Print Your Own Save The Dates & Invitations

Knottie98540487

I'm currently looking at STD and invitations.  I see that Etsy has several listing that appear to be templates, so I assume that you can purchase (around $15 dollars), fill in the template, and then print on your own.  From a cost standpoint, any thoughts or advice on this?  Have any of you done it yourself?  Where did you purchase the blank invitations?  Input appriciated!

kat1114

We designed our STDs ourselves and printed them into postcards through catprint.com. I was happy with the quality of the paper and the printing. For 55 STDs to be printed and shipped to us (including a hard copy print) we spent about $50.

vulpiepop

I designed our STDs and printed them with VistaPrint. It costed less than $20 for 50 postcards. Templates are nice, and probably cheaper than getting someone else to design your STDs and print them out, but if you can design your own with indesign or photoshop, it cuts the price of the template out. Sites like VistaPrint have templates that you can use too.

You can purchase blank invitations from Michaels, Staples, etc.

futuremrsog15

I wasn't happy with any of the "cheaper" invitations online. I really wanted a pocket set, with shiny paper. So I bought a template from Etsy, bought my fancy paper, and took them to the local printer (.59 per page, I had multiple parts per page). Bought the pockets and envelopes from Cards and Pockets. Overall spent less than I would have if I bought the only one I like at Wedding Paper Divas and I got more with the extra pocket enclosures. It was worth all the paper slicing and gluing!! Good luck!

LittleWohlscheid

Here are some websites with free templates. My fiance and I plan on using one of these to cut the cost and getting them printed from a professional printer. The first two have the most options. If nothing else, they can give you some ideas.

http://www.weddingchicks.com/freebies/invitation-suites/

http://www.loveandlavender.com/downloads/

http://ahandcraftedwedding.com/free-wedding-invitation-template/

Knottie36491512

If you want gorgeous cards with good quality and that too  budget friendly then you should consider 123weddingcards.com. Their services are excellent and they provide both the option you are looking for.

You can get many other options like scroll type cards.

jenijoyk

I used a downloadable thing from Etsy for my Rehearsal Dinner invitations and printed them at FedEx/Kinkos. They were.... meh.

I should have spent more time looking for nicer paper. I just used the cream colored cardstock they had at FedEx/Kinkos and it wasn't very think and it was kind of cheap looking but they didn't carry any nicer options.  Once I printed them, the colors looked a lot more washed out then I would have thought given what it looked like on etsy before I bought the template too.  But, when I was printing them I decided I gave zero additional cares at that point, But I would have not sent them out if they were my STDs or wedding invites.

So, research nice paper!

misskinababy

I used Shutterfly for my Save the Dates and I was so pleased with them. It even came with the envelopes for the STDs. There are so many options to choose from (in terms of using one photo, two photos, no photos) and they break it down by price per card. I didn't really care about the type of paper that the STDs were printed on. I was more concerned with how they turned out and I was really pleased. And I was able to use a discount code, so I didn't have to pay shipping. 

Knottie98540487

Thank you all so much!

vmj23

I bought a template on etsy and did them myself. I purchased pocketfolds from cardsandpockets.com. The template I purchased had to be printed on regular size paper so I bought card stock and printed it and cut it all myself, which was a bit of a pain to do and time consuming.  If I were to do it again I would bring it somewhere to have them printed and cut for me.  

Knottie59420826

I've just created my STDs on snapfish.com, and am just left with deciding glossy vs. matte photo paper before I order. It sends envelopes with the pictures, and you can also choose to use cardstock so that you can also customize/print on the back side. It breaks it down by price per card, and it gets cheaper as you buy more of them.

futuremrsog15

jenni1221 said:

I bought a template on etsy and did them myself. I purchased pocketfolds from cardsandpockets.com. The template I purchased had to be printed on regular size paper so I bought card stock and printed it and cut it all myself, which was a bit of a pain to do and time consuming.  If I were to do it again I would bring it somewhere to have them printed and cut for me.  

I did the same as you but had my printed, and yes cutting was the worst and half way through I started not caring if they were straight!! Good thing they have an interlocking design with the other parts, it hid flaws!!