If you're anything like me, you have a half-empty box tucked in the back of your closet stuffed with wedding invitations you can't bear to throw away. There's the invite to your college roommate's backyard wedding in 2019, the fancy letterpressed one from your cousin's castle wedding in Ireland, the slightly crumpled one from your own big day with a coffee ring on the corner from the morning-of breakfast rush. They're too full of memory to toss, but too flat and forgotten to do any good sitting in a box for years. That's where mixed media scrapbooking comes in. Unlike traditional scrapbooking that relies on pre-made stickers and perfectly coordinated paper pads, mixed media is all about texture, layers, and using whatever materials you already have to tell a story. And wedding invitations? They're the perfect, sustainable base for this style of crafting. Most have thick, high-quality paper, foil or embossed details, even tiny extra bits like RSVP cards, envelope liners, dried flower sprigs, or venue map inserts that are just begging to be part of a layered, tactile page. I started experimenting with this a few years ago when I was clearing out my mom's old desk and found a stack of wedding invites from the 1990s---her best friend's rustic barn wedding, my aunt's beach ceremony, even the original invite to my parents' wedding. I didn't want to throw them away, but I also didn't want them hidden in a box forever. After a few messy test runs, I landed on a handful of low-pressure, low-waste techniques that work for every skill level, no fancy expensive supplies required. The best part? You're not ruining a keepsake---you're giving it new life.
Prep First: What to Save From Your Invite Stash
Before you crack open the glue stick, do a quick sort through your pile of invites. Most wedding invites come with more than just the main card: tuck aside the RSVP postcard, the envelope liner, the tiny venue map insert, the tissue paper wrap, even the little envelope for the response card if it has a nice design. All of these small scraps are perfect for mixed media layers, and you'll avoid wasting any part of the invite. If your invites are older and you're worried about acidity (a common issue with paper from the 80s and earlier), give them a quick spritz of archival fixative to stabilize the paper before you start working. And don't stress about small flaws: a coffee ring, a smudge of lipstick, a handwritten note in the margin from the couple aren't mistakes---they're part of the memory, so leave them be.
Technique 1: Layered Focal Cut-Out Page
This is my go-to for invites with a really special design element: a custom monogram, an illustrated sketch of the venue, a photo of the couple, or ornate calligraphy of their names. The process is dead simple: Use a craft knife or sharp scissors to cut out the main design element from the front of the invite. Don't toss the leftover border and text block! Those pieces make perfect background layers. First, glue the leftover border and text snippets down to a sheet of heavy cardstock or watercolor paper, letting them overlap slightly for depth. Then, use foam adhesive dots to mount the cut-out focal design on top, so it pops off the page. From there, add whatever mixed media accents call to you: a splatter of gold acrylic paint to match the foil on the invite, a few pressed flower petals from the wedding bouquet if you have them, a tiny snippet of the wedding menu tucked under the edge of the focal cut-out. I love adding a small handwritten note in the corner with the date of the wedding and one sentence about my favorite memory from the day---like "Danced to 'September' until my shoes fell apart" or "Ate three pieces of cake before the toasts started."
Pro tip: If you're nervous about cutting up a really special invite (like your own wedding invite), make a quick color photocopy of it first and use the copy for the cut-out and background layers. Tuck the original invite in a glassine envelope and glue it to the back of the page, so you have both the craft and the original intact.
Technique 2: Collaged Invite Background Page
If you have a bunch of small scraps from multiple invites---cut-up borders, snippets of calligraphy, RSVP card corners, envelope liner pieces---you can turn them into a one-of-a-kind background for a scrapbook page. Start with a sheet of thick, neutral cardstock (kraft or oatmeal works great to let the invite colors pop). Glue your invite scraps all over the base, overlapping them, leaving small gaps, letting snippets of text and design peek through. Don't overthink the arrangement! The messy, unpolished look is what makes mixed media feel personal. If you're working with invites from a specific set of weddings (like all the summer weddings you attended in 2022), group the scraps by color palette to keep the background cohesive: all the cream and gold invites together, the soft blush and sage green ones in another cluster. Once the background is dry, add your top layers: a photo from one of the weddings, a dried boutonniere from the reception, a ticket stub from the rehearsal dinner. You can even add small touches of mixed media here too: a thin line of washi tape across the top, a few drops of iridescent ink, or a stamped date in the corner.
Technique 3: Interactive Invite Pocket Page
This one is perfect for invites you have extra memorabilia for: the RSVP card you sent back, a photo of you at the wedding, a coaster from the reception, a snippet of the dinner menu. Take a full wedding invite, and fold the bottom 2 inches up to create a deep pocket. Glue the two sides of the folded section down to your scrapbook page, leaving the top open. Now you have a pocket that looks just like the original invite, but you can tuck all your small wedding memorabilia inside. For extra flair, add a piece of sheer vellum over the front of the pocket, secured at the corners with a tiny brad, and write a short memory from the wedding on the vellum so it floats over the top of the invite design. If you're making a multi-wedding spread, use 3 or 4 different invites to make a row of pockets on one page, each holding the memorabilia from a different wedding you attended that year.
Bonus Trick: Translucent Overlay for Delicate Invites
If you have an invite that's too fragile to cut or glue directly (like a really old, brittle one from your grandparents' wedding), you don't have to alter it at all. Cut a piece of thin vellum or glassine paper to the same size as the invite, and write your journaling, memories, or little notes about the wedding on the vellum. Then layer the vellum on top of the invite, securing it at the four corners with a small piece of washi tape or a mini brad. You'll still be able to see the original invite design and text through the translucent vellum, but your personal story is layered right on top, no damage to the original invite.
The best thing about this kind of project is that there are no rules, and no such thing as a mistake. If you accidentally tear a piece of the invite, glue a scrap on crooked, or splatter paint somewhere you didn't mean to? That's just part of the page's story, same way a coffee ring on your original invite is part of the wedding day's story. Next time you're cleaning out a desk drawer and find a stack of old wedding invites, don't toss them. Grab a glue stick, a few scraps of paper, and turn them into a page that honors the memory, not just stores it away.