I recently had to throw a nice big Tiffany box out (it fell victim to our basement being flooded during a recent storm) and it really bothered me, I love to keep them and use them to store trinkets and paper craft supplies, etc. (why I had put it in the basement in the first place, I don’t know, it probably happened during a mad cleaning session!). Anyway, seeing it reminded me what a gorgeous color it is, and I was inspired to create today’s invite.

This is the invitation we’ll be making:

and here’s how:

1. Start by downloading the vector file we are basing the invitation on. It is called “Leaves on curly branches” and was designed by DragonArtz Designs. You can download it here and please make sure to read the license.

2. Open your downloaded file and copy the entire design. Open a new Illustrator document and size it 5.25×5.25. Paste the design into your new document. It will be much larger than your document, so in the Transform palette, put in 5 for the width (and make sure you have it set to constrain the proportions). It will be smaller than the document, but that’s fine, we’ll fix that later.

3. I didn’t like the roses in the design, so to get rid of them, you want to click on one with your white arrow and then go to Select – Same – Fill Color. That will select all of them, and you can just hit delete.

4. Next, select the entire design with your black arrow and move it up so that the upper left hand corner of the black square matches up with the corner of your document. With the design still selected, grab the square in the lower right hand corner and pull until it matches up perfectly with you document. Take a look at the top of the design once you’ve done that, chances are you need to adjust that again too. Zoom in to make sure everything is lined up correctly. You’ll notice that part of the branches are outside your document – that’s fine, don’t worry about it.

5. Now, to make things easier, I like to put the different parts of the design on separate layers. Select the background square (with the white arrow), cut it, create a new layer (which will automatically end up on top of the other layer, so pull it to the bottom), lock the old layer and paste the box in place (Cntrl + F) on the new layer. Lock that layer and go back to the other one.

6. Unlock the layer with the branch design and with your white arrow, draw a box around the branches in the lower left hand corner (make sure you get every little piece of it). Cut, create a new layer, lock the original layer and paste the branches in place (Cntrl + F) on your new layer.

7. We can leave the other branches on the original layer, since that’s all that’s there now. So now you have three layers to work with. Lock the top two, unlock the background layer, select the box, and now we want to change the color to the Tiffany Blue. With your box selected, double click on the fill square in the toolbar. This will bring up the color selection window, and you want to put 9AE4E8 in the hex color box (the last one in the left column). Click ok and your box is now blue. As you can see, the branches are perfect the way they are, so no re-coloring needed there.

8. Next, we need the “framedoodle” from the “Damask Engagement Party Invitation” post, so if you have created that one already, great, just open that design and copy the framedoodle. If you didn’t, hop over to that post and follow the instructions to how to create one.

9. Once you have your framedoodle, copy it and paste it on a separate layer in your Tiffany Blue document. As you can see, this is not quite right, so select the framedoodle, right click, go to Transform – Rotate and put in 90 in the window and click ok. Now it’s on the right end, but looks a bit narrow, so select it and pull one of the side boxes until you like what you see. Place it in the center.

10. This looks nice, but isn’t quite the look I was going for, so next, select the framedoodle, and change the fill color to C5EFEF (the same way we did it in step 7). Now, we want a nice thin white border too, so select it again, and change the border color to white. Make sure you have the Stroke color selected in the toolbar and just go to the color palette and click on the little white box in the lower right hand corner. If the border looks a bit heavy, like mine did, select the framedoodle again and in the Stroke palette, change the weight to 0.25.

11. This is starting to look nice, right? Just a few more tweaks… next, let’s add the text. Create a new layer and lock all the others. Pick the Text tool from the toolbar and type in the first line. Don’t worry about how it looks right now, we just want to get the text in there and then we’ll style it. Click on any other tool and then go back and select the text tool again and type in the name of the bride and groom. Click on any other tool and then go back and select the text tool again and type in the rest of the text. The reason for doing this is that we want 3 separate text boxes.
If you want the “other text” (i.e. not the bride & groom) in caps, type it in in caps, I’m not using an all caps font for this. It will end up looking something like this:

12. Now we want to make it look good. Change the fonts first. I used Autumn, Regular, 9pt for the “other text” and Ribbon 131 Bold BT, Bold, 24pt (with a 26pt leading) for the bride & groom. You also want the text to be centered, so in the Paragraph palette, select Centered. As usual, if you don’t have these fonts, see my “How to add fonts to your computer” post. Or if you want to use other fonts, you can obviously do that too!

13. Move the text around until you like how it looks and make sure the text blocks are lined up by selecting them and click on Horizontal Align Center.

