The following is a friendly PSA from your local bridal counsel.
Image source: Cloud Ave
There is a popular product in the wedding world that is out to sabotage your DIY projects. It seems discreet and innocent, but it will haunt your dreams.
The culprit? Baker’s twine.
Divine my ass
Mr. Pony and I have spent the last few days building our STD “kit” for our guests, part of which included twine to wrap everything up in a nice, tidy package. Or so I thought.
After sticking our twined kit into their envelopes a few days ago, I woke up this morning ready to seal these suckers and take ‘em to the post office. And what to my wondering eyes should appear? Spots. Ugly, greasy-looking spots on my envelopes.
I promise they are more noticeable in real life. Although the awesome paint addition helps.
At first I thought I had just been eating too much popcorn around wedding projects, but after some careful investigation, I found that the spots are concentrated where the twine is located inside the envelopes.
See all those marks? WTF?!!
I don’t know for sure if it is the twine, my envelopes, or the combination of both, but for some reason my twine has caused these grease-like spots to appear on every. single. one. of my damn envelopes.
At this point, I don’t have the time, patience, or envelopes to rewrite all of these. And, there is no guarantee that the same thing won’t happen to the next set of envelopes. Luckily, this problem does not seem to be affecting the contents inside the envelopes, just the envelopes themselves. They just look like crap. Hopefully our guests will just think the post office messed them up, not me (except those of you who read this).
I was planning on using twine on our invitations, too, but now I am worried that the same thing will happen to them. Ugh. Effing twine.
So, if you are considering this adorable addition for your invites, save the dates, or other paper products for your wedding, beware and learn from my mistake. Test out your twine with various papers and envelopes to see whether they cause you any problems before they cause you heartache. Or invest in liners, which I think would have stopped this problem entirely. That’s what I get for cutting corners trying to save time and trees by skipping liners.
Thus ends our PSA. You will be returned to regular programming momentarily. Oh, and remember: safety first.
Has anyone else had rogue twine that tried to ruin your wedding paper products? Or some other DIY disaster?
All personal photos unless source listed
Ugh, that sucks! At least you found out about this now and not mid-invite assembly though…
Ew, that’s so lame!! UGH that sucks. I was hoping to use the Divine Twine for my invites; am now rethinking? Has anyone else had this problem!?
@Miss Hyena: True. There probably would have been tears then.
@Miss Candy Apple: I actually didn’t use Divine Twine, so I’m not sure whether it would cause the same problems or not, but to reduce spots I wouldn’t leave the package sitting for long (especially if stacked or with weight on top) and I would use a liner to further avoid issues. I wouldn’t let it deter you from using twine (it’s too cute), but you might test it out beforehand.
I used twine for my invitations and did not have the issue (the twine-tied packs sat in enevelopes for a few days). I used twine from Layer Cake Shop: http://layercakeshop.com/index.php/Shop/Packaging/Pink-Bakers-Twine.html
I’m going to guess your twine may have had a light coating of wax (b/c if you reallly were baking with it, it would help it NOT stick so much to whatever you tied with it) or it was treated with something – again b/c it’s used for actual cooking.
If you plan to use again, I’d make sure it’s 100% cotton and nothing else.
However, I’m 100% certain no one noticed the spots when they received the envelope and the AMAZING items inside!! Don’t sweat it – they are great!!!!!!!!
I had the same EXACT issue after I had put together every single invitation. I cried a little bit and said some bad words and then decided that I had already worked hard enough on them and they were going in the mail anyway. I had used vintage stamps and there were 6-8 stamps already applied to the greasy envelopes – there was no going back. Sorry that you had the same issue and thank you for warning other brides, STAY AWAY FROM BAKERS TWINE!
Ugh, so sorry to hear this. I had a similar wake up the next morning in horror moment when my envelope flaps glued themselves to my beautiful invites overnight because I had them stacked up in a pile …. I fixed the problem by lifting off the paper with some drops of water and tweezers, and then gluing my belly band to the invite (I know, insanity).
What I realized is that since we’ve SLAVED over these darn things, we notice each and every tiny speck about them – while the people who are ripping them open won’t even notice cause they’re just so excited to get something pretty in the mail. If anyone says anything, blame in on the post office!!! 
oh no! I was planning on using baker’s twine for my invitations, also. I wonder if it’s just the particular brand?? must investigate…
I’m sure nobody else will notice, though – like @michellelynne8 said, everyone will be so excited to see what’s INSIDE the envelopes, they probably won’t even see the spots!
OMG, thank you for this post. I finally know what caused the grease marks on my invites – all this time I blamed my fiance for eating around the envelopes Mystery solved!
Thank you thank you thank you for sharing this! I was planning on using twine as well and I would have freaked out if this happened to me. Now I am rethinking the liners that I had previously vetoed as not worth the extra money or work. Thank you!
Oh man do I feel your pain! Same exact thing happened to me, only my envelopes were made out of kraft paper so it was even more noticeable. luckily, i still had about 30 invitations left to do. for those, I stuffed them into the envelopes at the last minute and made sure to keep them loose, without anything pressing against them on the way to the post office. that seemed to solve the problem.
Oh no! I already bought the Divine Twine for exactly the reasons you did (fell in love, made so much sense to tie the invitation suite together, etc.). I was leaning towards envelope liners and I guess now I know I’d better plan on definitely executing that particular project, lest my twine derail my vision. Thanks for the fyi!
Yikes. Thanks for the heads-up. I know this may not help, but in the grand scheme, your guests may not even notice the spots as coming from the twine, but rather a boo-boo while being processed by the US postal service (go ahead…blame it on the gub-ment!)
Oh no! I am sure that everyone will be too wow’d by what’s inside to even notice the grease spots on the envelope. As amorette suggested, I’m guessing that the baker’s twine has a coating of wax that is causing the spots. 100% cotton twine should work ok though.
Hmm, I used baker’s twine on my invites, and I didn’t have any grease spots. Of course, I had thick metallic envelopes from Cards and Pockets, so they might’ve concealed the grease. Like other’s have suggested, I bet your twine was coated. Mine felt just like really thin string.
Welp… I just had an anxiety attack. I totally didn’t check my STD’s for twine grease marks. Probably should have done that. Oh well, too late now!
I’m sorry yours are giving you such a hard time 
That sucks. And twine is an evil little b$@%h. I have a bunch upstairs mocking me bc I haven’t done anything with it.
Oh no, not the twine! That is terrible! I’m going to have to check my remaining invites at home to see if there is a problem…
I had no idea that this could even occur! A PSA worth delivering, for sure!
Whoa, I had no idea. I had purchased some Divine Twine, but never actually used it for our wedding. If I received an envelope with those marks on it, I would honestly think nothing of it!
Dude, I’m pretty sure worse things will happen to the invitations as they go through the mail. I’m currently biting my nails on a test run of ours. Damn you USPS! And I had no idea twine would leave grease spots. It’s still blowing my mind.
Mrs. Pony, Bloomington, IL Age and Occupation: 25, Attorney Fiance's Age and Occupation: 34, Attorney Engagement Date: March 22, 2010 Wedding Date: September 2011 Venue: Mackinaw Valley Vineyard; Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts About Me: I found my Southern counterpart in law school and since he popped the question last March, we have been busy graduating, job searching, bar taking, and wedding planning. My loves include must see TV, magnets, quotes, anything green, my car, fun socks, the Cubs, and my Mr. Together we love wine, playing outside, and exploring the world together. Stay tuned to see our Midwest wedding full of Southern charm, vintage flair, lots of DIY details, and a whole lot o’ wine.
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