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Make your own Wedding Stationery
If you want to buy all your wedding stationery, you’ll never be short of suppliers to choose from but it can get expensive.
If you’re looking to save some money or fancy getting creative, why not make your own wedding invitations and stationery?
You don’t even have to be artistic. If you own a computer and printer and have access to the internet – you’re seconds away from a range of free downloadable wedding invitation templates, fonts and designs. Some websites even provide step-by-step instructions to help you make your own wedding invitations using materials you can buy from their site – check out Handy Hippos and Kooky Kards.
DIY wedding invitation kits are a popular option for those wanting to make their own wedding invitations. Just follow the instructions, glue a few things together and hey presto – you’ll have perfect hand-made(ish) wedding invitations to be proud of. Pure Invitations sell readymade wedding invitation kits or separates to help you make designer wedding invitations for less than £1!
If you want to make your own wedding invitations or other wedding stationery with minimum hassle, check out our nofreetime tips below.
What equipment do you need
Before you start making your wedding invitations or other wedding stationery, you’ll need to make sure you’ve got the right equipment for the job. This might include:
- a guillotine with built in ruler – crucial for straight lines with minimum fuss and cutting your card to size.
- craft knife – to help with all the detail cutting
- cutting mat – to protect your table from a very sharp craft knife
- scissors – to cut round shapes
- glue spots or strips – perfect for applying small amounts to glue and very strong!
- spray adhesive – if you’re sticking lots of pieces of paper to card, you might want to consider getting a spray adhesive (like spray mount) for instant grab. Make sure you’re in a well ventilated area though and protect your surfaces with newspaper – things can get very sticky!
- rulers – for measuring and cutting to size, or hand cutting straight lines when the guillotine just won’t do! Craft knives can be quite brutal on plastic rulers so metal rulers are ideal.
- craft punch – if you want shapes cut quickly and accurately, you can choose from a range of shapes and sizes to include hearts, flowers or even ‘tag’ shapes – perfect for favours!
Wedding stationery ideas
An A4 piece of card and A4 piece of paper are all you need to make a simple A5 wedding invitation, menu or order of service. Use one of our templates to create your own inserts and print direct onto the paper before folding in half. Fold the card in half and stick your insert inside using a thin line of glue along the edge.
For more wedding stationery ideas and example wording, click on the relevant links below:
Or, download one of our free printable wedding stationery templates.
nofreetime tips
- Get ideas and inspiration before you start. Create a scrapbook of designs you like from magazines or websites. Visit a craft shop or visit their shop online to see what’s available.
- Plan carefully. Whilst it is usually cheaper to make your own wedding invitations or other wedding stationery, without careful planning you could end up spending more than you plan.
- Work out what you need to make a wedding invitation. If there’s going to be a lot of wasted card or paper – consider how else you can make it? Would the design be easy to repeat?
- If you’re buying online, find out if the supplier will send you a sample so you can check the colour before you buy.
- If you’re not creative - avoid too much detail or anything tricky. Some things take practice, embossing may look good – but it might take you a while to get there! Get the same effect by buying gold stickers instead or buy foil printed blank cards. Sometimes, the simplest designs are the best!
- Fonts like Lucida Handwriting, Lucida Calligraphy or Bradley Hand ITC are perfect for all your wedding stationery needs.
- If you’re having an informal wedding and have good handwriting, why not write your wedding invitations by hand for that personal touch?
- Work out what materials you need in advance so you can buy in bulk.
- If you’re buying online and want to save on postage costs - buy all your materials at the same time and from one store.
- Keep it simple if you want to keep costs and stress levels under control. Think about your design – how easy will it be to make multiple wedding invitations. Find something you can replicate with minimal ease.
- If you’re using ribbon on your wedding stationery – turn the card upside down before tying the bow for perfect straight bows.
- Consider the size and weight of your wedding invitations. If they weigh more than 100g or are larger than 24cm-16cm – the cost of first class postage will double if you have to buy large stamps.
- Save time and download one of our free menu, order of service, order of the day or wedding invitation templates (see the relevant section for details).
- Write your guests names onto inserts before sticking them onto card – just in case you make a mistake.
- Ask your friends and family whether they have any arts and craft equipment you can borrow – buying a guillotine can be expensive if you won’t use it again.
Useful links
Craft shops
Photo and printing companies