8 Tips for DIY Wedding Invitations

I've had quite a few people ask me about how they can go about making their own wedding invitations, so I decided to put together a little list of to-do's (or not-to-dos) when creating your invites. 

Many designers (including myself) offer the option to have your invitations designed and then sent to you in a PDF so that you can print, cut, and assemble on your own and as many times as you need to. For those DIY brides this is a great option, as it gives you the freedom to print as many times as you want, to choose your paper and envelopes yourself, and it can also save you money by doing the labour yourself.... all while foregoing the seemingly laborious design process.

Whether you design your own invitations or have a designer create them for you, here are a few steps I came up with to help guide you on your way.

1. Start With Your Envelopes, And Work Backwards With Your Dimensions

When making your own wedding invitations, this is, hands down, the single most important tip that many brides overlook. But take it from me, nothing is more frustrating than printing off your wedding invitations only to find that they're the same size as your matting, or that they don't fit into your envelopes, or on the other hand... you can't find envelopes that are the right size. On top of that, although there are many options for envelopes out there, you may not be able to find the exact colour you were hoping for. This can be very disappointing and frustrating, especially if you've already designed and printed your invitations. So purchase your envelopes first!

If, for example, you start with A7 envelopes (5.25" x 7.25"), your largest card should be 5"x7". If you want your invitation to be matted onto another card, the invitation itself should be 4.75x6.75" (a quarter of an inch smaller) and the matting is the largest card at 5"x7". See where I'm going with this? The same goes for your RSVPs and their envelopes.

Here is a little guide I found on DIYBride.com that shows common envelope sizes and the corresponding invitation size. If you are using a pocketfold, folded card, or matting, the invitation size on this chart would correspond to that, and the invitation itself would be a 1/4" smaller on either side.

2. Print Off Drafts Of Your Invitations Before Finalizing

This tip is important for three reasons.

First, going back to tip #1, you want to make sure it is the right size.

Second, you want to see what the colours in your design look like when they are printed off. Colours often look very different between the computer screen in print. Your printer inks are usually divided into four colours: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. When something is printed, every colour is a mix of these four ink colours. Therefore, it is an impossibility to print of certain colours, such as neons. Colours may not look as bright when printed as they appear on your computer. So to avoid disappointment when picking your final invitations up from your printing company, print one off yourself just to ensure it's the colour you had in mind. If it is, great! If it's not, this gives you the chance to adjust the colour on your computer prior to finalizing.

Third, you want to make sure that everything is legible. Some fonts may be clearer on the computer than they are in print, they may appear larger (or smaller)... to put it simply, this gives you a chance to see your wedding invitations as your guests would to ensure everything is clear and easy to read.

3. Stick to Your Vision

Making your wedding invitations is a big job, so don't go into it blindly. Before you even start designing your wedding invitations, get yourself a pen and a piece of paper and answer the following questions:

What is the level of formality? What type of ceremony will you be having (religious, civil, etc.)?
What are some words that you would use to describe your wedding?
What colours do you hope to incorporate?
What do you want your guests' first impression to be?
What other information do you plan to include?

All of these things will directly influence your design - both in wording and in theme. For example, if you are having a religious ceremony, traditionally the wording will read "Mr. and Mrs. John Smith request the honour of your presence..." whereas for a civil ceremony, traditionally the wording goes, "Mr. and Mrs. John Smith request the pleasure of your company...". Nowadays, this is not a hard and fast rule, but having these notes nearby for easy reference will be a quick reminder of the general feel you want your guests to have when they read your wedding invitation.

In case you didn't notice, the one question I didn't have you ask yourself is "What do you want your invitations to look like?". This was on purpose. Very rarely do my designs ever end up looking like what I planned in my mind in the first place. But do not discourage this creative flow simply because it isn't what you planned. It is great to have a vision, but if you divert away from this, that's just fine! As long as you stick to your theme, colours, and overall feel, I'm sure you will be happy with what you end up with.

As a little freebie, here are a couple of the forms I use when meeting with a bride & groom to discuss wedding invitation design. This helps give me an idea of what they want, and I always keep it nearby when designing. Print this off, fill it out, and keep it close during the design process.

Click here to download.

