DIY Wedding Invitation: A Step by Step Guide

 Favorite

The world seems to have fallen in love with the craft of DIY. Whether it is about creating room decorations or hair accessories, the do-it-yourself mantra is buzzing all over. And then, if you’re planning the wedding of your dreams, how can you ever miss out on DIY invitations? 

Deciding to DIY wedding invitations can be slightly overwhelming at first, but with a strategic planning you can have bespoke and elegant stationery for yourself, at a pocket-friendly price.

Here are 12 simple steps that you can follow to nail your DIY wedding invitation project!

DIY Wedding Invitations: 12 Steps to Nail It!

1

Identify Your Wedding Style

“First impression is the last impression” – how much ever cliché this may sound, it is a true fact that you must bear in your mind while designing the invitations. For the guests, an invitation is like the first sneak-peek to your wedding. It better be good. Define your wedding style. Is it going to be small affair or a glamorous festivity? Are you planning to keep it elegant and classy or is quirky and chic more of your thing? Ask yourself all these questions before you jump to the next step!

2

Choose a Design

Now that you’ve really jumped on the DIY wedding wagon, the next thing to do is to finalize a design. Pick a layout that matches with your wedding style. Think about the colors that you want to associate with it. This is the time when you should conduct a thorough research about the designs, layouts and templates that are available. If you want unleash your creativity, sit down with a pen and paper in hand, and create a rough sketch. You can take feedback from your family before choosing the final design. Also, you can buy the design online. Check these source for that: Minted, Printable Press, Paper Source, Etsy, and Wedding Paper Divas. Also, make sure you pick a printer-friendly design.

3

Determine Your Budget

It is very important to have a budget in mind from the very start. DIY wedding invitations can save you a fortune, but you must decide the budget first. Once you decide how much you want to spend, buying stationery would be an easier task. Also, make sure you keep the guest list in mind as well. It is important to know exactly how many invites you will need.

4

Choosing the Paper

Now that you’ve prepped yourself for the DIY, next is when you choose the right paper. There are a variety of papers to choose from. Based on type, weight, and finish, choosing the perfect one can definitely make your head spin, keeping you busy for weeks altogether. We’re listing down some basics, follow these and thing will get eaiser:

  • Finish: While choosing paper on the basis of its finish, you will come across terms like glossy, matte, linen etc. Make sure you choose the one that goes well with your printer. Please bear in mind that glossy and linen papers may not give desired results with some printers and would need special kind of ink. In order to escape a sticky situation at hand, you can go with the matte finish that works well for almost every printer and ink.

  • Thickness: Wedding invitation papers come in different thickness. The ones that are the thickest will cause you higher price, while fine ones may be comparatively cheaper. It is not necessary that you have to choose the thickest paper available. Go for a medium one instead.

Before you buy a complete stack of the paper, do check out the samples properly!

5

Check Your Printer and Computer Before Hand

It is important that you must check the condition of the printer and computer before going on crazy over the DIY mission. In case you find any technical issues, you can get it sorted beforehand. Do this and save yourself from any last-minute printing apocalypse!

6

Choose the Right Ink

So, now you have the paper, the printer and the design, what’s next step to DIY wedding invitations? Ah! Ink, of course. Determine the amount of ink that your home-printer would consume. Also, make sure you buy a good quality ink. Don’t compromise on the cost here as one wrong step can cause your cards to look cheap and boring. Another thing, pick the right color. Don’t choose something just out of the blue. See if your printer can work with the particular color and quality or not.

7

Get Ready for a Test Print

What follows is the test print! Don’t just start printing hundreds of cards at once. Try printing three to five copies beforehand to see if it is working the way you want or not. A design which looks good on the screen may not creates magic on paper, so test!

8

Choose the Right Words

If you want to keep the invites super-personalized, there is absolutely nothing better than writing them yourself. However, if you take professional help or take aid from the Internet it would turn out to be really good. Always proofread the content properly before hitting the print button!

9

Print It

Yes, now that everything is looking good, go ahead and print that stack. Finally, you’ve got the prints out. But, it isn’t over yet! 3 more steps to finish DIY wedding invitations.

10

​Paper Cutting

Phewww! After that long list, now that you have the printed cards before you, it is time to decide the paper cutting style. A number of online stores sell DIY digital files that come with trim marks on the PDFs. This will make home-cutting at easy task. We would suggest you to invest in a paper cutter, rotary cutter or an exact-o knife to get an even cut.

11

​Fetch Those Envelopes

It is finally time for you to put those invites together. You can choose a white embossed envelope if you want to keep it simple yet elegant. Otherwise, you can also choose an envelope in color that matches with the invites.

12

Using the Right Embellishments

If you are adding embellishments to the invitation, go through the entire variety of what is available. You can choose streamers, ribbons, mirrors, laces, bows and more for adding that formal touch to your invites.

Wasn’t that quite an interesting ride? Don’t forget to share your experiences on DIY wedding invitations!