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Mrs. Ribbons, Washington D.C./Bloomington, IN Age and Occupation: 23, Research Associate for an international development firm Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Proposal Coordinator for contractor Engagement Date: May 2, 2008 Wedding Date: June 2010 Venue: Indiana Memorial Union About Me: I'm an Indiana transplant living in DC with my fiance and our pretty kitty. I enjoy the color pink, I'm obsessed with the Dior New Look and tulle, and I heart my level 80 paladin. I'm a sucker for bad TV, literary theory, and cakes of all persuasion. I also happen to be marrying the cutest closet nerd around! It's all about Bloomington for us because it's where we met -- on the college paper. If there's a theme for our small summertime wedding, it's Dior meets Dorothy Draper on a lark in Bloomington; think poofy, plus graphic prints, bold colors, and a whole lot of prettiness.
About Mrs. Ribbons

The invites are officially finished. I have pretty mixed feelings about the whole process: I love that I was able to incorporate my fonts and colors, but I hate how much time I spent on them. They’re done though, so I’ll stop complaining.

Because I’m so pro, I did an official photo shoot on a wrinkled sheet. Like I said, pro.

Press the Button: The Last Stand :  wedding bloomington diy invitations stationery 11 1

Press the Button: The Last Stand :  wedding bloomington diy invitations stationery 21 2

Press the Button: The Last Stand :  wedding bloomington diy invitations stationery 3 3

Press the Button: The Last Stand :  wedding bloomington diy invitations stationery 4 4

Pardon the random spaces.

My biggest piece of advice for doing your own invites: order way more envelopes than you think you need. I had to order a second set because I cut it too close the first time and misspelled my hometown’s name on seven envelopes.

I want to give it to you straight when it comes to the invites and their cost, so here it is, based on 55 invitations:

  • Letterpressed invite only: $150
  • Crane Cardstock: $40
  • Envelopes (RSVP & invitation): $20
  • Cardstock for liners: $20
  • Paper cutter: $20
  • Twine: $15
  • RSVP labels: $25
  • Ribbon: $3
  • Postage: $57 (oversized and square envelope = $$)

Total: $350

I excluded the cost of fonts, which would’ve been $150.

Product Sources:
Letterpress - Lucky Duck Press
Invite cardstock - Crane Paper
Envelopes - Cards and Pockets
Liner Cardstock - Discount Cardstock
Twine - Divine Twine
Labels - Paper Source

Because I’m kind and benevolent, I brought out a piece of fabric for one glamour shot.

Press the Button: The Last Stand :  wedding bloomington diy invitations stationery 5 5

And I’ll never talk about invitations again.

Tags: bloomington, diy, invitations, stationery |
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29 Responses to “Press the Button: The Last Stand”

1 2 

1.
farmersdaughter
Member
farmersdaughter (message)  1,675 posts, Bumble bee

Aw I’m so glad you finished these and that they are beautiful - I will be totally sick of my invitations by the time we finish them, and I didn’t even do all the work (my mom is doing much of it for me.)

 
2.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Stripes (message)  1,063 posts, Bumble bee

I love the way these turned out ribbons! The ribbon/twine combo is very satisfying and I LOVE how bold/simple the RSVP card is too! Nice work! :)

 
3.
sunnydebs
Member
sunnydebs (message)  784 posts, Busy bee

lovely. just lovely. :-)

 
4.
alohababy28
Member
alohababy28 (message)  466 posts, Helper bee

LOL, I feel the SAME way about our DIY invites. They turned out great, but I’m not sure I feel that it was worth the enormous time, effort, money and sanity that went into it. I was SO happy when they were done, and we havent talked about them since. It’s “the month that shall not be named” for us. Our cost was probably much higher (I dont even want to calculate- I’m ignoring!), and we only ended up making about 50, and did it ALL ourselves. BRAVO on outsourcing some of the work! I wish I had! It breaks my heart that something I spent so much time on is heading for the trash bin! :-(

 
5.
Miss Cardigan
Bee
Miss Cardigan (message)  8,645 posts, Bee Keeper

They look great! Love them!!!!

