This week, I posted a photo on Facebook of a new sample set I’d just finished assembling and mentioned that they are budget friendly. I am so excited to share my inspiration for these invitations today:
Recently, a friend asked me about no-frills, affordable wedding invitations. Immediately, I thought of this wonderful wedding website (which I sadly didn’t discover until after my own wedding,) A Practical Wedding. Her first blog post resonates with me even though I’m almost two years removed from wedding planning. I remember reading a post of hers about not being a fan of the phrase “budget wedding” because of some potentially negative connotations (cheap, boring, etc.) and I 110% agree with that too. But I decided to title this post “Budget Friendly Invitations” anyway because “Practical Invitations” seemed like it would be too bold and a bit like stealing Meg’s blog title.
Regardless of which adjective you prefer (budget, practical, affordable…), these invitations fit the description. Beyond being affordable, my criteria included vintage/rustic, kraft paper (because I’m obsessed), and a color scheme inspired by this outfit:
On that day, I remember looking in the mirror while washing my hands thinking, “this would be a great color scheme for my new invitations!” (Please allow me to take a moment and apologize to my mom for the time I laughed about her need to match paper colors to my outfit.) Of course, I also did a brief Pinterest search for “vintage invitations” and wasn’t surprised to find doilies, lace, and fancy flourishes; however, I was surprised to see one with an adorable blue sunburst background. It reminded me of a 1st Birthday invitation I made for some awesome friends of mine. Then I let the creative inspiration do it’s thing and came up with 6 varieties of invitations, each with just two pieces (the invitation and an RSVP postcard) in two themes: sunburst and lace-esque. Take a look!
Basic #1 (left): This is the most affordable of the 6 varieties because it only features color on the front of the invitation, which cuts down on printing costs.
Basic #2 (right): One step up from Basic #1, this version is in full color.
Layered Front #1 (left) & #2 (right): The front of these invitations have more dimension with a lighter layer, while the reverse side of the invitation remains similar to the Basic. Once again, there are partial and full color versions.
Two-sided Layers #1 (left) & #2 (right): These are the most detailed and feature a lighter layer on both the front and reverse sides of the invitation.
Two-sided Layers #1 is a full color invitation front, while the reverse side is gray scale.
Two-sided Layers #2 is full in color, making this option the “high end” of the varieties.
As with many things, the cost of each option will vary based on the total number of invitations needed, and due to many fixed costs, the cost per invitation decreases as the number of invitations needed increases. For comparison purposes, I calculated the cost of the design fee, supplies, printing, and estimated assembly time based on 120 invitations, here is the breakdown:
- Basic #1: $100
- Basic #2: $110
- Layered Front #1: $140
- Layered Front #2: $160
- Two-sided Layers #1: $175
- Two-sided Layers #2: $195
To give budget conscious shoppers the option to compare rates, packages of 40 kraft, vanilla, and white envelopes are available additional $8 (120 envelopes for $24). The design fee for existing designs is $35 (which covers three rounds of edits), and for custom designs the design fee is $50; simply add $15 to the rates above if you’re considering the custom route. Because I am most inspired when working on custom projects, I highly recommend that route if you’re not in love with the vintage designs above
So back to the budget vs. affordable vs. practical debate, which phrase do you prefer? Do you dislike calling something “budget” because it can sound negative?