Recessionista Brides Ask: Are DIY Wedding Invitations Worth It?

Jan. 5, 2009 - PRLog -- “She's superstylish, always able to buy a round of drinks and still seems to be wearing a new outfit every time you see her. She's a recessionista, that New York marvel who's a magnet for a good deal. And in this economy, she's got a lot to teach us” –Eloise Parker

“A recessionista is the modern sort of girl who is trying to survive the credit crunch the best she can. We're all recessionistas now.” –Ann Marie Hourihane

What’s a modern, chic bride-to-be to do in this uncertain economy? She wants to spend wisely for her upcoming wedding, but she doesn’t want to ‘settle’. She might be scaling back her budget, but she doesn’t want to scale back her expectations.

One place she can start is with the wedding invitation, where there are several options. Common, unremarkable, flat party invitations found everywhere can run $3-5 apiece, and high end letterpress and engraved specialty shop invitations can run $5-10 and often much more. With these prices, the significant cost savings of doing them herself is increasingly attractive.

So, is DIY worth it?

Pros: Cost is typically $1-$2 each. Paper selection can include a wider and more unique variety of heavyweight background cards including rich solids, metallics, 100% recycled or tree-free, handmade petal papers, and cotton embedded with silk fibers …only the overlay of a layered invitation needs be printer friendly. Ability to receive supplies and create invitations within a few days, plus you can customize for individual guests to accommodate different languages and out of town guest info. Also easy to reprint quickly and cheaply.

Cons: Will take about 1-2 minutes each to print and assemble, using an invitation kit designed for easy creation.

Considering the comparisons, creating invitations herself is a smart, budget-friendly choice. But maybe our bride is not the scrapbooking or crafty type; maybe an art project is the last thing on her mind with everything else there is to do. Our chic bride will be hard pressed to find materials or products she likes in craft and office supply stores anyway; typically they carry poor quality flimsy papers and templates that are hard to set up. She wants her invitation to sing ‘beautiful and creative’, not scream ‘cheap’. She wants a combination of high quality, a unique style & design at an affordable price point.

The Chic Choice – What to look for

Layered invitations offer a great way to have it all, using a printer-compatible overlay and a separate heavyweight background card, our bride can create an invitation with a luxurious, substantial feel. She can add texture, dimension and interest with a unique keepsake embellishment that will make her invitation sparkle with individuality.

The best choices for background cards are heavyweight, with at least 80# cover weight -- they are offered in a variety of metallics, rich solids, new brights, patterns and handmade petal papers.

Use overlays that are easy to create and print on standard sized sheets.  Avoid small sheets, requiring a more complicated setup and printer feed. Look for printable sheets made for ink jets and laser printers. No perforated edges!

Envelopes should ideally be made from a minimum 80# stock (most typical envelopes are #70). Add liners for a touch of luxury.

Recessionista brides have discovered a great online source for exclusive high quality wedding invitations from Formal-Invitations.com. They offer over 50 heavyweight background cards in the latest colors and patterns, plus metallics and tree-free petal papers and silk-embedded cotton papers.  All are precut and sized to fit in their quality 80# envelopes, made from 100% post consumer fibers.

Overlays are offered in translucent vellum or opaque 65# white, made for ink jet and laser printers/copiers. The standard sized sheets are easy to work with…no small sheets that are more difficult to setup and feed through the printer. It’s easy to modify the free templates then print and cut. Online instructional videos and paper guides are included to help even the most craft-challenged bride.

Formal-Invitations.com’s extensive line of over 200 keepsake embellishments include exquisite paper sashes from around the world, luxurious jacquard embroidered belts, bright and pastel grosgrain belts with buckles, beautiful solid brass charms, sparkling jewel brads in 12 gemstone colors, embossed flower petal brads, faux wax seals, skeleton leaves, miniature silk flowers plus satin and sheer ribbons. Using these embellishments, our modern bride can create the gorgeous personalized invitation of her budget-minded dreams.

Choose from 100+ kits, in prices ranging from 46¢-$1.22 per invitation and include the heavyweight background card, printer-friendly overlay, embellishment and envelope. Or mix and match from the wide variety of papers and embellishments to create your own personal, unique design.

Recessionista approved!

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Exclusive layered wedding invitations feature 50+ earth-friendly premium cards and over 200 keepsake embellishments. Select from affordable kits or mix and match to create your own design.