Invitations

Finally, all the invitations are in the mail and I can brag about them online. I'm really proud of them -- they've been the highlight of planning so far (from designing, to creating, to assembling, to getting feedback) but ever since then, everything has been downhill and nothing else has gone right. So don't expect much after this....

invite inside fully addressed vellum envelope (we chose vellum b/c it was on sale from myGatsby.com)

full invite (in poor light) with stamp (I was dissatisfied with the Post Office's selection of wedding stamps, but this was the best choice among their 63 cent selection)

pocket-fold invite wrapped with sheer Asiana ribbon (in ivory but looks silverish), closed with a seal of an embossed double happiness symbol on ivory cardstock, with vellum backing (again, poor lighting, but it really is ivory cardstock, not yellow!)

inside of invite; Chinese in red text above the English in black (there is a minor typo in Chinese, which we rectified by punchiing out various heart shapes but I'm too embarrassed to show a picture, plus we gave all those out before I had a chance to take a pic)

the various enclosures: map and directions card, RSVP, and card with web info (actually printed on the blank perforated business cards from Staples, which fit perfectly on the side pocket b/c it is 3.5"x2" & the enclosures are supposed to be 3.5" tall; best part is no cutting, just ripping apart)

close-up of the direction card; I really enjoyed creating the map (I used Google Earth to get a 3-D view of everything, traced the important parts, like landmarks, by hand, scanned the image, and traced it all over in Illustrator so as to have perfectly straight lines)

the RSVP card with a maple leaf punched out in the corner (to give just a hint of a fall wedding); all the English wording is screwed up (mix of formal and informal b/c of the huge problems FFIL had with it, even though I barely understand his English sometimes)

I ordered the postage stamps online and they come very neatly packaged in plastic with a cardboard to support it. It's very convenient -- no waiting on line, dealing with incompetent ppl, or tracking down about 300 of the exact same type of stamps. It just costs $1 extra for shipping, which I think is well worth it. And it was delivered fairly quickly.

WHAT IT TAKES:

• Hammermill ivory 60lb. and 80 lb. cardstock from Staples: about $40 (we also bought extra to make other stuff too_
  
• 300 "firecracker red" (love the color!) pocket-fold invites from Paper Presentation: about $355
  
• 400 vellum outer envelopes: about $39 (on clearance, for 75% off)
  
• Heavyweight tracing paper from high school drafting class: basically free
• Glue & other adhesive: about $33 (we originally used the cheapass Avery glue pens from Staples for gluing the cardstock to the invite but they wouldn't really hold, then we went with the Scotch tape roller which is actually permanent; also used Glue Dots to stick ribbon and seal on)
• Ribbon: about $7.50
  
• 250 4-Bar RSVP envelopes from Paper Presentation: $37.50
  
• Custom-made stamps (double happiness and two other ones that we ended up not using) from Simon's Stamps: $21
• Embossing powder: $3
  
• Stamp pads: $8
  
• Maple leaf punch: $3.51
• Ivory blank business cards from Staples: $0.25
  

GRAND TOTAL: $547.76, or $1.83 per invite (really less, if you count all the stuff that can be reused)

I think I made out pretty well, considering nice invites cost upwards of $2 nowadays. I think for a similar style it would have cost at least $5/invite.

And postage stamps cost about $70 (but not part of "making the invitation" so I didn't include it above).

Lastly, there was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears when discussing the layout and wording, and hardly anyone has noticed that (insert befuddled, hardly amused, mostly aggravated face here).