Here are my MIB invites (paired with a Boarding Pass with the RSVP info)
Every guest (including males) LOVE LOVE LOVE these invites. If you have time & a little bit of "Martha Stewart" craftiness you can pull these off.
I followed the other destination brides "how-to" threads and it ended up helping tons! I added my own addition of the "luggage stickers" which are basically little pictures of Mexico/Canada travel logos. If anyone wants the file I made up (best if you are a Canadian bride going to Mexico) please send me a PM / reply to the thread.
Here is the breakdown of where to buy materials/general cost :
- Boxes / Bottles / Sand / Shells : sandartsupplies.com
To make 30 it cost me around $70 with shipping from Florida > Vancouver
- Brown ribbon / Foam sheet (handles) / Spanish Moss (for inside) / Name Tag / Raffia : Michael's
Ribbon ($4 / roll, I used 4 rolls) Foam Sheet ($2, 1 sheet needed) / Spanish Moss (around $5, 1 bag, still have tons left over) / Name Tags ($3 for 10 tags) / Raffia ($3 / used 2 rolls)
- Metal fasterners : Staples
$2 for a box of 100
- Luggage "stickers" : home colour printer
These took the longest since cutting out tons of little squares & then glue sticking them it finicky & I was being a perfectionist about them. I would suggest printing on label paper so you don't need to hand glue each little square.
- Invite : home colour printer
I work @ a printing company so I got my paper free - I used a light brown parchment paper
Anyone who is sending these in the mail (at least Canada Post, cheapest parcel rate) they cost about $8 to send... so hand deliver some if you can! =)
STEP BY STEP :
1) Build boxes inside out - brown looks more like luggage. 
2) Fill bottles with half an inch of sand & toss a couple shells in
3) Roll invite tie raffia around invite, knot raffia.
(NOTE : I did various prototypes of what was best, bow / cute shell glued / burning edges etc etc.... I found that bow would take too long / cute shell means the person opens the invite & never can have it look new again / burning edges smudges the paper. A basic knot lets your guest open & show off the invite then re-roll the invite back into the knot so it looks pretty again.)
4) Glue end of raffia that is tide to invite near top of bottle. Easy for guest to realize that they can remove & put invite back in bottle. (AND yes, some will not notice & dump sand on the table to get invite out - 98% will notice the raffia and will not have this issue)
5) Tie another string (half an arms worth) of raffia on the top to cover glue dot & to make the bottle a little "prettier"
6) Cut strips of foam paper to make handle / Cut strips of ribbon to wrap around box / Cut luggage stickers
7) Glue 2 ribbon strips on box
8) Put foam handle under ribbon strips / fasten with 2 metal fasteners
9) Glue luggage stickers on all side but bottom
(NOTE : I did the same pattern of stickers on all the luggages so people couldn't complain like someone got a "cooler design" OR I didn't have to pick & choose who would get what style)
10) Stuff a little spanish moss in bottom of box / place bottle in box
Then send out your cute luggages & wait for the response from your guest. It is worth the time & effort for these reviews!!!
Here are my luggages ready to go!
I paired my MIB invites with a boarding pass with RSVP info.
I hope this helps out any bride that is interested in making a MIB invite - It may have taken a lot of time but it was SO worth it.
If you don't have a long-weekend of free time to build these - grab a friend or 2 and cut down on the time. I made 98% of these invites myself (the FI did the handles, then got bored with helping)
- Rachel
