Making your own wedding invitations - What to consider

In these difficult economic times many of us are trying to make what money we have go as far as possible.  Couples still want to get married but they face one of the few industries not hit big by the recession, so for many couples there may well be budget issues.  The upside of an economic downturn is the return to a make and mend philosophy that a vast number of people are embracing, and unlike building your own wedding venue, making your own invitations and stationery is a viable option in many cases.  There are however a few things to consider before you start.

The first thing is budget.  It's sound advice when planning a wedding to sit down right at the beginning and work out what your budget is, what your priorities are and where you see the money being spent.  Once you have done this take a look at the figure you have written down for wedding invitations and stationery and the importance you have given it.  You may wonder where I am going with this, but bear with me; it'll come together.

The next most important thing to consider is time; your time and how much of it you have available.  Write a new list, this time of things that will need to be done organise all the elements of your wedding.  Try and gauge who you think will be doing what.  Then look at all the things you have listed as doing yourself and write down where that time is coming from.

With me so far?  Ok, now it's about combining the budget factor with the time factor.  If you have written down a fairly low figure for the wedding stationery budget, or it has relatively low importance to you it may be that you will be best served by sourcing your invitations from a reputable online or high street printer or wedding stationer.  This is especially so if you are not going to have a lot of time spare to devote to making invitations.  I say this because if your intention is not to spend all that much anyway, then making your own stationery could end up a false economy as well as adding extra pressure into an already busy schedule.  If on the other hand you had written down a fairly large figure in your budget and you have a decent amount of time available then there may be a good cost saving in making your own stationery.

Of course, there are other things to consider too.  You need to source materials such as card, paper, ribbon etc. and there are going to be a few basic tools that you need to have:  A computer or access to one, a printer or access to one, ink for the printer, a paper trimmer, adhesives, are probably the bare minimum.  If you already have these, great!  If you don't have these then remember to factor those costs in.  Of course if you want to do additional finishes such as metallic foiling or embossing, stamping etc. there will be additional tools and consumables required as well as an extra time component.



Ultimately, don't just say 'I'm going to do them myself' in an off the cuff way because you assume it will be the best way to save money.  Think it through.  If you are short on money, or time, or both then it might actually work out to be more cost effective to buy from a reputable printer or a wedding stationer.  If you have the hours (and it will be hours...quite a few of them!) to spare and the cost of making them actually saves you money over the cost of buying them, then making your own invitations and stationery is a sound idea.

An important note:  I didn't mention skill level anywhere here, which some might say would be an important consideration.  I, however, think that there is nothing than can not be learned given sufficient time and practice so skill is not necessary to begin with but you should factor in a little more time for the learning curve (and probably some extra materials for the practicing) when working out your costs.