All things paper

I wanted to do the paper goods myself, I figured I have the time, why not! I'm not a super crafty person but I really like designing each piece.

Invitations

We chose a navy metallic pocketfold from paperandmore.com. I then designed our invite and all the inserts in Microsoft Publisher. I felt like the invite part needed a pop of something so I hired SheliaMari Designs on Esty to create my invite and I love what she came up with! My two fonts are Albemarle and Feel Script. We got mini swarovski crystals from a paper store in my hometown that we will stick on the monograms on the front of each invite to add some sparkle.

Update! Here are our completed invitation suite!

I found this map online and asked our florist/graphic design goddess to recreate it for us. She will hand draw the information and then use watercolor paint to color it and mail me the original. I can then scan it into my computer and print it on the inserts!

Update! See below for the finished map!

Save The Dates

We ordered our STDs from Wedding Paper Divas and used a engagement pic on the front of our postcard. It was cheap and easy and they were great quality. We wanted a postcard to save on postage and these turned out perfectly.

Seating Chart

We will be doing a seating chart and no escort cards which should be a pretty easy DIY since I've found template online. I plan to get it printed at Kinko's in a 16x20 size.
This first one is nice with the tables separated out (again, found on Weddingbee).
This second one is a much plainer one but I do have the graphic from our invites to use to punch it up a bit. I like it since it is easier to find your name.

Programs

We bought 12x12 paper in white, navy and green from Anchor Paper (Tom rocks!) to make our 6x6 or 5.5x5.5 sized programs. Every other program will be in Navy or Green (equal numbers of each color). I have a few templates of how to set them up. Since we're doing a catholic ceremony and not everyone is catholic, I feel programs are required.
I love this accordion fold program however I am going to modify it to a booklet program but still going with a square program. I found this program from a Bee on Weddingbee.com

Here is what I came up with!

Out Of Towners--gift bags and welcome letter

Majority of our guests will be coming in from out of town so we are making a welcome letter along with a gift bag for them. I may use a Chicago postcard for the welcome letter. We plan to include some pretzels or trail mix, 2 individual bottles of wine (1 red and 1 white), some Chicago maps, things to do, and maybe some chocolate.

Here are the Do Not Disturb signs I made for the OOT bags, they are Rack Cards from Vistaprint and I got 50 for free (just paid shipping). I'm going to punch a hole in the cards and cut a slit when they arrive. Super easy and cheap!

Menus

I created a menu in Microsoft Publisher for the tables. I'm not sure if we'll do one at each setting or several at each table but this is the format we'll use. We may back the paper with navy card stock as well.

Bar

I'd love to have a signature drink at our reception, we're in the process of trying to come up with one. If we have one, I'll make a sign like this for it!

Photo booth sign

Since most of my guests have not seen a photo booth at a wedding before, I am going to make up a few signs to place around the reception. I really like this sign I found on Weddingbee...great place for inspiration!