
@jenn-dig: You’re welcome. I spent longer than I’d like to admit looking for it, because I LOVE the Feel Script but didn’t wanna pay for it. This is close enough.
I heart you: semi-homemade invites + real, down-to-earth attitude = awesome.
i. love. this. i am gonna bookmark it. you are my invitation inspiration. ridiculously practical and cute + sense of humor + not stuffy (just like us)= WIN! excellent post.
I agree with what everyone else has said. Your invites and your attitude are realistic, and I love that. I hope I can have the same attitude when we get to that point!
I absolutely love your invites, Miss Cheese! I think they have tons of personality and spunk, and I LOVE that you included all your little furbabies on them.
I totally love your approach to invites and to wedding planning in general. The moment I decided to stop focusing on “a wedding to remember” and start focusing on a really cool party where we happen to get married - life got a whole lot simpler.
Congrats on getting the invites out! Must be a great feeling! They came out great!!!
LOVE them! Especially the illustration that you’re “bat-shit crazy and live with seven animals”! I sometimes feel that way with just 3 dogs!
You’ve gotta feel fantastic knowing how little you spent on them but how great they look. I never understood $1000+ invites or something crazy like that.
My (as yet nonexistent) invites were haunting me, too. I decided to hand the project over to a professional, and I feel great about it! I know I could do it cheaper myself, but the piece of mind I will save is priceless!
The thing I like about your invites is that they’re not cookie cutter. I’d much rather get something like that in the mail than one of those plain-white-with-black-curly-font-and- traditional-wording monstrosities.
wonderful job, Ms. Cheese!
We decided to spend the money on cool STD cards with our engagement photo. We are eloping (shh! Dont’ tell!!), which made the invites to our party the following month a super easy choice: Target’s boxed invites, discounted even! 12.00!! Whoo hooo! I was shocked to find the invites matched our “colors” for the party. My only bummer is that the cost of stamps.
Again, great post!!
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Mrs. Cheese, Knoxville
Age and Occupation: 29, Engineering Manager
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, CAD Designer
Engagement Date: July 31, 2008
Wedding Date: May, 2009
Blogging Since: October 16, 2008
Venue: Our home and the two acres it sits on
About Me: I’m an emotional girl who loves sentimental things, parenthetical asides, and trying to do things herself. I can cook, sew, am a whiz at planning, terrible at delegating, and totally in love with my fiancé (who will be my second husband but first love of the rest of my life). For our home/ garden/ DIY wedding, we’ll be moonlighting as interior designers, home improvers, and gardeners with the help of our fabulous friends and neighbors. We can’t wait to be married, and are learning how fun getting married can be.
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