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Here are five quick invitation assembly tips we’ve learned from tens of thousands of invitations. Keep these in mind, and your invites will look fantastic!
Wash Your Hands
It’s almost too simple, but washing your hands will make a big difference in the quality of your assembly. We wash our hands every time we step away from the assembly table to get a snack, go outside, or – in our case – take care of one of the kids. Any time you do something that might leave a little residue on your hands, give them a quick wash and dry them well. You’ll be glad you did.
Make Your Space
You’re going to need a lot of open space to organize your cards, envelopes, ribbon, wax, stamps and any other bits that go into each suite. It’s all about your freedom of motion: The less that’s in your way and the more that’s easily accessible, the faster your assembly will go and the happier you’ll be with the result.
Kitchen tables are great for this, but one tip: Use a self-healing cutting mat or other clean surface you can put on top of the table. It will not only protect your table from tools, it will help keep your invites clean from any crumbs left on the table.
Use the Right Tool For the Job
If you can only buy one tool for assembly, make sure it’s a scoring tool (also called a bone folder). You can find them in any hobby or craft shop for just a few dollars. It will help make your folds crisp, and lend a much more professional feel to your finished product. Scoring tools are often bundled with scoring boards (boards with vertical grooves to help you fold paper). One tip, though: If you bought your invites from us, all of your folds will be pre-scored. So you can just buy the tool, save a few bucks, and get a much better tool than the one that comes packaged with the board.
Next, the right adhesive (if your design needs it) makes a big difference. For paper-to-paper, it’s hard to beat the permanent adhesive tape runners you’ll find in the scrapbooking section of your local craft store. For joining two different materials, we use a thicker double-sided tape. It’s not as good for details, but it is much stronger.
Finally, if you’re doing wax seals, forget the candle or drip-wax sticks and get wax sticks for a glue gun. You will have cleaner impressions, your wax will be less runny, and you’ll get many more done in a short amount of time. Don’t be afraid to experiment with the glue gun temperature to get the most consistent impression. You will love how they look!
Do One Thing At A Time
While you may want to assemble one or two full suites first just to get the feel of things, you should divide the rest of your work into steps. Decide what makes the most sense for you and try it. The process will go faster because you’re focusing on one step, and you’ll get really good at that one step.
Be careful, though: Don’t seal your envelopes until every suite is complete and stuffed. You don’t want to miss an RSVP or detail card in one suite and destroy all of your envelopes looking for it. Wait until you’re happy with all of the suites, then seal them.
Don’t Panic
We all make mistakes! While following our advice here will help you avoid some biggies, there are lots of little things than can happen. If you have a 100-person guest list with an invitation, RSVP, detail card, envelope, 2 stamps, a piece of ribbon, and a wax seal, that’s 800 items that need to go together to create your finished invitations. Don’t let that scare you! Taking things slowly and paying attention will go a long way.
But what happens if you make a mistake? Well, don’t panic. Stamps can be re-aligned, ribbons can be re-tied, and even wax seals can be replaced. Sometimes an imperfection can actually add to the theme. And if you’re one of our customers, we’ve probably placed an extra ribbon or wax seal in the package. If the mistake is big enough that you need a replacement, let us know, we’re here to help.
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