Been MIA....Question on invitations

[Mandarine]

Hi guys!!

I''ve been sort of MIA, but still checking the forum!.

Harleigh - I love your luggage tags!!!!!!!!!!!!!...been meaning to write.
Ebree - You looked stunning on your wedding day!!!!!!!!!! Love your pictures!
Anchor - yay for all the progress!!!
IG - I love the black MOB dress! I am having the same issue but with the FMIL dress...she got a beautiful black dress but is backing out of it because of the color...she doesn''t want people to think she''s mourning...I told her nobody would think that, but I think now that she has that on her head she will return it and get a new one. My BMs are wearing black and I love the classy look!

I''ve been just so insanely busy lately!! (with work mostly).

I posted this question on the knot but I thought I would post it here too since there are many crafty girls out there!

- Pocketfolds : I got samples from cardsandpockets...prices seem to be the best. Any other souces?

- Envelopes: I am so confused with envelopes!. If I have a pocketfold, do I need an inner envelope?. If so, what size (the pocketfold is 5x7). What material?. And what wabout the outer?. Where can I find the best prices for envelopes?

- Paper: Where can I get the best deal?. I know it is better to not buy pre-cut because it saves on printing....but I don''t know where to go or what weight to get??. I just want a nice ivory cardstock for printing....and what about back panels? are those necessary?

- Printing: My printers at home are not good for this job and I don''t want to get a new printer because then we will have 3 printers!. Where should I go?. I think Kinkos charges $0.49 per page...can I do better than that else where?.

- RSVP Postcards: Is it better to print 2-sided or to use that kind of paper that lets you layer one panel on top of the other?. Any suggestions on RSVP postcards?

Thanks in advance!!!

M~

 

[cara]

So with pocketfolds, you need to think about the sizes of all the components at once, because otherwise you will be going crazy shaving 1/4 inch off your cardstock and mailing in envelopes that don''t fit properly.

If the pocketfolds are 5x7, the cardstock needs to be at least a 1/4" smaller at 4.75x6.75". Of you might visually prefer a larger border 1/2" border around the invite card, so then make it 4.5"x6.5". If you want to have a backer card around the invite, so there are three layers: invite, backer card, pocketfold, then the sizes need to be adjusted again. It is not necessary to have three layers but you might prefer it in your design. The gallery at cardsandpockets has some great examples.

For envelopes, the easiest would be to skip the inner envelope and use standard A7 envelopes that are 5.25"x7.25". Note that an A7 envelope has bigger dimensions than an A7 card, so that the A7 card (which is 5"x7") can fit inside. A pocketfold, which is thicker, might be tight, so I would make a mockup and check before betting the farm.

The purpose of the inner envelope is twofold:

1) to serve as a pretty "presentation" envelope so that the outer mailing envelope may be discarded after being trashed by the postal service

2) to list the individual names of people that you wish to invite. It is most useful for listing children''s first names (as well as their parents on the inner, but the outer is just addressed to the adults) and for listing "and guest" if you are letting single people bring someone of their choosing.

(If you want to skip the inner envelope, the kids can safely be listed on the outer with cute formal titles of Miss and Master, but "and guest" is not a proper mailing title. You would have to include a note to singles somewhere inside that they may bring dates.)

It is fine to skip the inners, but if you want them there is a product out there called an A7.5 envelope. It is not common so you will have to be flexible about material it is made of, but basically it is designed to be the outer envelope for an A7 card, where the standard A7 envelope is used as the inner envelope. This is what I did and it worked great, but I didn''t use pocketfolds. Frankly I think inner envelopes AND pocketfolds is overkill.

 

[cara]

more...

A good place for envelopes and some pocketfolds:
http://www.envelopemall.com/

Pre-cut papers:
paperandmore

more pre-cut papers:
http://www.paper-papers.com/

This place is a little expensive, but has some decorative paper and will also cut it down for you:
paper mojo

I ordered samples from these people, they seem more geared to suppling other stores:
Legion Paper

I would really recommend ordering cards pre-cut. The two in the middle above will cut your paper exactly to your specifications and mail it to you. If you have to cut them after, go to a professional print shop that has a laser cutter and charges by the slice thru 100 sheets. So to cut down letter paper to 5x7, you would need three cuts at ~$8/cut

Print shops shouldn't have any trouble with more odd sizes, except for maybe idiots at Kinkos. Look for professional copy shops NOT named Kinkos; they should be much less expensive. Also, are you doing Black and White? If so, it should be MUCH cheaper. You might also look into an online print shop where you upload your files and they send you the results. I would want samples from Vistaprint before using them for my wedding invites, but that kind of place is what I am thinking of. Upload files, they print for peanuts and mail them to you.

