DIY wedding invitations are an opportunity to create unique wedding invitations that reflect your personality and creativity. You can give your guests a memorable keepsake from you wedding that they will cherish for years to come. Making your own invitations can also be a great way to save money for the other things you want for your wedding. If you plan properly, you can create a fabulous DIY wedding invite for a fraction of the cost of purchasing invitations.
If you already do a lot of crafts, you have a head start in creating beautiful, memorable invitations. If you are new to crafts, do not fret. There are a lot of options available, including DIY wedding invitation templates and DIY wedding invitation kits that can help you in this process. If you have a friend or family member who is creative, think about enlisting their help.
Unless you are having a very small wedding, having someone help you will not only speed up the process but it will also help to keep you on track. The invitations for your wedding are an important part of you big day and you want them to be beautiful and memorable, so make sure that you have enough help and enough time.
Once you decide that you are going to create your own invitations the first thing you need to think about is time. DIY wedding invites take time. Make sure you start the process early enough that you do not feel rushed. Invitations need to be sent out to guests 6 to 8 weeks before your wedding. With this in mind, you should probably start making your invitations at least four to five months before the wedding.
Once you sit down to design your invitations, the first thing you should think about is the envelopes and paper or cardstock you will be using. Envelopes come in standard sizes and the last thing you need is to have a stack of invitations ready and you cannot find envelopes to fit.
Standard announcement envelopes come in three sizes: A-7 envelopes are 5.38” x 7.63” and hold a 5” x 7” announcement (after folding), A-10 envelopes are 4.38” x 9.75” and hold a 4” x 9” invitation and A-2 envelopes are 4.375” x 5.75” and will hold a 4” x 5.25” invitation.
Other sizes are available but these three are the standard and you should be able to find matching paper or card stock without too much trouble. You can make your envelopes, but this is a time consuming process and you will not save all that much money by doing so.
You can also purchase DIY pocket fold wedding invitations. DIY pocket fold wedding invitations are folding envelopes that are designed to hold each piece of your invitation including the replay cards separately. You can purchase pocket folds separately or with blank invitations included.
Once you have picked out your envelopes and paper or cardstock, it is time to actually design your DIY invitations. The first thing you should think about is the wording of your invitations. Standard invitation language is available in many places including wedding guides and etiquette books. Choose your wording and then typeset it using a standard word processing program or desktop publishing system.
You can also use a DIY invitation kit that allows you to fill in a ready-to-use template with your personal information. Always print out your designs, do not rely on how they look on the computer screen. There are always small differences between what is on the computer screen and what comes out of your printer. Once you are happy with the wording and design of your invitation, print a few copies out and give them to a few people to proofread for you.
Once you have decided on the wording and design of the basic invitation, you can decide what else you may wish to do with your invitations. If you have purchased invitations that include design elements, you might be finished at this point. If you purchased plain invitations, you may want to embellish them with pressed flowers or rubber stamp designs. You can also check out the memory book section of your local crafts store for more ideas.
DIY wedding invitations offer a unique opportunity for you to create your own personalized wedding invitations that reflect your personality and style in a way that no standard invitation can match.
