Printing Your Own Wedding Invitations
There are so many ways to work within a budget when it comes to wedding invitations…if you are working with a flexible budget, finding a great custom designer or ordering out of a pretty letterpress or engraved album is absolutely worth it. There is just something so luxurious and easy in going about it this way.
With that said, there are great…really, really great ways, to design a beautiful invitation on a budget!
Companies like Paper Source have great invitation kits that allow you to purchase a pretty suite of papers and envelopes, print your own invitations, then assemble the finished project. If you are willing to put in a little leg work, you can save quite a bit of money! And, if you are a bit resourceful, you can save even more by ordering through Waste Not Paper, the wholesale portion of Paper-Source. You will need a wholesale account to do this and you will have to order in bulk, so the best way would be to work with your area store on this.
If you are willing to really get your hands dirty, you should skip the kits all together as a lot of the cost is built into the manufacturing of these pre-made pieces. Places like Paper-Source and Paper-Papers sell gorgeous card stock and envelopes that can be hugely customized into drop dead gorgeous invitations. The curious collection at Paper-Papers is particularly beautiful.
(these are some fun designs that I “whipped” together…forgive the picture quality! The first was actually used for my wedding program. The second is for my sister-in-law’s bachelorette party…the cute frame was made by Heidi at Spitfiregirl Design)
Here are some tips if you are printing your own invitations…
*If you aren’t an artist or graphic designer, the best way to do add decor elements is by using high-end clip art…Dover makes clip art books that have beautiful Victorian flourishes, pretty vintage icons, florals and branches, the options are endless. They come with a CD that you can just put right into your computer. You can also use pretty rubber stamps to add a bit of flair.
*Use a program like Adobe Illustrator to create your invitations. Although it might take a little while to figure out, it will ultimately allow you to play around more with the general design. You can download free versions on the Adobe website.
*Choose your fonts carefully. You generally want to use 2 fonts on each invitation…a script and a block. Check out My Fonts or Linotype for a great selection. These will usually cost around $20-$30 to purchase but you can use them on all of your stationery needs.
*Think about the pieces you need…most people generally want an Invitation, a Response Card and perhaps a Reception Card. Make sure you order enough paper for mess-ups as printing each piece can often result in a few wasted pieces. I always order at least 25 extra pieces of each card stock size. To save even more $$, order sheets of larger paper, then cut them down to the right size.
*To really take the invitation suite to the next level…think details. I like to layer my printed card stock on top of a different color so that it appears to have a border around it and it seems thicker and more luxurious. That means that I have to cut about 1/4″ off of each side using a basic rotary cutter, then paste the top sheet onto the base using the amazing 3M tape gun. Time consuming, yes. But, the end result seems more unique and definitely more high-end.
*Wrap it up! I also like to wrap each invitation suite (invitation in front with response and reception cards in back) with a really pretty ribbon. No bows or anything as they usually get crushed in the envelope, just a single wrap secured using my scotch tape gun in the back. You can also use pretty strips of wrapping or scrapbooking paper to do this. My favorite look for an invitation (and perhaps the easiest to achieve) is a simple white card stock, layered on a chocolate or black stock, then wrapped with a gorgeous graphic belly band. Simple & Chic.
Although designing and printing your own invitations can take a serious time commitment and can often be frustrating if you are a novice, if you give yourself room for error and enough time to practice, this is a GREAT way to infuse your invitation with personality and that handmade touch. If it still seems a bit too intense for you, I have some tips on ordering out of an album coming up in a future The Look For Less feature!
Comment by MissP on 5 June 2008:
I’m in the middle of doing my own as I speak. It’s wonderful to customize - want to exactly match a shade? Scan it in and pull the color off with photoshop. That said . . . 150 invitations. I’m done designing. All that’s left is printing, right? Print time - 20 minutes. Spray each with fixative because I have to use ink jet for color (which will run if you have any moisture on your fingers when working with it) - 45 minutes. Cutting out time - 3-4 hours. Printing response card (double sided) 1 hour. Spray with fixative - 1 1/2 hours. Cutting out time - 3-4 hours. Ditto for maps/hotel info card, which is also double sided. Now we get to print off envelopes and hand print inner envelopes.
