One of the best parts about getting married was doing all the projects for the wedding. Yeah I love Matt and was excited to spend the rest of our lives together and blah blah blah, but it was also an amazing opportunity to do a whole lot of DIYin’.
As mentioned in my gargantuan wedding post, a key planning factor for our own wedding was budget. We had a very specific dollar number in mind for what we were comfortable spending, and were determined to stick to it. Invites and wedding stationary can get expensive real quick, so one of the first projects I tackled were our save the date cards, which I designed myself in PicMonkey.
PicMonkey is a photo-shopping website that is really user friendly. You can use it for free, although there are some features that are not accessible to people who aren’t paying customers. (I have a PicMonkey account and I use it all the time: it costs about $35 per year and it has been totally worth it for me!) To print, I went through VistaPrint and was really happy with their prices and customer service.
So first things first, figure out what specs you’ll need to make your file in PicMonkey so that it fits the VistaPrint printing requirement. VistaPrint has an awesome chart that lays all the sizing out for you for whatever it is you’re working on. For our purposes, the file needs to be 2556 x 1642 pixels, but yours may be different depending on the style of card you choose.
Open up PicMonkey and choose “Design” from the top menu, and then custom. This will allow you to enter your pixel dimensions.
After you enter in the dimensions of the file, you will be brought to PicMonkey’s edit screen, with a blank canvas. At this point, you’ll want to choose a background for your image. The site provides a ton of options to choose from: just click the butterfly icon on the side bar and you can look around for one you like. (If you want a solid color background, you’ll find this option by clicking the square icon on the side bar and choosing ‘Canvas Color’.) If you can’t find one you like in the options provided, you can upload your own by clicking on ‘Your Own’ at the top of the overlays tab. I downloaded a floral background from Google Images and used that for this tutorial.
After I uploaded my background and fitted it to the card, I rotated the image to be vertical, but that’s just my preference.
If your background is bright and busy like the one I chose, you’ll have to add another overlay in order for any text to show up. Under the butterfly tab, choose “Geometric” and add a rectangle/shape of your choosing in whatever color you like, then size it appropriately.
If you want to soften your shape, you can use the fade tool to make it as transparent or opaque as you like.
To add text, click on the “Tt” icon above the butterfly, select your font, and hit “Add Text”. Play around with different sizes, fonts, and colors until you find a combo you like!
There are a lot of images and graphics to choose from under the overlays (butterfly) tab, but if you want to add your own, you can! Do it the same way you added your own background (butterfly icon on the sidebar, then click ‘Your Own’ at the top) and upload it directly from your computer. I found a lot of great graphics by searching “wedding silhouette” in Google Images, such as the one I used here:
As you can see, there is a white background on the overlay I added which looks super fugly, but that is easily blended in by using the ‘darken’ effect in the pop-up box. (This box appears every time you click on an overlay, text block, etc.)
So go to town — make it as fancy or simple as you like. When you’re ready to save your image, make sure you choose “Sean” as it is the highest quality save option.
Also, something to note: once you close the PicMonkey browser, even if you’ve saved the file, you cannot edit it further unless it’s to add something else. You can’t fix spelling errors or delete anything, so don’t close the browser until you’re sure your file is perfect.
You should now have a JPEG file of your own beautiful creation. Good job, you crafty bitch you!
(Disclaimer for friends and family of Whitney and Mike: they have not yet set a date for their wedding — strictly using them as examples for my own convenience!)
If you want double-sided cards, create it using the same specs and include any text/info you’d like. You might just want the background if you don’t have any text to add.
When you’re ready to order, go to Vista Print and choose Wedding Invitations under the Invitations & Stationary tab.
You want to use your own design, so choose that option and tick the “216 x 139mm” size (or whichever card style you based your specs on initially). After that, it’s pretty straightforward. You’ll be given the option to upload your image, decide if you want two sided or not, etc. You’ll also be able to preview your design before ordering:
Just a little tip for when you’re ordering: take into account that you don’t need an invitation for as many people as you’re inviting, since many will probably be a part of the same household (one invitation per couple, to be specific). I made that stupid mistake when I ordered my invitations and counted for every guest, so ended up having double what I needed. Idiot.
I got save the dates, invitations, programs, and thank you cards (yet to be sent — oops!) for $160; it was awesome. Vista Print has crazy sales on all the time: never ever purchase anything on the site without a coupon! If you sign up for an account on their site you will get the coupon codes via email and it will save you lots of cash.
I hope this tutorial can help at least one bride to be save a few bucks and if you have any questions — leave them in the comments!
Always a pleasure to read your blog, Allison. Do you think this might prompt W & M to set a date or use that one?
I really love this idea Allison!