So here's the invitation:
We wanted something classy and elegant yet fun and beachy. I think we achieved that. I edited the wording a bit from someone's post on the disboards...so THANK YOU! I just absolutely fell in love with it and the invitations went out last week and everyone else loves the wording too! The invitation dimensions are really 5x7" and I ordered them from mygatsby.com. I ordered them disassembled to save money and then spent about $15 on glue dots (they work like a charm - I use them for scrapbooking all the time) and put them together myself.
The text on the invitation is raised (and it's a really dark brown, btw, not black) and the white paper's actually a gorgeous metallic paper (it's called Poison Ivory) with just enough sparkle to remind me of the beach! And the palm tree doesn't seem like it's in my character to add but DF and I really liked it when we saw the option to add it.
I didn't want to go crazy with response cards because of the cost of not only the card but the postage to return them to us, and hey, there's internet these days! So I decided to get 2 inserts printed up: 1 was an "RSVP" card that simply said to reply via our website (which has an RSVP feature I activated) and the other was a "Welcome Aboard" card that went to those we know are already coming. I left a line for their cruise confirmation number and wrote them in for each couple as I stuffed the envelope. (We know mostly who is coming and who isn't so when we sent them out I was able to do this.) We sent out 105 invitations, for 193 people invited...but we already know only about 70 are coming. So that's a good number for us!
RSVP Card (they're both 4.25x5.25"):
Welcome Aboard Card:
On to the exterior...
I printed on the envelopes myself with a free font I found online. I looked into purchasing the script of the invitation but it was $150 and I said no thank you... I copied the palm tree from the invitation and printed it next to the return address to keep the theme going. And the stamps are Disney of course! That Mickey Mouse stamp is PERFECT! Unfortunately there are only 5 of those per page (the other ones are Aurora and the fairies, 101 Dalmations, and The Jungle Book) so special people got the Mickey stamp.
Envelope:
And I splurged on a wax seal. I say splurged b/c the stamps aren't cheap (but you can use them forever) and the wax is DEFINITELY not cheap!
But it really added a special detail to the back of the envelope. The actual size was probably a little bigger than a dime but I enlarged it so you could see:
All in all if I had all the money in the world to work with I would've done something more elaborate with pockets and more inserts but to spend over $400 on paper that's going to be thrown away in the end is unnecessary. So I'm glad this is what I came up with and what we sent out because I do love it!
Next posts...I'll show you the locket I won off of ebay for my bouquet and the bridesmaids dresses are in!!
Still trying to take off the wieght I gained eating at all my fave Disney restaurants!
your invitations, reply cards, envelopes, and especially your seal! It seems to real to actually see it in writing and to mail the invitations out. Can't wait to hear more of your planning!