It’s a lovely idea to design your own, but be prepared for the time commitment.
Comment by JLS on 5 June 2008:
I can handle the designing, the cutting, the pasting, etc. But what I can’t find are coordinating inner and outer envelopes. PS doesn’t have all colors, and other sites I’ve looked at just have the A7 envelope, never the A7.5 or A7plus. Help?
This post couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.
Comment by abby larson on 5 June 2008:
Miss P…you are SO right. It is extraordinary how much time it takes to print your own invitation. It’s easy to see why designers charge so much!
JLS, try this site for inner and outer envelopes.
http://www.lcipaper.com/envelopes/double.shtml
To add a splash of color to the envelope, line it with a pretty colored paper. You can actually bring the envelope in to a die making shop and have them cut 200 liners, or however many you need, so that it cuts down on the time involved.
Comment by Kat Rojina on 5 June 2008:
Such a great post! I’ve been slowly up-starting my freelance design studio and this season’s 4 weddings have been a huge learning experience of time management and finding better resources. Your posts were wonderful!
Cheers, Kat Rojina
Fine Lines & Folds
Comment by LCI Paper on 5 June 2008:
Don’t forget about the wording. After all of the effort to pick paper, fonts, clip art etc., you should make sure that the invitation’s wording is appropriate and expresses the right sentiment for the couple involved. We provide numerous samples of wording for wedding invitations as well as other invitations (see: http://www.lcipaper.com/TipWord.shtml).
Comment by Annette Warnick on 5 June 2008:
Fabulous! So inpired by this post and all the great sites you listed. Thank you!
Comment by Geary2Be on 5 June 2008:
I just sent out our invitations yesterday. We completely designed them ourselves. We absolutely were thrilled with how they turned out. My fiance has studied graphic design and studio art. I am a fine arts education major together we came up with some great ideas. We cut pasted designed folded all by hand 200 invitations for under $100.00. We called on some assistance from our families in the process. For the RSVP cards we designed a post card to save a little on postage.
Comment by Loora on 5 June 2008:
I agree with MissP : it IS time consuming ! I custom-made 20 invitation for a family diner the day before our wedding, and it took the whole afternoon.
By the way, even if I’m a huge fan of this software, photoshop is not that appropriate to design invitation; better use Illustrator or QuarkXPress. They are as expensive and hard to get used to, but they handle lines and geometric shapes much better.
I’m in love with each and every invitation… it’s so hard to pick a favorite !
Comment by abby larson on 5 June 2008:
You are totally right Loora…I have no idea why I even put photoshop up there. You should absolutely use a page layout software program if you can, like Quark. I love Illustrator, I use it for everything from inspiration boards to invitations!
Also, thanks for the tip LCI! We also have some wording samples here on SMP. Just click “wedding etiquette” in the right side bar!
Comment by Dianne Pavia on 5 June 2008:
Abby,
I have to ask about the poem listed in your wedding program … “Two Stars”. Was that written by a friend or is it something that exists for others to use? I would love to see it, as “our” song is “When You Wish Upon A Star” - we’re using it as our processional music - and the poem seems like it would be a neat companion.
Thanks!
Comment by Geary2Be on 5 June 2008:
In continuation…
I love how our invites turned out, but I was shocked at the amount of time they took up.
We purchased large sheets of heavy brown construction paper cut the sheet in half then folded it into thirds.
put a button on string then hot glued it to the paper.
My fiance designed all the wording, and cherry blossom branches. We printed those then cut and glued them.
I took the completed invite into the post office and was told I got a bit extravagant for my own good. it was going to be 1.17 per invite to mail. I checked around and finally one of the post offices near by informed me they could charge me 1.17 because the size and the botton sticking up, but if the button was placed in the envelope toward the back it could go through the letter sorter. so thats a bit of advice for anyone. Our final postage was .83 cents. then by making the RSVP portion a post card we saved a little bit. They were very time consuming. I never understood why invitations were so expensive but now I understand why they are priced as high as they are. My advice start way in advance. They were definitely worth it and added a personal touch to everything.
Comment by abby larson on 5 June 2008:
Hey Dianne! The poem was written by my aunt. Bringing in the reading that was so personal to me made the ceremony so much more special.
