How to choose your dream wedding invitation that fits your budget?

OK, you are past the haze of being newly engaged and you are starting to dive into the details. Want to find out how to choose and design your dream wedding invitation that fits your budget? Then keep reading!

Now, I am an engineer by trade so my first thought is on getting myself organized and setting up a spreadsheet to figure out how much things are going to cost.  You will want to start by having some serious conversations with your fiancé, parents, soon to be in-laws and anyone else that might be helping you chip in and get yourself a concrete idea of how much you can afford to spend on your wedding day.

Wedding budgets can vary from just $3,000 to more than I can even fathom, but I promise you can find things that work for you and your wedding on nearly any budget.

Overall your stationery should be about 2-3% of your overall wedding budget.  This should include:

• save the dates
• invitations
• thank you cards
• programs
• menus
• place cards
• table numbers
• seating charts
• reception signs
• welcome notes

It may seem overwhelming, so try taking it one step at a time.  I would start with the invitation since that is the most important piece of stationery that you will purchase.

But how do you navigate invitations if there is such a variety of prices out there?  You fall in love with an invite, it is everything you imagined yours to be and you see the price - $10.30 per invitation:

Don’t despair!  There is so much involved in pricing out invitations that all is not lost if that is more than you need. Any good stationery designer can help you keep the same pretty elements that you love but at a different price point.  Try this design:

One of my most common questions - why is that invite so much less than the other - they look identical?

I fooled you didn’t I?  

Look carefully! I took the backing papers off of the RSVP card and an additional info card.  I switched the pocket and invitation backing to a matte gray paper and switched the ivory papers from shimmery to matte - matte paper tends to be less expensive than shimmery.

That’s it.  Those small changes just saved you $3.40 per invitation and you probably didn’t even notice it at first glance.

Take out the pockets and you can cut out even more.

My point?  Don’t despair if an invitation you love is out of your budget. Ask questions about how you can lower the price.  Be willing to sacrifice some aspects of the design if necessary. It can never hurt to ask about different pricing options. I can’t speak for all designers out there, but I personally don’t care to just sell products for the sake of a sale - I want to create and offer you something that you love and something that speaks to your unique wedding and won't break your bank.