DIY Wedding Invitations

Now, I have to tell you, before I start this post, that I originally envisioned a wedding with no more than 30 people, casually talking, vintage themed, no dancing, maybe only a cocktail hour and the invitations were certainly going to be either a box kit from Michael's or printed from vistaprint.

I must say, I think I must have been in my own world when I came up with this dream because my mom wants to show me off (see: lots of friends!), my sister is a graphic designer (see: only the best will do!) and of course everyone wants dancing!

Now back to wedding invitations. When I first set up a budget for this wedding I put a set amount in wedding invitations and I am desperately trying to stay there now. There are so many hidden costs that it is unbelievable! First was the quality paper from an amazing boutique in Toronto called The Paper Place (highly, highly recommend them!). Second was the small details to add on to the invitations like the ribbon slides, quality ribbon, swaroski crystal stick on gems, and envelopes. Finally there was the good quality paper cutter, the boning mat (I skipped out on that thank god!) and postage! I haven't even got to the parts where I was too cheap to buy it made.

Because I was so insistent that for 50 people I would not spend more than $300 on all my paper needs, I have had to take on a lot. And by a lot,  I mean "thank god I only have 50 people!". First was our discovery that pre-made pocket folds were going to be about $2 each including shipping, no matter where we got them from. Second was the discovery that where you order your pocket folds from you need to order your envelopes from because designer pocket folds that say 5" are actually closer to 5.75". Oh... and did I mention those envelopes are $2 as well? And of course, if you have one kind of envelope for the outside you will need the matching envelope for the RSVP, and possibly the inner envelope if you are doing that at another $2 each. Right there, without anything else, would have blown my budget so far out of the water that I would be a sinking ship.

So here comes today.

To save money (and possibly to warrant a visit to the nearest psychiatric hospital) I decided I would hand make my own pocket folds and envelope liners, and print our invitations at home. While this allowed us a savings of hundreds of dollars, it then meant I had to go buy the paper cutter. I love Michael's 50% coupon days! So today will be a day of printing and screaming and praying that everything goes right. If you hear vile language that would make a sailor blush somewhere near my parents, you know that is just my sister and I screwing up while printing or cutting and my mental math counting how much more money this will cost us.

When it comes down to it, my DIY invites will end up costing about $5 each. They are custom made, match our wedding to a tee and are better quality than those you would end up seeing at Michael's in their boxed cards.

Is it worth it? I'll reveal one later this week and you let me know...

~Miss. Sunshine