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Making Your Own Wedding Invitations
If you’re creative (and you have the time!) making your own wedding invitations can both rewarding and cost effective. There are so many options to choose from and you can make your wedding stationery completely unique. In addition your guests will be bowled over by all the trouble you’ve gone to.
Please be prepared though, it’s not to be entered in to lightly – for larger weddings there is a considerable amount of work involved. Getting help from a close friend or relative can help share the load and it can be quite good fun.
Decide on the items of wedding stationery you require (Save the Date Cards, Invitations, Order of Service, Thank You Cards etc) and from your list choose which items of stationery you feel you can make yourself (in terms of time, ability, facilities etc) don’t forget you can always go on to make more items if you wish to do so! Once you’ve done this you’re ready to think about your wedding invitation design.
Your Wedding Invitation is your main item of wedding stationery and it is usually the one that is considered first. Once you have decided on the design for your wedding invitation the design for your other items of wedding stationery will follow on naturally (while designing have in mind how the design will translate onto the other items in terms of size etc).
Below are a few tips designed to help:
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Start EARLY – allow yourself plenty of time! Making your own wedding invitations is a time consuming job and it's not worth getting stressed when you've a lot of other things to organise
Please start with your envelope! This may seem an odd statement but envelopes tend to come in standard sizes so if you want to keep your costs to a minimum make your invitation to fit a standard envelope size!
Look at magazines and catalogues for ideas but beware of infringing any copyright. Also look at items you may have already chosen for example you may wish to incorporate a design element from your wedding dress, wedding cake bouquet or floral arrangements. Make sure your design will work on all the items of wedding stationery you will need
If you decide to use an 'invitation kit' don't be afraid to embellish it with your own little extras – it all adds to it being that extra bit individual
Simple can be best - a punched hole, classic tied ribbon and your names and initials can look stunning if the setting out is done well
Choose your base (the card stock) carefully. You can cut and crease your own or buy ready creased - we have pre cut boards and inserts available in our craft shop. Always test papers and boards first to see if your printer will print well on them (some printer inks (usually inkjet) will 'bleed' when printed onto some metallic papers)
Create a 'mock up' of your design and how long it takes you to make – at this stage you can estimate how long your wedding invitations will take to make and the quantities of materials you will need. Make a list of items you need and purchase a few 'spares'
Create a working area and set up a 'production system' – if you've decided to invite some creative friends or relatives around to help then explain the system clearly and don't be afraid to keep a check on the quality!
Use the right equipment, only a trimmer will give a good clean cut to paper and card. Hand torn edges look great but they are quite an art in themselves, investing (or borrowing) in the right equipment will make all the difference. The correct adhesives are a must - Hi-tack craft glue, paper glue, and a cool melt or hot melt glue gun are ideal. Some designs may require foam pads to give a 3D effect; glue dots are a fabulous 'no mess' system. Always test your glues for their suitability
Wording – there are actually no rules here just formats to follow if you want your wedding invitation to be traditional. It is perfectly acceptable to write your own wording should you wish to do so. The wording is usually printed onto an insert, which is folded and then held in the card with ribbon or glue
Printing your inserts requires a little patience in setting out - check the spellings, centering, fonts and get someone else to double check! We provide pre-cut inserts to fit most of our card sizes, but you can cut your own it's just time consuming! Often for Order of Service booklets you may need more than one insert if you have a lot of text and even with one insert sheet it will probably have to be double sided. Beware of the ink from inkjet printers bleeding through to the other side of the paper. The layout is more complicated for order of the service with many pages so allow more time!
To attach the insert to your wedding invitation use your chosen glue and place the glue on the insert and attach to the inside back of the wedding invitation. Do not try to attach your insert too close to the fold of the wedding invitation or the card will not open properly
Be proud of your work and write or print a personal message on the back of each card: 'handmade with love by………'
Always make a few spares for those unavoidable unexpected situations – and if you don't need them you've then got a few to keep as mementos for yourself
Finally have fun!
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