Hand made wedding invitations

I was searching around for specific paper to use for the inside of our wedding invitation booklets. I wanted something that would go with my handmade books, but I couldn't seem to find anything in the shops or on the internet. Bel fidanzato's brother said why didn't I make my own. He had seen a television program where they used normal white printer paper and 'painted' it with coffee to give it an old, antique effect. That got me thinking, why didn't I just make them myself?


When we were little, I remember the delight my twin and I used to take in decorating school projects. If we wanted to make an old looking document we used to do just that, cover the paper with coffee and then maybe burn the edges a little bit. Simple, yet effective. My only concern was that the paper would look like a children's school project, but with time on my side, I decided to give it a try. If successful, it would be a money saving option.

Up to this minute I have not actually spent one single cent on making the invitations. The booklets are hand-made recycled paper, which I just used odd bits of scraps, the decorations are mostly wild flowers that I picked in the spring time, and even the glue was an old tub that I found lying around. I stole the white printer paper from my in-laws who had a stash of it, but of course no computer, or printer in the house! I was going to buy ink for the printer, but my sister-in-law works in a computer shop, and her boss gave her some left over ink cartridges for free. I never set out to make money less invitations, but hey...all the better for me if in the end I haven't spent anything!

Every time we made coffee, I would poor the left overs into a container.




I then found an old cloth to use as a paint brush.

Next I got an old, large cloth to not dirty the place, placed the white paper on top and dabbed the coffee onto the paper. If it dripped, or was uneven in parts then all the better. I used more then one coat to make the colour darker.

I was worried that the coffee smell would never go, but I left the paper outside when the weather was accommodating, and sure enough, there is no more odour of coffee.

Next I had to print the invitations which was easy seeing that the paper was already printer paper. I then cut the pages and glued them into my booklets. The English invitations are almost done, then I'll move on to the Italian ones. I still have a lot of paper to paint with coffee, especially now that I have decided to make the envelopes too! I was thinking of buying them, but again had the problem of finding something to match the booklets. It was bel fidanzato's mother this time who told me to make them myself. And yes, I thought, why not!