Make Your Own Wedding Invitations

It's currently getting more and more popular to make your own wedding invitations and not just as a way of saving money but also getting a unique design.

However this isn't a route to go down without serious thought.

You'll need to allow plenty of time. Like any D.I.Y. items, do it yourself wedding invitations will take longer to prepare and make than you may think... Trust me.

On a more positive note you don't need to make everything from scratch as most items are easily available on line or on your high street.

You can even download printable wedding invitations to print in the comfort of your own home on your computer. Then you can finish them at your own pace.

Make Your Own Wedding Invitations - My Top Tips:

• Use good quality supplies - If you go too cheap your finished card will look cheap so try to stick with decent quality card, glue, accessories etc. The last thing you need is parts of the card falling off as your guest opens their invite.

• Check your printer - this may sound strange but you'll need to check that the paper you are thinking of will work with your printer. After all it's cheaper to choose different paper than it is to buy a new printer. You should be able to get this information on the printer manufacturer's website or in your owner’s manual.

• Start with your envelopes - these tend to come in standard sizes, so choose the envelope first and then size your wedding invite design so that it fits the envelope. This is a minor point so don't worry if you've already got your envelopes. As long as your envelopes are larger than your invites it's not the end of the world.

• Choose a theme - this could be a colour you've chosen for your flowers or bridesmaid's dresses or maybe something related to your hobby or where the two of you met etc. If you can blend your theme into your invites it will tie the whole day together nicely.

• Keep it simple – simple wedding invitations can often look much better than an overly fussy invites. Plus a simple invite takes less time to make and should therefore be cheaper to make. The simplest is to go for a postcard style invite without a fold.
  

• Make up a single trial card - this will let you see how long it takes to make a single card and you can then work out how long the rest should take. It will also let you know how much material you'll need to create the rest. Bear in mind the first card will take a longer than the rest as you will get quicker and the more you make.

• Use templates - if you use templates you will be able to place design items in the same place on every card giving you consistency to your design and a professional look and feel.

• Have a contingency - buy 10 - 15% more of each individual material you require and make 10 - 15% more invites than you think you'll need. That way you'll have spares should you make a mistake when writing them or if you decide to invite someone else.

• Consider postage costs - the cost of postage can mount up very quickly so always factor it in at the design stage. Also consider postage of any additional stationery you may want to send out like save the date cards, if you're using them. Make sure your cards aren't over 5mm thick or larger that 240mm x 165mm as that will push them into the higher postage rate in the UK.

• Prepare any Inserts you need - Regardless of whether you make your own wedding invitations or not you may want to include inserts such as your gift list, the address of local hotels, taxi firms, directions, local car parking, prices for hotels rooms and any special arrangements regarding the venue etc.

  Try to condense this information as much as possible so that you don't end up with three folded A4 pages inside your invites or again your invites could be over 5mm thick (including the envelope).
  

• Take some credit - if you do make your own wedding invitations tell everyone by putting a "hand made by ..." on each of your invites.

• Keep your records up to date - as you send out your invites keep a record of when they were sent, who your sent them to and when each person responded. That way you'll know who to chase when RSVP's don't arrive back. Trust me this will make your life a lot easier.

  You can also record if your guests are able to attend or not and what gift they gave you. That way you can send the correct thank you cards to the correct guest.
  

These same principles can be applied to all your stationery requirements such as save the date cards, orders of service, menus, seating plans, table name cards, and thank you cards. After all if you're going to make your own wedding invitations you might as well make the others as well.

For more information on other types of wedding invitations that these tips can be applied to, just click on the "Return from ... to cheap wedding invitations" link at the bottom of this page.

One last tip - when you're sending out your thank you cards don’t be tempted to use a printer to print your message straight onto the card. Thank you cards should really be hand written. After all you went to all that hassle to make your own wedding invitations so it would be a shame to start cutting corners now. Trust me, your guests will really appreciate a personal note much more than a generic printed message.

As you can see there's quite a bit of work involved in DIY wedding invites and although it can take quite a bit of time, you can make your own wedding invitations quite simply and effectively provided you follow these simple guides.

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