All that thinking about wedding invitations got me wondering about mine again. I designed my own and since I worked at a printing shop at the time, I had access to on demand printing, cutting, scoring and folding machines and a sweet mail merge meets direct mail system so I could print all my addresses straight to every invite individually. With that in mind, I designed a self contained folder invitation with 5 insert cards that would fit in an envelope. Yes, I was spoiled.
Looking back, I wonder if I over thought it. A lot of my guests were from out of town, and not to be rude, but older. So I made sure everything was crystal clear. It should be mentioned that I am a bit of plan nazi. I need to have a plan for everything, even dinner and a movie with friends. I am not someone who can just drive someplace without directions, pee stops and hotels planned out along the way.
Anyway, here's a look at the insides. I found a few good vector art pieces and used them to create the look I wanted. Brown and Orange were my colors, as I love orange, and it was a fall wedding. Lovebirds.
The main panel on the left inside had the traditional information, the announcement of the parents, bride and groom, time, day and location. That's usually enough for wedding invites now a days. I also had a link to the website that I created for this event which had all the information anyone could ever want.
Here is a close up of all the cards on the right. The five removable cards were held inside like a small folder. I had one for Directions, Accommodations, the RSVP, Activities in town and a Thank You/Registry card.
The RSVP was two sided and had a stamp so all they had to do was fill it out and put it in the mail. It was a really fun card since I left space for notes... I got a few doodles and a lot of "congratulations!"
The Directions card also had a simplified map on the back that I drew in Illustrator, highlighting the places of interest for the wedding and fun things in the area.
Maybe a bit too much information... but after going to something like 10 weddings in the two years after ours, I feel like I could have done with a little more info on some of those others. Anyway, even with all that planning, people still got lost between the church and the reception. Guess that's life.
