With the upcoming marriage of our daughter, there were so many options for invitations it made my head spin. I found several I loved on Etsy at reasonable prices, but when you’re really trying to save every dollar, and you’ve got a large guest list, making them yourself is the way to go.
And with easy-to-use programs like Picmonkey, it’s easy to create whatever your heart desires.
I created this simple design which I uploaded to Vista Print. They ended up being $.70 each, PLUS, a quick Google search for “vista print promotional code” rendered a 25% off code, saving me $26 on my final order!
How to design:
- I clicked on the 5 x 7 design in Picmonkey, found a cute flower and added it (overlay–your own)
- Under “effects” I chose “cross process”, “intrepid” and “rapture”, adjusting them a little to get the desired effect.
- Oh, and if you look closely, just for a fun effect, I added their initials in the background and then used the fade tool.
Using the same flower, I designed a return label and RSVP card, uploaded those as well, and ended up spending $110 for 150 invitations, cards, envelopes and labels.
Another huge money saver: we simply created a free website and a place to RSVP then put that on the card which didn’t require an extra stamp (thus doubling the cost). The perks are, it’s easier for the recipient to reply and it’s easier for you to keep track of replies.
My favorite thing about create your own is how easy it is to reflect your daughter’s personality and get exactly what you want in an invitation for cheaper than you could buy them. You could add photos, art or any other creation you can dream up.
Have you been able to create invitations cheaper? I’d LOVE to hear your ideas!
Three of my four children created their own invitations on the Internet and they were all beautiful and very inexpensive!
Would love to see this as a series with other money saving ideas for the wedding as you find them. Many of us are in the same boat as you are and although I have no one old enough to marry yet I know it is coming.
That is my plan, Jennifer, if I find the time to keep up and document them!
I remember going through this. Invitations can be CRAZY expensive. I think mine were less than $2 apiece because we didn’t use paper RSVPs (doubles the amount of stamps). Nowadays, you can make a nice wedding website for free and have people RSVP on that.
Karena,
Yes, we did that too, I just forgot to mention it 😛
Dec. 13 is my wedding anniversary 🙂
Awww…
we made postcard style invites that i printed out a hard copy of then photocopied on cream colored cardstock and puchased a box in invitation envelopes at staples. our rsvp cards were also postcards. i had a local seamstress sew my wedding dress and webought fabric at joanne’s w/ a 50% off coupon. i also made the veil myself. the fabric was washable too! saved dry cleaning costs aferwards. we bought a basic standard cake with plain buttercream frosting and used fresh flowers under inverted wine glasses to fancy it up. it was pretty! think we spent about $1000 for everything! food, clothes, decor etc
My daughter in law works at a coffee shop . Every day, they get a delivery of bagels, in thick, nice, brown paper bags.
My son saved a ton of those bags as they were wedding planning; he cut them into 5×7 sizes freehand, so they weren’t perfect. He put them in a printer, and chose many different clip art pics of animals. He chose an animal, and printed them with an animal at the top.
Then, he put each one individually in an old fashioned typewriter, and typed out the invitation part. They made their envelopes,and addressed them with the typewriter as well.
They were so cool. Time consuming? Yes. But he enjoyed the process so much, and had fun choosing the animals for different families. He went on to hand make the wedding programs as well!!
Dawn,
I could not love this more! Do you have one? I’d love to have a picture (scan?) of it and include it in this post. Did they make their envelops from the brown paper as well? That would be free invitations!! I used to make greeting cards out of scraps like this. It’s such a good practice, even if it is time-consuming, to be resourceful.
well of course I have one!! I have mine!! And the program too, which I use as a precious bookmark. Oh let me be honest, I brought about 20 leftover programs home for bookmarks. LOL!!
How can I get you a pic? Email? Facebook?
My email is one faithful mom at gmail dot com. Feel free to email me.
We recently received a wedding video invitation sent to our email. Initially, I had my snobby nose up in the air, and thought, “What IS this?” I immediately was smitten and remembered that everyone can do their wedding in the way that they want–and no one needs my permission or approval. Oh, and my snottiness sure didn’t please the Lord. Then, I viewed it, and it was very well-done, cute and fun. I’m sure that it didn’t cost much, if anything, to put it together.
I would suspect that, someday, future generations will view paper invitations as something from the olden days.
What a cool idea. I think you are right, and I think that day is in the not-too-far future.
Bria’s wedding day will be 12/13/15.
My friend’s daughter, also homeschooled, is getting married the same day.