Yesterday we finally revealed our wedding invitations, but we didn’t get to my favorite part: the envelopes! To me what holds the invitations is just as important as the invitations themselves, so we were very selective of the types of envelopes we used, the color, the shape of the flap, the calligraphy, the return address. Even the stamps were hand selected for each person on our guest list.

For example this envelope was sent to my Uncle Don who was in the Air Force (airplane stamp) and my Aunt Phyllis who both live in Florida (green Florida stamp). While everyone received an Architecture stamp (for our love of Architecture) and to commemorate the location of our nuptials a Hemisfair ’68 stamp from San Antonio.

Each envelope was hand addressed using this etiquette, while the calligraphy was created using my cheating method from our Save The Dates. We initially wanted to use black A7 envelopes with a euorpean flap (for the lining), but quickly realized that my faux calligraphy wouldn’t really work with black envelopes so we opted for these slate ones from Paper Source. After choosing the perfectly scripted typeface and spacing for each address, I printed out each one with black ink.

Then I traced over each address with this white pen I also picked up from Paper Source. Seriously, if you’re in need of a white pen this one takes the cake! Note: it took 3 pens to address all 80 addresses, they suck up a lot of ink.

For the return address we knew we couldn’t print anything onto the envelope with white ink because there is no such thing, so we went with the next best option: a rubber stamp! After perusing all of the custom rubber stamp designs on Etsy we finally settled on this one.

We used my parents name and address to keep with tradition in hopes that all gifts and correspondence would be sent to their home 1. because we live in an apartment and I don’t trust our sketchy neighbors, and 2. because we don’t have any room for any boxed and don’t want to peek at our gifts until after the big day. What can I say? We’re old fashioned.

Once the stamp arrived I picked up a couple white ink pads (not knowing if they’d run out like the pens did) from Hobby Lobby.

I highly recommend this brand, it’s very “juicy” and creates a nice even stamp. As someone who stamps finish submittals all day, I’ve still never mastered rubber stamps, but this one was a piece of cake! After a couple trial runs I learned that after pressing it into the ink I’d stamp once on a scrap piece of paper and then once onto the envelope then repeat. This method created the most seamless stamp, but you’ll want to test out your own to see what works best for you.

While the return addresses were drying (which took about 24 hours.. like I said, juicy!) I started working on the envelope lining. We designed this fun little pattern using some iconic chairs we love, and printed out a few large sheets on an architectural plotter. If you don’t have access to one, you can get this done for about $5 at Kinkos.

While at Paper Source I also picked up this pack of envelope lining templates, and used the A7 size to trace onto the back of my printouts. It’s important to do this on the back so that you don’t have pencil lines on the part of your lining that your guests will see.

Once the linings are all traced I just cut them out with scissors until all 80 were done.

Then all I needed was my pile of linings, a glue stick, and my already addressed envelopes.

I placed the lining in each envelope until the bottom of the lining reached the bottom of the envelope and centered it so that none of the glue on the envelope flap was covered.

Then I folded down the flap of the envelope to create a perfect crease where the lining would naturally need to fold.

I applied a thin layer of my glue stick all over the triangle part of the lining, leaving the rectangle part unglued.

Then I folded over the actual envelope flap and firmly pressed down to make sure the lining was secure.

It only takes a few minutes to dry and then they are ready to stuff and stamp!

I closed each envelope with a piece of black and white striped washi tape just to make them a little more special.

After I sorted and applied all of my vintage stamps I was ready to send these babies off, which was a little bittersweet after all of that hard work. My mom and I went down the street to the post office where they let me hand cancel  the stamps to preserve their beauty and keep the postmaster from running it through the canceling machines that usually ruin the envelopes.

So there you have it! Our wedding invitations. Now we just sit back and wait for RSVPs to start rolling in. :)