Printable Wedding Invitations: DIY and Save Money

It used be that properly formal wedding invitations had to be plain, white, and engraved - never printed. Printed invitations were considered cheap and tacky - it was better to just hand-write your invitations for an informal wedding.

In recent years, however, creativity has become more important than formality. You can still get formal, engraved wedding invitations, but many people now make their own invitations in a wide variety of formats. In this article, you'll find tips and resources for printable wedding invitations you can make at home.

First, you'll need to decide what form or design your invitation will have. Do you want to print the entire invitation on your own printer, or buy wedding invitation stationery and print your wedding information on it? Will you be designing a simple card, or creating unique invitation with scrapbooking-type embellishments?

If you plan to simply print onto wedding invitation stationery, the stationery makers may provide templates, either on a CD or online. Southworth (www.southworth.com) is one company that makes wedding invitation stationery and provides free templates online in Word format. Southworth's wedding invitation templates include both text and simple graphics. Southworth's printable wedding invitation stationery ranges in price from $7.00 for a pack of 30 traditional invitation cards to $52.95 for a complete wedding invitation ensemble (25 complete invitations).

LCI Paper has printable wedding invitation kits available for purchase. Kits are available for various styles of wedding invitations, ranging from simple, one-sheet cards to translucent vellum invitations with wraps. Kits start at $8.00 for a pack of 50 plain white or ecru cards (envelopes are extra); more expensive kits include a set of white cards with Japanese tissue wraps; 50 invitations for $55.00. You can format your invitations for printing using Microsoft Word. LCI has complete instructions for formatting and printing your invitations on their website.

If you're looking for a very easy and free printable wedding invitation, try www.bluemountain.com. BlueMountain is well known for its e-cards, but they also provide printable wedding invitations and greeting cards. On their website are several invitations, complete with text and graphics. All you need to do is insert your information and print. You do need to become a member of BlueMountain in order to customize and print the invitations. Membership is $19.95 per year, but you can take a one-month free trial; if you cancel your membership before your month is up, your credit card won't be charged.

If you have access to Microsoft Publisher software, and would like to create and print an entire wedding invitation package, check out desktoppublishing.com. You can download their free Wedding Invitations Publisher template, which you can use to make invitations, reply cards, reply envelopes, and inner and outer envelopes.

Finally, if you're creative and crafty, Hoover Web Design has free printable wedding invitations that lend themselves to embellishment and scrapbooking techniques. Hoover's invitations should be printed on 8 ½ X 11 sheets and folded; a beautiful floral graphic will be on the outside of the card. Choose a good quality cardstock, stationery, or scrapbooking paper to print your card on. Then, on a different type and/or color of paper, print your invitation text and wedding information. Use decorative edging scissors to cut around the text to the size and shape you would like. Adhere the text sheet to the inside of your invitation with glue or scrapbooking tape. Then, let the creative juices flow! Add embellishments to make your invitation truly unique.

None of these options is the one right way to go any more - the choice is up to you. Follow your heart, and choose the invitation that fulfills your wedding dreams.