If getting your invitations done by a professional invitation printer is too much for your wedding budget, you can do the invitations yourself – it can be pretty easy.
You can print your own invitations using blank cardstock and any word processing program. Also, several companies print beautiful blank invitations sets (invitations, RSVP cards, envelopes) usually available in packs of 25 or 50. After you buy them, you can download the formatting template from their website (you will most likely need a recent version of Microsoft Word to use the templates – be sure to check the package or the company’s website before you buy). You can play with fonts and graphics, and make the wedding invitations, inserts and envelopes truly unique and personalized for a lot less money than invitations ordered from a wedding boutique!
Of course, this option requires that you be computer-savvy enough to use a word processing program. Of course, if you’re hosting a formal wedding, you’ll really want to order engraved wedding invitations. But, for the less formal wedding, DIY invitations can work just fine.
Another option, if you are more crafty and have more time, is to make your own wedding invitations by hand. Any decent scrapbooking section in a craft store or craft sites online should have just about everything you need to make some very pretty invitations – stamps, stickers, stencils, adhesives, pens, and of course, paper. You don’t want to get too “3-D” though, unless you plan on hand-delivering them (kidding – that’s definitely a wedding no-no!! The letter processing machinery at the post office doesn’t handle lumpy bits well, and the machinery may end up seriously damaging your carefully crafted invitations. (You can request that the invitations be hand-cancelled, but that is still no guarantee that they will be handled carefully.)
Making your own invitations could also be a fun group project for you and any of your crafty bridesmaids, family members or friends.
What do you think? Have you ever made wedding invitations yourself? Was it easy? Was it fun? Or was it a freakin nightmare?
