Weddingbee Blog

Say THAT post title ten times fast.

But seriously… the design of the invitations for my future-in-laws’ picnic get-together (the Mary Jane version of a “reception”) started with a Post-It note. Wanna see our invitations? Here they are!

Don’t Mr. Mary Jane and I look sexay in our portrait?

Haha! You thought I’d actually be ready to show you the invitations already? Not quite yet. But ever since our Super-Fast Save the Dates went out in the mail, I have been thinking away about how to design our invitations.

I had a few key ideas to work with:

1. Mr. Mary Jane’s parents provided most of the guest list, and many of the invitees haven’t seen Mr. Mary Jane in years. Because of this, FMIL requested that we include a photo of us in the invitation so that the guests can familiarize themselves with the bride and groom.
2. I wanted to use the beautiful retro-ish floral paper FMIL bought, which I already incorporated in to the Save the Dates.
3. I wanted to use the same fonts (overall) that I used for the Save the Dates.
4. I really didn’t want to mess with a DIY pocket-fold layout or anything else too fancy. (This is a picnic, not a black-tie ball. Let’s not get carried away.)

While working earlier this week, I was proof-reading some document or another when suddenly I thought: “Greeting Card!” And the Post-It was born. I stuck it in my purse to mull over later. A few hours later, my mind drifted back to the cards. How would I attach the picture and driving directions? The RSVP cards? I wanted it to be a little more “put together” than sticking the loose cards in the envelope. I wanted the guests to receive a little packet of info. I thought of brads, eyelets, sticky tape, hole-punch and ribbon, glue, and even staples. But I really wanted both the RSVP card and the photo to be removable (without damage to them) by the recipient. To go one step further, I wanted it to be obvious to the recipient that the card and photo were meant to be removed. Mini clothes pins would be cute, but I really wasn’t interested in paying extra postage to mail lumpy envelopes.

Then I noticed the perfect solution sitting right there next to my telephone: a paper clip. I whipped out my little post-it note and added the paper clip to my sketch.

When I got done with work, I headed over to Michaels to seek out some big paper clips.

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Maybe not that big.

But big enough to look snazzy and hold a photo and a couple of cards to another card. Guess what? I couldn’t find any. Nothing flat, at least. And I once again have too tight of a deadline to do any online ordering. I paced back and forth in Michaels for a little while before finally having an epiphany. Where could I find more paper clips than my mind could even comprehend? Office Max, of course! I sped over there and bought 100 big gold paper clips for less money than one 12-pack of the fancy (and ’lumpy’) clips from Michaels would have cost.

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How will I transform my (now-wrinkled) yellow post-it and my package of paper clips in to a chic-but-casual invitation “suite”? You’ll have to wait and see!