How to Design Your Own Wedding Announcements
The ubiquity of computers has made designing items such as wedding announcements relatively simple and cost-effective. Most computers come with programs that will help with the process, allowing the couple to imbue the announcements with their own personality and style. For those who do not have the experience or the desire to create their own designs, paper manufacturers and other third-party software developers sell templates that can be easily adapted to your use. Finally, the variety of paper that is marketed for home printers can give your announcement a professional touch.
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Things You'll Need
- Design program or specialty template
- Specialty paper, such as deckled invitations
- Image manipulation program
- Calligraphy pen
Instructions
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Design
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Decide on the announcement's tone. What type of message do you want to send? Do you want the tone to be whimsical or solemn?
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Select any art you want to use. Several websites have royalty-free artwork that can be purchased for a nominal price. Alternatively, if you or someone you know is artistic, an original piece of art can be created and then scanned.
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3
Select the type of paper you want to use for the announcement. It may be a simple, linen stock, or it could be a fancy deckle-edged paper.
Text
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4
Choose a type style, or font. There are thousands of choices, from the playful to the formal. Most computers come loaded with a number of fonts, and others can be purchased from Web-based type foundries.
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Decide on the wording. There are various style guides to help you with this. The main concern is whether the announcement is coming from the couple or from their parents, which is the more formal method. Older couples, or those who have been married before, usually send out the announcements under their own names.
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Decide on the color of the type. Basic black is fine, but you might want to spruce up the design by choosing a text color that looks nice against the paper's color.
Layout
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Find a template if you're not confident about your own design abilities. The major specialty-paper manufacturers include downloadable templates for their products on their websites. If you're not completely certain about what you're doing, you should use these templates to ensure there are no printing problems.
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Play with the design, moving the artwork, and making the type style larger or smaller, until it all looks right to you. Take your time.
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Make sure your type and artwork remain within a quarter-inch of the paper's edges. Some printers cannot print closer to the edge than that.
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Make sure to print out proofs often, so you can get an idea of what the final product will look like. Use regular paper so you don't waste the specialty paper.
Final Steps
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Once you have your artwork and text placed, and you're satisfied with the proof copies you printed, load up your specialty paper and start printing.
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Consider using calligraphy pens to hand-write the names and addresses of the recipients on the envelopes. People appreciate this type of personal touch.
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Consider adding gold foil stickers, such as circles or hearts, to dress up the back of the envelopes.
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