Wedding Invitation Suite Cost Breakdown

Today I'm breaking down the final costs of our Invitation Suite. While crunching the numbers, I got a little stressed out all over again! Man...planning and budgeting weddings is TOUGH!

Below you can access the four previous parts of the Wedding Invitation Suite.

 

Total: $181.88

 

Total: $263.98

 

Total: $314.43

Total: $224.37

Groupon for Vistaprint ($25 for $100 worth of product) x 4 = $100

Total: $1,084.66 (Including Postage & Guestbook)

Now, if I went with my first choice from Wedding Paper Divas, getting everything the same (buying their gold envelopes, postcards for RSVP's, etc) and using their 25% OFF coupon* my total would be: $1230.92 + $312.50 for postage.

* 25% OFF your total order was the best coupon I could find.  

 So, here it is! We saved $458.76. Now, keep in mind that when I say DIY I mean using Etsy, using our own printing sources, friends, etc. Looking back I could have easily done this for much cheaper by ordering fewer quantities, going with "free options" like designing them myself, printing them myself or using free templates offered by sites like Wedding Chicks.

Hope everyone has safe travels, and a wonderful Christmas! Jesus is the reason for the season!
 

Wedding Invitation Suite: Programs

Let's talk about our programs! For awhile, we were not going to have programs and do a big chalkboard sign instead. Then I stumbled upon B is for Brown's Etsy page through Pinterest. Not only does this girl make some pretty sassy programs, she is from Oklahoma City!!! SOLD!

Here is how they turned out: (You can see that they printed out different than how they look on the computer. With the help from our wedding planner, Taylor, we sent over the exact colors we needed to match our coasters and other prints.)

I loved how personal they are, especially since there are usually a good amount of guests who are your parent's friends who just don't know you as a couple.

Design: I just can't get over how fun these were. I love getting to know different people's quirks, hobbies, etc...So I assume people would like to know more about us.

Cost Breakdown:

Design: $35

Printing: $113.37 for 225 (from Cat Print. Honestly, I overpaid...I should have stuck with Vista Print)

We also had her design a "Love Libs" we used as our guestbook. The guestbook was another tradition that I just wasn't really feeling. At all. I've seen a bunch of fun varieties (both at actual weddings and Pinterest) that were cute, but wasn't my taste.

These Mad Libs were pretty funny. Some people didn't fill them out a all, some people wrote serious things in the blanks and others, um, well...let's just say they were Cards Against Humanity worthy :)

Design: These were a pretty last minute decision. I could have probably done without them if it came down to the cost (especially since we have SO MANY left unfilled).

Cost Breakdown:

Design: $20

Printing: $56 for 200 from Cat Print. WAY OVER ORDERED!!

Total: $224.37

 Next up is the final cost break down of everything we did vs if we went with a more popular site's Invitation Suite.

Wedding Invitation Suite: Respondez, s'il vous plait

Oh, the RSVP. It's a love/hate relationship with them and the world. Some people are wonderful at it, some (my family) are horrible! Since my wedding, I've made a vow with myself to never forget one again. Since I'm not a super organized human being, I'm sure I'll miss one again....or maybe, just maybe I'll concur my ongoing goal/resolution of becoming more organized. (I think the most I've ever accomplished was organizing my Pinterest boards two years ago!)

I had two RSVPs. If it were up to me, I would have only had one. But my mom insisted on having a few traditional ones for those who we knew wouldn't quite get it. If there was one thing that fit my personality the most about my wedding, it would be this RSVP card. Seriously....it's sassy, sarcastic and hilarious. I think they let our guests know that we're not taking ourselves too seriously, that we'd have fun, dance, eat, drink and enjoy our friends and family.

                              

Design: Keith designed this postcard for us, based on an RSVP I saw on Minted. I had him tweak a few words and he made it fit my design idea. My cousin used the song recommendation on her RSVPs and I thought it was an awesome idea!  It was actually really fun getting them back and seeing what songs people would suggest, or which box they would check; it made one of the more drab parts of wedding planning enjoyable. However, not everyone has my sense of humor. A few people didn't check any boxes; some wrote out why they wouldn't make it and the rest just wrote "No" on the front by their names. Oh well!

Design: These came with our invitation from He Saw Sparks. We sent these out to those we assumed wouldn't "get" the funnier RSVP. I fought my mom big time on this. I basically said "If they don't "get it" then they shouldn't come!" Bridezilla anyone? :) It's one of the reasons I'm glad I'm blogging post wedding. All of my crazy emotions have been sorted out, and I can think back and be glad we chose to do two. Obviously, I should have sent out more traditional ones! :) 

                              

I created this envelope on Vistaprint for the traditional RSVP.

