All the little details you need to make your wedding day perfect are expensive. There’s the cost of the venue, the dress, the jewelry, the cake, and before long you realize your small-budget wedding is blossoming into a large-budget nightmare. In fact, one of the most overlooked and potentially expensive details of a wedding occurs before you even begin to consider the reception space (or finding a decent caterer), and this common wedding pitfall can end up costing you thousands of dollars more than you anticipated. What is this unexpected monetary drain? It’s the wedding invitation.
Print Invitations Yourself
In the past, after the question was popped and the engagement announced, the soon-to-be-wedded couple would head to a reputable stationary store and select the best paper, design, and printing method they could afford. This might mean gold lettering, engraving, or raised print, and each of these elements substantially added to the bill.
Today, computers and digital printers have significantly cut the cost of these special services, meaning that you can design and personalize your own invitations, and then have them printed (or print them yourself) at a fraction of the cost. Some stationary shops specialize in the older methods of printing, but these invitations can cost upwards of six or seven dollars an invitation, and the results are almost identical to the less-expensive options.
Digital Invites are Practically Free
For the least expensive wedding invitations, you can avoid paper entirely and go with a digital e-vite. Personal wedding websites are becoming increasingly popular with the younger crowd these days, they conveniently link to all your information, and they’ll save you postage. If your heart is set on a printed invitation, however, consider downloading a free template off the web, personalizing it, and printing it out at home on whatever paper you choose.
Try Inexpensive Websites
Of course, if your guest-list is too big for home printing, there are many inexpensive invitation options online that offer free shipping and printing at less than fifty cents an invitation. Vistaprint and Walmart offer both traditional and modern designs at reasonable rates, and the website weddingpaperdivas lets you choose from an assortment of papers and wedding sets for less than two dollars an invitation. Many online printers will even let you upload your own design or photograph.
With all the inexpensive options now available, it’s easy to create beautiful, quality wedding invitations without spending too much money. Remember, your guests are less likely to remember your invitations than they are other details from your wedding, like a great reception or unique favors, so invest your money where it counts. Educate yourself and know all of your options before spending too much on pricey invites. Your guests will thank you for it.
