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How to 'Do-it-yourself'

If you are the creative type (or have a friend who is) it may be worth considering making your own wedding stationery.

Making your own stationery means you have full control over all the design choices and may even save money.
With so many craft stores and online outlets it's even easier to find beautiful materials to create stunning and unusual designs. You can be sure no-one else will have stationery exactly like yours!

Although making your own suite of stationery may seem a daunting task, especially if you have a large wedding, all it really takes is a little planning and know-how.

Allow plenty of time. You will have many other things to do prior to the big day but luckily your stationery can be done well ahead of time.
Invitations need to be sent out around 8 weeks in advance and you may need several weeks to assemble them.
Add on time to buy or order in materials. Ideally start them 4-6 months in advance.

Choose the size for your invitations. Many craft stores sell card blanks and envelopes. Make sure you can get all the sizes you need in matching card for all the stationery you need to make. If you want an unusual size or shape of card, the best way is to source an envelope you like and have suitable card cut to fit at a local print shop. They may be able to crease the card too. Don't choose the card first as envelopes are hard to find in non-standard sizes and can only usually be made up for you in large quantities.

Black Mouse sell ready creased cards in a range of sizes with envelopes to fit to make life easier. Loose card and paper are generally supplied in 'A' sizes and the envelopes to fit are a corresponding 'C' size. So an A4 card (210mm x 297mm) fits a C4 envelope. Fold A4 in half to make A5 and in half again to make A6 and so on.

C6 envelopes are usually available in a wide range of colours and papers but other sizes take more effort to find. A 'DL' envelope is a typical office sized envelope which fits A4 folded into 3. These are available from office suppliers in an attractive range of textures and pale colours and a card cut to fold and fit makes an elegant tall or wide invitation.

Plan your design. You may have a theme for your wedding or colours you want to use. You may have a clear idea of what you want to do. If this is the case, great! All you need to do is to make sure you can get everything you need, in the quantities you need and in plenty of time.

However, if you're stuck for ideas, don't sit staring at a blank sheet of paper. It's easy to clear your 'designers block'. Just look in wedding magazines, checkout your local specialist card shop for inspiration, visit a local craft or art gallery; adapt the latest trends from interior design magazines or check out wedding sites online. Inspiration is everywhere if you look for it.

Ensure your design is not too difficult or time consuming to do and is within your capabilities.
You should enjoy making them so don't choose anything that will stress you out! Often 'less is more' so keep the design uncluttered and simple and you'll sail through.

Just sitting experimenting with a few bits and pieces can spark a design idea. Try monograms, use your bridesmaids fabric, rings, flowers, watercolour if you're arty, bows, beads, wire, metallic card or handmade papers. Make sure your design will work on all the stationery components you will need. These range from small place cards to a large table plan so ask yourself - will it work on all sizes?
Consider the following typical elements:

• Save the date card
  
• Day Invitation
  
• Evening/Reception only invitation
  
• Wedding announcement
  
• Reply card
  
• Order of Service booklet/Order of the Day
  
• Place card
  
• Menu
  
• Table plan
  
• Thank you card

For more details on what you might need see our stationery guide

Set the wording. The easiest way to add the wording is to use a computer to print out your text onto a paper insert which is then fixed into a folded card with glue or ribbon. Here at Black Mouse we provide pre-cut inserts to fit most of our card sizes but if making them yourself allow time for trimming each one to the correct size. Examples of acceptable wording styles are available in many wedding websites, magazines and supplier catalogues you decide how formal or casual you want to be.

More some examples of wording see our wording guide

Making the invitations. Make sure you have everything you need to hand. Clear a large space and make sure your hands and work surface are clean and free from grease. Wash your hands frequently or wear disposable latex gloves to avoid marking anything. This is especially important if using metallic card, delicate paper or fabric or anything that shows fingerprints.

Don't forget the correct adhesive. Hi-tack craft glue, paper glue, and a cool melt or hot melt glue gun are ideal. You may also need sticky foam pads to give a 3D effect or sticky dots on a roll for quick and clean sticking. Test your glue on a small sample of material first though. Hot glue will melt some materials!

Work on a production line basis doing one task at a time to each card it's usually much quicker than completing each invitation separately. Make sure you have somewhere safe to put your invitations while they are drying or being stored. Keep them away from the kitchen so they don't pick up any unpleasant odours - paper and card are quite absorbent!

Print the inserts. Inserts can be printed on inkjet or laser, depending on the paper you choose. They can also be photocopied or handwritten.
If your budget will run to it and you are having quite a few done, you could have them printed lithographically or thermographically (raised ink) at a professional printers. An even more expensive option is to have them engraved.

Our inserts are pre-trimmed to fit our cards which saves a lot of cutting! Just add your text, fold and glue with our 'glue mouse' roller adhesive into position. Easy.

For Order of Service/the Day booklets you may need more than one insert if you have a lot of text and even with one insert sheet it will probably have to be double sided.
Choose photocopying, laser or lithography for this to avoid the ink bleeding through to the other side (which may happen with an inkjet) or use very thick paper.

To secure more than one insert, use a saddle stapler or tie them in with elasticated cord or ribbon. The typesetting is more complicated for multi-page booklets but some software has features to help with this. Check before taking this on!

When the inserts are printed, fold them carefully and use a our ideal glue mouse or a glue stick to put a thin line of glue down one side of the fold line. Do not try to glue down the fold itself your card won't open properly. If using the translucent inserts (Vellum, Transclear etc) do not use water based adhesives such as the glue sticks as these will make the paper wrinkle. Use our glue mouse instead as this will not wrinkle even delicate paper

Finally...

Whatever you decide make sure you can get all the components you will need, that the design is easy to repeat and within your capabilities and that you have time to make all the elements of your stationery you may need. Remember to make some spares - just in case - it can be a pain having to get everything out again later just to do one more invitation!

If you want stationery that is designed just for you but have neither the time nor inclination to do it yourself, why not let Black Mouse take the strain?

We can design and make your stationery from scratch (Gold design), or adapt an existing Black Mouse design (Silver design) or simply create an existing design in the colours and styles of your choice (Bronze design).

For the creatives among you, why not save yourself time searching and check out our online shop for co-ordinated cards, envelopes and inserts all in one place? There are cards suitable for most wedding stationery requirements plus metallic wedding wording, pearls, bows and flowers to add that finishing touch.

And don't worry if you get stuck or can't find something you need. Just contact us here at Black Mouse for free advice or help sourcing unusual materials.

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