We included this Accommodations card to those who would be traveling out of town for our wedding. Nothing too exciting here...just wanted to show off more of Keith's talent :) 


Cost Break Down:

Design: Funny RSVP - $33 by Keith
             Traditional RSVP - "free" since it was included in the invitation design
             Accommodation Card - $33 by Keith

Printing: $159.43 - We had run out of our Groupons by this time, and we were cutting it close. But I 
                                 did WAY over order! I could have easily knocked down my quantities.
               Qty - Funny RSVP - 250
                        Traditional RSVP + Envelopes - 50
                        Accommodation - 150 

Postage: $89 for both types of stamps. 

Total: $314.43

Like I said, I could have gotten fewer total quantities of each RSVP, plus I could have gotten more Groupons for Vistaprint, which would have made it cheaper as well. 

Next I'll share with you our programs and the final budget breakdown!



             
                               

Wedding Invitation Suite: Invitation

On Sunday I talked about our Save the Dates and went into all sorts of details about price, design decisions and the internal struggle I had between choosing online invitations and using postage.

Today, I'll share with you our main invitations for our big day.

These were designed by He Saw Sparks, who I found through Etsy.

He Saw Sparks was awesome to work with. They added the chalkboard background for me and I absolutely fell in love with the font! I'm a pretty big snob when it comes to fonts (snob might be too strong of a word, I think picky would fit it best) and ultimately was what won us over on these.
 

 front

back

Before we stuffed 220 of these in envelopes, I rounded the corners with a punch I got from Hobby Lobby.

Didn't Caroline Rentzel Photography do an amazing job? These are some of my favorite pictures from the day!

Let's break down the cost:

Design: $70- $35 for the basic design, $10 for the back design, $15 to change the background to chalkboard, $10 for the extra proof (in case we had any last minute changes...aka insurance for our invites!).

Envelopes: $60.00 for 250 (I'll show these gold, sparkly bad boys off later)

Postage: $115 for 250 Invitations

Printing: $18.98

Total: $263.98


If I were to do things all over again I would have tried to see if I could add a little watercolor floral in the bottom left corner. If I could merge the font of mine with the idea of this invite from Wedding Paper Divas I would be a happy camper.

I also like the idea of the "hand lettered" look that you can get made custom. Rightfully so, that can be a more expensive option. These beauties are done by one of my faves, Shannon Kirsten.

Apparently I still have plenty of ideas. Anyone else out there getting married? We need to chat!

Wedding Invitation Suite: Save the Dates

One of my favorite things in the whole world is paper....thank you notes, stationary, planners, letterpress, gold foil, birthday cards, scrapbooks and especially invitations! I'm pretty sure that is mostly what my Insta feed is filled with.

 I truly believe that an invitation sets the scene for your guests as to what they should expect from your wedding. I spent HOURS online searching and looking and pricing different invitations from countless resources. I ended up using several different sources for my Invitation Suite, from Etsy and a talented friend.

After adding up everything (design, printing & postage), I still came out cheaper than if I went with one of the (swoon worthy) more expensive sites (ie, Minted or Wedding Paper Divas).

In this Invitation Suite series, I'll talk about what I chose, how much it cost, what I would change (both cost and design) and compare to what I would have gone with at one of the fancier sites.

First, I'll be tackling Save the Dates.

Design:

 front (picture by Julian Mancha Photography)

back

Envelopes, created on Vistaprint

These were designed by my friend Keith, who I have previously bragged about great of a gift giver he is, and this Dr Who Terrarium I made him. I told him the wording I liked and the design we were looking for and he brought these back! He's awesome. The wording was from a Save the Date I saw on Minted. Hilarious. I really wanted to set a fun tone for our wedding, and what better way then this super cute saying?

Cost:

Design: Keith technically did these for us for free, but we compensated him a little for his work. So, with what we paid him, plus printing* and postage, we paid $181.88.
Design - $33
*Printing + Envelopes - $33.88
Postage -  $115

Postage is insane. Seriously. I mulled around using a site like Paperlesspost for all my invitation needs, but in the long run its hard to beat good ol postage - it's just expensive as all get out! This would be an easy cost cutting area though.

*We bought a few groupons for Vistaprint that we used. At the end of this series, I'll do a total cost break down and what coupons we used.

Our Save the Dates were perfect. I seriously wouldn't change a thing about them! If I were to choose a different one, it would for sure have gold foil. Like this one from Wedding Paper Divas.

 

One thing to keep in mind when shopping for invitations, save the dates, Christmas cards, etc. is to try not to focus too much on the picture that is in the sample. Although, I'm pretty sure if I were to use this card I would recreate the picture used. I mean...Edison light bulbs in a tree? Are you kidding?!? Nothing could be more perfect. Anyways, I'll find myself drawn to a design (or worse, deterred from a design) because of the picture used. You have to remember that it will be your picture in the space, making the card yours, and perfect. 

On a budget? Wedding Chicks (ya know...that awesome site that featured OUR WEDDING?) offers a ton of freebies! These save the dates are adorable. Hello, watercolor!

That way you would only be out for printing and postage. I do want to learn how to print my own invitations and still have them look professional. I just need to break down and buy a really nice printer....one day. 

That's a wrap for our Save the Dates! Next I'll do a breakdown on our main invitation.