Vital tips on making your own wedding invitations ...

If you want to design and print your own wedding stationery and don't know where to start, here are a few tips that hopefully will get you on your way. If you want to know more you may like to purchase our guidebook "How To Create Perfect Wedding Stationery" which includes 38 pages of vital info for DIY'ers. It comes with software to help you get the job done easily. Visit our site at www.invitationexpress.com.au.

You should select your design before firming up your ideas on paper and cards etc. Simply because the design will largely dictate what paper and card you can use. For example;

If you have a card with a folded insert, you will not be able to use single sided papers.

If the design you choose requires a translucent or vellum paper remember to assess your printer’s capabilities, especially if you want to print onto translucents. An alternative is to have the translucent blank and overlay it onto the printed sheet.

Choose your envelopes now, or at least check out the cost. This is something so many brides overlook and the budget can take a hard knock at the last minute. Most matching envelopes are expensive - there’s no getting out of it – the best you can do is to shop around for a reasonable price. Some invitations look okay in a plain white envelope but do try to get matching ones because if you create an invitation to die for it’s going to look fairly ordinary stuffed into a plain white envelope. That is the whole point of creating your own stationery, to enable you to have exactly what you want and save money at the same time. There are some stunning new colours around at the moment which will literally spoil you for choice. Although the envelope almost always goes straight in the bin, it is the ultimate finishing touch to your creation – and first impressions can be lasting. If that is important to you then it might pay to spend the extra. It’s also a nice touch for those who will keep the invitation as a memento of your wedding.

Square invitations and non standard size invitations are considered oversize and will cost more to post. Check with your postal office regarding any extra charges, taking into account the number of overseas invitations you may have to send out.

Accessories like ribbons, seals etc., are much more economical to purchase by the roll or sheet. Never buy by the metre as you will probably pay 5 times the cost of a roll and you'll use most of it anyway. Most seals are available by the sheet, you just have to look for them. Don’t buy them individually, it will cost much more.

Be aware of the theme throughout your chosen design. If you have bows on all pieces take into consideration the number of sets you need. For example: one of my very first clients wanted gold organza bows on the invitation, reply card, place cards and the thank you cards. I produced a sample set for her which she loved. She ordered 100 sets. That meant 100 invitations, 100 reply cards, 200 place cards and 100 thank you cards. That meant 500 bows and 200 of those were tiny ones for the place cards! If you want bows that’s fine, but just be aware of the amount of work it can involve. Maybe just have them on the invitation and/or place cards. You can always enlist the help of your girlfriends and make a night of it.

If you choose to have a folded card, buy it folded where possible. It costs a little extra but cuts down on the work you need to do yourself. Scoring the card, while not difficult is quite fiddly. You only get one go at scoring the card – if it’s wrong then it’s wasted. This can be frustrating and expensive.

Place cards can be purchased individually, in pairs or threes. Don’t buy them individually cut if you are going to print directly onto the card as they may not feed well through the printer. Our software comes with placecard templates for all sizes which can be guillotined afterwards. Some placecards come with perforations for easy separation.

Making your own stationery can be fun and you will definitely save a bundle if you plan your design thoroughly BEFORE you purchase any materials. Most stationery outlets will have paper and card available by the single sheet so purchase a few of the ones you like and test them in your printer first.

The key to a smooth process is testing and planning before you decide on anything definitely. Having a set of stationery finished completely and making sure you are happy with the look and the level of difficulty involved will ensure you enjoy the experience.

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