Comment by Anna on 5 June 2008:
I thought about designing and making our invitations myself, but knew that I would be biting off more than I could chew. Instead, we ordered our invites and RSVP cards from Wedding Paper Divas (great source for inexpensive but stylish invites) and then I gussied them up myself with a satin ribbon belly-band fixed with a hand-stamped sticker. I also hand-drew the area maps and calligraphed the envelopes myself. That was definitely enough DIY for me! Other busy brides might consider this hybrid approach - it was fun and no overwhelming.
Comment by Cyd on 6 June 2008:
I imagine I will be doing all of my own invites, but have used Wedding Paper Divas for a hybrid approach for bridal shower invitations for a girlfriend. I ordered the invites via WPD, and made small enclosure cards listing the registry information. I used standard print-your-own business cards, selected fonts to correspond to the invite and decorated the card with a small paper applique flower. The invite had a stripe detail along the left margin, black stripe with white polka dots. I found a ribbon that matched the color/width and used it to tie the two cards together like a traditional package (not a belly band, but rather criss cross like a Christmas package) before mailing them off. They were a big hit and a good compromise of time efficient and DIY for my detail-oriented self.
Comment by Vanessa on 7 June 2008:
Just a quick tip for all the DIY brides out there (myself included!) You can find a lot of great FREE fonts at:
http://www.1001freefonts.com
If you’re trying to save money by doing your own invites, then why spend the money for fonts?!
Comment by Anna on 8 June 2008:
for those (like me) who want to save money, etsy.com has many stationery shops who will custom-design invites, then send you the image files to print yourself or send to a local printshop. the prices for the design are usually pretty reasonable.
Comment by TheGreenKangaroo on 9 June 2008:
These are all good DIY tips! I would like to point out another resource now available: we at The Green Kangaroo have recently started selling some of the individual components of our invitations for those DIY brides out there. You can buy paper, pockets, adhesive, and envelopes in our DIY section:
http://www.tgkdesigns.com/browse/wedding/diy
Also, we’ve started adding “DIY Options” to many of our products so you can save money on labor and assembly. For many people, having the invites professionally printed and then doing assembly themselves is a great money-saving option!
Comment by alison on 9 June 2008:
i am loving the cherry blossom paper - thanks for posting about it!
xo alison
Comment by Kelly Ann Berg on 25 June 2008:
Another great place to purchase paper goods is Paper Presentation on 18th btw 5th and 6th Aves in NYC. There are actually three stationary stores on that block.
Comment by Erin on 12 July 2008:
I don’t think that my last post is showing - at least for me it’s not. I was wondering if DIY invitations are really as easy as it sounds here. I always thought so, and went thru the motions of picking papers, ribbons, stamps, etc. I planned on having them pre-cut and printing them from my inkjet printer. Then, I read an article suggesting the invites should always be printed professionally and never to have the papers cut, b/c most printers will only print on full size paper, then cut them down for you, which is an extra cost. This got me pretty down in the dumps. Any opinions on this? Please let me know any thoughts you have! Thanks!
Comment by Michelle Mospens on 29 August 2008:
Hello! DIY blank invites remain a very popular choice at MyPersonalArtist.com also!
Our clients are super happy to SAVE big on invites featuring my artwork. :::blushing:::
We have bought our competitors invites and have found many use such thin papers. We are excited to offer our quality art prints and unique designs on a thicker paper stock.
Our brides are always proud of their diy adventures while printing on our art prints. They send pics showing us the creative outcome!
Fun and unique!
LOVE YOUR BLOG! BTW
xoxoxox
m
Comment by Dannie on 2 September 2008:
Thanks so much for all the great tips! I have one question regarding what type of printer to use. Any recommendations on a good printer that has a straight through feed for heavy cardstock?
Comment by Mason on 24 October 2008:
Hi there!!
I have always had great luck using 4colorprint.com. I had used them before my wedding for my business & they always did a great job. Then I thought, why not use them for my wedding too! I used them to print directions to the ceremony, to the reception, hotel. I also had them put together a 4 color pamphlet for people to know where good places to eat when they were in town were, etc. 4colorprint.com.