The invites were a labour of.... learning! I knew the general feel I wanted to go with, but let's face it, I am not a graphic designer! I wanted to keep the colors somewhat neutral, incorporate the mountains, and if possible, the graphic from our save-the-dates. I knew the invites would be simple from a fold-perspective, ie. no folds whatsoever! No gate-fold, bi-fold, tri-fold, pocket-fold, or do-it-yourself-envelope-fold. These are all gorgeous and stylish, but in order to maintain our theme of simple, casual, and eco-conscious, they would be post-card style, albeit stylish postcards!
Things are looking a bit black and harsh... especially on the graphic...
Getting better right?! Maybe I am getting the hang of it! I was still feeling like the lineart was pulling attention away from the text, and even competing with the top border, so here was my next idea:
This was the last iteration before my final cut... which of course you have to wait patiently to see :) I hope this post helps the design-challenged (like me!). I found it very intimidating seeing all of the beautiful invitation suites in the blogger world, and while I knew I couldn't afford to even think about getting them done professionally, I still wanted an invite that made an impression, continued the theme set by our save-the-dates, and bottom line, was affordable and completely DIY-able! The process outlined here will hopefully give you guys hope that patience can pay off, and also act as a reminder that the amazing and stunning final products that we see online or in-store are just that, final products. Many ideas, concepts, proofs, and iterations are required before the final act can shine through! Good luck!! And please, let me know how you went about your invite design!!
Unlike the save-the-dates, I did want to send these in envelopes, BUT, there was to be NO inserts... no RSVP cards, no hotel info sheets, no what-to-do-in-fernie cards, just the postcard invite in an envelope. I created a fun and interactive website using weddingtracker.com which would inform all of our guests about the details of the wedding, accommodation, and rsvp-ing. I know this method has come under scrutiny for a variety of reasons (it's not traditional OR formal, but neither is our wedding, not all of the guests are computer savvy, and we know those that are not, like my dad, and will be in touch via phone to help simplify the process, the invites appear looking so plain, that's because we aren't wasting paper on info that can be delivered electronically, and one of my favorites, then you won't get all of your rsvp cards back in the mail, funny, that's exactly what I am trying to avoid... whatever would I do with those rsvp cards but enter the info electronically to my website!!) but we are confident that this method fits our wedding theme the best.
OK, onto the tricky design process. Let me reiterate the fact that I am NOT a graphic design artist... not even close. BUT, when you are on a budget, and you don't know anyone who you can pull a favour in from, you have to get down and dirty and figure it out. The first concept looked like this: (PS... all design work was done with Photoshop) (PPS... the geranium reference comes from my alter-blogger-ego, which you can find over at BridalBuds.com)
Which was decidedly plain, but without judgement, was the first creation. I will let the sequence of adjustments speak for themselves... remember, this post is meant to support and encourage all of us DIY brides who were all but forced into this position by our budget, not by our overflowing DIY talent!! I hope that seeing my process will help some of you all break free, get your hands dirty, and come up with something you are completely happy with... even if it means going through many iterations of crap... like I did!!
The engineer in me needed a bit more linearity...
Things are looking a bit black and harsh... especially on the graphic...Getting better right?! Maybe I am getting the hang of it! I was still feeling like the lineart was pulling attention away from the text, and even competing with the top border, so here was my next idea:This was the last iteration before my final cut... which of course you have to wait patiently to see :) I hope this post helps the design-challenged (like me!). I found it very intimidating seeing all of the beautiful invitation suites in the blogger world, and while I knew I couldn't afford to even think about getting them done professionally, I still wanted an invite that made an impression, continued the theme set by our save-the-dates, and bottom line, was affordable and completely DIY-able! The process outlined here will hopefully give you guys hope that patience can pay off, and also act as a reminder that the amazing and stunning final products that we see online or in-store are just that, final products. Many ideas, concepts, proofs, and iterations are required before the final act can shine through! Good luck!! And please, let me know how you went about your invite design!!
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