So, it’s time to design your custom invitations. You’ve pulled so much inspiration from Pinterest, Instagram, from all the wedding blogs and beyond. Or, you have no idea what you want but your mom is on you about getting this part out of the way.
You go through the normal steps. Book your designer and reach out to a calligrapher, then you get the quote: it’s a liiiittle bit more than you thought. But also, when in your life would you ever need to know how much wedding invitations cost? You really weren’t even sure how much to budget, to begin with. So now what?
Custom invitations can be an investment. A good rule of thumb is to allocate about 5% of your total wedding budget to invitations. Does everyone follow this rule? No. Wedding budgets are like snowflakes, each one is different and they tend to melt away once they get into your hands.
Consider your invitation as being the opening ceremony for your wedding. Those little pieces of mail set the tone. They are a thoughtful and beautiful way to ask your friends and loved ones to save this date, book their travel, plan ahead, and invest and celebrate with you. Invitations are something tangible that you and your guests can keep forever. This always gets me pumped since a lot of the money you spend on the wedding WON’T be something you can hold in your hand, frame, or treasure. With all the energy and time and resources spent on this day (or weekend, in some cases) I think it’s nice to honor all of that effort with thoughtful invitations.
Now, that being said, “thoughtful invitations” do not have to completely overthrow your wedding budget. But in my opinion (and I was recently a bride myself so believe me: I get it) it’s important to pick ways to save that won’t diminish the total money you spend on invitations. You can cut corners! Just don’t cut the important ones that make a big difference. :)
Consider your printing method.
The first big thing to know: it’s not the number of invitations you get printed that racks up the bill, it’s the number of parts to your suite. Letterpress printing (my absolute favorite method by a mile) involves ordering plates, creating inks, inking rollers, cutting paper, etc. Once the printing process starts going, it’s less about how many of one part they run through the press, but more about how times they restart this process over again. Other methods of printing will alter the cost. Digital, for example, is generally less expensive. Some of my favorite studios for letterpress are Swell Press, Fiore Press, and Greenwich Letterpress.
Consider how many pieces will be part of your invitation suite.
For example, you will need the invitation card (names, venue, date) but perhaps you could forgo creating a Details card (room block info, wedding website, itinerary.) Add the information to your wedding website! You may get more texts and phone calls from friends and relatives with questions (because they will not go to the website no matter how often you tell them to!) but you’ll save a little in cost.
One of my least favorite parts to cut is the Response card, and instead of having guests RSVP on your wedding website. I generally think this is tougher to manage and will require a lot more effort on your part to organize everything and get all of your replies.
Consider DIY envelope lining.
Get some wine, get your partner or a parent, and have a night of DIY lining. Or if you’re me, just put on The Office and go to town. While this might sound like a night of “Netflix and Chill,” it may likely turn out to be a night of “DIY and I-Wanna-Die.” But if you use the right tools, you may muddle your way through the first envelope (that one will be for your dad’s ex-boss who he only invited because he felt obligated…) and then be well on your way with the rest! Removing the liner assembly at the printer will save you costs at the printer.
Consider designing a return address custom stamp.
Rather than having your return address printed on the envelopes by the printer, you can make a stamp instead! I love stamps by Ink Me This. You can choose a design from your stamp maker, or you can have your calligrapher write it out for visual consistency. When you forego printing the return address at the printer, this will save you a little money. Know that this DIY project is not without its finicky moments—be sure to try to get it centered so it looks more professional, and always stamp on a hard surface. Slip a piece of card stock inside the envelope to be sure you get a good clean stamp. Kestrel of Ink Me This also advises doing a few stamps on some scrap paper when you first start. This will help to either to get the plate nice and inked or even to reduce how much ink has accumulated already. It produces optimal crisp-ness. (That’s a thing, right?)
Consider the card stock.
Choosing certain card stocks (i.e. weights and thickness, or brands like Cranes Lettra vs. Strathmore, etc) will affect your costs. But should you delve into this particular savings strategy, be sure to consult your designer or printer to make sure that the printing methods being used will work on that paper stock. See what your options are, without compromising the overall quality.
You do want to keep the majority of your investment safely spent in the quality of the suite itself. For instance, if you are spending $2000 on your invitations, and you can save $200 by using less quality paper for the card stock, ask yourself if it’s worth it. It may not be! Something like the card stock might lessen the overall quality while giving in and doing DIY envelope liners, will not. The latter saving strategy won’t undermine the overall investment.
Ask your designer or your printer the best course of action given your design. I’m always bummed when I see a client pay for the beautiful commissioned watercolor design, with specific colors they carefully chose, and so much detail, to then have it printed on paper that is the wrong shade of white that doesn’t show true colors, or on a paper with a weight that won’t hold up to the press. Paying for letterpress on a paper that won’t support it, isn’t worth the money.
Consider going semi-custom.
Semi-custom designs are not offered everywhere, but plenty of incredible printing houses and stationers have designs available. These designs have already been created, and await your text, and perhaps offers a few small variations. Sometimes you can use real calligraphy for a small fee instead of a computer-generated font. I don’t personally offer semi-custom designs at this time, but rather refer my clients who are interested in other designers I love who do. With the amount you save in picking a semi-custom design, you could put back in with handwritten addressing, perhaps a custom wax seal, or having it letterpressed, rather than digitally printed.
All of this to say, I am obviously someone who values all the paper products that go into the wedding process: Save the Dates, Invitations, Menus, Programs, Welcome Notes, etc. And this is what I do! Therefore, I will always fight for making the most quality product I can, no matter what your budget allows. One of my favorite suites I’ve designed started out as five pieces, but by the end, it turned in to only two parts. However, these two pieces were stunning. We did all the fancy premium things, and we were all ecstatic with the finished product. In this case, paring down the parts to the suite allowed for us to get the bride everything she ever wanted in two parts, that she couldn’t have in the five.
I know that invitations may not be as important from client to client. (I was also a bride, so I know how tedious balancing the budget “spreadsheet-of-death” can be) so I happily offer all of the above bits and pieces of advice in the hopes that they *creatively* help you get your invitation costs to a doable, healthy place in your budget, without compromising on the stuff you really, really want. <3
