Brickhouse Events: May 2014

I started to really embrace the library theme while planning, and wouldn't have chosen any other theme for my wedding (except maybe nautical -- <3 sailboats and anchors!).

One thing I knew I wanted for my invites was to have them in some kind of envelope so guests wouldn't lose them post delivery (an enclosure envelope, if you will). The other thing I knew I wanted was some kind of "library" seal.

This is the initial enclosure envelope I wanted, unfortunately they weren't going to work for my invites (I wanted everything to stay in the pocket on the left hand side, but the invite is meant to be placed on the flat section and the enclosures in the pocket--annoying).

From the most awesome store ever -- Paper Source! Note: this is not the color I was shopping for, but the picture shows the most definition in this color)

Paper Source was a little expensive when I was pricing out my envelopes, but you just can't beat their quality and their selection! I purchased numerous samples of enclosure envelopes and paper swatches from a much cheaper website, but the enclosure envelopes weren't up to snuff, so I was going to buy some from Paper Source and some from this other website, but it just wasn't worth it. I wasn't able to order a sample from Paper Source, but luckily for me, there is a store nearby, so I bought a pack of envelopes to see if they would work.

Anywho -- here is the enclosure envelope I ended up using. I ordered them in the luxe, cream finish, which has a little bit of texture to it.

I found a library seal embosser on Amazon.com, which was one of the best things I purchased for the wedding (after ~~the fiance~~ I figured out how to use it properly).

Library book embosser on Amazon

Here's a close up of my embosser's final product (?), and the enclosure envelope with the seal:

The other totally awesome thing I did to carry on my library theme was to use encyclopedia pages to make envelope liners for my envelopes and response envelopes (as pictured above). My parents had a set of encyclopedias that were published in the 1950s (and purchased for a quarter a piece in the '90s), but they've sat on the bookshelf, untouched for years. My dad absolutely loves books, so he was a little hesitant to let me use the encyclopedias at first, but he quickly came around.

Initially I was looking for the liners on Etsy before deciding I could make them myself. I purchased an envelope liner template kit from Paper Source (have I mentioned how much I love that store?). They have a tutorial video on their website, although it doesn't need much explaining, but does help to show just how easy it is to make them.

Here's the finished product of my invitations:

I cut out certain sections of the encyclopedias to use for the liners that were important to us such as beer, accounting, Philadelphia, etc. with every intention of giving the guest a section that we had in common, but that quickly fell by the way side.

I absolutely love the way the invitations came out and hope I was able to inspire someone else out there!

After scouring the internet for library themed wedding invites on the typical invitation websites, I wasn't having any luck. While the ones that I saw were "nice," they just weren't what I was looking for. If my our invitation and save the date were displayed next to each other, I wanted them to "go," and I wasn't finding anything that flowed nicely. I decided to search "library themed wedding invitations" on Etsy, and found so many more options.

The ones that tickled my fancy were the ones that looked like a book cover. Below is the one I ended up purchasing from 3EggsDesign on Etsy. I was able to make some changes to the invitation suite, such as having adding entree choices to the R.S.V.P. cards, and having an information card instead of a save the date (Kim is totally awesome!!).

I love the look of the invitation suite, and it fit in my budget, score! I received a PDF of the invitation suite and took them to Staples to be printed. The only downside was that I had to cut them out myself. After I used this amazing/awesome/miracle worker for a paper cutter:

I started out using the kind where you slide the blade to cut the paper, but I just wasn't happy with the way the invitations were coming out (a.k.a. it was the worst paper cutter ever and the invites were looking aw-ful). Luckily my dad already had the paper cutter above, so I was able to salvage the invites I had already cut. If you're printing your own invitations, you have to get a cutter like this one!

Here are some other literary wedding invitations fit for various budgets and where to find them.