A DIY Preview

The RSVP packets have been received by the guests so now I can do the big reveal!

OK, OK, I know I’m a week late with this! But better late than never right? Here’s the tutorial for making my RSVP tin treasure boxes. I’m going to give you instructions for my specific design, but obviously you can change it up to go with your theme! This post is long, buckle up. :)

Every wedding invitation seems to have a map in it, which I think is a great idea. If it’s functional, it’s a printout from Google Maps. Or it’s art, like Laura Hooper’s maps.

Out of everything that went into the preparation for our vow renewal, I probably had the most fun and least stress planning the day after brunch.  It was held at South City Kitchen in Midtown, just steps from our hotel blocks and our venue from the vow renewal the night before.

I have collected shot glasses for our entire marriage, so it was only obvious that shot glasses should be our favors for the vow renewal.  After doing lots of research, I came across a tutorial on Weddingbee for goccoing on glass and set off to create my own custom etched shot glasses.  Here they are, encased in their custom handmade boxes, at each place setting.

After the church and reception venue were booked and the date was set, it was time to think about our Save the Dates.  Matt and I were talking one night and decided that we wanted to create a map chronicling the paths we each took to find each other and where we are now.  We both went off to college, moved across the country after graduation, and met as two midwestern kids in NYC before getting engaged and moving to Memphis. And now we were planning a wedding in Louisville. Whew.  It wears me out to just write it.  I mentioned our idea on Pretty Bride and soon Laura Hooper came to the rescue.

About a month ago I made thank you cards. Lots and lots of them. With lined envelopes, of course. I love sending paper cards. Writing them feels a little decadent, and opening the mailbox to a pretty envelope makes my day. Some of my friends send wonderful mail, so I have a set standard already.

In November EAD held a DIY contest, and E. encouraged me to enter my invitations, still in progress. Oh sure, I said, If I finish them soon! E., I totally did not finish them soon. Ladies- (And gentlemen? If you include DJ and one brother) I finished printing the maps on July 17, the night before we mailed them. Expert procrastinator. Hey E., can I enter now??

Scattered about our tables we had stacks of song request cards.  I loved the little premise that I ended up with of having song names that are actions for the headings on our cards.  Here are the headings we used:

I’m sure you’ve all been on the edges of your computer chairs waiting to see our final invitations! Well, I hate to disappoint, but they’re not quite ready for prime time. To be honest, Nick and I have had little time to work on them lately, what with showers and parties.

How do girls getting married in just over a month spend their weekend? Crafting, of course! I’ve been working on a lot of easy but time consuming projects this weekend. Table name signs, escort cards, M’s wedding gift, and a mock up of our ceremony programs so I can start trimming down the stock for the covers and laying out pages in InDesign. Am I the only one who gets really really excited to see something working out as planned? Consider me really excited right now. I’m in love with how this mock up program turned out!

Last we chatted I told you about my reluctance to take the Gocco out of its perfectly packed box. But it had to be done. So I spent many hours reading tips on Weddingbee and right here on EAD. I watched videos on YouTube, and I found a very detailed tutorial on Flickr.

Last Friday I traveled to my parents’ house with a Gocco, a Xyron, an embosser, 8 lbs. of paper, and a whole lot of anticipation!

Cyd and Nole were both in a Gocco mood today so I thought I’d join in!  Angelique created these absolutely fabulous Gocco save the dates – she printed on wood laminate cards and encased them in gorgeous fabric pouches.

I love letterpress, but wedding budgets don’t always allow for letterpress or engraved invitations, particularly in today’s difficult economic environment.  For brides still seeking custom invitations, the Gocco (or now the Yudu!) can be an excellent, and more economical, alternative.  Some brides choose to go the DIY route, but for brides who don’t feel comfortable DIYing, there are a few invitation studios that specialize in Gocco-printed invitations.

Yesterday was my birthday and after a long search, I finally found and purchased a Gocco as my birthday gift to myself. I’ve basically been on the fence about purchasing a Gocco for a year at this point and naturally, by the time I realized just how much I wanted one they were completely sold out basically everywhere. Oops! Oh well, after some sleuthing and a shout out on my blog and some great tips from my readers, I found one and it is supposed to ship today. Hooray! So in the spirit of all things Gocco, I thought I’d share some of my favorite Gocco inspiration.

I may have mentioned, once or twice, how we initially planned to handwrite our invitations. How we had bought the cards and the envelopes and had a stamp designed with a peacock image to complete the look.

You guys, I have been so excited to show you one of my favorite DIY projects from the whole vow renewal – our time capsule guest book.  When A. and I were brainstorming and this idea came up, it was like “yes, that’s perfect!”.  We were celebrating ten years together and many years of friendship with our guests, and what better way to do that than by creating a treasure box of memories that we will have for the rest of our lives?

Planning this party was SO much fun! I threw as many Braves and baseball details in there as I could. You’ve already seen the centerpieces and seating chart – but we also had Braves wine adorning the bar (Chipper Chardonnay and McCann Merlot, natch), vintage Braves caps as decor, a Smoltz jersey for our “guest book”, and dessert was, of course, ice cream sundaes in mini Braves helmets. Braves highlight reels were playing on the 755 Club screens throughout the evening.

The official [intlink id=”4148″ type=”post”]Braves bus[/intlink] (which I am still sad I didn’t get to ride!) dropped our guests off at the front gates of Turner Field, the site of our Welcome Party. All of the guests were instructed to wear red, white, and navy (and preferably Braves gear!).