The Great Lobster Invitation Reveal

My biggest DIY undertaking for the wedding was definitely our invitation suite. I designed the whole thing with a little help from some purchased stock images. By the time I created this gem, I had already completed at least six other designs. Since Mr. Rucksack and I couldn't agree, it was back to the drawing board. Maybe someday I'll open an Etsy shop so that all of those designs don't go to waste. I thought some of them were pretty darn cute:

A small sample of my nixed creative work

I decided to go back to our Save the Date roots and incorporate the lobsters again. I mean, who doesn't love an adorable lobster? I also stayed with the navy and white color scheme to appease Mr. Rucksack since he wasn't a fan of the pink and aqua colors I had used in the other invitation sets I created. After playing around with layouts, I went with a tri-fold card with lots of lobsters and shells:

The front of the invitation

Partially opened

All the deets

Back of the postcard Response Card

Invitation & Response Card

The whole suite, including the thank you card

For some reason, I naively thought that designing our invitations would actually save us money. (Our Save the Dates had been so inexpensive!) What I didn't consider was that we were now a) printing on both sides b) using much longer paper that had to be cut down to accommodate our 6x18 cards and c) having folds included. Folds cost money. Mad money. I was able to negotiate the price a little so they weren't ridiculously expensive, but we definitely could have saved money (and time!) by going the stock online route.

I used Allegra out of New Haven to print everything because I’ve worked with them for years through both my day job and my outside design work. They were wonderful to work with as always, but I was a little disappointed with how long it all took. They were a few days late on both of the proofs and then a day late on the final invitations. We were cutting it close to the advised 6-8 week mark as it was, so I was panicking a little. Everyone’s incessant nagging of “where’s my invitation?” did not help matters.

They ended up going out at the 7 week mark which Miss Manners assures me is just fine. And I have to tell you, all of the praise we've received made them seem well worth the wait and the price.

One of my favorite parts of the invitation was our envelope. In Photoshop, I manipulated our lobster graphic from the invitations so that his claws would hold our stamps. The body wrapped around the top of the invitation and became part of our address label. I know I would smile if I had a little lobster delivering my mail!

Did you DIY your invitations? What was your biggest challenge?

Seaside Save the Dates

Can I get a quick amen for all things Etsy?

After months of attempting to design our STD cards, I finally caved in after it became apparent that I cannot paint. I had gotten it into my head that since I can do fairly decent graphic design work, that I should obviously be able to hand paint our cards. So armed with hundreds of dollars of pens, watercolor paper, canvas, and watercolors  I gave it my very best shot. And another. And another.

No dice.

I called my artist uncle for help, but he just scanned and sent me a bunch of old paintings he'd done of tropical beaches. They were gorgeous, but palm trees don't really match our New England themed beach wedding.

I searched online. I searched Etsy. I came up with nothing several times.

And then I stumbled upon an artist named Jackie Maloney and she was everything I wished I could be as an artist. Her work is cool and colorful and nautical, but it also looks so effortless. Like she just whipped something awesome up in a matter of minutes. So I sent her a flattering email with hopes that I could butter her up enough that she might draw something custom for us. Luckily she said yes and within two days, I had a lovely Save the Date in my possession!

The only inspiration I shared with her was this:

Via Momental Designs

But mostly I told her to have fun and to maybe add my dog, The Beez, into the mix.

Words cannot describe the amazing work that Jackie did for us. I think ours are even better than my inspiration pics! You guys ready to see?

I had the cards printed and cut at my favorite local printer, then assembled them at home with navy cardstock and red baker's twine. (Can you spot The Beez playing on the beach in the upper right corner? It's her favorite thing to do!)

All tied up! (Get it? Because we're tying the knot? Ha)

I had absolutely no intention of using address labels, but when the time came to use our customized address stamp, I couldn't find the ring with our new address on it! Of course I had put it "somewhere safe" and after an hour of searching still couldn't remember where that super safe place was.

So I did what any sane girl would do in my situation and I went to Best Buy and bought a printer. I know, I can't believe we didn't own a printer either. I figured it would come in handy throughout the whole wedding planning process anyway and we scored a great deal on a scanner/printer combo that's not only wireless, but that we can print with wifi from our iPads and iPhones. Awesomeness. If you're looking for a printer and scanner, definitely look into the Canon Pixma MG5420. (For what it's worth, it cost us $99 in-store.)

I'm still completely obsessed with our Save the Dates and think they really set the tone for the wedding. 

Would you commission an Etsy artist to create something for you? I love that we can now use the image for other wedding goodies!