 
6.
alivoo01
Member
alivoo01 (message)  2,622 posts, Sugar bee

Yay for completion!! They look great! I heart letterpress!

 
7.
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Bee
Miss Trail Mix (message)  6,328 posts, Bee Keeper

They look beautiful! So lucky you only had 55 to do, I sent out over 130!

 
8.
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Member
missvintage (message)  571 posts, Busy bee

I love the colors, and I love the twine and ribbon!

 
9.
bohemianbailie
Member
bohemianbailie (message)  980 posts, Busy bee

I love the RSVP card it is so striking.

 
10.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Scissors (message)  7,343 posts, Bee Keeper

I am a huge fan. Send me your twine, plz. Mr. S is being a twine grinch. :p

 
11.
vaness13181
Member
vaness13181 (message)  687 posts, Busy bee

What program did you use to design the invites? I am considering DIY the invites too, but I have no prior design experience. I am pretty good with computers though so I feel like I have plenty of time to practice and figure it out.
Wow, only $150 for letterpress? I may have to consider designing it and having Lucky Duck do the printing!
Your invites look AMAZING by the way. I love the simplicity. That’s the same look I am going for and I think letterpress compliments it perfectly!

 
12.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Ribbons (message)  2,018 posts, Buzzing bee

@vaness13181: I used InDesign and Illustrator. You can download free trials on the Adobe website, but they only last for a month so you’d have to be quick about it!

Thanks for all of the nice comments!

 
13.
Ella1978
Member
Ella1978 (message)  2,027 posts, Buzzing bee

I totally understand pouring your heart out into your invites. When I was going thru the process of finding something online that both myself and my FI loved, trying to find free photoshop brushes that would work with my old versions of photoshop, trying to get the right colors, I alsmot gave up the search and went with some DIY invites from Target. I’m glad that I continued with doing them myself, but I don’t think they are as wonderful as I anticipated they would be.

Yours are wonderful, and I hope you love them as much now as you did when you started… I’m just going to be happy to put mine in the mailbox :)

 
14.
Bee Icon
Bee
Mrs. Beagle (message)  1,380 posts, Bumble bee

I love the twine and the color scheme you used- they’re beautiful!

 
15.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Hamster (message)  4,046 posts, Honey bee

They are awesome - I love the cohesive look!

 
16.
Miss Pretzel
Bee
Miss Pretzel (message)  1,893 posts, Buzzing bee

Love them!

 
17.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Frozen Yogurt (message)  2,685 posts, Sugar bee

These are seriously amazing, I love the font choices and the colors!

 
18.
tea
Member
tea (message)  7,288 posts, Bee Keeper

i love the twine and the play on the twine on the hotel card. they all look great!

 
19.
jordynrose
Member
jordynrose (message)  6,351 posts, Bee Keeper

These turned out great!

 
20.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Starfish (message)  1,924 posts, Buzzing bee

love love love the ribbon details!

 
1 2 

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Mrs. Ribbons
Mrs. Ribbons

Mrs. Ribbons, Washington D.C./Bloomington, IN Age and Occupation: 23, Research Associate for an international development firm Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Proposal Coordinator for contractor Engagement Date: May 2, 2008 Wedding Date: June 2010 Venue: Indiana Memorial Union About Me: I'm an Indiana transplant living in DC with my fiance and our pretty kitty. I enjoy the color pink, I'm obsessed with the Dior New Look and tulle, and I heart my level 80 paladin. I'm a sucker for bad TV, literary theory, and cakes of all persuasion. I also happen to be marrying the cutest closet nerd around! It's all about Bloomington for us because it's where we met -- on the college paper. If there's a theme for our small summertime wedding, it's Dior meets Dorothy Draper on a lark in Bloomington; think poofy, plus graphic prints, bold colors, and a whole lot of prettiness.

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