14. I also changed the colors of the text. The “other text” is 494648 and the bride & groom 873C5B.

15. As you can see, part of the branches are hidden behind the framedoodle, so we want to fix that. Just select the layer (in the layers palette) with the framedoodle and pull it down below the branch layers, so that it ends up just above the blue box layer. Voila – the branches are in front of it!

If you like it like this, by all means leave it this way, but I wanted to pull the branches off of the text and to do that you need to:

16. Lock all layers and unlock one of the branch layers. Select it with the black arrow and either make it a bit smaller by pulling on one of the little white boxes, or just move it out to the side. Do the same thing with the other branch layer, and once you like what you see, it’s done!

I would print this on nice, heavy white cardstock, and you can fit two on a landscape letter sized sheet. Part of the branches are still going to hang on the outside of the invites, but it doesn’t matter, since they will be trimmed to size anyway.

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Wedding engagement announcements are sent to friends and family to let them know your big news, just like baby announcements. In the coming weeks, I will also post tutorials on how to make engagement announcements and engagement party invitations using Illustrator.

Also, this announcement could easily be turned into homemade printable wedding invitations. Just remove the photo and put the invitation wording in its place, perhaps using a couple of different fonts.

A Note About Vista Word
When using Vista, in order to make some of the adjustments to the photo, make sure that the document you’re working in is saved in the current Vista format (you’ll see a .docx extension). I have set the defaults in my Word application to save everything as Word 97-2003 documents (.doc) since .docx isn’t compatible with earlier versions of Word, or Macs. Working in the 97-2003 format also has other advantages such as the option to select all the pictures and textboxes at the same time, great for aligning them, or moving the entire design around on the sheet. However, there are limited special effects available when working in 97-2003 mode, so in order to play with the photo (see step 5), you need to save your file as a .docx document.

Today’s announcement looks like this:

I have sized it to 4.5×6.25, which will fit perfectly in a standard A6 envelope (but you can obviously make it any size you want).

1. In Word, go to “file” (i.e. the Windows symbol that replaces the old “File” menu) – New and under Templates, click on Invitations. This brings up a new menu on the right hand side. Click on Other Invitations. You’ll see the same layout in 4 different colors. You can choose any one you want of course, but I went with the blue and brown one.

Click on the color you want, and click on Download. That will bring up a document that looks like this:

Click on the blue box on the right hand side and copy it (either by right clicking or pressing CNTRL+C). Open a new document (letter size is good) and paste the box here (by right clicking or pressing CNTRL+V). Right click on it, go to Text Wrapping and select In Front Of Text. Right click again and go to Size. Uncheck the Lock Aspect Ratio box, and in the height window, put in 6.25 and in the width 4.5. Click Close.

2. Now, let’s add the text. Go to Insert – Text Box – Draw Text Box and draw a box anywhere in your document. It will most likely be filled with white, but that’s fine, we’ll fix it later. Select the font you want under the Home menu (you can change it later) and type in your text. I used GeoSlab703 Lt BT, 22p Bold for the top box and 14p bold for the bottom one. (If you want to use that font but don’t have it on your computer, read this post about adding fonts.) Click outside the textbox and go back to Insert and draw another text box for the text below the picture. Type in your text and click outside the box to deselect it.

3. To format the text boxes, right click on one of them, and go to Format Text Box. Under Colors and Lines, you want to make sure to select No Color and No Line. Repeat for the second one.

I also made the text color brown, and to do that, you want to select the text (i.e. highlight it with your cursor), right click, click on the A with a color bar underneath, go to More Colors and select the one in the bottom left hand corner for a nice, deep brown.

4. Now, let’s add your photo (I used a clip art picture). Go to Insert – Picture and locate your photo on your computer. It will most likely end up behind the blue box, so right click on it (the photo), go to Text Wrapping and select In Front Of Text. Right click again and go to Size. This time, you want o make sure that the Lock Aspect Ratio box is checked, and put in the size you want in either the height or width (the other side will change proportionately), I set my photo to a height of 2.89″ (but this is obviously totally up to you, whatever looks good is good). Click Close.

5. Drag the photo to where you want it to be on the blue box and, if you want to, add some extra layout features to it. I added a frame with a reflection on the bottom. To to this, select the photo and go to Picture Tools Format (it’s in the menu on top of your page). There you’ll see a line of frames and if you click on the down arrow next to them, you’ll get a whole menu of different looks. Hover over each with your mouse, and you’ll see the effect on your photo. Select the one you like, and if you want to play with it even more, try all the different options on either side of the frames. There is an endless variety of shapes and special effects to choose from.

