You’re getting married! You’ve set the date, booked the venue, and sent out your “Save the Date” cards, so it’s time to start thinking about your wedding invitations. “Bride Magazine” suggests sending your invitations out four to six months before the wedding day. Bare in mind with Covid and so many wedding postponements during the past year there’s been a necessary trend to send wedding invitations out closer to the date. Don’t worry, your guests understand the current situation makes this unavoidable.
While planning your invitations, if you’re considering going down the DIY Wedding Stationery route read this post first.
There are definitely pros and cons of making your own wedding invitations. While it’s not the right choice for all couples here we look at five benefits of making your own wedding invitations:
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Pretty Personal
When you design and make your own invitations you have the advantage of complete creative control. You can plan and make your invitations exactly as you want them. Perhaps you want something different that you’re struggling to find- such as a retro vinyl record sleeve for a rockabilly wedding.
When your guests know that your invitations are handmade they will appreciate the personal touch. I know that personally I always save wedding invitations sent to me as a keepsake. It’s extra special to know that they’ve been handmade with love.
2. Enjoy the Process
As a bride or groom reading this post, by now you’ll realise that your wedding is not just about your wedding day. It’s a lot more than that. Many couples look back and realise that planning their wedding was an important part of at least a year of their lives together. Every wedding planner has a long checklist and there will be some jobs on the list that you enjoy more than others. Wine and menu tasting tend to be popular while planning the seating arrangements can be stressful for some couples.
If you love crafts and have always looked forward to making your wedding invitations are then you should and you will enjoy it as part of the whole wedding experience. Be realistic, it will be time-consuming. Be willing to ask for help, especially if you’re planning a large wedding. Family and friends would love to get involved- with a production line organised (even if it’s just to place the invites in envelopes for you or stick embellishments on) it really will speed up the process.
3. Completely Coordinated
Nowadays there are more elements to a wedding invitation than just the invite. For many couples, the invitation is now a mini folder containing all the information their guests require about the big day. A typical wedding folder may contain:
- The invite
- Reception card (if the reception is held at a different venue)
- Response card with a stamped address envelope
- Hotel information
- Maps
- An unsealed inner envelope (or paper fold or sleeve) to keep the contents safe
- An outer envelope
When you design and make your own invites you can ensure every aspect is perfectly coordinated with all your wedding stationery from the “Save the Date” to the “Thank You” cards.
4. Professional Finish
While some brides love a rustic shabby chic style wedding and embrace the homemade finish to their wedding invitations, other brides are put off by the idea of making their own as they long for a purely professional finish. When you have the right tools (and talent) it is possible to make your own professional wedding invitations. It’s really up to the individual and the style they require but whether you want a digital, embossed, papercut or engraved print there are craft machines you can now buy (or borrow) for your use at home.
You can also design your own invites and then get them professionally printed or mix a combination of “do it yourself” and buying the materials that you’re unable to make yourself. For example, if you don’t have a paper cutter or laser cutter you could buy a laser cut pocket fold and invite etc to make up your own invitation.
Take a look at this tutorial below:
You could also buy invitations but personalise them with your own choice of embellishments, there are so many ways you can give your cards a professional, expensive finish.
5. Save Money
I have deliberately put “save money” last as an advantage to making your own wedding invitations. If you’re on a budget and you just want the most basic of wedding invites then it may work out less expensive and time-consuming to buy budget-ready-made wedding invitations.
However, if you want beautiful, perfectly personalised high-quality invites with all the trimmings then you can save money by making them yourself. Just remember to account for all aspects, including the price of ink, buying extra materials in case of mistakes (which are bound to happen), etc, and the valuable time it will cost you when you’re planning your wedding stationery.
DIY or Buy?
Overall, I think it’s a very personal choice that depends on a number of factors such as how crafty are you, how much time do you have to spare and the size of your wedding (how many wedding invitations are you making again?!). Since Covid, there has been an increase in the number of brides-to-be making their own DIY wedding invitations as they find themselves with more time on their hands due to lockdowns and a fewer number of guests to invite due to restrictions on numbers at gatherings.
Whichever you choose remember you and your guests will treasure your wedding invitation for what it represents and in future years will look back on it with fondness and happy memories as they remember your special day.
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