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Today, I’d like to share another DIY project I did for our wedding.
I had a TON of fun designing the invitations (a little bit less fun putting them together… lol). Knowing I was going for a ‘country classy’ type look and that I love Kraft paper, I scoured pinterest for inspiration. This was the spark for the whole project:
After seeing these gorgeous invites I knew I wanted to DIY lace wedding invitations using doilies and kraft paper.
The layout of the invitations was based on this next invite: (I seriously spent way too many hours of my life obsessing over font choices and styling ;))
For the paper I bought 250 8.5×11 Kraft paper sheets for $45 (I recently found them here for less, I used the 100 cover weight, Desert Storm). The invites took around 90 sheets and I ended up using nearly all the rest for other wedding paper projects. All the printing was done at Staples, they are very reasonable.
Here is a close up of the invite sans the doily… I sometimes just sit and stare at it, because I love it so much… 🙂
But, seriously… I’m sure I spent over 5 hours meticulously analyzing every font in the world… haha 🙂 I was going for a more contemporary and fun layout with words that popped, versus the traditional invites in the cursive. Those are pretty too, but I was going for ‘gripping’ 😉
If anyone is interested in knowing any of the fonts, or wants a copy of the wedding invitation template I used scroll to the bottom of this post.
I bought the Doilies for around $10 off of the Webstaurant store (it came in a package of 500!) Putting it all together was pretty simple. I centered the doily around the invite, folded, then used a craft paper cutter to remove the excess doily on the top and bottom.
So I took these pictures before I made most of them, and I actually ended up tying bows instead of knots like the one above. Tying the ribbon was a learning process, but the more I did the better I got. Jake graciously offered to assist me, but after ten minutes of laboring over one bow, he asked to be relieved of his duties 😉 Men’s fingers are just not cut out for these sorts of things…
For the RSVP postcards I had them printed and cut at Staples, then I used stamps I had and embossed the back. They looked so pretty with the black shiny 🙂 I wish the picture captured it better….
My mom and sisters helped me a TON with these… I mean like many hours of cutting, tying, stamping and embossing, not to mention envelope licking, stamping, and addressing… You gals are the best! 🙂 And, I should mention that Jake helped me a lot too, who would have thought he has a knack for embossing? 😉
Again, if anyone is interested in fonts used/more information on the embossing process, I’d be happy to fill in more details! Thanks for reading about my DIY lace wedding invitations. If you like my blog, I would love for you to follow me (by email or bloglovin’ in the right sidebar) or view my Pinterest. 🙂
Update:
I’ve been so flattered by the positive responses to our wedding invitations! After getting several requests for the template, I’ve decided to make it available for download here. It is in Word form and remains largely the same as I designed it… meaning that while it is not the cleanest or simplest template ever, it is fully customizable!
(please read the instructions prior to download!)
Instructions for Template Download
1. Download and Install these fonts:
- Oranienbaum
- Chalk Hand Lettering Shaded
- LT Nutshell Library
- Romantiques
- Janda Elegant Handwriting
- Sail
- Some Weatz with Swashes
- Decadence
2. Download Invitation and RSVP Template
3. Personalize and Format
You can customize the invitation and rsvp by clicking in the text boxes and typing your wording. For the wedding location text box on the invitation (bottom right), I adjusted the font spacing in order to make each line the same width. You can adjust this as well by selecting the line of text, right-clicking, selecting font, then the advanced tab. From there you can condense or expand the text by playing with the spacing. You can also try this technique on the reply by date for the RSVP.
Other Information:
- Printing: Staples
- Size: A7 (Cut 1.5 inches off the bottom, 1″ off the right side, and in half vertically)
I would love this template! =)
Ashley, you can get this and all other templates by entering your email in the box above inside the post 🙂
Hi, I love the invitations and have used them as inspiration to make my own! I have converted my template (which was set up on A6 word doc) into a pdf so I can get it printed at Staples, but when I do a test run at work they don’t print out on to A6 paper (despite changing printer / page setup settings etc). Do you know whether Staples shrink them to fit in A6 pages?
Thanks x
I love your invitations. I can’t figure out how to delete where it says, Bob and Sally,Jim and Sue, and Son of…. I’m using a Mac and it won’t go away. Any suggestions? Thanks for sharing!
Hi Shea, I know people have had difficulty using the template on Macs. That said, I do have an idea of what may help you edit that line. There are a lot of text boxes stacked around each other that might make it hard to select the boxes with “Bob and Sally”, “Jim and Sue”, and “Son of”. If you temporarily move “with joyful hearts” and the large bride and groom names out of the way are you able to select and delete those? If not, then Mac may not be able to handle the curved text boxes. In this case, you could select all the items and copy and paste them onto a fresh doc. If the curved boxes really aren’t selectable, then they should not copy over. Hope this helps 🙂
SORRY I MEANT THE AND SYMBOL
are the large names and “7” symbol on the back of the RSVP?
