Laser Cut Wedding Invitations [Mailing Jacket and Card]

We had a blast putting together all of the various things for our wedding and our invitations were no exception!

There were a few things we wanted to do:

- Make the RSVP into a postcard
- Include all the primary information on the front of the invitation
- Make it clear how many people were included in the invitation
- Use a laser cutter

To make your own, you'll need:
- Thick, colored cardstock (I found this at the art store)
- 80lb white cardstock (Amazon for the win )
- Decorative tape
- Address labels
- Color printer
- Laser cutter

As with most of the things for our wedding, I made these at Techshop!

Step 1: Work Through Your Layout

Think about what information you want to include on the front and back of the card and what should be on the RSVP. Before making this, I laid out all of the information roughly as I would create it. I did this on paper, too.

With any design, I recommend printing as soon as you have something rough. It always looks different (smaller/larger/lighter/darker) than you'd expect from looking at it on the screen.

Print out your design. Since you'll already have the design files worked out, you can use these as the same base for creating your cut files for Illustrator.

The design is the same for all cards except I made RSVP cards for 1-5 people.

Step 2: Laser Cut the Card and Jacket

First, the card.

Four panels were enough relay all the information I needed, so I was able to fit two cards on each 8.5"x11" sheet. I cut the outsides of the cards cleanly and experimented with the settings on the laser cutter to make a perforated line down the center between the two halves of the card. (Perforated paper is super satisfying when you get it just right!) Cutting this on the laser cutter was straightforward, just be careful to register the card each time.

Next, the jacket.

Front and back matter as one of the lines is a fold line. Also, the little slots in the jacket are skinny rectangles (note the pile of scraps on the side of one of the photos) which allows the card to slide in and out smoothly. Also, the bottom half of the card is a bit longer than the top to accommodate the tape.

Step 3: Assemble the Invitations

1. Slide the card into the jacket (filled out with the names and a stamp on the back of the RSVP postcard).
2. Fold the card on the perforation line.
3. Fold the jacket closed.
4. Add the address label and stamp.
5. Tape from the backside all along the front of the invitation and onto the back again.