Erin and Austin Gatefold Wedding Invitation

Pinterest is my best friend and my worst enemy!  I love when couples go on there and find stationery they like and can show me what they like.  I am a visual person so to see what they like really helps me create their design.  I especially love it when they send me multiple ones they like and want to pull elements from different designs and make a truly unique new design.

Erin and Austin are a very sweet couple who live nowhere near me!  Lol.  The beauty of Facebook.  And they had a very clear idea of what they were looking for in their invitation.  So much so that they planned their engagement pictures to be able to pull it off.  Erin thought since she found the design on Pinterest it would be easy to find a designer to order it from.  That was not the case unfortunately.  Enter me!

Erin and I were in a common Facebook group and I had posted about my services.  Erin responded, and we started talking over IM.  I learned quickly that there was quite a bit of distance between us (they were in Missouri and I am in Oregon) but that is not an obstacle in my line of work.  My items ship well!  Erin sent me a picture of what she was looking for and my first reaction was “Whoa!”  I was excited to do this interesting design.

So, time to jump in.  I asked her to send over the pictures and I would get started.  I needed to figure out the flat size and then where the folds would be plus adding for the bleed (a bleed is required when the design goes all the way to the edge).  My first attempt was an epic fail.  The folds were in the wrong spots and the pictures weren’t centered.  Bonus was I now had a hard copy to measure the old-fashioned way (you know… with a ruler).  Double bonus: now I have a template for anytime someone wants something similar in the future.  I had already used the template since.
Next came the text.  There needed to be a subtle layer between the picture and the text to make it more legible.  Because at the end of the day if no one can read it, it doesn’t matter how cute it is.  First go around I had the day of the week wrong and flipped 2 letters in the groom’s last name (note: an example of the importance of reading your proofs with a magnifying glass).  I had gotten so focused on the design that I had lost focus on the text.  A lesson for me.  Once I got those corrected and got the thumbs up, off to print it went.

This design took quite a bit of time but I enjoyed every minute of it and was very happy with the result.  Stepping out of the box will always serve me well.  Success and failures are both learning opportunities.  This invitation always gets a lot of attention anytime I show it off (which is a lot!).  Thank you, Erin and Austin, for trusting me with your vision.

Keywords: wedding, wedding invitation, gate fold invitation, custom wedding invitation design, photo wedding invitation, Pinterest

Photos by Marina Goktas Photography. www.marinagoktas.com

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