Invitations

Professionally designed wedding invitations can be expensive – between the embossing, the second set of envelopes and the postage necessary to get them to your guests, you could wind up spending a fortune. But wedding invitations don’t have to eat up such a large chunk of your wedding budget – check out the following ideas for making your own invitations on a budget.

Print Your Own

There are plenty of software packages available today that can help you design and print your own wedding invitations. Plus, with the quality of most home printers, you don’t need to worry about compromising on the quality of your finished product. To get started, start by your local office supply store – most carry the software programs you’ll need to design your invites, as well as printed stock paper to give your invitations a professional look. You can also find a number of free templates online through Microsoft’s website.

Barter Your Services

When you start planning your wedding, check to see if there are any new print shops that have opened up in your area. New businesses are always looking for ways to attract customers, and may offer special discounts in order to establish themselves in the community. For example, they may be able to offer you a discounted rate in exchange for referrals to other newly engaged couples as a way of expanding their client base.

Depending on your profession, you may also be able to barter some services in exchange for professional wedding invitations. If you’re an accountant, you may be able to offer tax advice in exchange for free printing. Or if you work as an auto mechanic, you may be able to find a graphic designer willing to create your invitations in exchange for some car repairs. To find potential bartering arrangements, either talk directly to professionals in your area or post on community websites like Craigslist.

Go Electronic

The digital era is upon us – and you can use this to your advantage when planning your wedding. It’s becoming more and more popular for couples to set up wedding websites as a way to disseminate wedding-day details to their guests, but you can take this a step further with digital wedding invitations. Consider inviting guests via email – not only will it be easier for your guests to RSVP, it’s totally free for you!

If email invites don’t feel right to you, you can also take advantage of the services offered by discount internet printers. When you use these services, you’ll be going directly to the manufacturer, so you could save as much as 25-50% off of traditional print shops. These online companies typically offer wedding invitation templates – you can save even more using their standard ink and printing options, instead of opting for more costly services like engraving.

Most wedding budget advisers suggest spending 2-5% of your budget on invitations, but there are plenty of ways to cut this cost if you’re willing to be creative. So shop around and talk with others – you could wind up saving a bundle on your wedding invitations.

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Your wedding invitations and announcements set the tone for your wedding – they’re typically the first things that people see when they learn of your impending nuptials, so it’s important to choose carefully. Do you want to convey a very formal feel or a more carefree, summery vibe? This is one area of your wedding where you have a lot of flexibility in terms of expressing yourself – just be careful to keep an eye on your budget. Extra layers of vellum, ribbons, double envelopes and other add-ons can quickly blow your invitation and announcement budget.

Print Your Own Wedding Stationery

If you have a computer, you should be able to purchase software that will help you design and print your own wedding invitations and announcements. Typically, you’ll find that blank card stock is perfect for invitations and is fairly inexpensive. If you’re certain that you want each invited guest to have the same type of card, you can print as many as you need. On the other hand, if you want to create special sets of cards for different groups of people, you can create as many as you like using the software.

If you’re artistically inclined, you may find the options available in the software too limiting for your tastes. In this case, you may want to try your hand at designing your own invitations by hand. While you probably won’t be able to copy these using a regular printer, check with Kinkos to find more high quality printing options. You’ll need to purchase stencils, special pens, and other materials to go this route, and – as you might expect – you’ll want to practice a bit before coming up with a final draft.

Print on Demand Services

If you don’t have a high quality printer, it may be helpful to see if you can have your wedding stationery custom printed. Stationery stores or copy shops in your neighborhood may be willing to print them for a fee. There are also a large number of print-on-demand services available on the internet. In many cases, you will find that they will also offer a wide array of designs available for customization and will allow you to submit custom artwork for printing.

Pre-made Stationery Closeouts

You might be surprised at the quality of goods you can find in dollar stores and other shops that specialize in close-out and clearance items. In some cases, you may be able to find enough invitations and announcements for your needs, or you may need to purchase several types in order to have enough. Even if you can’t find wedding specific stationery, you may be able to find items that have blank interiors, or images that are adaptable to your needs.

Even though wedding stationery tends to be expensive, this is one area of your budget where you can save big money by doing it yourself. If you decide to print your own wedding announcements and invitations, you’ll be able to choose from your own designs or pre-made templates online and in local shops. For the most part, you’ll find that the cost savings of using these methods more than makes up for their limitations.

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Proper wedding invitation etiquette is so very important. There are several things you need to consider when preparing your wedding invitation. Is this your first or second marriage, have either of your parents remarried. Remember there are a lot of different spelling and wording conventions that will apply when choosing your invitation. MyGabsby says, there aren’t any punctuations used except after courtesy titles (such as Mr. and Dr.) Remember that Capital letters are treated like sentences, and are most often only capitalized as you would read wording like a sentence (not at the beginning of each line). Proper names and courtesy titles are also capitalized, and numbers in the date are spelled out and follow the day (Saturday, the second of July). The Year can or need not be used, but if you want to include it, be sure to spell it out (Two thousand and Seven). Always spell out times and refer to the placement of hands on a clock. Such as the example below:

1. Half after two or half past two (not 2:30 p.m.)
2. Three o’clock in the afternoon (not 3:00 p.m.)
3. Seven o’clock in the evening.

If the ceremony is at a well known location, you needn’t include the address:

The CNN World Center
Atlanta, GA

but for smaller Venues, or your home, you’d want to write out the address.

Marriott Courtyard
300 Cumberland Blvd. S.E.
Atlanta, GA

If your ceremony is at a place of worship, then the line should read as follows:

Request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter

Note the formal British spelling of the word “honor.” The word daughter is used as an example and should be the gender of the person whose parents are hosting. If, on the other hand your ceremony is at home or other secular location, then the line should read:

Request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughter

Etiquette says that the bride should be listed first, using first and middle names only. Then the groom should be listed, using both title and middle name.
The most important thing of all to remember is, formal invitations are usually written in third-person. For example, “Mr. and Mrs. Fredrick Johnson” instead of “We.
There are some samples below that can assist you in preparing your invitation.

The typical wedding invitation will read as follows:

Mr. and Mrs. Fredrick Allen Johnson
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Lynette Symone
to
Mr. David Anthony Williams
on Saturday, the twenty-third of March
at one o’clock in the afternoon
Our Lady of Perpetual Hope
Dayton, Ohio

If the mother of the bride has remarried, and the bride wishes to include her stepfather on the invitation, the following wording is used (this wording assumes that the mother uses her new husband’s name):

Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Ethan Thompson
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of her daughter
Lauren Mary Willingham

If you follow these keys steps you’ll compose an invitation that you can be proud of.

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