These View-Master wedding invitations will blow your mind

Okay, so I can't even tell you how amazing I think these are. I actually had to go outside and take a freaking walk to calm down after I read the following wedding update posted by OBT member Julia...

Our invitations were kept secret from EVERYONE. My parents, sister, friends, everyone. So it was a complete surprise when they showed up in mailboxes. We are both graphic designers but wanted to truly splurge on our invitations. We knew a lot of our invite list wouldn’t be able to make it. With the combination of a destination wedding, our family scattered across the country and the economy, we wanted to give all of our invitees something special even if they can’t be there to share the day with us. This was our biggest expense vs. what we could have spent but I feel like it's worth it.

Here's what the insides looked like. They were 3D images, so much cooler than what you can see here. The text was in captions along the top of the reel:

Julia & Bobby, together with their parents

Invite you to their wedding.

November 7, 2009 at 11 a.m.

at the Hotel Congress in Tucson, AZ

Brunch and cupcakes to follow

Funwithjubby.com for more info

See you in Arizona!

We packaged them with a button and magnet set (of various toys inside the slides) and a reply card. We got a tremendous response from our family and I can't imagine doing anything else. I love them SO SO much and look at it all the time! I gocco'd the reply card fronts with a cowboy and encouraged guests to decorate them before sending it back. It is very "us" and I am so very lucky to be marrying someone who is all "Yes. We definitely need VIEWMASTERS for our invites!" Here's a blog I put together for our website for a look behind the scenes.

I recently had a Q&A session with.... myself.. to give you a special behind-the-scenes look at our invites!

Q: You look great today, have you done something with your hair?

A: Hahah! Oh, self, you're so flattering, but let's get down to business...

Q: How did you make the photos 3D?

A: Well... We rented this camera from Studio3D for the weekend, set up the shots from stuff around our house on the kitchen table, rounded up some posterboards for backdrops and clicked away. The camera is two digital cameras together at a distance, one upside down, to simulate your eyes. We sent the images, our logo and the text to Studio3D and they hooked us up with the awesome reels.

Q: Did you plan out all your scenes or did you wing it?

A: A little of both! Bobby and I knew that seven frames, with three lines of text, fifteen characters long, wasn't a lot of room. So we first planned out what we wanted to say and grouped it into the seven ideas that we wanted to get across to our guests. We then storyboarded each idea and figured out if we need to buy any supplies. The cupcakes are from Albertson's grocery store, I wanted something colorful without having to bake an entire batch, tint different colors of frosting, etc. The last frame with the cactus was completely unscripted. We had just spent the weekend setting up six elaborate displays and we were a little spent. So we walked outside to the neighbors cactus in our pjs and called it a DAY!

Q: So you bought all those toys for the photoshoot then?

A: Um.. No. we own all of them.

Q: Well surely you had to dig them out of some boxes?

A: Err... No, our house is covered in toys. Every square inch.

Q: I see.

A: What's that suppossed to mean?

Q: Gawd, chill out, Julia.

A: DON'T TELL ME TO CHILL OUT, JULIA!

Q: So after you sent in the files, what happened?

A: We got a GIANT BOX OF VIEWMASTERS in the mail! Who else can really say a whole case of viewmasters just popped up at their house one day? We stuffed them into boxes with homemade buttons and magnets, plus the reply cards and sent them on their merry way! (The typewriter in the slide is the same one used to address the labels on the boxes...)

The magnets & buttons.

The finished packages.

Q: What are you doing with the reply cards?

A: Right now, we're storing them in this awesome toy reel-to-reel we scored last time we were in Indiana. The card at the top is our most recent addition. We've gotten some great cards, full of creativity and we hope to incorporate them into the reception.

Q: Why did two graphic designers do something totally the opposite of paper invitations?

A: We knew a lot of our invite list wouldn't be able to make it. With the combination of a destination wedding, our family scattered across the country and the economy, but we wanted to give all of our invitees something special even if they can't be there to share the day with us.

Wondering if Julia's wedding lived up to the promise of her awesome invitations? Click here to see that HOLY SHIT IT TOTALLY DID