MAKE YOUR OWN Inexpensive WEDDING INVITATIONS

Learn how to make your own wedding invitations inexpensively with our guide

See also cheap wedding invitations and wedding invitation wording

One easy way to save money on your overall wedding costs is to make your own wedding invitations.  When you make your own wedding invitations, you can get invitations that are both inexpensive and unique. 

You may be thinking that it sounds difficult, but once you know how to do your own wedding invitations, it’s really quite easy.  Even if you’re not the creative type, we’ll help you create beautiful and professional looking wedding invitations.

Choosing Paper for Your Wedding Invitations

You can find paper to do your own wedding invitations from a variety of sources.  We recommend shopping online because you will find the best selection at the best prices, but you can also find blank invitations from arts and crafts stores or stationery stores. 

When you select your paper, you’ll want it to be printer compatible and completely free of print.  It also helps if the paper is a uniform shape like a rectangle or square because die cut shapes often get stuck in home printers. 

You can use invitations with add-ons like ribbons or stickers, but be sure that you can attach those elements after printing.  You’ll also want to be sure to that the invitations you purchase come with envelopes. 

How to do Your Own Wedding Invitations

Below is a step by step guide to make your own wedding invitations.  Once you get started, you’ll be surprised at just how easy it is to do your own invitations.  To start, you’ll need a computer with Microsoft Word installed, an ink-jet or laser printer, and your wedding invitation paper.  If you’ve never used Word before, you shouldn’t start by making your wedding invitations.  The following instructions assume a basic level of knowledge with the Microsoft Word program.

Go ahead and open Microsoft Word to a new document and let’s get started on making your own wedding invitations.

Measure the Invitation Paper

It may sound basic, but getting the right measurements for your paper will ensure that your invitations look good.  Take a ruler and measure the height and width of the paper you’ve chosen to make your invitations.  Once you have the measurements, click on File.  From the dropdown menu, select Page Setup.  Once that box opens, click the Paper tab.  From the Paper Size menu, select Custom Size and then type in the height and width of your wedding invitations into the boxes provided.  Then click Okay.

Select Your Font

Next you’ll want to select the font for your wedding invitations.  The font you choose will be determined by what kind of wedding you’re having, but some of our favorites are Bodini MT, Book Antiqua, Californian FB, Edwardian Script ITC, French Script MT, Harrington, Monotype Corsiva, Parchment and Vivaldi.  Try to match the font to the tone and formality of your wedding.  For example, if you are having a very formal evening wedding, Edwardian Script would be a good fit.  You can also mix fonts within the same invitation by using one font for most of the invitation wording and a different font for the bride and groom’s names.

Type in the Wedding Invitation Wording

Using the wording you’ve already mapped out, begin typing the text into the invitations.  If you need help on what to say, check out our wedding invitation wording page for examples.  Don’t forget to spell check.  Once you’ve typed in the text, adjust the font size and spacing.  Align the text in the center of the page by clicking Format, then Paragraph.  Where it says Alignment, select Center from the menu.  Make adjustments as needed to fit the entire invitation wording into one page.  Also, you can select a color for the font now.  Black is standard, but navy blue, charcoal or dark brown would all be appropriate.

Little Extras

When you make your own wedding invitations, you can give them a little something extra by adding other printed elements (like a watermark) to them. 

A watermark of the wedding couple’s initials is a nice addition to a wedding invitation and it’s easy to do.  Click on Format, then Background and from that menu, select Printed Watermark.  In the box, click on Text Watermark and select the font, color and size you want for the watermark.  Type the wedding couples’ initials into the text box and click on Semitransparent.  Then experiment to see if you want the watermark to be diagonal or horizontal.

Print a Sample

Now it’s time to check the wedding invitation by printing a sample.  Place the paper into the printer and print one copy of the document.  Check to make sure the spacing, font size, wording and font color are all correct.  Make adjustments as needed and then you’re ready to make your own wedding invitations by printing them all out.