6. Make sure everything is aligned by selecting the photo and blue box and go to Picture Tools – Align and click on Align Center. Next, select the two text boxes and go to Text Box Tools – Align – Align Center. Now you just have to eyeball it and use the arrow keys to move the text so that it is lined up with the photo. (Why, oh why, did they set Vista up this way?). That’s it, you’re done! Your own engagement announcement cards!

You can fit two of these cards on one sheet of 8.5×11, and then all you need to do is trim them to size and mail them out. If you prefer to send them as postcards, you could get a rubber stamp with a postcard back and just stamp the back of each card.

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Of course, even if you don’t have a wedding theme, you still need fonts, and fortunately, there are tons of free fonts available online. Below are some examples of cool fonts that I really like. Read my “How To Add Fonts To Your Computer” post if you need help finding and downloading them. For layout ideas, check out some of my tutorials:

• Save The Date Cards
• Engagement Announcements
• Engagement Invitations
• Wedding Invitations
• Beach Weddings

Handwriting Fonts
For a more informal look, fonts simulating handwriting are great, and give the whole affair a more laid back, casual feel.

Bernhard Fashion BT
Bettys Hand
Brush Script
Brush Flash
Dali
Daniela
Handscript
Joe Hand 2
LizzieLongstocking
Mistral
Stylograph
Tekton Bold

Classic Sans Serif Fonts
Some classic fonts that always are in style are the sans serif Helvetica, Optima, Gill Sans and Arial. It’s hard to go wrong with either of them. For a similar look with a tad more pizzazz, check out Champagne & Limousines. It’s a bit more rounded with thin, elegant lines.

Arial
Avian
Aubrey
Berlin Sans FB
Champagne & Limousines
Gill Sans
Helvetica
Optima
Tyro Sans

Script Fonts
These fonts give the invitation a nice formal look. If you don’t want to use them for the entire text, they are great for making the bride and groom’s names stand out.

Adine Kirnberg Script
Champignon
English Script
Kunstler Script
Linotype Zapfino
Nuptial Script
Park Avenue
Ribbon 131 Bold BT

Small Caps
Small caps are very popular and add a sophisticated feel. And they are easy to read.

Atlantic Inline-Normal
Bank Gothic Light BT
Biondi
Carleton
Copperplate Gothic Light
Encino
Farfel ICG
Graverplate
Kismet-Normal
LitographLight
Perpetua titling
Socrates

Miscellaneous Favorites
These are a few other of my favorite fonts that don’t really fit into any of the other categories:

Aerofoil
Arcane Wide
Architecture
Colonna MT
Croix Regular
Elisia Openface Regular
Papyrus
Stylus BT
University

What about fonts for the aforementioned 60s, Arabian nights or a Victorian tea party themes? I think any one of these would work nicely:

1960s
Alba
BellBottomLaser
Dreamland
LMS Hippy Chick

Arabian Nights
Arabian
Arabolical
XXII Arabian Onenightstand
Kara Ben Nemsi

Victorian Tea Party
Armenian Circus
Belshaw
Trinigan

Happy font hunting!

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As always, if you get stuck, see if you can find help in my Illustrator tips or by doing a quick review of the Illustrator toolbar.

Turning your Hummingbird Save the Date card into printable wedding invitations is super easy! This is how I did it:

1. Open the Save the Date card you created earlier.

2. Go to File – Save As and save it as Hummingbird Invite (or whatever you want to call it).

3. In your Hummingbird Invite document, go to File – Document Setup and in the dimension windows, put 5 for width and 7 for height (if you want to go the traditional route).

4. Unlock the bottom layer, click on your 5×5 background color square and in your Transform palette, put in 5 for the width and 7 for the height. If you don’t see the Transform palette, just go to Window – Transform and it will pop right up. Align your box with your document. Lock this layer.

5. I happened to like both where the illustration ended up by chance and the size of it on the invite, but you can obviously resize it and move it any way you want. If you want to do it my way, just leave it where it is and make sure that layer is locked too.

6. Go to your text layer and change your text.

That’s it!

If you want to keep the invite square, that’s obviously even easier. All I would do then is just make the illustration a little bit smaller and change the text. You may have to space it a little bit differently than I did on the 5×7 invite to make it fit, or change the wording slightly. Be creative and play around with the layout until it looks good to you.

