DIY Wedding Invitations - Part 2

My original post about our wedding invitations was all rainbows and sunshine - girls crafting and laughing together, having a wonderful Saturday, with a pile of perfectly assembled invites ready to be mailed at the end of the day. This post is going to bring us back to reality - the costs of creating your own wedding invitations.

First up, the supplies:

Paper... all of the paper came from an online company that I would recommend wholeheartedly. The site is PaperandMore.com, and they are the best value I could find. Very low prices, and great customer service. The shipping costs were very cheap, so I could justify having the items shipped instead of buying them in a store somewhere.
- 150 Champagne Metallic Pocket Folder
- 100 Sheets of 8.5x11 Bronze Metallic Brown Text Paper
- 100 Sheets of 8.5x11 Champagne Metallic Text Paper
- 100 Sheets of 8.5x11 Champagne Metallic Cardstock

- 4 Bar Champagne Metallic 3 5/8 x 5 1/8 Envelopes (these are the smaller RSVP ones)
- A-7 Champagne Metallic 5 1/4 x 7 1/4 Envelopes (full invite suite envelope)

This was the bulk of the expense for the invitations. The pocket folders were .80 cents each, an absolute steal if you know what pocketfold invites usually cost. Total cost for the paper? $305.85 That also meant I had some scraps leftover to use on future projects (escort cards, etc.).

Other major supplies:
- Cherry Blossom stamps (purchased 2 to have a spare, $14.77 each with shipping)
- Ink Pads (Stampin' Up in Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, and Regal Rose; $5.95 each)
- AdTec tape rollers adhesive (approx. $2.99 per double refill pack)
- paper trimmer ($19.99 Walmart)
- return address stamp (ordered from Etsy, $15.99)
- RSVP address stamp (ordered from Vista Print, $9.99)

Adding it all up, the invitations cost about $400, not including the postage (outer envelope needed a 59 cent stamp, and the RSVP envelope was a regular first class stamp). I could have saved money in several places along the way. For instance, had we made RSVP postcards, that would have cut back on postage. Handwriting the return addresses on the envelopes instead of creating custom stamps would have saved a bit of money (though the stamps saved us a ton of time).

So, was it worth it? For me - yes. I love paper crafting, so making my invitations was a wedding project I was not only capable of undertaking, but also one that I took joy in doing. Being a crafter, I could justify the costs of many of the supplies, (like the stamps and ink pads), since they're items that I'll use again. Plus, I had a wonderful time creating them, which made all the hard work worth it.

[Editor's Note: If you have any specific questions about how I made the invites, or questions about getting the supplies, please feel free to email or leave a comment - I'm more than happy to share anything I've learned throughout the process!]