My Completed Invitation Suite with Vintage Postage

I was so excited to receive my navy blue envelopes from the calligrapher the other day all completed.  I spent a lot of time obsessing over the details of my invitation suite and I think all the details really make a big difference to a cute and cohesive invitation suite.

The Theme:

My theme is nautical, and originally I wanted a compass rose design on everything.  However, after creating the invitation suite, I was bored and felt it was too impersonal.  So I moved to the anchor with the ship wheel in the center.  I then added our monogram to the center in our contrasting color (pink).  I think they turned out really nice and the anchor will look great on all our paper goods.

The Envelopes:

The Outer and Inner Envelopes (as you know from an earlier post found here) I tried to do my own calligraphy.  I went and printed the font I wanted from my computer onto the navy envelopes in black ink.  I then tried tracing over the print with white ink.  It ended badly.  I got skips and blobs of ink coming out randomly from each pen I tried (I think I tried a total of 3) not to mention all the waste envelopes I was using.  I knew If I had to address all of the inner and outer envelopes myself it would just end in tears and frustration.  

This is one of very few times in the wedding DIY process when I saw my limitations and DIY just wasn't the answer.  Even if you're a DIY Queen like myself, you need to realize when it just makes more sense to have someone else do it for you. (as an aside see my "Guide on when to let someone else do-it-for-you").

The Stamps:

If you've been to the post office to pick up stamps for your invitaions, you know they have a pretty limited selection of stamps.  Yeah they have wedding rings (which is what I used for the inner / reply envelopes), but otherwise their collection doesn't really do much for me.  Your total choice includes a liberty bell, a necklace, wedding rings, etc.  Nothing nautical, no boats, no fish, no lighthouses... (I actually just went to the post office today and found out they're coming out with a perfect stamp that has a boat and a lighthouse on it... in August.  A little too late.  Well, at least I can purchase them for my thank you notes.)

I was excited to find Zazzle.com.  You can design your own or choose from other designs.  Only problem is the ugly barcode on the side of the stamps as well as the major price hike.  They're way over the .44 cent mark and then if you need a more expensive stamp because of your envelope shape or weight, it can really get expensive.  It's only worth it if you happen to find a coupon code for stamps, which is rare.

Vintage Stamps:

I liked the idea of the vintage stamps.  They are a really nice touch and you can find exactly what you're looking for at face value (or even lower if you're buying in bulk!)  I used http://www.hgitner.com/  to purchase my vintage stamps.  I spoke with Debbie, via email and phone to order exactly what I was looking for.  I let her know that anything that was nautical or had boats, fish, massachusetts, lighthouses, etc. would be appropriate.  She put together a block of the boston tea party stamps for me and two pilgrim landing stamps to make up the 44 cents.

The Map:

To keep with the nautical theme, I wanted my map to look like a nautical chart.  I think I suceeded in making the map look vintage, but still be cohesive with everything else.  I only printed this on cheap computer paper for a couple of reasons. 

1. I was already spending a lot on the watercolor paper I was using for the invites and replies.

2. hand feeding maps into my printer 1 at a time just didn't sound appealing after doing that for each invite and reply.

3. Keeping the weight down on my invites is key in keeping postage rates down.

The Invitations:

I had looked up traditional wording for a while before coming to a final decision.  I also wanted to include the parents of the groom.  I really think that the final wording I came to works well and includes both families.  I really love bling and wanted to incorporate it everywhere I could.  I added rhinestones to all of my invitaions on the points of the anchor and for the reply I added one to the hole in the anchor.