So, I recently got married and was stressed trying to fit everything into a budget. I was given a limit as to how much my Dad would spend and was put in charge of it. So I decided what was most important to me and figured out where I could "afford" to cut costs. (Afford here is based on what I felt I could cut costs on and still get the feel I wanted from it). One of the things I cut costs on was invitations. I really liked pocket invitations, where you open it up and you have the announcement and a picture and all your little inserts... I looked up DIY ones and it was still adding up to more than I wanted it to. I needed 650 invitations and it all adds up. I started looking up other options and decided to do-it-myself. It released a creative part of me I don't think I knew existed. (Since then I've been wanting to learn to sew and other creative outlets). Anyways, I found on FedEx that they have an option where you can do grayscale and have a double sided invitation. So I started playing around with designing a two sided card. I wanted a photo, an announcement, and a card with registry information (apparently it's tacky to put it ON the invite). Well I decided if I did it myself I could put the photo as the background for the actual invite (no more photo cost- just color invitation cost). Then I did a business card size insert card that I doubled as an RSVP on our site, which also had our registry information on it (the site did-not the card- PS. a lot of people lost the insert and forgot where I was registered and wondered why I didn't put it on the invite- so I guess it's up to you). Then I found a printer that would print it for cheaper than FedEx. (A shout out to Alpha-Graphics! - Thanks!) And they sent me to their paper source- which sold paper and envelopes in bulk.
We had a picture on our insert card with our site. Our actual invitations: on the front side we had a picture and invite; on the back we had another picture and the proposal story. Side note on that: I went to see my Optometrist right after getting engaged- we started talking and he told me about an invitation he had gotten recently and how on the back they put a story of how they met on the back and it was really cute and gave it a personal touch. Well I liked our proposal story better, when written briefly. But I also thought about putting a get-to-know the bride and groom on the back, or some cute story- something unique to you. Anyways, people loved it! Then we had envelopes.
End result: stamps are 48 cents (which add up too)... but we got our invites (front and back), with inserts, AND envelopes for.... 46 cents each! Also, since I enjoyed it so much I volunteered to do my brother's invites (he got married the next month). With all the wedding stress, that was actually my favorite part, and although doing my brother's invites were adding more to my plate- it was a stress relief and I'm very glad I did it. So, if you don't feel you have that creative eye, send me your pictures and I'll get back to you with some options. I'll charge, BUT since this was a money-saving idea, I will do my best to keep it in your best interests and keep you saving money too and I'm willing to negotiate prices on invites.
email me at singngcaligurl@gmail.com (You can tell me what it's worth to you and we can negotiate a price)
I will upload the two invites once I remove addresses for homes. Do-it-yourself and save LOTS of money!
We also did our thank-you cards, which were a little bit more because we had Alpha-Graphics fold them as well. But making it personal with pictures and finding a cheap printer is KEY if you want something a little nicer than your printer can do. (Unless maybe you have a pro printer, better than mine).
Our thank you cards: SPOILER ALERT- to anyone who sent us a gift, we have not written in our thank you cards yet- we just picked them up this week, but we should get on it after Valentine's Day. Front (upside down so it would print and be folded and be the right way), back and then the inside.
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