Thursday, May 2, 2013

Our DIY Wedding Invitations

We Live Upstairs DIY Wedding Invitations

When I began searching through all of the magnificently curated paper goods on Etsy for just the right wedding invitations (I know you know what I'm talkin' about), I started  noticing a trend: they're expensive. This was also during a time when I was beginning to feel a bit more confident in my Photoshop skills, so I thought, "Why not make them myself?" I made our save-the-dates and I was pleased with how those turned out, and I knew that no one else would know the aesthetic I was going for quite like me, so I went for it. What you see before you is hours of work, too many hand cramps to count, and a ton of fun for me (I geek out at design & paper stuff really easily). With that in mind, be nice : ).

We Live Upstairs DIY Wedding Invitations

I didn't want to share any that had real addresses on them, but who wouldn't want her at their wedding anyway?

We Live Upstairs DIY Wedding Invitations
We Live Upstairs DIY Wedding Invitations

I drew the laurel wreaths on all of the envelopes by hand throughout several days and one re-watch of Freaks and Geeks.

We Live Upstairs DIY Wedding Invitations

The invitation was printed on watercolor paper. After they were printed, I painted them and then layered the stamps on top of the dried paint.

We Live Upstairs DIY Wedding InvitationsDescription of Photo
We Live Upstairs DIY Wedding Invitations
We Live Upstairs DIY Wedding Invitations

We also included an accommodations list for our out-of-town-ers, but we'd used them all up by the time I got around to taking pictures.

It doesn't take an eagle eye to see that they're not perfect, but I kind of love that they're all a little different. In the end, I'm glad I took this plunge: we saved a ton of money, I learned even more about Photoshop, and I got to have complete creative control. Not to mention, I got to make something special for the people I love the most. Yay, DIY!

18 comments:

  1. Those are absofuck*nglutely beautiful. I'm sure everybody will love them. You made me wish I'd tried to diy my own, congratulations!(on the wedding and the invitations)

    Eulalia

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  2. Honestly, I've never seen an invitation that I like more! These are amazing. You are so creative and talented!

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  3. Wow, thanks you guys! You are too sweet : )

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  4. WOW- we are getting our invites ready too and can I just say how blown away I am by these. Both by the time it must have taken to handwrite those addresses, but also the invites (and RSVP and Map etc!) are just amazing. Love it, love it, love it!

    PS When is your wedding going to be?

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much kristian! We are getting married in July.

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  5. OH MY GOSH, LEAH. These are just beautiful and perfect in every way. I am so impressed by these, you don't even know. I can't even imagine how long these took. Seriously, every single part (the envelopes, the actual invites, the maps, the rsvp, etc.) is just gorgeous.

    Also, I want to be best friends with Leslie Knope and invite her to everything.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Elana! You're so sweet!
      Yeah, it did take awhile (don't get me started on the envelopes) but I really did love doing it, and am so happy they turned out well.

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  6. oh my goodness these are amazing!! your font & little graphics are so cute on the cards & i love how fun you made the inside instead of the general rsvp- amazing job! you def have great photoshop abilities!
    http://dusanabotswana.com/

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Dus!
      It was a lot of fun playing around in PS : )

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  7. Not perfect? These ar AMAZING!? I cannot believe you designed these, or ever hand made these all by yourself. They really are GOOD. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself ^^ You trained your PS skills and saved money, plus, no one else will have these pretty invites :) x

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much, Nikki! That's so sweet!
      And yeah, I loved the one-of-a-kind aspect of it too. : )

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  8. These are SO LOVELY. i can't believe that you hand drew all of that.

    amazing

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much! I can't believe all of the sweet feedback I'm getting! :)

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  9. I LOVE these! You did such a great job and I love how there is a mix of computer design and hand drawn elements. You will be able to treasure these forever and I feel like guests are always happy to receive something so creative like this!!

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    1. That was what I was hoping- that even if they didn't turn out perfectly, everyone would get something hand made.

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  10. Holy freaking crap. These are beyond amazing. I can't wait to see photos from your wedding day (totally jealous of your photographer, too, for getting to photograph the loveliness), which I'm sure is going to be a DIY masterpiece!

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  11. Who would’ve thought those are DIYs? They look like they could compete with the work of those professional invitation makers. Or perhaps you are already a professional one. You could totally earn some money by doing those stuff!

    Hoa Bracken @ Master Copy Print

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