Tuesday 6 July 2010

Our Wedding Invitations

After an exhasting 2 weeks at Summer camp I'm back in Scotland and in the midst of wedding preparations. It's pretty hectic but hopefully I'll manage to keep my blog up to date over the next few weeks. Finally, here is the post about my invitations.

I must have considered 100 different designs for my invitations before we settled on one we were both happy with. One thing I knew from the start was that I wanted to make them myself. In the end we settled on a very simple idea but sourcing all of the materials was quite tricky and time consuming. The Internet is a wondeful thing but at times very frustrating!

Here are all of the materials we used:


1. Woodware brown Kraft card pack with envelopes from Crafts U Love
2. Rubber stamp made by a local company from an image I drew myself
3. Douglas tartan ribbon from tartan-ribbon.com
4. Calligraphy pen from a local stationer's
5. Martha Stewart lace edge paper punch bought from Crafts U Love

It doesn't seem like much but I spent many hours online and trailing around shops in Perugia before we found exactly what we wanted.

The first task was to stamp the front of the cards. The reason we chose a hedgehog is because Matteo's surname 'Ricci' translated into English means Hedgehogs! I drew the image myself and we emailed it to a local shop which makes rubber stamps. I was really pleased how well it turned out.


The inside of the invitations we designed on the computer using a font downloaded for free from here. We then punched the bottom edge using the Martha Stewart punch.......


Matteo's job was to stick the paper inside the cards using double-sided sticky tape........


and then cut the ribbon ready for me to tie in a bow round the cards........


I addressed all the envelopes by hand and finally we stamped the back of the envelopes using a butterfly stamp which is a bigger version of the butterfly on the end of the hedgehog's nose.


The pretty Italian francobolli (stamps) finished off the look and eventually they were all ready to be posted. We visited 3 post boxes before I was finally able to part with the invitations I'd spent so long making. The first one was right next to a muddy puddle and the second one was already full.
Overall I'm extremely pleased with the finished result. They do look a bit
amateur and home made but then home made is exactly what they are and how a lot of our wedding will be. I think they reflect our personalities and are unique and personal to us. We had a lot of fun making them together and they were sent off with a lot of love tied up inside the ribbon!











18 comments:

Amanda said...

I think your invites look lovely Sarah! I love the kraft paper look and our stamp is such a cute, personal touch. I love the ribbon as a hint to your Scottish heritage and the scallop edge punch is such a pretty touch. Your writing on the front is beautiful. Hope your guests appreciate them x

Engracia said...

They are stunning Sarah, I'm positive the lucky recipients will see the love in them.
All the best
Engracia
xx

Razmataz said...

I honestly would take that anyday over a store bought or professionally made invite. I love the font, the stamp and the scallopy edges. The fact it is handmade gives it charm and character. I would be dying to see what the wedding was going to be like if I received that.!

Unknown said...

Your invitations look lovely Sarah! I would be thrilled to receive an invitation like that, knowing how much time and effort you put into it! Well done! xx

Audrey said...

Really "chic" and pretty Sarah! I made our wedding invitations too. I would like them personnal and unique at yours... It was last August! I loved all the preparations for our wedding and the big day was magical, fantastic... pure happiness! Enjoy it sarh, it's a really good time... :)

Rebecca said...

those are gorgeous Sarah, really really sweet, I love the hegehog!

Sara Louise said...

So lovely, and I absolutely love the tartan!

LindyLouMac said...

The words amateur and homemade are definitely NOT to be applied to these invitations.

They have been made with loving care and I think they are fabulous a very special memento of your wedding for your guests.

Well Done to you both :)

Erna said...

Gorgeous with the Tartan touch :)

Ellen said...

I like your invitations. I like the fact couples are doing a more personal type of invitation rather that the engraved formal...there was a time I was very much for formal-by-the-book but I have given up to fun, unique instead! I am sure you worked very hard....

Anonymous said...

Sarah Elizabeth, I think your invitations are fantastic. I particularly love the hedgehog and the tartan ribbon. Well done.

Delilah said...

Wow those are great!! I LOVE the hedgehog image it's really cute but chic at the same time! Great work!

Delilah H. said...

I tried to find an address to email you personally but could not find one, so I hope you do not mind I contact you through the comments :-)

I really am quite impressed at your ingenuity at coming up with these great invitations! My website is www.do-it-yourself-invitations.com, and I would so love it if you would add your invites to my websites as inspiration for other brides doing DIY invitations. There is a section where you can write your own page and upload photos and everything. I am also hosting a giveaway right now, which you would be entered into automatically by adding a page. I think my readers would really love your ideas! Oh, and you can link back to your blog too if you like! :-)

Flaviana said...

Hi Sarah!
just let me say, your invitation cards are simply lovely ! you did a marvelous job and I so like the personal touches like the hedgehog stamps and the tartan ribbon
Well done, brava!!
xxx

1 Funky Woman said...

Oh Sarah these are beautiful! How wonderful to do them yourself also! I love the little hedgehog on the front, too cute! We have a pet hedgehog named Steve!

Have a great weekend!

Megan

Cheryl said...

Blog hoppped over here from I am not sure which other blog, but glad I did.
Congrats on getting married and look forward to seeing how you all renovate your home.
I love the fact that you handmade everything about the invites. Right down to handwriting all the envelopes. Such personalization and care. Noone in this day and age does that anymore. They came out lovely.

Rie said...

I absolutely love these!!! So beautiful!

Catalina Alvarez said...

Absolutely beautiful cards.
congratulations.
cata