Thank you so much!! I can’t wait to get married and use these!
Thank you so much for sharing these invitations. I was able to download and edit these with no problem. I did however change it up a little to say “With joyfull heart Together with their families ____ & _____ request the honor of your presence at their marriage.” If you would like to post it, I can email it to you.
Hi I have these created but both sides aren’t centering correctly. I can’t figure it out. If you could help or give me a tip thats great. my email is plane1880@gmail.com
Hi, thank you for sharing this template. i am having trouble- i have never downloaded fonts before and i am confused how to do so- i click on font link then click on download- but i cant find that font in microsoft word. what am i doing wrong?
I have alomst everything correct but I need to scoot the TO over because names are a little longer and also which font did you use for the date 6,it’s super cute!!
That’s great! The number six should be Romantiques font 🙂
This is a great help…or will be if I could get those .pdf files from you. I am a mac user and your files don’t really help me otherwise. Thanks so much!
this is really a BIG help to me!! you make it so easy! thank you!
These invites are amazing! I downloaded all the fonts and have the invitations exactly like I want them, but they won’t print. My printer acts like it won’t recognize it but will print everything else. Do I have to take them to Staples?
Hi Megan, that’s very strange, I’ve never heard of that before. Maybe try saving as a pdf?
I am in LOVE with these! Thanks for sharing them!! I didn’t have any trouble with the fonts but I just can’t figure out how to make the parents names curve up and down??
Hi Chelsea, glad you like it! In order to have the names curve, select the text box navigate to the format tab, click text effects, and select the half-circle under the transform section. Hope this helps!
Thank you very much for sharing these invites! The RSVP cards look like postcards was wondering did you just put stamps on them? Or put them in envelopes?
Thank you!
Hi Gaby, yes they were simply post cards. We put gave each a stamp and included it in the invite for people to mail back. 🙂
Thank you! I finally got the RSVP to download correctly. I went back to download the correct chalkboard font, but for some reason it still will not show up that way on my word document. I might just have to change that one font! Thank you!
Hi! I love these invitations so much, and thank you for taking the time to put them up here for everyone to use! I seem to be having the same trouble that a bunch of the other girls are having… I downloaded all the fonts and installed them, but when I downloaded the invitation template, the bride & groom’s names look completely different. Also, when I downloaded the RSVP template the invitation template came up. Thanks for your help!
Kelli, thanks for bringing these items to my attention! I fixed the link issue for the RSVP, that download should work now. Also, I’ve found the issue with the names’ font. The invitation uses the ‘demo’ version. So the link now leads to the demo font that should populate the word document correctly. Glad to fix these bugs, thanks for letting me know 🙂
Hi! I LOVE these invitations. Thank you so much for sharing!! It will save me so much time! Did you order envelopes for the RSVP cards? And did you put the RSVP in with the invitation then wrap the doily around it? Or did you just put the RSVP card in the envelope with the invitation?
Thanks so much!
I love the invitation! Thank you for sharing! When I open the RSVP only the back of the card loads. How do I get the template for the front of the card with the names?
Hi Michelle, actually the front of the card I hand stamped and embossed, so there is no template for it. Sorry!
What size doilies did you order?
The doilies were 10″ diameter
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Can you post what font you used for each part of the invites/rsvp cards? “With joyful hearts,” “son of,” and the spacing is messed up on my invitation! 🙁
The font for those lines should be bodoni xt, I should’ve listed it on the list even though it came standard on my computer. I now realize not everyone may have it!
I also had trouble with the Chalk Hand Lettering font. All the rest downloaded fine but that one just would show up. However, I managed to get around it by previewing our names and the screenshoting them and attaching as pictures 🙂 tricky! I was wondering what the page that says “Naomi & Jacob” was? Is it the back of the RSVP or is it something different you put in the invites? Thanks!
Kayla, I am totally impressed with your screenshot skills 😉 The font may have changed since I downloaded it in 2013… I will have to look into that. And yes, the ‘Naomi & Jacob’ is on the back of our RSVP cards.
Hi, I love this wedding invitation as well as everyone else! I first want to thank you for taking the time to help us. This will save me a lot of money if I can get it to work. However, when I downloaded the invitation template, the bride and groom’s names did not appear in the same font yours did. Calvary Baptist Church’s font didn’t appear the same either. I cannot figure out how in Word on my Mac to change the fonts. I have spent 2 hours trying to figure out why this is and where to find the fonts to change it b/c they are not under the tab “font” on my Word document.
