WedWed - Wedding Wednesday {2}

Jan 12, 2011
Erin Bolton

Saving the date. Building a website.

Allow me to state the obvious: Weddings are expensive. Very. Expensive.

In order to keep our budget on point, I'm attempting a bit of DIY design to cut costs on items like save-the-dates and invitations. I wish I were a grand illustrator able to delicately craft one-of-a-kind invitations with my Heidelberg letterpress, but the truth is that I have to improvise and use what I have...and that's photography.

Here's the save-the-date I came up with.

Here's how I did it.

Materials used:

Pencil
Watercolors
Watercolor paint brushes
Watercolor paper
Digital camera
Photo-editing software, such as Photoshop or Elements

1. I mixed watercolors to match my color palette (remember that?), tossed them recklessly all over the watercolor paper, and allowed it to dry.

2. Once the paint was dry, I wrote "save the date" with a soft pencil.

3. I took my little drawing out and about, taking photographs from different angles. Then I chose the one I liked best.

4. Using Photoshop, I adjusted the image to my liking. The image below is where I began following some adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw. If you don't have Photoshop, just play around with the tools your photo editing software has and see what you like! For those Photoshop junkies out there, I'll break down my layers for you.

The first three adjustment layers are: Sharpen, Exposure, and Curves. I wanted those letters to pop so I sharpened only the watercolor area. I did this by duplicating my background layer, then filter>smart sharpen. Once I tweaked the sharpening I pressed enter, added a black layer mask (hold down the alt key while pressing the add new layer button on the lower left hand corner of the layers panel). I painted over the black layer mask using a white brush at an opacity of 25%. Next, for the exposure layer, I used a layer mask again to brighten the background while keeping the watercolor area where it was. Finally, the curves adjustment layer added a bit of contrast.

Next, I made a new layer and set the blending style to Soft Light. Using the brush tool I dodged and burned various areas of the image to achieve the look I liked. I also wanted to bring out the subtle tones in the watercolor so I used my palette to paint more color into the image with the brush tool.

Finally, I added some type to the image. I liked the typewriter look so I went with it. I again turned to my palette to determine the color of the type and adjusted the kerning a bit. I was hoping that the "CR+EB" touch would remind people who they should save 9.24.2011 for as well as be reminiscent of initials carved into a tree. Also, I used the spaces between the wood as a guide for the type.

Then Chris added it to the website he's creating for the wedding and set the background color from my palette. There ya have it - www.robywedding.com is now live!

The moral of the story: finding ways to use the skills you currently have and materials you currently own, even if it wasn't your dream technique, may save you a ton of green. It did for us and I didn't walk away disappointed.

Article originally appeared on Lavender Honey (http://lavenderhoneyseattle.com/).