DIY invite printing question

jbasore1123

So I bought all my paper from CardsandPockets and was going to get them printed this week. My mom works at Meijer so she was just going to get them done there. Well, turns out they can't because they have an HP printer and would have to use Snapfish's paper rather than mine. Would every place be like this (Kinkos, et cetera?) Any other places that I could try? I would do it at home but I don't have a great printer

coop-a-loop

you can bring your own paper into places like kinkos, staples, etc and they'll print on it for you. 
just an fyi, i started doing my printing at kinkos, but then we found greko printing in plymouth and they did everything for less than half the price of what kinko's was charging.  and when they messed some stuff up, they paid for all the replacement paper, no questions asked.  they have been fantastic to work with and if you are in that area, i highly recommend them.

jbasore1123

Kinko's said they couldn't do paper that small... (The inserts are 4.5X6.5, 3.5X6.75, and 3.5X5). I'll try and call Greko's, thank you

leeshab1982

I'm not sure how much printing services charge for something like that, so this may or may not be helpful info for you.

We bought a color laser printer (HP CP1215) to print all of our invites and paper items from for the wedding.  This printer was recommended to me by another knottie and I am SO thankful!  It really worked out great for everything.  Here is the printer on amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/HP-Color-Laserjet-CP1215-Printer/dp/B00165TATA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=office-products&qid=1273016530&sr=8-1

We were actually able to find it a bit cheaper than that, so I thought the price was very reasonable.  We were able to print all of our invitations (main panel, map/directions insert, RSVP postcard insert, accommodations insert) and wrap around labels for each invite using just the toner that came with the printer.  The levels of toner still look good when I check them, so I think we'll be able to do our programs and rehearsal dinner invites before having to buy more toner.

Our inserts were 6.5x4, 6x4, and 5.5x4 and we had no problems with them being too small for the printer.  We used stardreams paper and cardstock (the sparkly stuff) from paperandmore.com.  Everything turned out better than I expected and we've gotten lots of compliments on the invites.

If you're willing to put in the time to sit at the printer and load the paper, this could be a good option.  The way I look at it is that our invites turned out great AND we have an awesome printer to use for years to come.  Definitely worth every penny, in my opinion. 

jbasore1123

Well, Greko is out.. they said it would be about $400

mordacious

You probably should have bought your cardstock in normal sizes unfortunately. I'm not sure where you could get them printed because some of them are just so small. I would look into buying your own LASER printer (no inkjet) and making sure it can even handle cardstock cut down that small (3.5x5, the rest should be okay) and make sure it can handle the cardtsock weight. Or you can get a Gocco. I got a Gocco and I love our invites but it took some getting used to.

Good luck!