Hi Jessica, thank you, I hope this template works out for you! First, I’m not sure how well the template will work in Mac’s version of Word. My suggestion would be to visit a library or borrow someone’s computer to try in on Microsoft Word. The names’ font is Chalkboard Hand Lettering Shaded, and the church’s font is Sail. I would suggest trying to locate your computer’s fonts folder and make sure those fonts got installed correctly and show there. (It’s in Window’s control panel – appearance and personalization, not sure about Mac) Hope this helps!
It is really weird. They all were installed properly, but it won’t show 2 fonts for some reason. I have downloaded several invitations now and I have the same problem with all of them. Several invitations come out with just 1 or 2 fonts not working. I had my fiancé look at it and he can’t figure it out, either. :-(. BTW I like your About me section that mentions Jesus! Be blessed and thank you for your assistance!
Thanks, Jessica! I just revamped it 🙂 Sorry to hear the template keeps giving you issues, I hope you were able to resolve it!
Dude! You are amazing for this. I am in love with these invitations and was just about to sit down and figure out how to do them and I saw you already put it all together for us! Thank you so much, really awesome.
-Emily
Glad to help!!! 🙂
I only have openoffice & adobe. Neither will read the doc file. Would you mind sending me the pdf file for the invitation template, please ma’am? I have been fighting with this since 1am. I would appreciate it immensely! Thanks so much for sharing this with us all. Oh and I did get all the fonts installed and showing in openoffice. Strange how some things work and some don’t. Lol.
Hi Tanya, I will send you the pdf version, but just so you know it’s not editable unless you have adobe acrobat 11 (?), even then it’s iffy. My suggestion is to go to the library or ask a friend who has microsoft word if you can borrow their computer.
me again!…
was about to order the paper and then I saw the A7 Cutting.
Size: A7 (Cut 1.5 inches off the bottom, 1″ off the right side, and in half vertically)
Do I order the paper with the cutting? If so I putt there this and it cuts the whole paper in half vertically? So I`ll end up with 2 different size papers… is that correct?? Im sorry for bothering! and thanks again!
Hello Bruna, you are not bothering at all 🙂 Sorry for the late responses on my end (tax accountant by day!). You do not need to order A7 paper, you can order regular 8.5″ x 11″ paper then at Staples have them cut it to A7 size with 1.5″ off the bottom and 1″ off the right side and in half vertically, as you mentioned. Hope it all works out!!!!
Hi!!! What an amazing design! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Can you please email me the pdf version? (bruandzack@gmail.com) When I open on Microsoft Words the file is all scrambled :/ But I did get all the fonts!!
Also how did you print on staples? Just get the file and the papers to them? Didnt find on their website just printing with my own paper source…
Again thank you!
Hi Bruna! I’m sorry the word file is giving you troubles! I can send you the pdf version, although I can’t attest to how editable it is…. I will send it over when I get home tonight 🙂 Also, yes, basically I walked to the Staples print section with a pdf of the invitation saved on a usb and my own paper and asked them to print the “invitation” file on my paper with specific cuts. Ask them to do a trial on their own paper to make sure it turns out!
Hi!! Thank you SO MUCH for your reply!! I’ll definitely gonna be waiting for those PDF 🙂
Ill let you know how they turn out!! super excited! xx bru
You are an angel for sharing. Thank you! Greetings from Brazil!
We used your templates and they turned out great! Thank you for sharing this with us all. Did you do your programs in a similar fashion and if so would you share?
Sorry for the late reply Debbie, we did make our programs in Word, but in a simpler style. Although I haven’t shared them on the blog, I did do a post on the back of our program with our wedding crossword which you can find on the wedding page 🙂
I only have open office. Can you send the pdf version so I can see if that will work. My daughter fell in love with your invitations. Thanks. jaemellison@suddenlink.net
Glad you like them, Ellen! Expect an email tonight with the pdf 🙂
I am a Mac user and I don’t have Microsoft Word. What dimensions were your invitations and RSVP cards so I can recreate in InDesign?
Hi Jordan, the invitations are 5 x 7 inches and the RSVP’s are 4.25 x 5.5 inches
Thank you! Do you have the template saved in any other format?
And InDesign or Photoshop file
I’m sorry I don’t have it in either of those formats, I will send you a pdf version tonight and hopefully that helps!
I do have them saved as pdf’s. I could send you those if it would be helpful. Is there another format that might work better for you?
thes look to be 5×7 invites what size dollies did you use?
