I finished my invites!!!

[happy in love]

They''re done!!!

I am attatching the pics of each piece so you can see everything. The pics are a little out of focus, but I don''t think it makes much of a difference... let me know if it does though!

First: outside of box with a tag that has the guests names (instead of an inner envelope)
Second: the invite
Third: The reception card

 

[happy in love]

4th: rsvp
5th: directions
6th: accommodations

 

[happy in love]

7th: potpourri sachet printed with the same design as invites
8th: wrapped and ready to hit the post office!!!!

 

[happy in love]

Here is my FI checking names of the list, with stacks of invites all around!

 

[Gypsy]

Happy they are GORGEOUS!!! OMG! I can''t believe how amazing those are!

I just received the ugliest invites to this REALLY big circus wedding at the Ritz in San Fran, and I was thinking-- surely they could do better!

You knocked the ball out of the field!! How much did they run you?

Oh wow I love them!

 

[ringster]

they look lovely. you did a great job!

 

[happy in love]

Thanks Gypsy! I will have to get back to you on the total... I lost track at the 3rd or 4th trip back to the paper store!

 

[april diamonds]

Happy - Love the invites!!! Where did you get the boxes or the invites? Did you order your inserts to fit the boxes perfectly? Wow, I wish I had seen box invites berfore I went and did mine. But I feel like they will cost a lot to send out and I have a lot to send!

Really great job! Congrats!

 

[sumbride]

Those are absolutely incredibly! Fan-flipping-tastic! I wish I was a guest at your wedding!!! Well done!!!

 

[Gypsy]

Date: 2/12/2008 1:33:10 PM
Author: happy in love
Thanks Gypsy! I will have to get back to you on the total... I lost track at the 3rd or 4th trip back to the paper store!

*snort* That doesn''t bode well. They are gorgeous though. You did an AMAZING job!

 

[CrownJewel]

HIL, I think I passed out for a second because your invites are so gorgeous. Wow. I need tips from you! How did you do the actual invites, cards, etc? Did you have those printed? They''re beautiful. I love the design.

 

[happy in love]

Thanks aprildiamonds and sumbride.

I got the boxes here www.retailpackaging.com/index.asp?category=9951
they are 5x7x1 1/4.
I cut all the paper to fit myself. The lady at my local paper store offered to cut them for me, but I just have to do everything myself

Everything was printed on my Gocco printer.

I am soo happy with how they turned out! And just as happy to be DONE!!!

A quick total of everything I needed brings the grand total for 80 invites to about $500.
I had to purchase the boxes in a case of 100, also in the total is the stamps, the kraft paper to wrap them in, the sticky paper for the labels, the paper, the ribbon, the ink, the gocco screens and bulbs.

They were $1.64 to mail, and since I am going to a family function this Saturday I am hand delivering about 20 of them. (Why not save where I can, right?)

Hmmm... I think that covers it.

 

[happy in love]

Thanks Ringster and CrownJewels too. I don''t know how I missed your comments before!

 

[goldenstar]

You are my hero!!!! I love boxed invites. Now I know it can be done DIY style.

ETA: How did you print the mailing labels? They make the invites look so polished.

 

[happy in love]

Goldenstar- The only way I could fit boxed invites into our budget was to DIY them, so I sat down and figured out a way to make it work!
The labels are just full sheets of adhesive paper that I fed through the computer printer. I took the dots from the invite design and made the labels in Photoshop, then just printed them, and cut them with my paper cutter. I figured it would be easier than the pre-cut printer labels, I can never get those things to line up right!

 

[shigidigi]

Happy these are incredible!! I have to say my favorite part are your awesome stamps with your photo on them!! Great touch! Your guests will definitely feel lucky to be invited to a wedding with such thoughtful invitation boxes! Nice job!

 

[gtn]

If I didn''t have so many to do,I would totally bite off your idea and do box invites. The look fantastic!

How much did you pay for your gocco? I was wondering if it is worth the cost. I know there was a previous post about them and everybody who owned them loved it, but your invites definitely makes me want them. One question, what is the texture of the gocco printer like? is it smooth, raised, feels like laser toner? TIA and thanks for sharing.

 

[Selkie]

Those are beautiful! I love the vintage look! And $500 for 80 is really a pretty good deal, for materials for boxed invites. Did you make the sachets as well?

 

[partyjewels]

Yowza! Those are gorgeous! If only I could slash our guest list in half....

P.S. are those custom stamps with your picture I see? Nice touch!

 

[bee*]

wow-they''re beautiful! Really really gorgeous.

 

[zoebartlett]

WOW! Those are incredible! How beautiful!

 

[Harleigh]

Happy,

You did such an amazing job on your invites! I am so proud of you! Congratulations on a job very well done!

I love how polished they look, and the stamps with your pictures on them just totally seal the deal on them!

Fantastic looking! Yay!

 

[LegacyGirl]

Wow I love those. What a great idea!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Very cool! I would be so impressed to get an invite like yours!

 

[enbcfsobe]

WOW!!!

 

[CrownJewel]

HIL, I was considering getting a Gocco too. But how long did it take you to figure out how to use it? And how did you come up with the design on your invitation?

 

[emilina22]

soooo pretty wow

 

[happy in love]

Thanks for all the love! I admit that it is nice to see that they have gone over well with you ladies on PS

qtn- I think I paid about $200 for the gocco on ebay including shipping from japan. There are lots of different types of inks you can use, the light blue one I used seemed to leave a little unexpected sparkle on the paper. The finished look is hard to explain exactly, it is not raised, but almost looks like it is painted on the paper maybe?? The gocco works by burning the image onto a screen, and then you put ink everywhere on the screen that has your image on it and then "stamp" the image onto the paper. Does that make sense? It seems like a combo of screenprinting and stamping really.

Crown Jewels- I read a little bit about it online, and then I did a trial run with an image I drew out. It is really easy, but there are a few things to keep in mind...
I bought the PG-5 model, which prints in a 4x6 area at a time. Because my invites were 5x7 I had to use 2 screens for each page, which made it very important to line everything up perfectly each time. I wish I had splurged on the bigger model that prints a 6x9 area, but it was twice the price and I didn''t know if I would like using it!
I am seriously considering making some invites and announcements for other people on the side since I had so much fun doing my own, and I can''t wait to try it out on cloth too. If I am still using this thing 6 months down the road I think I might splurge on the bigger one.

As for the design, I bought an image from bigstockphoto.com and edited it in photoshop to make it just what I wanted.

One more thing I should mention is that it isn''t really something you can have help with doing unless you have more than one machine, so it made the stamping process a little lonely. People kept offering to help, but there wasn''t anything for them to do until it came time to put them all together!

 

[dearheart]

These invitations are the most beautiful things! I love the stamp, the beautifully wrapped box, and the little sachet! What a treat it will be for your guests to get these lovely creations in the mail!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Holy frickin'' canoli those are gorgeous!!! So classy and elegant.