Weddingbee Blog

All right, now that Bossyboots’ and my wedding invitations are in our guests’ hot little hands, it’s time do some revealing around here!

Creating these invitations was a heckuvalotta work, but I’m happy with them. Of course, there are endless ways I see that I could have designed them in different ways, but at a certain point, you have to step back and send those dang files to the printer!

Let’s get to it… you may recognize a few elements that have evolved out of my original wedding invitation design. I’ve learned how to use Illustrator since 2009, and I have to say designing in Adobe is much easier than MacGyvering in Word!

The entire suite was bundled in a belly band… this is what our guests saw when they pulled the invitation out of the envelope:

Inside, the suite was made up of four pieces, all double-sided:

• the main invite
• a double-sided map
• an info trifold
• a RSVP card

The entire suite uses a combination of hand-painted and digital fonts. Overall, we were going for a hugely personal set, with a folk art feel.

*Personal info obscured

Our main invite, front and back…

Our double-sided map of Chicago (where we live) and Dallas (where I grew up, and where the wedding will happen!)

The maps are hard to see! Here’s a close-up…

For Chicago, I painted all the places that are most important to Bossyboots and me. Every place I painted has a story behind it. Can you spot Bossyboots and me on the marathon course?

I think my favorite part of the Dallas map is the giraffe playing hooky! I’m also happy that you can see my sister and I crossing the finish line of my very first marathon (which we ran together!). My dad and Bossyboots are just behind us.

Since our wedding is quasi-destination, I wanted to include an info sheet that guests could keep in a pocket or purse. The sheet includes parking and travel info, along with suggested activities and restaurants. This info and more is also on our wedding website, but I think it’s important for guests to get a hard copy that they can easily take to the actual wedding, as well! (If they get lost on the way to the wedding, it won’t be my fault!)

The RSVP card is the very last thing that I designed… and to be honest, I think you can tell. C’est la vie! The vegetarian meal option looks so short and sad, but the risotto really is SO GOOD, I promise!!

So there you have it! The Snapdragon invitations. Now, we pray and wait.

Many thanks to Mrs. Cupcake; who fielded about 85 emails from me asking for advice, tips, and cookies at all hours. She’s a pro, which is why she can design invitations in about a quarter of the time that it took me!

Are you in the middle of designing your own invitations? Do you need a care package? Group hug, people.