DIY LASER CUT WEDDING INVITATIONS

I'll be the first to admit that I don't care about wedding invitations, or honestly invitations in general. I know that they are technically the introduction to a party or event and set the tone, but they just aren't something I've put a lot of thought into. I apologize but if you've sent me an invitation in the last five years, I can't tell you what it looked like. 

So I surprised even myself  when I came across laser cut invitations and decided I wanted to have them for my wedding. Something about them just fit in well with our '20's theme and they were fun and different. 

However when I started researching I realized the cheapest price for one laser cut invitation that I could find was $4. That didn't even include all of the inserts. That's about 3x my budget. So in true Grace and Maura style, I decided that I could do it for less. Of course I had no idea how, but I knew there was a way. So here it is, my version, for under $1.50! 

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I should let you know before you read any farther that I have a Silhouette machine that I bought a few years ago and that's what I used to make all of the pieces for this. You could also use a Circuit machine or if you were super skilled I suppose you could do it by hand, though I'm not sure how. 
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Aside from the Silhouette and printed inserts, I got all my materials at Michaels.

For supplies you will need:

• Silhouette or Cricut machine
• Black 65 lb paper (Michaels was having a paper sale buy one get two free (yes you read that right) so I was able to get all the paper I needed (black and gold) for $12).
• Gold 65 lb paper
• Feathers
• Jewels
• Printed Inserts (I used Photoshop to design the informational pieces and then had them printed at Staples on photo weighted paper. To save money I printed several on one page and cut it out).
• Black Envelopes (I actually bought mine at Michaels. They were part of a "note card/envelope set" and were $5 for 40. That was a great deal for that size black envelope (hard to find) so I'll use the note cards to make my table numbers).
• White Envelopes (again these were on sale at Michaels, $1.99 for 15, they were in a bin somewhere but I couldn't find them again when I went back).
• Glue, gold markers, and mailing supplies.

Ok so let's make the invitation. It's not hard to make, it just requires a lot of pieces, some of which are tedious. To start, you need the base of the invitation, the actual laser cut part. I used this template from Etsy. It did require some adjusting and my one tip would be to test it with different weights of paper because it really does make a difference. 
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I used the Silhouette to do the laser cuts and then used this tool to "weed" it which is a fancy term for taking out all the little pieces that didn't get cut by the machine.

I then used my Silhouette to cut out gold 4 x 6 rectangles and glued the rectangle to the laser cut piece.

Next, I cut out the actual worded part of the invitation that I designed on Photoshop and glued it on top of the gold, allowing a gold border to show. 
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From here I placed all of the "inserts" in. I had directions and hotel information, RSVP, and website information. I got all of this printed at Staples. Again, I designed it on Photoshop and put several on one page. I then had Staples print it on heavy glossy paper. This saved me a ton of money. 
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After I placed all the inserts in, I put another gold rectangle on top. I then closed the flaps of the laser cut part.

To keep it all together I used the "wrap" that came with the invitation template. I chose to cut it on gold foil paper as well. I used hot glue to seal it.
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Now that the the invitation is packed I used hot glue to glue a feather and a gem stone to the center of the circle. 
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I placed all of this against the RSVP envelope and in the larger black envelope. That's it! 
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All together I spent less than $1.50 on each invitation. I also like that I can make more if needed. Are they perfect? No. Can you tell they are homemade? Yes. Does it matter to me? No. They achieved the aesthetic I wanted and honestly? I loved the challenge of making them myself. Would I do it again? Maybe if I had a lot of wine. 
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This was definitely incredibly time consuming and would not be worth it, it took me hours (plural) to get these done. In the end though, I'm glad that I was able to get what I wanted within my budget, and that is the beauty of DIY!