I used 10″ doilies
I am so beyond excited about this invitation template that you have graciously given us. I am in nursing school and trying to plan as much of my wedding as possible prior to beginning clinicals the first week of January. We’re not getting married until April 2015, but wanted to get as much done now before the stress of hospital rotation begins. I can’t thank you enough! With small alterations to your template, I have easily made it applicable to my wedding. Thanks so much!
Good for you, for getting a head start on everything!!! My brother is going into nursing, and I know that can be a stressful time! Best of luck with it all 🙂 And I’m so glad you were able to use the template 🙂
These are so so cute! How do you make the doily part? Do you cut it a certain way? If you don’t mind me asking, how much to you think each invitation cost you? Thanks!
Thanks Kelly! To cut the doilies, first I folded them over the invitation, then I used a scrapbooking paper trimmer to remove the excess on top and bottom (scissors work just as well). It’s hard to say the cost per invitation, because the more you make the cheaper they are (you know buying in bulk and such). That said, I spent $160 total, and I had at least $20 leftover in paper I used for other wedding projects, for around 300 invitations. So it looks to be around 50c per invite. (Also I already had some supplies: paper cutter, embossing heat gun, ect.) Hope this is helpful!!!
Is there anyway that you can create an invitation for me. I will pay you. I have tired downloading the fonts and sometimes they work and sometimes they dont. I will be in the middle of formatting the invitation and then all the fonts that I have downloaded disappear.
I’m so sorry to hear that Lorey! I will shoot you an email here 🙂
I love these! How did you get the text to curve in microsoft word? I can’t seem to find where you can get regular text to curve. Thanks so much!
Thanks Kiran 🙂 I had to use Word art to make the text curve. It was a little tricky because I used a preformatted wordart and ‘unformatted’ it (got rid of shadow ect), the you can change the ‘shape’ of the text. Hope this helps!
when i downloaded the template that fonts didnt show up right 🙁 I downloaded the fonts like you said in step 1 did I do something wrong?
After downloading the fonts, did you install them? There is a quick tutorial for that here: http://www.dafont.com/faq.php
Best of luck!
you are such a nice person to share your tips on how to make your beautiful invitations!
Thank you for the kind words 🙂
Hi there!
Thanks so much for posting this template and tutorial! I’m doing a DIY rustic wedding and these are going to be perfect! Can you tell me what the fonts are for the back of the RSVP card? I managed to make that part, but it’s not nearly as adorable as yours (the fonts are just perfect!). Thanks in advance!
Natalie, thank you for the kind words. And congratulations on your upcoming wedding! For the back of the RSVP card, I actually used stamp letters from Michaels. But, I think that a typewriter-esque font would create the same effect. Maybe try one of these:
http://www.dafont.com/oldnewspapertypes.font
http://www.dafont.com/afl-font-pespaye-no.font
http://www.dafont.com/my-underwood.font
Best of luck 🙂
all you need is that!!!
thank you
from mexico!
Love these invites! Thank you for putting them up, I am planning on using them for my wedding next spring! What kind of envelopes did you use with the invitations?
Thanks so much Laura! I used size A7 envelopes similar to these:http://www.thepapermillstore.com/50-10-matte-softwhite-envelopes-a7-5-1-4-x-7-1-4-70-lb-text-matte-c-2s-15-recycled-250-per-box.html
Any size A7 envelopes will do, I think they would look really pretty in matching Kraft paper envelopes, but I couldn’t find any in my budget 🙂
Hello there! i am using your templates, but when I compare them to your pictures that you have posted, I notice that one of the fonts is different… could you please tell me what font you used for writing the names of the bride and grooms parents??? On the template it says its Oranienbaum but it looks different from your picture. Please help and thanks!!! =) =)
That is strange! I used Oranienbaum for the parents’ name, I wonder why it is showing up different. I’ll shoot you an email so we can try and figure out what’s going on!
I LOVE these invitations. They are gorgeous and SO affordable. I’ve made my own with your fonts and template, and I have saved them to my flash drive. I’m worried that when I take it in to be printed, it will not work, simply because they do not have these fonts? Did you have any trouble? Maybe it will work, but my fiance has a Chromebook computer which does not allow these fancy extra fonts. I’m trying to view my invitations on his computer, but either nothing shows up, or it shows up completely out of order and in standard fonts. I’m thinking it’s just the computer because it’s so much different than a microsoft computer???
Thanks Jena 🙂 So glad you like them! I had the exact same concern when I went to print mine. Because of the fonts, I couldn’t take it to Staples to print in Word format. I had to save the document as a pdf file (essentially preserving it as an un-editable picture), and bring it in that format. Hope this works out for you! And congrats on the upcoming wedding 🙂
Thank you!