Do-it-yourself wedding invitations are tempting for two reasons:
- They are often considered cheaper than professionally printed invites.
- DIY is a great way to create truly unique wedding invitations.
We’re not here to argue that professionally printed wedding invitations are always cheaper than DIY wedding invitations. We know that’s not true. We’re here to explain how the cost, time and effort involved can add up quickly, and before you know it you’re spending hours creating the invitations and a surprising amount of money on the tools and materials needed.
Take the Golden Glow Wedding Invitation, for example. Below you’ll find how much the professionally printed version costs per invitation if you buy a quantity of 96. You’ll also find a breakdown of materials to do it yourself as well as a price per piece.
At first glance, this invitation seems easy enough to make. If you’re willing to put in the time and effort to cut down gold glitter backers, then print and cut down the white invitation cards, you can easily assemble them into a gorgeous layered wedding invitation. Find some ribbon, tie it in a bow, and voila! You’re done. Seems simple enough, right?
Now consider the materials you need to create this invitation from scratch. We’ve created a list of materials with prices next to each piece. We then added the cost of each piece together, which adds up to $2.58 per invitation. That’s actually 10¢ more than the professionally printed invitation. How can that be?
You’ll notice as you shop for wedding invitations that there is significant savings when you buy a higher quantity of wedding invitations. If you were only inviting 50 guests to your wedding, you would definitely save money by making your own version of the Golden Glow invite. However, if you’re inviting 100 or more guests to your wedding, there’s a good chance you won’t be saving money but you will have devoted hours and hours to printing, cutting, gluing and tying ribbon.
The Golden Glow Wedding Invitation by Colin Cowie is a higher end invitation, which means we are using premium materials and printing processes to create it. So not only are you able to purchase these invites for a little less than you could make them, you’re receiving the best materials in the industry and guaranteed flawless quality, not to mention priceless time saved which you can dedicate to other areas of wedding planning.
The moral of the story? Always create a list of tools and materials needed when considering DIY wedding invitations, and add up the cost of each item. Compare that cost to the professionally printed wedding invitations that inspired you, and you might find that purchasing the real deal is worth it.