 

[Mandarine]

wow Cara, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This helps so much!
So if I buy the pre-cut paper, do I send that to Vistaprint? then send them my file and they print on my paper for me?
I''ve been trying to find local print shops and they''re all more expensive than Kinkos! I don''t get it...
I need to print in color since my design has some green on it...
Thank you again!!! This is all great info!!!!!!!!!!
M~

 

[cara]

Hmm... I wasn''t thinking entirely logically. You would have to find a very service-oriented online printshop for this to work. You could contact Vistaprint to see if they would do it with your paper, but you might have to go with their paper for an online print store. I would order samples from an online printer to see quality of printing AND their paper before ordering. There are other online print shops out there besides Vistaprint, maybe other people have suggestions?

But if you order your own paper pre-cut, a local print-shop might be more convenient. You want a place with Kinkos-type services, but oriented more to business than man-on-the-street. Kinkos can do the after-printing laser cutting I was talking about (if you don''t order the paper pre-cut), but their color-printing charges are absurd as you found out.

Your local-knot board might even have some print-shop recommendations.

Oooohh... I remember your design. You want bleed to the edge, right? Printing right up to the edge of the paper? OK, you might need to cut the paper after printing, depending on the printer. Unless you are doing that design with a stamp or something else hero-DIY.

 

[Mandarine]

Date: 10/26/2007 1:06:30 PM
Author: cara
Hmm... I wasn''t thinking entirely logically. You would have to find a very service-oriented online printshop for this to work. You could contact Vistaprint to see if they would do it with your paper, but you might have to go with their paper for an online print store. I would order samples from an online printer to see quality of printing AND their paper before ordering. There are other online print shops out there besides Vistaprint, maybe other people have suggestions?

But if you order your own paper pre-cut, a local print-shop might be more convenient. You want a place with Kinkos-type services, but oriented more to business than man-on-the-street. Kinkos can do the after-printing laser cutting I was talking about (if you don''t order the paper pre-cut), but their color-printing charges are absurd as you found out.

Your local-knot board might even have some print-shop recommendations.

Oooohh... I remember your design. You want bleed to the edge, right? Printing right up to the edge of the paper? OK, you might need to cut the paper after printing, depending on the printer. Unless you are doing that design with a stamp or something else hero-DIY.

Thank you Cara!! You have no idea how much you have helped!!!

I am not sure what "bleed to edge" is...sounds a little drastic...lol. SO I guess printing and cutting with a paper cutter is not a good option?

 

[cara]

Bleed to the edge is printing that goes right up to the edge of the paper with no unprinted margin. Many lower end printers cannot do this, so you would need to print on larger paper first, with the design going off of your intended card area, and then cut the paper down to size.

You will go mad cutting on a home cutter, and it will be hard to be very accurate. Even Kinkos can cut down stacks of paper reasonably cheaply with a laser cutter, but it would be better to order precut if your design allows.

Good luck!

 

[shigidigi]

Mandarine I think you and I had talked about the coffee bean pocketfolds before from cards and pockets. Since we decided to do a small wedding I will NOT be needing the 41 I purchased, so let me know if you want them!

 

[Mandarine]

Thank you Cara! That makes sense!

Shigidi, I decided to go with the black design...otherwise I would have definitely used the brown ones!. Thanks for keeping me in mind

M~

 

[Joy80]

I used a blank invitation kit by hot hues from target in ivory for my backing. It came with 50 envelopes and the precut card stock for $9.99. It was very nice and not cheesy looking at all. The envelope size was 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 I believe and the card stock ran a tad smaller and even if you didnt use them for you invites you could cut them down for RSVPs or something. I also found this video on mygatsy.com very helpful with the assembl http://www.mygatsby.com/video.jsp

 

[shigidigi]

I am so excited to see how your invitations turn out since all of your other plans have been awesome! (I still tell people about your fan save-the-dates!)

