Spring is almost here and you know what that means? Wedding season!! If you or someone you know is planning a wedding, here are 10 must-read tips on how to DIY Wedding Invitations. Stephanie, from the Creative Team, shares her expertise. enjoy! -Linda
DIY Wedding Invitations
I have a passion for handmade wedding invitations!
There is no limit to the beauty and creativity a bride can achieve with this special day in her life, however she envisions it to be.
Invitations and some aspects of a wedding can be done beautifully on a budget and without fancy machines. 
I will tell you now, I may be a craftaholic, but I don’t own a Cricuit or Silhouette machine!
Did you gasp?!
Don’t lose heart and think that making your own simple invites has to be costly or stressful.Here are some simple tips of things to keep in mind if you are considering making your own DIY wedding invitations.
1. Think of how you envision your wedding day to be.
-Get and idea of the general feel you are going for like the colors and theme if there is one. The invitation sets the tone for your invited guests. And gives them a glimpse of what your wedding day is going to be like.Your invitations should represent you and your fiance’s vision and atmosphere you imagine on that special day. {I once had a bride make Celtic scroll invites for her Scottish-themed wedding. Wow!}
2. Determine your budget and what your wise investments are.
If you decide to go handmade, you can definitely make beautiful invitations that cost about $1 each.
Things to not skimp on are:
- paper trimmer
- great print quality (see your printer manual)
- adhesive (if you are using multiple layers of cardstock or embellishments)
- envelopes/cardstock
Will you be wanting square invites? This will cost more to mail.
RSVP cards? This will double the postage costs and increase the weight of your invite.
Questions like these will help you determine the average cost per invitation.
3. Figure out what size/shape you want your invites to be.
Folded or flat? Square or rectangle? (5×7 is a good universal size you can easily find envelopes for). Depending on the size and shape, envelopes and postage costs will vary. Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box. This is your wedding and can be done your way.
4. Get the most out of your card stock.
I prefer heavy weight card stock and also orange-peel textured card stocks when I print invitations. The most cost effective way to get the most out of a 12×12 piece of card stock is by cutting it in this fashion. You can get four 5×7 invitations out of one piece of card stock this way.
5. Don’t skip embellishments like
fabric– makes pretty ruffles
punches- can add detail to corners and edges
notions and lace– things sold by the yard
ribbon– a bow always adds elegance, especially organza
buttons– cut off the shank and adhere to the front of your invitation
beads– require a little patience and probably extra postage, but beautiful
stamps– inexpensive way to decorate an envelope or invitation
6. Play with your wording.
Wording an invitation can be the most scary part. The wording is meant to clearly inform your guests where and when your event is taking place. So,
-try to keep your fonts legible and spell-check, spell-check, spell check!
-common etiquette recommends you spell all words out (Texas vs. TX)
-inclusion of middle names and/or parents’ names isn’t a must
-use wording that reflects you and your fiance’s style
7. Consider clip art and fonts
Clip art is a great way to dress up invitations inexpensively. With a small purchase and permission, you can print as many items as you want for your personal use. Use that clip art on your invites, table settings, RSVP cards… whatever you want! So easy! Fonts can also be very inexpensive or even free. Find ones you like and play around with the scripts or capital/lowercase versions to find what you like best. I tend to make the bride and groom names stand out in some way, so experiment with what style you like.
8. Envelopes
I actually think the envelope is very important. You don’t want thin, flimsy envelopes that won’t stay closed or that fall apart in the mail. Nowadays, there are many options for invitation envelopes as far as size and variety goes. You can even get them lined in a color, or in a special size.
9. Printing
Ink will probably be one of the most costly things about making DIY wedding invitations. Keep this in mind if you use clip art and a bunch of colors. I am often able to print 200+ invites with a moderate amount of wording/images on just one cartridge. Black ink is cheaper than color, so consider adding color with the card stock you choose instead.
10. Mailing them out!
Generally, you would like to send your invitations out 2 months in advance. Depending on if your wedding is a destination wedding, or if you know many of your guests are out of state, you might decide to send them earlier or use a save-the-date.
