Planning Your Invitation Budget

Below are five things to consider when creating your invitation budget:
1. Quantity
2. Printing
3. Invitation style
4. Postage
5. Beyond the invitation

QUANTITY
Each guest does not require their own invitation. A simple formula to use is to divide the total number of guests in half, then add 25-30 more. For example, 200 guests would equal 125-130 invitation sets.

Families invited with children under 18 years of age only need one invitation. However children over 18 should receive a separate invitation.

If you have a “B List” be sure to order enough invitations for these possible guests; placing a second order for invitations is very costly.

PRINTING
There are three print options to choose from; offset, thermography, or embossing.
Offset is the least expensive because the lettering is flat. Thermography is raised
printing, and embossing means that text and images are pressed into the paper, making
this option the most expensive.

INVITATION STYLE
The most basic options include single layer, multi-layer, pockets, or three-dimensional invitations. You can customize each of these styles with different paper stock and paper color.

POSTAGE
Your postage costs are determined by the weight and shape of your invitation. A typical 5×7 invitation set costs $0.64 to mail, plus an additional $0.44 for the postage on the response envelope.

BEYOND THE INVITATION
This is the area that most couples forget about when it comes to creating their budgets. Each of these items are optional, but you should decide upfront if you want them.

1. Save the Date announcements
2. Envelope addressing (hand or machine calligraphy)
3. Ceremony programs
4. Place cards and/or Seating chart
5. Menus or donation cards
6. Customized table identifiers
7. Thank you notes

This list could go on and on, but I’m sure you get the idea. The items above are the most popular because they help to tie together the theme and they help to make your wedding uniquely yours.

Article submitted by Janet Goodwin of Emerald Invitations