The Big Invitation Reveal

I'm so excited to finally show you guys my wedding invitations! Here goes nothin'.

Let's start with what our guests will see when they open their mailbox.


As I mentioned before I wrote all the guests' addresses with a silver calligraphy pen that really popped against the dark blue envelopes. I couldn't decide which wedding stamps I liked best so I used them all.

Source

I kept the back simple by writing our names and address along the bottom edge of the flap, also in silver ink, and separated by cute little hearts.


And now for what our guests will see when they open (very carefully so as to not destroy the envelope liner) their invitations!


Wait for it...


Wait for it...


Wait for it...


Ta da!!!

Here's everything that I'm sending out to my guests: Invitation with belly band, map with directions on back and an RSVP card directing people to our wedding website.


The map and RSVP card are secured behind the invitation with the belly band, which was made with royal blue ribbon and accented with an "H" made of cardstock, which will soon be both of ours last initial.


The map was drawn by me using Paint.net and the inspiration maps I'd collected, and I used one of our favorite engagement photos for our RSVP card.

Photo taken by Nathan Russell; Edited by me!

The lace edges of the invitation were done using an awesome scrapbooking tool I found at JoAnns. Pretty, huh?



And when our guests open the main invitation, they will then lay their eyes upon Mr. Plaid's awesome, original drawing. I asked him to draw our invitation several months ago, and what he came up with was perfect. We then scanned it in to the computer and I cleaned and refined it using Paint.net and added the text.



Last, but not least, here's a cost breakdown of our invitations:

Cardstock and Envelopes: $52.96 (from Paper and More!)
Copies of Map and Invite: $52.74 (from Office Depot)
RSVP Photo Cards: $10.80 (from Shutterfly)
Ribbon for Belly Band: $ 5.41 (from Michaels)
Lace Scrapbooking Tool: $9.59 (on sale from Jo Anns)
Silver Pens: $ 6.21 (from Michaels)
Envelope Liners made from Wrapping Paper: $1.00 (from Dollar Tree)
Postage: $20 (from USPS)

TOTAL: $158.71 or $2.11 per invitation

Not bad, if I do say so myself, and extremely rewarding!

Did you DIY your invitations? And were you able to find a way to get your fiance involved as well?