Invitation Crisis Averted

If you had spoken to me last week, you would have heard me complaining about how much I HATED my invitation set. I received a sample in the mail (which I requested to merely double check ink colors), and I noticed the paper weight was about 1/2 the weight as it was advertised, the enclosure cards were cut unprofessionally, the return addresses were crooked, the matte color was PINK - not mauve, and the list goes on and on. It was bad!

So, naturally, I got right down to the business of finding new invitations, and expected that I was going to eat the cost of the crappy invites (after all, I contracted this lady on Etsy, and I kind of thought it was my own damn fault for not ordering a sample from the get go!)!!!

Then, Saturday afternoon rolled around and a package arrived. I ripped open the box and started riffling through it. It was our completed invitations. I must admit...I was pleasantly surprised. The paper was back to the 80lb weight that was advertised, the cuts were straight...etc. They still didn't look as good as they had on Etsy, but they were not NEARLY as bad as the sample. Not nearly.

So, now I'm attempting to find a new matte color (because rosey-pink is SO NOT what I wanted), and making them just plain "prettier". I'm definitely going with Ruby Stardream for the 5 x 7 matte. As for liners, I'm considering the same envelope liner (which comes pre-cut and pre-creased). But, I've also look through the dozens of specialty papers at Paper Source and Paper Mojo (thanks Ami @ EAD!). I'm not sure what I'll ultimately go with, but I know I've got quite a bit of DIY to do from this point. The next two weeks are going to SUCK.

Lesson learned: not everything needs to be budget friendly... If I had just gone to a god damn stationery store I would have avoided this entire situation!