Beautiful DIY Wedding Inspiration from a Couple in Cameron, NC

Thank you to the bride who published this DIY wedding montage, for capturing sharing your amazing work! Surely our NJ DIY brides will find some creative inspiration here.




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Learn Calligraphy, Do Your Own Wedding Envelopes

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CalligraphybyCatherine.com

I found a NJ calligrapher who does an absolutely amazing job hand-lettering wedding invitations, envelopes, table cards, and of course all kinds of beautiful things for various occasions. Her business is  Calligraphy by Catherine, and just looking at her fine work brings me oodles of happiness!

As a budget-conscious NJ bride, you may not feel that an investment in hand-written wedding invitations is a wise choice, preferring to print them yourself.

But what about adding a special touch to the address envelopes? 

I for one am about the beginner level of calligraphy talent. So, I put my burgeoning talent to use, and tried my hand at penning my own wedding envelopes and table cards. I thought they came out pretty well, considering that prior to this, I hadn't actually done any calligraphy in years!

The talented artist who owns Calligraphy by Catherine offers a more economical option that may be of interest to the frugal bride crowd. She teaches private, beginner calligraphy classes in her home in Frenchtown, NJ for $50 per hour. For an additional $10 per hour she will travel to your NJ home. Even more budget-friendly: her group classes run from about $12 to $16 per hour depending on the cost of materials.

Check this page of her website for class scheduling and other information.

Wedding Day Itinerary Sample

Do you plan to include an itinerary in your wedding invitation package? We did, for a few reasons. Perhaps you will, too. 

• Because our wedding ceremony and reception were going to be held in one location, and we didn't want any confusion about that.
• Because it was a day wedding, and we wanted our guests to know what to expect.
• Because it was a buffet dinner, and we wanted our guests to be aware of the food options.
• Because we chose the Elks Club for our wedding venue, and we wanted our guests to know that "Elks" doesn't mean show up in your jeans and trucker hat! (Yes - I attended a wedding once where we were seated by some fellows in trucker hats. It happens.)
• Because we love our wedding band, and wanted to give them a little shout of appreciation/get people excited about their music.
• Because we wanted our guests to know the options for getting together after the wedding reception ended at 5 pm.

SAMPLE OF OUR WEDDING ITINERARY

(Feel free to borrow some of the wording if it fits your situation!)

NAME/NAME Wedding – Saturday, November 10, 2012

Somerville Elks Club | 375 Union Ave. | Bridgewater, NJ 08807 | (908) 722-3901

           

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you for joining us in celebration of our marriage! Below please find the NAME/NAME wedding itinerary and other helpful information.

Location: The ceremony and reception will take place at one location – Somerville Elks Club, Bridgewater, NJ. We have included direction cards for your convenience.

Schedule of Events:

11:30 a.m.: Marriage ceremony

12 noon to 1:00: Cocktail hour

1:00 to 5:00: Reception with buffet dinner and dancing

5:00 and after: Possible revelry at the hotel!

Music: We’re thrilled to present The Willie Lynch Band – a local favorite for traditional Irish, rock and roll, and romantic standards. Learn more at http://willielynchband.com.

Dinner Buffet Selections:

Tortellini in truffled leek cream sauce

Chicken Francaise

Grilled flank steak au jus

Salmon with garlic saffron lobster cream

After Party: Please join us at the hotel for post-wedding revelry!

Lodging: We have reserved a block of rooms at the Hyatt House Branchburg for your convenience. Call before Oct. 9 to take advantage of the discounted rate.
HYATT HOUSE BRANCHBURG
3141 Rt. 22 East Branchburg, NJ 08876
phone: 908 704 2191
fax: 908 704 8099
Check-in time: 4 pm
Check out time: 11 am
Breakfast: 7 am to 10 am
Thanks for reading, and we can’t wait to see you on the big day!

Do It Yourself Wedding Invitations

You don't have to spend a fortune on wedding invitations. Thanks to the World Wide Web and your friendly neighborhood craft store, there are now tons of options for making them at home. My wedding invitations were simple and nice. I chose an old style calligraphy font for the invitation itself, and hand-printed calligraphy for the addresses. My MIL suggested doing a vellum overlay and then securing them with a satin ribbon. She actually put them together and tied all the ribbons, which was great for me as I tend to not enjoy these types of tasks.

Here are all the details for doing wedding invitations yourself.

In each packet, you will need:

The wedding invitation itself. If you order yours online as I did, you'll get suggestions for wording. Some people choose the traditional verbiage where the parents of the bride offer the invitation (implying, of course, that they're footing the bill). But there are many variations on this - I suggest doing a Google search to see what people typically write, and then selecting one option that suits your style and situation.

Any extra embellishment – for example, we overlayed ours with a scalloped, vellum sheet

Ribbon, stick-on flower, or other decoration (finished product looks something like this)

The response card

The self addressed envelope to hold the response card

Postage for the response card

The hotel information card (once you arrange for a hotel they will mail you out a packet of these).

Direction card – to the ceremony from all major highways, to the reception from all major highways, to the ceremony from the reception (depending on what applies in your case)

Information card. We also included an itinerary of the day. Not typical, but we didn't want any confusion over the fact that the wedding ceremony and reception were going to be held in one location. We also wanted people to know there would be a buffet dinner and cash bar.

Outer envelope, large enough to fit all of the above.

Postage for all invitations.

You can purchase wedding invitation kits at Staples or Michael's craft store and print them on your own printer. Or, you can do what I did, which was mail-order them from the web. I can't find the site I used- thought it was "BudgetWeddingInvitations.com" but now I'm not seeing that come up as anything.

It only takes a week or two (I'm forgetting now, but it wasn't long) before they arrive at your doorstep, ready to be assembled and mailed out. Ironically, I ended up spending double – because I ordered according to our "head count," not realizing that the majority of guests only require one invitation per couple or family. Just thought I'd throw that info in so you can avoid making the same mistake!