4. Be Careful With Wording

The wording may depend on the formality of your event and therefore some of these rules may not apply, but to make things easy here are a few things to keep in mind:

• There should be no contractions or shortenings. Write out everything in full, including numbers. For example, "July 14, 2012 at 3:00pm" becomes "the fourteenth of July, two thousand twelve, at three o'clock in the afternoon".
• If the bride's parents are hosts and you have their names in the invitation, it is redundant to also include the last name of the bride. For example, "Mr. and Mrs. John Smith request the honour of your presence at the marriage of their daughter, Jane Allison Smith, to Joe Robert Johnson." In this case, the second "Smith" is unnecessary. The bride needs only to be referred to as Jane Allison, and the groom's name is written in full (unless, of course, his parents' names are included in the invitation as well).
• Be consistent in your spelling. If you opt for the British honour, make sure you put the u in favour. 
• The line breaks in the invitation act as punctuation, so you don't need to use commas or periods at the end of a line. If need be, you can use commas to separate phrases in the middle of a line, but it is not necessary at the end. And besides, it just looks cleaner. 
• Never include any of the following information on the invitation card itself: 
• Registry or gift information - I realize that some people appreciate knowing the information and it's simply more convenient, so I may get arguments on this one. But in my opinion, it simply isn't polite. If you would prefer that guests make a donation to a charity, include this information on a separate enclosure card.
• If you've chosen not to include children - Simply convey clearly who is invited on the envelope, and if you have reason to suspect that they won't pay attention or may bring their children anyway, call them and say how sorry you are that you couldn't invite Ben and Anna, but that the reception space is not set up for children.
• Information about post-wedding events, such as day-after brunches or gift openings - These belong on a separate insert, on wedding websites, or communicated by phone or e-mail.
• This is more of a pet peeve than a rule, but the acronym RSVP stands for "repondez s'il vous plait", which means "respond please". Therefore, you do not need to say "please RSVP by..." because you are literally saying "Please Respond Please by...". Instead, you could say "the favour of your reply is requested by the fourteenth of June", "RSVP on or before the fourteenth of June" or "Kindly reply by the fourteenth of June". 
• Finally, make sure that you are relaying your information in a concise and easy-to-understand manner. Don't try to make the wording too fancy or too complicated. People just want to know where to be and when. I'm not much of a traditionalist when it comes to wording, but again, it's what ever works best with your wedding.

5. Proofread, Proofread, Proofread... Then Proofread Again. 

I simply cannot stress this enough!

Print off a proof of your invitation. Read it. Then read it again. Read it backwards. Read it upside down. Give it to your fiance to read. Give it to a friend to read. Then give it to another friend. Give it to your mom, your dad, your siblings. Give it to the Fed Ex guy who probably comes to your door every three days anyway to bring you more wedding stuff you've ordered online. Trust me - just do it! There is absolutely nothing worse than printing, cutting, and assembling 100 wedding invitations only to discover that you spelled your fiance's middle name wrong, or that your wedding will be held at "tree" o'clock in the afternoon.

(The same goes for your wedding programs - this is where I flubbed up and had my poor brother taking apart and re-assembling them only days before our wedding. Not fun. Thanks, Rob!) 

6. Think Very Carefully About Your "Reply By" Date

Choose a reply by date that gives you enough time to call any stragglers and adjust any changes to your guest count. For example, if you need to have your final guest count to the caterer a week before your wedding, make your "reply by" date three weeks before the wedding. Because, whether you think so or not, you will have people who don't reply, so make sure you plan for it! 

7. Weigh Everything Before Buying Postage

Every single time I make wedding invitations for a couple, one of the first things I tell them when I deliver their invitations is to make sure they take one whole invitation suite to the post office and have it weighed. Do not buy postage (or even worse, do not send your wedding invitations out!) before doing this. It would be a nightmare to have your wedding invitations lost in transition somewhere because you didn't place the correct postage. You should do this for both domestic and international invitations. 

8. Give Yourself Lots of Time! 

Designing, printing, cutting, assembling, addressing, adding postage... Wedding invitations can be a very time-consuming task. You can cut some of that time by having someone create the design for you, and hopefully you have very helpful bridesmaids and family like I did. Even so, give yourself lots of time for this process. The design for my wedding invitations took me three months. Now obviously that isn't normal - our wedding invitations were eight-page booklets - but it just goes to show the amount of time that can potentially be invested in this kind of project. And that didn't include the days that my lovely gals and I spent cutting, assembling, and stuffing invitations! Your wedding invitations will probably be the most time-consuming job you take on during your planning process if you choose to do them yourself. It truly is a labour of love, and if you're willing to take on the task then my hat is off to you! If it's just not for you, do not fret. There are lots of people out there (like me) who just live for it and would be more than happy to help.

I imagine if you are reading this that you are currently in the wedding planning process, so CONGRATULATIONS and best of luck in all your DIY projects! It is so rewarding to see all your hard work pay off on your big day, so just remember to enjoy this time and try to not get too overwhelmed with it all. I truly hope that my tips help you keep all your hair and your sanity.

Happy planning!