Invitation Reveal!

This is likely to be a rather anti-climactic post for about 99% of my readers since I only know of one reader who isn't receiving an invite--not because I don't like this person, but because we were high school friends who recently re-connected through Facebook--I'm sure she understands :)

 You may recall the sweet card a co-worker made for me and the other office brides. We all love her work (link to her website) and a few of us were able to hire her to make our invitations. This was an incredibly professional experience: we chatted about Ellie & I, the wedding theme, our interest, inspirations, etc. She welcomed a link to this blog and my Pinterest boards to help with her ideas. When she finally came by my office with the samples, I was floored!!! She had created a design in watercolor, then scanned & printed it onto a few sample invitations, each with different typefaces, layouts and embellishment. The design alone was spectacular, let alone all the details and embellishment options we were offered.

Ultimately, we decided to keep it rather simple in order to really highlight the two key features: the Tree and the Wax Seal. But let me stop chattering and get on with the invite porn!

The invitation suite, from top: labels, sample finished product, invites,
RSVP cards and envelopes--everything was tied up with jute, giving a
really professional feel to the product. 

Andrea hand-painted the envelopes because her printer was giving her troubles! Doesn't the image just make you think of a far off faerie-tale world?

We asked her to add a belly band to the flap side of the invitation to accentuate the wax seal and give it that archaic feel.

This picture does not do the invitation any justice at all. When we were reviewing the samples, I noticed the heart--she hadn't  even realized it when making the original sketches! I will admit that I feel the pocket is a little bare, but none of us could think of something that didn't seem like overkill or out of place.

The piece-d'resistance, the wax seal! When this baby arrived, we did some practice runs that left us very fearful of our luck with the real thing. Luckily Ellie did some research to get some tips which helped, and making the seals on cardstock is MUCH easier and successful than on regular paper.

Stacking the sealed invites because we were terrified of squishing or marring the seals before they completely cooled. Were we a little paranoid? Absolutely! But we didn't want to risk any issues.

The response has been overwhelmingly positive! I am beyond pleased they turned out so well, and am even more excited that people like them.