Weddingbee Blog

I did indeed DIY these cards, but I should warn in true Thimble fashion that this post is nowhere near a legit tutorial. I stumbled my way through these big time. I never opened a book about Adobe Illustrator (but I promise I have since); I just got myself (Mr. T got me) a free trial and I went at it. What came out in the end?

Ta da!!

What I made in Illustrator:

Finished product {featuring bling pear necklace ’cause it matched}:

{personal photos}

What was my super well thought out trial and error process, you ask?

• Brainstorm a list of inside jokes and special memories you have with all your girls individually.
• Look at some inspiration stationery—if you’re like me you have some invitation suites you’ve been drooling over and you can’t pick which one so you do some of both:

{Thoughtful Day, Hello Lucky}

• Find some fonts you like (and more inspiration) on sites like dafont and my fonts.
• Open your Illustrator free trial and acquaint yourself with selection tools and text boxes.
• I made a “word cloud” by putting each inside joke idea in its own text box, sizing the font and the box differently, and moving them around until I was satisfied with the mosaic.
• Come up with a completely unnecessary sales slogan to convince the girls to “join the party”.
• Go to Michaels craft store and buy a pack of card stock that includes several of your wedding colors. {Note: I tried to link to what I bought but I can’t find just a pack of paper on their wackadoo website.}
• Play with font colors and print on several different colors of cardstock until something is readable and pretty enough.
• Cut the cards down if you used 8 1/2″ by 11″ paper.
• Use a corner-rounder punch on the corners.
• Raid your mom’s craft closet for suitable ribbon or trim when you’re home for the holidays
• Hot glue together a tailored looking ribbon in 3 pieces. (I was going for the ribbon on Melissa Sweet’s Fern dress as I’m still slightlysecretly obsessed.)

And there you have it! I hope I have inspired other folks to just go for it regardless of whether you have any experience (haha, right). In “graphic design” or otherwise. (The inappropriate use of quotes is because I’m no graphic designer.)

How did you ask your bridesmaids to “join the party”? (Confession: I asked them all in person or over the phone. The official cards came later.)