The Chinese Themed Wedding Invitation Cards

Clients loved them! Very important that. And they were involved in the process too, which made quick work. The whole point was to keep the cost of the invites down. Points I needed to consider...

• The print run was low, 70 pieces. No commercial printers are willing to do that without charging you an arm and a leg.
• The clients requested different RSVP dates on some of them, which printers are willing to accommodate that I tell you?
• I want the clients to have hands on involvement, always nice to know you made it, or part of, for your wedding.
• Colour themes of red and gold.
• Tags for the money pockets that to be included with the invites.
• How to reproduce the double happiness character without breaking the bank.
• Clients like the printed on parchment/velum paper look for the text and all in caps.

This was the final sample that the clients agreed to. The idea was for a double happiness character printed in the center on a beautiful textured red card with bits of gold in it with the text on top.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything like the card in this region. So, I modified and adapted what was available to me.

What was left of the stencil after using it 80 times...

The Card

• I designed the invite on a 15 by 15 centimeter square.
• I decided to make a stencil of the double happiness character instead of making a stamp initially.
• Printed out an outline onto tracing paper and stuck it onto a thin acetate to make the stencil.
• In hindsight I should've made at least two.
• It took me 6 hours to stencil onto 80 pieces of red card and dry brushing all over each card to get the gold streaks on them.
• Used up a whole small jar of gold paint.
• Started at midnight and went to bed when the sun came up.
• Amazed I didn't get bored as I did them in one sitting.
• Listening to stand up comedians helped.
• Only had an hour's sleep after that as the whole day was packed with agendas.

The completed invitations

The Text

• The layout was done few days after the initial meeting.
• Lots of emailing back and forth of the design.
• Clients happy with layout.
• Three different sets of RSVP dates according to guests numbers in various quantity.
• Printed everything out onto tracing paper in one afternoon.
• Dropped them off to clients with instructions on how they should be cut.

Gold on the edges of the cards

Putting Card and Text Together

• Came over with the already stenciled red cards armed with a bottle of spray glue.
• Set up gluing station and work station.
• Clients amah became a 'christmas tree' as amah referred to herself as I stuck on the already glued up text on her to transport them to other side of room to the work station where clients are busy eyeballing sticking them onto the center of cards.
• Did same thing with text for red packets.
• We got everything glued down in record time.
• Clients very pleased with results.
• Clients also very happy with newly acquired spray glue.

Poem on the back of the red packets

The Red Packets

• Raewyn emailed the following poem.
• Layout for text arranged and printed.
• Cut and stuck down onto the back of the red packets to be included with the invitations.

Isn't the angle on the envelope cool...

The Envelope

• Keeping with theme, pink is the way to go.
• Gave clients a cheap and simple option creating an envelope from an A4 paper.
• Did demo.
• Did a step by step with clients how to fold.
• Bought pack of mini double happiness character stickers to stick onto back of envelopes.
• Clients very happy with outcome.

keeping everything all in one spot

So all they need now is to write their guests names down and mail them out. I had a fun time hanging out with them as we made their invitations. Lovely couple they were, beautiful inside and out. They're from New Zealand and been living in Brunei for the past two years teaching here and they loved the fact that the rest of south east asia is within arms reach, and because of that decided to have a chinese themed wedding for their big day to commemorate their time of living and travelling in this region.

A friend of theirs recommended me to them and it was a challenge I was willing to take up, something about making editions that always intrigues me. Thank you Yann for introducing them to me and thank you Raewyn and Stewart for believing in me to make your invitations and loving them.

Oh, the invitations, they came out to about 70 odd cents each, it would be less if the spray glue didn't take up 1/3 of the total cost. Either way, still good.