My (now) husband and I decided to have a petite wedding (as in 19 guests) at Adelaida Winery in Paso Robles, California.  Because we were only inviting our immediate families and wedding parties, we have been able to do a lot of really cool, personal things that would not have been possible otherwise.  One of those cool, personalized things was our wedding invitations.

Now, you'd think that having 21 total people at your wedding would be really cost-effective.  You'd be incorrect.  Yes, we did save some money doing it that way, but our caterer up-charged us because we had less than 25 people (I mean, I can't really blame them; it has to be worth their time).  There are also a lot of fixed costs (venue, photographer, music, lighting, etc).  Needless to say, we wanted to save some money where we could.

I ended up at Michael's Arts and Crafts checking out their BRIDES invitations, which are DIY and pretty inexpensive.  When I got to the store, there were zero red options.  I was totally bummed because I REALLY didn't want to spend a ton of moolah on 13 invitations.  I decided to buy black and white invitations and said, "I'll figure it out!"  When I got home, I put them away and promptly put it out of my mind.

After my surgery, I found myself in dire need of something creative to do - I was bored out of my mind!  I dug out the invitations (ok, my mom did, since I couldn't walk) and some metallic watercolor paint.  Even though I knew it was going to eliminate the option of printing on the invitations (which is how they are intended to be done), I decided it had to be done; I did a wash of red and champagne over the invitation, envelope, and response card. 

Full disclosure: I only photographed the first and second invitations I did (which happened to be the worst, since I hadnt worked out the kinks).  I fine-tuned the process after about invitation number five. 

Photos from the Harty ı Photography ı Washington, DC and beyond I let them dry and flattened them a bit (which did not go as well as I'd hoped on the ones pictured here). Photos from the Harty ı Photography ı Washington, DC and beyond Then, I used my calligraphy skills from high school to create personalized invitations. 

I knew teaching myself that would come in handy at some point!  Photos from the Harty ı Photography ı Washington, DC and beyond I was pretty pleased with them, but what was more surprising to me was the reaction I got from our guests.  Everyone LOVED them!

The little personal touch paid off!  I loved hearing all the positive feedback, so I figured I'd share the info!

PS - I helped my friend with her own BRIDES invitations and she did the actual printing (which is how they're intended to be used).  They came out really well and she was thrilled with them.  So, using them as intended is also an option.  :)