How to Make Cheap Homemade Wedding Invitations

Making your own wedding invitations is an affordable alternative to buying them.

Wedding invitations can be a big expense, depending on the vendor and card design. If you are inviting many people, those invitations could eat away at a large part of your wedding budget. You can make cheap homemade wedding invitations to save money. The cards don't have to look cheap, and a do-it-yourself wedding invitations project is an activity for the entire bridal party.

Things You'll Need

• Card stock paper and matching envelopes
• Wedding font
• Word processing or publisher program
• Printer
• Extra ink cartridges
• Hole punch
• Ribbon

Instructions

1. Purchase heavy card stock paper so that your invitation portrays the importance of the occasion. Shop online to compare prices. Check with The Paper Mill Store (see the Resource section) and others like it.

2. Download a wedding font. Although your ordinary word processing program comes with many font choices, you may want something special for the invitation. You can download wedding style fonts for free on the Internet. One site that includes wedding fonts is FontSpace.com (see the Resource section).

3. Print your message on the card. Once you download and install the font of your choice, you can print the cheap homemade wedding invitations. In your word processing or publishing program, choose the correct size paper for what you have purchased, then type out the details for the wedding. Print a sample on plain paper to make sure that the message looks right. Then print small batches of your invitations to avoid paper jams or misprints. Be prepared to replace your ink cartridges during the process.

4. Add your ribbon to the card. After you let the do-it-yourself wedding invitations dry thoroughly so that the ink won't smear as you work with the cards, you can add the ribbon. Use a hole punch to make two holes in the top of the card. The holes should be centered and evenly spaced apart. Run the ribbon through the holes from the back and make a small bow in front. You don't want the bow to be too large or puffy because it will need to be mailed in the envelope.

5. Place the wedding invitations in the matching envelopes. Gently slide the finished card into the envelope, seal and address to the people on the guest list.

Tips & Warnings

• You can use decorative hole punches to make the holes at the top of the invitations. These hole punches are found online and in craft stores, usually in the scrap-booking sections. A heart-shaped hole punch would add a special touch.

• You also may purchase sheets of vellum, print the card's content on it and then use a hot glue gun to attach it to the card stock paper.

• Avoid using color ink to print your wedding invitations. Color ink usually costs more and tends to run out quickly. Replacing ink cartridges too often will deplete the savings of making the cards yourself. Instead, stick to black print, use colored paper and add embellishments, such as the ribbon, to give your invitations color.

References

• The Paper Mill Store: Card Stock with Envelopes
• FontSpace: Free Wedding Fonts

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish