Do you really custom make these?! (The making of a Custom Invitation)

Hi Everyone,
Hope you're having a great weekend!
I always get asked if we really make the custom invitations by hand and the answer is "Yes". For our custom invitations, we begin the process with the design (which is done in-house), before moving into production (also done in-house).

A while ago, a friend and colleague of mine suggested I write a blog on producing custom invitations. Due to the craziness of the wedding season, the last thing I had time for was taking pictures before, during and after production. There just isn't time to do that. As we were about to begin producing the invitations below, I remembered his suggestion and made a conscious effort to take pictures each step of the way. This is actually a fairly simple production line. There are more intricate/time consuming steps for other invitation styles. I hope to do another post shortly on another style.

So, here's a little behind-the-scenes look at our production. Every custom invitation process begins with the design/proofing phase. Below are the design proofs (not shown are the invitation & rsvp envelopes because they have our client's address:)) This invitation is a bit unique because it was done in 2 languages - Vietnamese and English. In addition, the American Invitation wording etiquette and order names are slightly different.

All the cardstock (Invitation layers, RSVP cards, Reception cards and Front Tabs)have been "raised" printed, cut and ready to begin.


The ribbon is then cut and ready to be "blinged up"


The first phase is to embellish the invitation layers with the ribbon and Rhinestone accents


The cut ribbon strips are embellished


The embellished ribbon is mounted onto the invitations


Cindy chose a z-card style invitation. The invitation layers are then mounted onto the Z-cards


The Reception cards are mounted onto the inner flap of the Z-card


Finally, the front tabs are attached to the front of the Z-cards


Voila! Completed Invitations!


Hope you enjoyed the post. Do have a lovely weekend!