beverly & neil’s invitations
Today I’ve got a beautiful wedding to share (now live), but I thought I should start out with the invitations since they have such a fun story, and involved so many of the couple’s friends. Beverly is a graphic designer, and Neil is an architect, so putting a personal, DIY touch on their wedding was important to them. They made their save the dates (on the left) on a very small budget, only buying notecards, coin envelopes, buttons, thread, and a stamp she had made at a local pawn shop.
The invitations were more time consuming, but the budget was equally impressive: for postage, printing, and materials of 300 letterpressed invitations and 300 thank you notes, Beverly and Neil only spent $226.
From Beverly: “Believe it or not, a friend’s Dad gave us all the paper for invites and thank you notes, including envelopes (Neenah Paper). I designed the invite and sent the file to Boxcar Press in New York to have a plate made. Another friend, Amos Kennedy, let us use his letter press shop, and with the help of a friend, Mark Wise, we were taught how to letter press on a manual press. My husband and I did every single one of them. The invitations were 3 different runs, invitations envelops and thank you envelops were one run, and the thank you’s were 2 runs each. After printing, I hired a friend to help me sew each invite.”
Coming up next, beautiful photos from Beverly & Neil’s handmade, vintage wedding.
Responses to “beverly & neil’s invitations”
alli michelle
July 31, 2009 at 12:30 pmThat is amazing! And I can’t believe it was all under $300.
Jessie
July 31, 2009 at 3:02 pmsimply amazing! :)
Eliana
September 16, 2009 at 5:32 pmI loved the sewing on the border, did you use any special equipment or thread?
Beverly
September 16, 2009 at 6:45 pmEliana– I actually just used All Purpose thread and my inexpensive Brother sewing machine. It will sew through paper just like fabric!
Nechama
September 17, 2009 at 9:27 amBeverly, your work is a masterpiece…i am so inspired by what you have done!
I am making a Bar Mitzvah for my son, and of course on a tight budget. Although to be honest my taste is quite expensive and i LOVE to be creative and of course make a statement and be different!
Which leads me to my questions.
1. Can the stitching be done on any paper?
2. what paper did you use? where can i purchase paper like that?
3. Is there a way to do the pressing myself or do i have to send it to BoxCar? what is the turnaround time?
4. What kind of machine did you use for the sewing of the invitations?
5. Is there a specific kind of thread?
6. do you need a special kind of envelope cuz it’s thicker paper?
7. How long did it take to do the sewing for all 300 invitations?
Many thanks,
Nechama
Beverly
September 17, 2009 at 11:59 amNechama– Thanks so much for your kind words! I’ll do my best to answer your questions.
1. I haven’t experimented with too many different types of paper, but I can tell you what I have used in the past. I have tried newsprint, regular copy paper, book covering fabric, book vinyl, THIN chip board, and 2 sheets of cover weight (cardstock) paper. You will have to adjust the tension accordingly.
2. I used Neenah Classic Laid cover weight paper in 2 different colors. I was able to get this through my friend’s Dad who owns a print shop in town. You can order it online as well.
3. Well I had my plate made at Boxcar Press, and they were able to send me the plate the very next day. So it took about 3 days to get my plate. Then I had access to a local print shop, where the owner let my husband and I use his press. I believe Boxcar could print your invites if you don’t have anyone local who could do it: http://www.boxcarpress.com — I will say, letterpress can be very expensive if don’t have means of doing it yourself. If you have the money to spend on it..it’s totally worth it. The quality is unbelievable.
4. Honestly, I’m not at home so I can’t see the exact model of my sewing machine, but I just used a Brother machine. It was a super cheap machine that I bought at Walmart 2 years ago– maybe 85 bucks? Just a guess.
5. I just used All Purpose sewing thread.
6. I got the envelope from Neenah Paper too. It’s just their standard classic laid envelope.
7. Well two of us were doing it so maybe 2 nights of working about 2-3 hours a night for 300 invites.
I hope I was thorough enough with my answers. Sewing on paper is sooo much fun! Good Luck!