*Go to the post office at a less-busy time of day, and postal workers will be more likely to “hand-cancel” your invitations. This will confirm that you put sufficient postage and will help reduce damage since they won’t have to be mechanically cancelled through a machine.
I know hand-making invites might take a little time and be a little stressful, but it doesn’t have to be.
Clearly inform your guests about your wedding and the rest of the invitation’s style can be as unique as you are. Not only will your guests be gifted with something handmade, you get to save money too!
Do you have any questions about making DIY handmade wedding invitations? Feel free to ask!
happy crafting,
Stephanie
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I’m just starting to design my wedding invites, and I’m glad I get your emails so I could see this! I think I might add lace to mine now that I’ve seen some cool ones with it. I do have a Silhouette, so I’m planning to buy outer and rsvp envelopes but cut out a custom inner pocket style envelope.
If you’re interested, I just posted our engagement story yesterday on my blog, Craftadon.com!
These are beautiful! I personally would not have the patience it would take to make them. But gorgeous!
I love making my own invites for all occasions. The one thing that always worries me when printing on card stock is that my ink will smudge or come off on the envelope when it is mailed. Typically I print them to photo paper to avoid issues. What do you do to prevent yours from smudging on the card stock?
Interesting idea! I have not had any issue with ink smudging…but I guess you could try letting them air dry for a day before putting in envelopes? ..thanks for commenting!
There is a spray that is use to keep chalk art from smearing. I have used it on the outside of envelopes to keep the writing from smearing. Use it very lightly and it will add a tiny bit of shine but not add any weight to your invites. A whole bottle cost about $3 and can be gotten at any craft or art store. Hope this helps.
Your invitations look great. They are very impressive and more so since you didn’t use heavy machinery. Please what type of printer do you use?
I’m nowhere near a wedding, but these invitations are really beautiful! I definitely need to find another occasion where I can use some like these here!
Love, Midsommarflicka
It’s almost worth getting married again to have invitations like these…just not quite. (o;
These are great tips. I’d add one tip: It is okay if the end result looks handmade! I hand painted my entire wedding invitation suite (about 1,000 pieces in all) with my then fiance. It was a lot of work, but we had some great conversations while painting and were thrilled with the end result. Also many of our friends and family told us that they liked receiving a handmade invitation.
Stephanie, Do you have a tutorial for the last picture under tip 5? I really like the rose look.
I have a few more detailed pictures if you’d like me to email you some more details about them.
Let me know!
lifecreatedblog@aol.com
Do you have pictures of your hand- painted ones? I’m considering doing something like that.
I love these ideas! What are your favorite fonts to use when doing invites?
I like pretty scripts like Edwardian Script, but all fonts can be made into ” small caps” which is also a nice alternative. There are so many fonts out there that are beautiful
Thank you so much for the info here. My daughter is getting married in 2014, so little time. lol
I am working on invitations for my daughter’s wedding and have been looking for practical invitation advice for weeks. I am so glad I stumbled upon your post!
Hi Stephanie,
Thanks for your awe-inspiring ideas! I love paper crafting and can see a lot of ideas coming from this page! Quick question for you, what types and brands of adhesive do you use for securing embellishments or gluing cardstock?
Thanks!
Ellen
Hi Stephanie,
I am curious about what kind of adhesive you use to attach lace to invitations?
Also, what tools do you use to cut the 12″x12″ piece of cardstock?
Thank you! Heather
I use a fiskars paper cutter ;)..and sometimes I sew the lace or make it a band and go around
I use the doubled sided rolls of red tape found at Hobby Lobby.
Hello from northern Norway :)
Came across your lovely blog, and you got some lovely cards that you have made.
I got a hand on the punch from MS you have used on the blu and black card. Do you know the name of it. It is retired and I have searched but not found any information on this one.
Have a lovely Sunday.
