Wedding: The Invitation Suite & Creative RSVPs Guest Book

A few weeks ago as I styled and snapped these photos in my kitchen I realized, once again, how enchanted I am by our plymouth invitation suite from Oblation Papers & Press. Working meticulously with the incredible Park Slope Lion in the Sun paperie I was able to tweak the font, formatting, wording and alignment until it was complete perfection. I was not easy and I didn't settle for almost perfection. I probably would have thrown myself through a wall. 

But Lion in the Sun treated me like I was the only bride in the world. They not only listened to my ideas and suggestions, but encouraged them. When I was excited, they were excited. I can't say enough about this incredible staff lead by the incomparable owner, Melinda, who, among other things, found and suggested this beautiful script you see below and also guided me through the entire invitation creation and delivering process. I knew when to order, when to mail and most importantly what to expect (i.e. RSVPs arriving in the mail without a name! (It happened!!)) 

My dear brides hail a cab, take a bus, hop a train, walk or even run to 7th Avenue in Park Slope Brooklyn stat! 

You won't regret it! 

^^The hand made Italian paper was textured, heavy and luxurious to the touch^^

^^The font color is called Mink... It was soft and romantic.^^

^^I swiped this idea from Miss Emily. I requested our guests send us a creative response.^^ 

^^We then took our RSVPs and displayed them in our guest book at the wedding!^^

I was so impressed with the time, effort and creativity our friends and family put into their responses. Opening the mail was so exciting. There were mazes, poems, scratch-off tickets, paintings, drawings, collages and more! Some guests even sent packages (Jamie & Weston sent us a package with brownies that spelled out YES!... I ate part of the exclamation point before I realized it!) Below you will find just a few of my favorites! Enjoy!! 

**Also check out instagram and search the hashtag #KANDJRSVP to see the whole lot!**

DIY Wedding: How to make a Vintage Sheet Music pocket!

Ever since we mailed our invitations out back in January I've had quite a few requests from friends and brides-to-be asking how I made the Vintage Sheet Music Pockets that held our invitation suite. So... here we go!

^^Step 1. Gather your supplies and tools.^^

Paper supplies: I decided to make our pockets out of vintage sheet music, but you could choose anything from wrapping paper or newspaper, to magazines or maps! (ooo maps!) Go with what inspires  you most and compliments the theme of your wedding. 

Tools: A good pencil, an acid free glue stick, sharp scissors, scotch tape and a paper cutter. 

I used this Martha Stewart 12-Inch Simple Paper Trimmer because its' compact size is NYC apartment friendly!

^^Step 2: Choose your template.^^

Back in December I spent (more than) a few hours in Paper Presentation scouring their envelopes and pocket templates before I came across this one. I experimented with a couple variations, but in the end this format looked sharp and was the easiest to trace and cut.

**very important - make sure your invitation pocket fits into your outer envelope before you decide on final template!**

^^Step 3: Trace & Cut.^^

Because we will be using the title of the sheet music as the belly band, make sure to leave space at the top when you are tracing your pocket template. **This is only vintage music template specific** Trace lightly and try to position the template over the illustration in an aesthetically pleasing fashion.

I found it was most efficient to free-hand cut the templates out rather than using the paper cutter. Don't worry about cutting in perfectly straight lines once the pocket is folded you won't notice these small imperfections!

^^Step 4: Cut the belly band.^^

Keep the cover of the sheet music folded in half when you are cutting the title. You will need all the length to be able to wrap it around the pocket. I often had to do minor repair work at the crease of the sheet music with a bit of scotch tape. Make sure your paper is lined up and held securely in place before sliding the blade down the paper cutter. 

^^Now you have a invitation pocket and belly band!^^

^^An advantage to using vintage sheet music was having the inside as well as the outside tell a story. Sometimes it was the musical score, sometimes lyrics or sometimes more illustrations. The lyrics to this song were particularly adorable to me...^^

^^Step 5: Fold your pocket.^^

Place your template on top of the newly cut pocket, line up the corner and edges, and using your original template as a guide - bend and fold!

^^Step 6: Glue your belly band.^^

Fold your title strip of paper around your freshly folded pocket, line up the title and glue the paper to form a belly band that can slip on and off the pocket. The belly band looks fantastic and it holds the pocket flaps in place!

^^Step 7: Stuff your invitation suite into your pocket and slide belly band into place!^^

^^Sit back, admire your work and then - repeat!^^

Wedding: The Vintage Sheet Music Pockets

A few months back some of you may remember that I was hunting down vintage sheet music. Especially music with vibrantly colored, illustrated covers. After scouring garage sales, thrift shops, Etsy, eBay and street fairs around NYC I eventually acquired quite the stack of beautiful, musty smelling, sheet music!

My idea was to create invitation pockets out of this sheet music to hold our letterpress stationary suite. (Here is a post about our wedding stationary we discovered and created with Lion in the Sun in Park Slope, Brooklyn where we also purchased invitations for the engagement party and bridal shower!)

Now how should I do this? I brainstormed. I scoured Pinterest. I visited Paper Presentation. I inevitably realized Paper Presentation is similar to a casino when I accidentally spent three hours there. I experimented. I traced. I cut. I affixed.

And after a short 900+ minutes (no joke) came up with these... 

^^Just a few of my favorites!^^

^^A peak inside! More here!!^^

^^Boxed up and ready to be mailed!!^^

You can find instructions on the creation of these pockets in my "DYI Wedding: How to make a Vintage Sheet Music Pocket"!!