DIY Wedding Invitations

Lcarr

Having priced wedding invitations I soon realized that in order to save some money I may have to make these myself.

I have a rough draft done on MS Publisher but looking for ideas for the actual resources required to make these, paper, diamante, bows, etc?

Anybody make them themselves and find you actually didn't save much money?

Pleeeasseee help

Not getting married until April 2015 but as a teacher, over these Easter and Summer holidays I plan on getting waayyy ahead of myself to reduce stress that will come with next year

Thanks to all

Typer Monkey

I ordered invites from a site called Nowyouprintwedding.ie and got 100 flat card invitations plus envelopes for €85 and delivery is free. You can choose from a number of designs and you can completely customise the printed wording to your liking. I added in 30 afters invitations in a matching style which cost €50 so in total I paid €135 which is great value I think.

I put in the invite to RSVP by text or email so cuts out the need for RSVP cards but you can get them from the same site if you want them.

I didn't particularly care about the invitations and generally just put other people's straight in the recycling bin so a basic card suited me. If you're into ribbons and diamanté invites this mightn't suit you but it's worth a google anyway!

dantastic

We did DIY invitations in a futile attempt to save money. I think the card shop had quoted us at €7 per invitation. We were looking online and thought we would be able to get invitations made ourselves at half that price.

With all the extras, the glues, double sided tapes, the gold and silver pens, ribbons and a stamp the invitations came in at €9 each. We didn't get carried away or anything it's just that the material at the cheaper end really looks like material at the cheaper end.

By the time we realized he had to buy the more expensive options we had already bought so much stuff that we couldn't bail and get the store bought invitations. We just had to keep going.

And the time, OMG the amount of time it takes!!!

So if you want to save money and you aren't pushed about the quality, just print the invitations on regular printer paper.
If you want a shop bought kind of invitation just go to a shop.
The DIY option is really for something quite special if you are prepared to pay the money.

We really regretted going the DIY option. If we were back again we'd just bought the invitations locally.

flikflak

Did ours on Vistaprint. Got a discount code too so all in for €100 (120 invites with envelopes).

Again no RSVP cards as we put the link to our website where people have to RSVP.

I dont have the skills, patience or time to do my own but admire anyone that can!

clumsyklutz

Actually did my own save the dates (as we're getting married abroad) and for me, they worked out quite cheap. I bought card from the art & hobby shop, along with some dimantes etc to spruce them up.

They came out really nice, and it was a nice exercise to do with the hubby to be. All in all for 40 save the dates, using an online template and stuff from the art & hobby shop I spent about 13.00

solerina

Lcarr wrote: »

Having priced wedding invitations I soon realized that in order to save some money I may have to make these myself.

I have a rough draft done on MS Publisher but looking for ideas for the actual resources required to make these, paper, diamante, bows, etc?

Anybody make them themselves and find you actually didn't save much money?

Pleeeasseee help

Not getting married until April 2015 but as a teacher, over these Easter and Summer holidays I plan on getting waayyy ahead of myself to reduce stress that will come with next year

Thanks to all

In fairness there is no real reason to spend a fortune on invitations, we ordered ours from vistaprint...I joined the day before and immediately got a 25% off coupon...no one really cares about the invite anyway. I think I paid about 160 euro for 200 invites and envelopes !!! You can always stick diamontes etc onto them after to make them fancier if that's what you want. Got no RSVP cards as I think they are a waste of money (included an email on the invite though so we got a few replies that was but most sent cards via the post)

Gatica

I would agree that between getting all the supplies for "nice" cards, you'll spend as much as paying someone to do these.
We spent 273 Euro on 65 invitations I think. We still have the mat, the guillotine and punches I bought... but it's all the extra work and hassle that you could say would be the added cost that's not part of the 273.
We cared about the invitations, as it was that really particular thing that hubby had input into.
However, as a guest I think I wouldn't care about invitations, so vistaprint or similar route is a good way to save money.

Lcarr

Thanks a mill for all your suggestions! I'm taking them all into account!

Been looking at Vistaprint and there are some lovely ones for very reasonable prices so will consider perhaps ordering some.
I do want to incorporate a music theme as both of us are very into music - I sing, he doesn't, lol. When buying them online I find it hard to find some that incorporate the music theme (treble clef, notes, etc) in an elegant, yet modern way. Any suggestions for this?

God, I'm not picky at all!

kkcatlou

solerina wrote: »

In fairness there is no real reason to spend a fortune on invitations, we ordered ours from vistaprint...I joined the day before and immediately got a 25% off coupon...no one really cares about the invite anyway. I think I paid about 160 euro for 200 invites and envelopes !!! You can always stick diamontes etc onto them after to make them fancier if that's what you want. Got no RSVP cards as I think they are a waste of money (included an email on the invite though so we got a few replies that was but most sent cards via the post)

I'd disagree with this Solerina, but each to their own opinion and all that!

Personally I get so excited when an invite comes in the door (we got one last night - I've never met the couple, friends of the OH, and we spent a good half hour looking at it, looking up places to stay). They all go on the mantelpiece then into a box. Sad maybe, but I really think an invite sets the scene for the type of wedding you are going to have. A fun, exciting invite gets you excited about what is going to be a fun day. A cheap invite, says, it'll be a cheap wedding. A traditional one, a traditional wedding, and so on.

Invites don't have to be expensive to set the scene though (by cheap, I mean looks cheap or tacky, not that it doesn't cost much). Vistaprint and all those can do lovely ones, but do put a bit of time into it. And please please, get your spelling and grammar right....have seen some terrors!! That can be the downside of going with some of the online places - nobody to proofread!

Gatica

Lcarr wrote: »

Thanks a mill for all your suggestions! I'm taking them all into account!

Been looking at Vistaprint and there are some lovely ones for very reasonable prices so will consider perhaps ordering some.
I do want to incorporate a music theme as both of us are very into music - I sing, he doesn't, lol. When buying them online I find it hard to find some that incorporate the music theme (treble clef, notes, etc) in an elegant, yet modern way. Any suggestions for this?

God, I'm not picky at all!

how about ordering the basic cards for cheap, then buy fancy ready-cut shapes, like a large pearlescent treble clef and just stick them onto the card? Minimal assembly effort.
You'll have to put some thought into card layout and design though so it doesn't look weird.

PS: quick search on ebay: http://www.ebay.ie/sch/DieCut-Shapes-Punchies-/33978/i.html?_from=R40&_sac=1&_nkw=treble+clef

Typer Monkey

Just quick update. Got the invitations I posted about above yesterday delivered by courier. I'm very happy with them, not cheap looking at all. Definitely recommend them