I totally neglected the importance of maps & directions...and since my invitations are DIY, i'm having some trouble with my maps & directions. First of all, we are getting married in Palos Verdes, CA, but our reception is all the way in Universl City (40 miles away). Secondly, I have to do two separate invitation sets because we are having a small ceremony with close friends and family ony - then the reception will have more guests. So one map will show directions to the reception only, and another map will show directions to the church, then to the reception. I can't find any good maps out there to use. Can anyone offer some tips on how you prepared your DIY maps for free or cheap?
Thank you!

These are very inspiring if you can create your own:
http://www.couturemaps.com/
Use the maps and directions on google maps or maps.yahoo.com to help you determine which roads to draw.

I'm a little confused by your invitation sets. You can create a generic invitation (for everyone) that is the equivalent of a reception card.

For the people invited to the ceremony a second invitation for just that. When you package these you put the two invites in one envelope. This way you aren't creating two separate sets of invites (which seems like a lot of work...). And these people can also have a third card which will be the maps and directions.

FI did the maps for our invitations. He used powerpoint. We got the instruction from weddingbee.com

http://www.weddingbee.com/2007/05/04/diy-invitation-map/

HTH

For our invites, FI and I decided to order just the invitations and response card thru Costco.com. The accommodation & directions cards were DIY. I just put together 3.5 by 4 inch card inserts developed by MS word with the information that's needed.

Contact me if you would like to view it.

I found a great site yesterday: www.distinctivedirections.com
For about $50 they'll create a custom map for you and you get the jpg or adobe file so you can print it yourself.

I drew our map in Adobe Illustrator by tracing over the important streets from a Google Map. PIB. I'd be happy to help you create your maps if you're intersted. Just send me an email abattyref at yahoo dot com.

Good luck!

Like abbtyref, I made them by "tracing" over a Google Map in MSPublisher. You can check out the Map Bio on The Knot for instructions.

Here is one I made for a friend:




The final version also had directions included on it. We printed them on 3.5x5 cards.

Since you're doing different inserts, then make two, separate maps. You can make one to the reception for those guests. Then make one to the ceremony for those guests and they get a two-sided insert...one map on each side.

You can also try www.weddingmapper.com

Thanks everyone for your valuable input. I'm going to have FI work on this based on everyone's recommendations. abattyref, if things don't work out on our own, I just might take you up on your offer! Thanks again, you guys are wonderful!

I just found this site for wedding maps and other things. It has alot of useful info for DIY invitations, etc. Here is the link directly to the wedding maps.... http://www.do-it-yourself-invitations.com/wedding-maps.html

I'm confused by the link, Cari. When I go to it, there are no instructions on how to do a map. Only an order form an details of how much it costs to order from that person.

Did I miss it?