Is It Cheaper To Make Your Own Wedding Invitations?
Buying your wedding invitations is a tradition, but it’s also expensive. If you’re on a budget and want to save money for the other aspects of your wedding, then you might be considering making your own.
Is it cheaper to make your own wedding invitations? Yes! To make 50 invitations, you can expect to spend around $15 on the materials (cardstock and envelopes). However, you will need to factor in the cost of the tools you will need, which can increase the cost substantially
I had a quick look at wedding invitations on eBay and found the following prices for a pack of 50 wedding invitations:
- pocket ($180 – eBay)
- gatefold ($85 – eBay)
- postcard ($33 – eBay)
In this article, we’ll explore some things you should know before deciding whether or not to make your own wedding invitations.
Is It Worth Making Your Own Wedding Invitations?
Absolutely, there are so many benefits why you should make your own wedding invitations:
- save money – By using your own materials and tools.
- unlimited customization – make as many changes to your invitation without the extra cost.
- premium design for less money – You can use a premium design without the premium cost.
Making your own invitations is a great way to save money, but many couples overlook one key area and that is time.
If you have the time and most of the tools then hey! you should definitely consider making them at home.
Not only will you be saving money but you will also be making forever memories about when you made your own wedding invitations.
It can seem cheaper to make your own wedding invitations until you factor in materials and tools and see the overall cost.
Yes, it is possible that making them yourself can be less expensive than buying from a store if you already have all the necessary supplies on hand.
The cost of wedding invitations includes the time it takes to make each invitation. So if you go for a more complicated design you will be expected to pay more.
But if you choose to make your own wedding invitation you will save money because you will be investing your own time in creating your invitations.
Like I said earlier, if you have the tools then yes it is cheaper to make your own wedding invitations however if you don’t then this will bump up the cost very quickly.
If you don’t have the budget to buy all the tools and still want to make them at home then check out my article on how to save money making your own wedding invitations.
What Tools Do You Need To Make Your Own Wedding Invitation At Home?
Printer
If you want to print your own wedding invitations then you will need a printer capable of doing the job.
A printer is probably going to be the most expensive tool you will need. But nowadays most people own a printer at home so you will already be saving money.
Many people overlook one factor when it comes to printing their invitations at home and that is:
Not all printers can print on heavy cardstock.
If you already own a printer then:
- check the manual to find out if it can handle heavy cardstock.
- If it can, find out what is the maximum paperweight (paper thickness) it can handle?
Knowing this will give you an idea of what kind of cardstock to buy. You don’t want to waste your hard-earned money on cardstock that is too thick for your printer to handle.
Cardstock comes in many thicknesses but the most popular paperweight for wedding invitations is 80lb/250gsm.
When I ran my wedding stationery business I used Epson printers but I hear that Canan printers can also handle heavy cardstock.
Printers are pretty cheap nowadays and you can expect to pay anything from $60 to $100s.
Please note you don’t need an expensive printer to print your wedding invitations, even some of the cheaper models can handle heavy cardstock.
Scoring Board & Bone Folder
What are a scoring board and a bone folder? A scoring board is a plastic board with evenly spaced indented lines either vertical or horizontal, that is used for scoring paper and cardstock.
If your wedding invitation design has a fold then you will need this to give you a clean and crisp fold each and every time.
You could fold your invitations without this tool but you will not get the same results.
A bone folder is a tool used alongside a scoring board to score the surface of materials, such as paper or cardstock, in order to fold them neatly without damaging their surfaces by creasing with fingers alone.
You can purchase a decent scoring board for about $20-$25 and a bone folder for under $10.
Adhesive
You will need some sort of adhesive for most wedding invitation designs.
- Double-sided tape
- Glue sticks
- Hot-melt adhesive
These are all popular choices but it all depends on the design and cardstock that you are going to use.
The most important thing is to make sure the adhesive you use adheres well and does not cause any unwanted ripples or bubbles in your invitations once the adhesive dries.
Rule of thumb when it comes to adhesives:
Always test the glue first on scraps before applying it to all your invitations.
Adhesives should not peel or flake off the cardstock so test your adhesives before committing!
Cutting Mat
When it comes to making your own wedding invitations then having a cutting mat is a must. Use a cutting mat to cut your cardstock with precision and avoid damaging surfaces in your home.
Cutting mats are cheap to purchase and can be used for many other projects in the near future.
You can pick up a decent cutting mat for under $10. But keep in mind that cutting mats come in different sizes, so make sure the mat you go for is big enough for your project.
Paper Cutter
A paper cutter is also a very necessary tool, especially if you plan to invite a lot of guests to your wedding.
Cutting through large amounts of cardstock in a single sitting can be difficult and tedious without the help of a paper cutter.
These great tools will not only save you so much time but they are also really fun to use!
You can pick up a decent paper cutter for only $25, I would say this is a good investment to make because it will come in handy for many other projects around the home.
I Don’t Have All The Tools To Make My Own Wedding Invitations?
If you enjoy crafting then it’s likely you already own all the tools you will need to make your own wedding invitations.
- Printer
- Scoring Board & Bone Folder
- Adhesive
- Cutting Mat
- Paper Cutter
However, if this is the first time you plan to get crafty then there are a few steps you can take.
Set A Budget: Planning a wedding isn’t cheap and can cost $1000s. Include a budget for your tools in your wedding budget. Plan ahead and save a little each month.
The good news is that most of the tools you will need don’t cost much, so you will save up for them in no time.
- Scoring Board & Bone Folder ($30)
- Adhesive ($5)
- Cutting Mat ($10)
- Paper Cutter ($25)
The only tool that can cost a little more is a printer. You don’t need to purchase a top-of-the-range printer.
When I first started my wedding stationery business, the printer I started with only cost me $80.
Ask Your Friends: We all know someone who loves to craft. if you don’t plan to reuse the tools in the future then asking around your friends and family is a good idea.
You will be surprised how many tools you can borrow from people you know.
When we made our wedding invitations, we needed a Cricut machine and didn’t want to splash out $300 for something we would not use again.
So, I borrowed one from a friend but I fell in love with it and I ended up purchasing one for myself. Now I own 3 different models of Cricut machines. lol
Print Store: If you don’t have access to a printer that can print on the cardstock you need for your invitations, you can visit a local print store.
Many of them will cut the cardstock down and then use their printers to create what you are looking for.
But keep in mind that this may cost more.
This process is also a good idea if you are looking to print high-quality invitations. A print store normally uses higher quality ink compared to a home printer.
This said you can get fantastic results using a home printer and I would only recommend using your local print store if you don’t have the time to print them yourself.
Final Thoughts
Planning your wedding is really fun and exciting.
But it’s also a lot of work and not the cheapest expense!
We all try to save some money here and there.
Making your own wedding invitations can not only save you some money has many other benefits such as:
- Designing your wedding invitations exactly how you want them to be.
- You are only limited by your imagination and not a budget if you were to buy them instead.
- Create forever happy memories of making your own wedding invitations.
Even though making your own wedding invitations is a great idea.
There is one aspect many couples overlook and that is the time it takes to make them.
If you can afford to invest an hour here and there you are set to go.
But if you don’t have the time you can buy your wedding invitations but doing this is not going to be as personal but it will give you more time for other things like planning your honeymoon! lol
Is it cheaper to make your own wedding invitations? I hope that this article has answered your question.
If you have any tips on the topic please share them in the comments down below.
Let’s share and learn together.
Happy Crafting and Congratulations!