I cant help with where to get your stuff printed, but for envelopes I liked California Paper Goods- they carried the stardream envelopes in ALL the colors (the bright ones I was interested in too) as well as hundreds of others and the prices were good. That way you can have some more options on what will make the first impression when you send out your invitations!

 

[Harleigh]

Hi Mandarine! Long time, no see!

Thanks for the nice compliment on the luggage tags! FI finally got to see them today, and he loved them, so they are definitely a go!

It sounds like you are really keeping busy! I can''t wait to see what you end up doing! You''re so creative, I know it will all look fabulous!

I ended up making my own invites (just finished putting those together today, as a matter of fact!) and I did it so cheaply, it''s almost funny. I think the most expensive part was the rolls of ribbon, of which I only used just a smidge more than 1, and those were a $1.99 a roll! Am I cheap or what?

Anyhow, just bought some DIY cards at Big Lots, some scrapbooking paper and vellum from the craft store, ribbon from wal-mart and they''re a done deal. I know they''re not nearly as fancy as everyone else''s on here, but they''ll be fine (I hope, I hope, I hope! Keep your fingers crossed for me!!!)

Keep us posted on your details and stay in touch!

 

[FLgirl41]

I found a great deal at two places. The first one was www.paperpresentation.com. I beleive it was April Diamonds that bought her materials for her invites. I am going to buy my envelopes and pocket folders here. They are way cheaper than any thing I have seen thus far. I think it was only $24 for 150 response sized envelopes!

I am then ordering my paper from www.thepapermillstore.com. I just ordered a sample so I will see if it is what I am looking for. But they have 65lbs card stock for sale for 500 sheets for $29.95! They have like a hundered something colors. I couldn''t find a ivory so I ordered a Sesame Light. I can let you know if I like the color when I get it. They also have envelopes too but I think they were cheaper at paperpresentation because you can buy them by the 50, where as at papermillstore you have to buy them by 250 and I only need 150.

 

[april diamonds]

Hi Mandarine!

FLgirl is right, I did buy my invite supplies from Paper Presentation. I went to the store, so I''ve never ordered online, but I''ve heard tht the service is just fine, and you get the same deal online as in the store. So when you order in "bulk" (more than like 5 packs of something like that - which is easily achieveable because each pack is like 10 or 25 of most things). And they have a nice variety of paper and envelopes.

Envelopes - If you''re going with a pocketfold I personally don''t think that you need to have an inner envelope, since the pocketfold works as envelope. It also seems like a waste of paper and money, let''s go green people!

Paper - not sure what you mean by the back panels, but the cardstock I used (pre cut) from Paper Presentation was very sturdy and printed through my laser printer like a dream. I believe the card stock weight I got was "120lb"

Printing - I have heard from other people the Kinkos is not a bad deal. But you need to be careful with the size that you ask them to print. I *think* that it''s cheaper if you give them standard size paper (i.e. Letter 8.5x11) and then ask them to cut it, then asking them to print on pre cut flat cards that are a more random size...like for example I was doing 5.5x5.5 squares. This is seems a bit crazy, but if you want a new printer for home, sometimes you can find some really great deals on laser printers, and you could just buy a new printer to print the invites. (my brother in law bought our laser printer two years ago for REALLY cheap. I think it was like 60 bucks after rebates and coupons.) I don''t know how to help you find the deal, but if you have some tech savvy friends they might be ableto find you those nifty deals.

RSVP - I am using the same wt paper as my invites to do postcard RSVPs. I am going to print text on oneside only and then maybe put a design on the front that matches the invites. (depends on if I have the time and will to do it!) Make sure when you do your postcard RSVPs that you check the mail size allowances - to make sure you have a size that can actually be mailed. http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm100/what.htm

Hope that helps!

 

[Mandarine]

Thank you guys!!! I haven''t had a chance to come thank you but I have been reading your responses!! They have been SO helpful!! You have no idea! )

I am in the process of deciding where to print...

Pocketfolds I will definitely get from cardsandpockets...paper and envelopes is still TBD. I need to do a price comparison sheet or something like that first

Thanks again and Happy Halloween my lovely PSers!!!!!!!!!!