:) Merethe
For my wedding, my fiancé and I decided to have a rustic themed wedding since we’re both into nature. I considered wooden invitations but I wasn’t sure. I saw the beautiful wooden wedding invitations that Unique Custom Products had created and I was SOLD! We had complete control over what was on our invites and we even engraved a picture of us on it! They also offered matching save the dates and reply cards to complete the invitation suite. I received our invitations yesterday – they are absolutely beautiful! They’re perfect! I would definitely recommend them to any meticulous bride who is looking for a unique way to invite her guests to her special day!
I literally am just trying to get started and have no idea where to start?! I know I want normal size so postage isn’t out of hand and I can find envelopes to fit. Should I just start in WORD? I am just wondering how you get going?!
How do you print the wording on to the thick paper so nicely ?
Hi! I bought an invitation kit to make my wedding invites at home. Problem is i am not sure what program to use to design my invites. I bought blank white 8.5×5.5 invites, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!
Thank You!
Microsoft word should be fine…set your page size and it should be great
My fiance’s uncle owns a print shop and will be printing the wedding invitations for us! We able to cut cost in a huge way by having them designed for less than $100 and printed for free. Because his uncle doesn’t normally print wedding invitations (and neither do we) do you have a suggestion of what cardstock (100#-120#?) and color (the background is a dark chalkboard grey) to use?
Any help would be great!!
Hello! I’m just starting to research invitations and really appreciate all the information in your post! I have a couple of dumb questions about printing your own…what design program do you use? Also, what printers do you recommend? I also like the orange-peel surface and plan to hand-stamp some designs so most of the color needed will come from that but I’m trying to figure out the best ways to produce the text part. I’m even considering ordering a giant roll stamp with the text on it but your printing looks so good that now I’m re-thinking!
thanks for your expertise!
What adhesive do you recommend?
I use the ATG and love it!
HI , your blog is fantastic such useful tips. Im curioius what did your celtic scrolls invites for a Scottish wedding look like?
I’ll see if I can find a picture..it was 3 years ago!
This is such a super helpful post, Linda! I was wondering what type of home printer you recommend for printing A7 envelopes with colored ink.
Thanks so much!
I personally use an HP Photosmart 6520. Hope that helps!
Linda
Do you have a resource for thick envelopes? We are making the invitations for my daughters wedding and we can’t find envelopes that are thick enough or have enough glue on them. Thank you!
Hi jen…I have bought envelopes at my local paper sourcer or envelopes.com has a variety
:)
thanks for commenting
Thank you!
I love the one with the flowers on them. What flowers did you use? Did you make them or buy them? Its the 6th picture from the bottom. With the white, pink and blue flowers. Do you have a tutorial on how to make that one invitation specifically? Thank you!
Hi Iris,
Those flowers come in a strand by the yard and I cut each one out individually. I make those custom for brides, so I dont have a tutorial.
Thank you for your comment!
Do you currently still make them? I am having a small ceremony and would only need 30. Could you give me a quote?
Yes, I do. Please email me at lifecreatedblog@aol.com and I will explain details on ordering. :)
Thank you
Stephanie
Im just wondering what u used for the first blue and black one is the black part card stock or lace?
Hi Alex..it is cardstock cut with a lace border
Hi, this post is great for a new crafter just getting into hand among wedding invitations for my own wedding, thank you! I was wondering if you could advise on the envelop, I know it seems not so important! My partner and I have designed everything and are pretty much there with deciding on the materials to use also. We will be using 700gsm card for the invites, however, we would like to hold them in a wallet rather than an envelop. I’m having trouble with working out what weight of card to use for the wallet, please could you advise?
Thank you!
Love the cards, wonder what you used for the rose look in the pictures under step 5, can you let me know? My daughters getting married in June, wants red roses..lol. Tks, the ideas are great and lovely.
Leslie
Wow such a lovely wedding invitations ideas! Thank you.
I had thought of doing my own invitations for my wedding, one of my friend suggest me video invitations. I really like that idea it’s really unique. If you might interested –
I’m diy a friends invites for her since I’m helping her plan and pay for her wedding.how do I include info can I add it he information about the reception to the invite or does it have to be a separate card and is a map absolutely necessary? We’re on a budget. I found a free template.