Monday, March 14

Save the Date!

The next post to follow would normally be the story about how Mr. PS and I met…but the final design of our Save the Date (STD) cards is finished. I’m so excited to share, we’ll rewind back to the beginning soon, I promise.

And now for the big reveal!

First, after scouring the internet through hundreds of different designs like this...

and this...

 via

I changed my mind for a style that could incorporate one of our engagement photos.  Hundreds of choices later, we decided to use a template from shutterfly.com. The design was 20% off, and I was able to apply another 20% coupon from an email promotion.  I saved almost half off the original price and avoided countless hours of frustration printing these at home. Score!


[Quick public service announcement - many websites now offer online tools where you can customize the text and upload your photo to get a digital proof of the design before you order. As a visual person, the tool made me confident in my decision to purchase the order.]

Most couples would address the envelopes, add a stamp, and be done with it. Yet, here’s the point where reading one too many wedding blogs brought to my attention the idea of do-it-yourself. I'm not super creative, but I can be crafty with the right tools.  First, I learned about a simple ‘corner rounding’ tool. It’s a punch that elegantly rounds the square corner of a piece of paper. Voila!



Then, after a sale waiting game for cardstock and scrapbook paper to go from 69 cents per sheet to 4 sheets for $1, it was time to roll up my sleeves and break out the paper slicer.  Each sheet could make 4 mounting layers or 4 envelope liners.  After all that cutting, I sandwiched half a business card magnet between the photo and pink cardstock layer. Trial, error and persistence paid off -- I thought I could cut the magnets into thirds, and divided a whole pack of 10 magnets. Oops! The card slid to the floor when I tried to put it on the fridge. In the words of Homer Simpson, 'Doh!'


Now our our guests can post it on the fridge as a reminder of our big day.  The final touch to the card was a scratch-off sticker to incorporate an element of fun and surprise for the addressee!


We’re not quite finished yet, though. Cutting a pretty striped paper envelope liner using DIY instructions from the internet and double-sided tape as adhesive to the inside of a plain silver envelope, here’s what our guests can look forward to receiving:


There's something personally gratifying about this semi-DIY craft project.  Now, I just have to repeat each step 140 times and mail by March 30…no problem!

What do you think about my final product? And what DIY elements did/will you incorporate for your Save the Dates?



* personal photos unless otherwise attributed *



1 comment:

  1. It's so awesome that you were able to save that much money, such a score! We haven't decided yet, but we think we're going to try embossing for our Save the Dates! We'll see ;)

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