Bride Blogger : Getting Crafty . . . with rehearsal dinner invitations
Brenda Welcoming Jessica back today with her second post as our bride blogger . . .
I’m not typically a DIY-er. For most of our engagement I’d convinced myself that I wasn’t crafty enough to pull off any handmade projects, not to mention I couldn’t come up with any stellar ideas that lent themselves to the modern chic aesthetic of our wedding. But, late this winter I started aching to do something creative with my own hands. Since most of our vendors and rentals were already lined up and since I didn’t want to risk my project turning into an un-fixable disaster, I decided our rehearsal dinner (smaller and much less formal than the wedding) was the better event to get crafty with.
I spent a day wandering around Paper Source (aka Heaven on Earth) for inspiration. The moment that I spotted this silverware rubber stamp, I knew I wanted to use it for our invitations. Immediately I had a vision that reflected the throwback vintage atmosphere of our rehearsal dinner venue.
I learned how to emboss, agonized over different shades of “white” paper and spent weeks searching for the perfect font combos. And voila! I couldn’t be happier with the result.
Here’s how I pulled off the assemby . . .
Coat the rubber stamp on a watermark inkpad (I used VersaMark) and stamp onto the invite.
The ink is clear and barely visible on white paper.
Sprinkle on embossing powder and gently shake the paper to cover the stamped area.
Tap the excess powder off of the page.
Apply heat directly over the powder with a heat embossing tool (love this one), being extremely careful not to burn your fingers. Within seconds, the powder melts and the stamped image rises off the surface. The silver powder I used became a shimmery metallic. So yummy!
I layered an A6-sized flat white card over an A7 black card using a double-sided permanent adhesive (this guy).
As an added touch, I lined the envelopes with silver paper to coordinate with the silverware. You can buy liners pre-cut or cut your own with a template kit. I love the extra oomph that envelope liners add. If you have a few spare dollars and about a half hour, DO THIS!
Tape along the edge of the envelope adhesive to attach and crease the paper by folding the flap after the liner is in place.
So what do you think of the finished product? I had so much fun making these invitations that I decided to do coordinating place cards as well. I’m pretty sure I’ll regret that decision come crunch time, though!
xo Jess
Jessica is from Boston and is marrying Andy in just under 2 months. Their planning focus has now shifted to the nitty gritty details, like guest welcome bags, ceremony music and readings, favors. Jessica is also the blogger behind Shimmer + Silk whose blog is for chic, modern bridal inspiration.