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1. Look (online, unless you happen to be traveling) at what they are doing in other countries. “Wedding invitation” is called “huwelijks uitnodiging” in Dutch, “invitation de marriage” in French, “hochzeitseinladung” in German, “invito di cerimonia nuziale” in Italian, “convite do casamento” in Portugese, “invitación de la boda” in Spanish and “brollopsinbjudan” in Swedish. And don’t forget to look in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa and other countries where English is the main language, or widely spoken (it does make it easier!).

2. Look at the websites of creative artists. They don’t necessarily have to be wedding-related – just looking at the art by a photographer, graphic designer, painter, interior decorator, or DIY blogger may trigger ideas.

3. Look in magazines. Any magazine, not just wedding ones. I especially like Creating Keepsakes and Martha Stewart Crafts online, and Real Simple and Domino in print. Look at the layouts and even the ads. See what you like and what might translate nicely to an invitation. Remember, there is no rule saying your invite has to look like everyone else’s.

4. Brainstorm with a bunch of friends. This one is sort of a no-brainer, but it’s easy to forget that great ideas sometimes come from a fun evening with friends. Open a few bottles of wine, order pizza or put out some cheese and crackers and let the ideas flow. I always get my best ides when I’m not trying too hard.

5. Take a creative class at a local shop or adult education facility. Anything that sounds interesting to you – rubber stamping, embossing, jewelry making, die-cutting, decoupage, scrapbooking, using various craft tools – all will jumpstart your creativity.

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Most fonts can be classified as either serif or sans serif. Serif fonts have those extra little strokes at the bottom and top of the letters (Times New Roman, Garamond and Century Schoolbook are good examples). Sans serif fonts do not have those strokes, and look more soft and rounded. Examples of sans serif fonts are Arial, Century Gothic and Tahoma.

For a traditional look, use serif, script or calligraphy fonts. Some of my favorite serif fonts are Bookman Old Style, Garamond and Goudy Old Style.

Script fonts, which emulate handwriting, can look really nice on invitations. With the exception of Linotype Zapfino, I’m not crazy about the ones that come with Word, but some other good choices (available online) are Aquiline, English, Hamada and Windsong.

Calligraphy fonts are also very pretty. Some of my favorites are Jellyka BeesAntique Handwriting, Scriptina, Jane Austen and Aquiline.

Some contemporary fonts I like are Papyrus, Scriptina, Jano, Linotype Belle, and ITC Vino Bianco.

For all caps fonts, my favorites are Copperplate Gothic Light, Trajan Pro, Felix Titling, and Enviro.

Or choose your font to match different wedding themes. For a 1920s style wedding, use Nite Club, Upper East Side or Parisian; for a 50s feel, Fontdiner.com, Loungy or Rocket Script; Keep on Truckin or Brandy for a groovy 1970s wedding; for beach weddings, use a casual font, or if you want something very non-traditional, try something fun like KR California Sun or Jenna’s Shells. And should you happen to have a Disney-inspired event, Waltograph is the font for you.

A nice idea is to use a different font, case, size or even color for your names (i.e. the bride and groom). An example would be to type your names in all caps and the rest in sentence case, or your names in italics (larger type) and the text in smaller all caps. Play around with it until you find a layout you like, there are no set rules and the most important thing is that you like it.

You can also use fonts to add designs. KR Cuori Divertenti comes in several editions and consists of really cute illustrations depicting champagne glasses, toasting, hearts, rings, roses etc.

Many couples choose to go the traditional route when it comes to fonts, but don’t be afraid to have fun with it and use a font that reflects your personality. I think a fun, non-traditional invitation beats the traditional layout every time.

More font ideas

How To Add Fonts To Your Computer

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1. For a square card, a cute, contemporary idea is to make the text aligned in a square in the middle. Type your names and the word “Wedding” (or anything else you want to highlight) in larger letters, and maybe with a different color (your theme color for the wedding?). I like using all caps for this layout and here, I used Times at 12 and 18 pts.

2. Another option that works nicely on “regular” 5×7 cards is to type your names in a script font, larger (and perhaps in a different color, matching the design on the card) and the rest of the text in small caps. For this card, I used Zapfino at 13pts for the names, and Myriad Pro at 12pts for the text.

3. For something very informal, like beach weddings, use a whimsical font (I used Papyrus at 12 and 20 pts for the invitation below). You can of course vary the font for the names, pick a different layout, anything you want. Just have fun with it, and let your invitation set the tone for the whole event.

For more info, check out my posts “Which Font Should You use For Your Printable Wedding Invitations“, “More Font Ideas For Your Wedding Stationery” and “How To Add Fonts To Your Computer“.

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