Library Book Invitations

Now that all of the invitations have been sent out and responses recorded, I wanted to post some photos of the invitations we put together. When researching invitations, I knew I wanted to send out something unique, memorable and cheap. Since we are having a pretty small wedding, I figured we could accomplish that goal, but I was still surprised how pricey things are from paper vendors. So I started researching alternatives.

I thought about doing a digital invitation, but thought that might be a little impersonal. Then I thought about postcards, but that sounded cheap. Then the librarian in me thought about incorporating books somehow. I found the perfect example of a starting point for the invitations.

After searching through tons of library books sales, my parents and I found 50 books that had a vintage-y look or a title that had to do with love or marriage or had a personal meaning to the recipient. I went through my library's old supplies (we don't use those cards any more!) and recycled them in the books. I got the ribbon, the wax seals and cardstock at Michael's. I think the total price was $80.

The assembly process took about three days. It would have taken a lot more if it hadn't been for my parents. Even my brother and sister helped a bit. My dad cut the endpapers and my mom was burning the edges of invitations while I was printing and assembling everything. The burning definitely took the longest--especially when it was windy outside! We wrapped the books in brown paper and burned the address labels too. The Media Mail shipping rate cost us about $120. (And we required a digital response, so I had to get the computer in there somewhere!) :)

My favorite part is that each invitation is different. The endpapers, the actual book, the buttons, the size. We've gotten tons of compliments which proves that we achieved our goal of keeping it unique. :)

Here are some pix of the process:

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