Wed, 02 Sep 2009 12:00a.m.
Holy crap, its September already, which means we're officially under the five month mark until the big day!
I do not know where the last six months have gone! It seems like just a few weeks ago that we had found the venue and now we're almost ready to send out the invites. Eek!
Speaking of invites, let me fill you in on the details.
I really had no inspiration or idea of what I wanted the invites to look like. Many an hour was spent googling, and it became very obvious that this is one area where the sky is the limit in terms of formats, styles and more importantly, budget!
My biggest problem was finding somewhere to start. A workmate mentioned that there were DIY wedding invite nights at a local scrapbooking store, and better yet, they were free! So we popped along one evening, and had a looksee at what they could help us create. The possibilities were endless, but at least these guys were very keen on keeping costs realistic.
Meanwhile, I had found a lovely bride-to-be on the weddings.co.nz forum, who happened to design wedding invites in her 'spare' time.
Voila! The answer to my creative problems!
So for months now (yes, months) we've been emailing ideas and invite proofs back and forth, and I think we've finally nailed it! And although I felt slightly bridezilla-ish with all my finicky little changes, I'm stoked with the final product. Well, almost final product that is!
Now I'm charged with the task of getting these bad boys printed and assembled.
Having emailed numerous digital printing companies for quotes, it became apparent that the small budget I had set aside for the invites wasn't all that realistic, with the average quote coming in at around $1.30 per page for printing and materials.
Compare this to the figure in my head (lets say, half that price) and the budget wasn't looking that flash.
Ta-da, my friendly employer to the rescue! We've recently upgraded our printers at work, so I called in a big favour and asked if I could print the invites there (paying for the actual costs and outside of work hours of course!). It’s a goer!
So now I need to find the right kind of card to print on. Who knew there were so many types of white card! I'm currently comparing the merits of gloss versus matte, 200 gsm versus 250 gsm, coated versus uncoated (and feeling slightly out of depth in the process).
One thing is for sure – a decision needs to be made ASAP if we have any hope of getting the invites out this month!