BACKGROUND ON OUR BUDGET:
Before I get into the invitations I wanted to start this post with a little background. The theme of our wedding is BUDGET! Lol I am just one of those people who just can’t fathom spending tens of thousands of dollars on a “party”. I’m not hating on you if you do, I’ve had a blast at some extravagant weddings. But we just have priorities elsewhere when it comes to big purchases.
I feel like it’s a good idea to sit down when you start your wedding planning and determine what is important to you and your S.O. Is it to have the coolest venue? Or to have the best photos? Go on a Bad A$$ honeymoon? Rank those things and come up with your ultimate goal. You may be fortunate to get to do ALL of those things. But for us, when it came down to it, we just had one goal: We want to have all of our friends and family in one place. I feel like it’s the only time in our life we’ll get to do that. Well, your wedding and your funeral, but I won’t remember the funeral so I’m going for the wedding! Lol
So I continue to make posts about our wedding, keep in mind YES- there will be “better” things out there Ex: I could make an extravagant box with each of my bridesmaids names embroidered on everything. But, my goal isn’t to be the most extravagant or show you the cutest possible idea. My goal is to inspire you on ways to stay on a budget and still have a fun wedding process (because it’s a process, not just a day) so you can focus on whatever YOUR goal is.
Okay now onto the invitations….
Budget Wedding Invitations:
It’s said that the average American spends between $450-$650 on their wedding invitations, another $350 on invitation “packaging” and then roughly between $50-$200 on shipping. While I do believe in first impressions and setting the stage for the event, I feel like spending that much on something that (in our modern world) is really just telling people to go to your website, is way too much. Plus, I know our wedding is going to be casual so I was totally okay “setting the stage” for a very casual wedding. I first browsed on the big online invitation shops and realized that 1- they’re not cheap, even the basic ones. And 2- they’re not unique. They look like every other wedding invitation I’ve received.
Design:
I decided to reach out to a local graphic designer to get a rate for designing the invite for me. Most of your local graphic designers will charge you an hourly rate to create what you’re wanting. I had a look in my head, just needed someone to pull it together. We only had to go back and forth a few times before I had exactly what I needed.
Printing:
As a marketing coordinator I have had cards printed before. We do Thanksgiving gifts, New Year cards, and birthday cards for our clients and I’ve always loved working with Cards Direct. They have excellent quality and great pricing, and pretty much always have a coupon running. I reached out to them via their chat and they sent me 6 sample papers so I could determine if I wanted something shiny, pearly, matte, or textured… all for free. I ended up going with the felt version because I liked all the texture.
“Packaging” AKA Envelopes:
If you have nice invitations, I can understand calling it packaging. But for me, let’s be real… they’re envelopes! I love that Cards Direct offers cute envelope printing. They sent me a template to fill in the addresses and printed them all for me.
Shipping:
I went onto USPS.com and ordered some forever stamps to be shipped to my house. They have quite a few styles to choose from all for a basic stamp cost. I went with the “love” hearts. (Note- it’s currently COVID-19 so shipping was delayed but typically these arrive at your house within a week!)
Sources Linked:
Lotts of Designs for the graphic design
Cards Direct for printing
Made of Hearts stamps
Cost:
- Graphic Design work: $50
- 120 Cards with Addressed Envelopes: $238.09
- 120 Stamps: $132
Total spent on invitations: $420.09/ Total per mailed invitation: $3.50
Leave a Reply