Pretty sure I'm losing sleep over these stupid invites

SuperRNluvsChef · March 2011

Alrighty so maybe I'm being a little dramatic but this is seriously the least fav of my DIY projects. I know roughly what I want as far as design but really don't know how to make it happen. I met with the owner of Paper Rock Scissor in Mpls yesterday since they do free consultations but I can't justify paying $200 for her to design them. Just the design part alone would come to $2.50/invite, not including paper, printing or postage, and that's rather ridic in my mind. Don't get me wrong they do great work but anyways....for the ladies that designed their own...did you use Word on your computer? Or some other program? Also, did you cut them at home? I'm planning to order all the paper from Card and pockets. TIA ladies!

graysquirrel · March 2011

I used Word for mine and it worked really well. I didn't DIY mine entirely, though, since I bought a kit at Michaels. I really liked the way they came out. With my half-off coupons the invitations came to like $0.83 each and they came with everything I needed. I'd highly suggest them if you decide not to do your cards & pockets.

wittyschaffy · March 2011

Yep = Word for me. I downloaded a font I liked and used that. For cutting the paper, I just got an inexpensive paper cutter from the scrap booking area at Target. I think I spent 40 bucks or less and have used it on other things since so it was a good investment.

MilitaryBride2Be · March 2011

I'm not sure what kind of design your going for but have you tried Paper Depot? They'll help you design it and then can give you instructions on how to do them.

tpender13 · March 2011

Our invites were definitely non-traditional. H drew and laid everything out to look like a comic book, so he used Photoshop or Illustrator, I can't remember. Then he just put the files on a flash drive that I took to a printer that I get a dscount at, and we paid around $50 for maybe 75 invites - full-color, double-sided sheet of paper folded in half.

shan87 · March 2011

I used publisher for the text from the invites (Main, Inserts and RSVPs) but no graphics. But Paper Depot is where I got all the paper. I really like some of micheals kits but I had inserts and they didn't come with them.
PIB

If you are Photoshop savvy you can do some sweet stuff in there... but you have to know how to work the program.

nordke · March 2011

Not sure how much DIY you want to do, and committed you are to it, but if you'd rather not have it be too much work, I would really suggest checking out vista print. It's obviously not as DIY as you may be expecting it to be, but you can pretty much design your own invite with some of the selections. Yeah, they're not all that elaborate, but I personally didn't feel the need to put a lot of money and time into invites since they pretty much get looked at then tossed in the garbage, but that's just my opinion. Cost wise you can't go wrong. We ordered 200 invites AND RSVP cards for $115 total (you can order samples of their invites to see the quality of the paper, etc, and then that hooks you up to "bridal deals" that they'll send to your email and give you crazy discounts on stuff).

Sarahsue1684 · March 2011

My mom and I used Adobe Photo Shop. She is a photographer so she is really good with the program. They are turning out amazing! I am still working on the invites actually. We got the paper from Paper Depot and just printed off Adobe at home.

leggwilliams · March 2011

I used Photoshop. A little tough to figure out but once you get the hang of it it's so amazing! I designed, printed, and cut at home. FI bought a paper cutter with a built in laser to perfectly line up the paper "for work" at Office Max for around $20 and it saved us a bunch of cutting time.

quincygirl77 · March 2011

Like a lot of things with choosing and spending money on vendor, it comes down to priorities. If it is going to drive you nuts trying to put together a design, then there may be value in enlisting the talents of a designer to create your vision. For me I know when I designed my own invitations for my graduation party last May I spent an insane number of hours working on it and getting it printed correctly. Even at Kinkos you have to pay $40 just for them to assist you in formatting the printing margins! I’m picky when it comes to invitations/paper, so this was a wake up call for me as I started to think about wedding invitations.

I know when I started looking at wedding vendors like photographers and videographer, the prices nearly made me choke! I think there is certainly a lot of insanity in the pricing structures for wedding services, but at the most basic level you are paying them for their talent, for something you just couldn’t do to the same level on your own. Perhaps I am a bit protective because PRS is my stationer, but having expert help in this area has been valuable to me and I just wanted to present the other side of the coin on this one.

Have you looked on sites like minted.com or Etsy to see if there might be something out there already designed and similar to the look you want? Yes, it may be initially a bit more expensive then completely doing it DIY, but it could save you a lot of time and sleep in the end.

SuperRNluvsChef · March 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_minnesota-minneapolis-st-paul_pretty-sure-im-losing-sleep-over-stupid-invites?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:81Discussion:96ed512f-fbe7-4ffc-871f-320800669067Post:2833b330-93c9-40a3-8187-84bd564acefc">Re: Pretty sure I'm losing sleep over these stupid invites</a>:
[QUOTE]Like a lot of things with choosing and spending money on vendor, it comes down to priorities. If it is going to drive you nuts trying to put together a design, then there may be value in enlisting the talents of a designer to create your vision. For me I know when I designed my own invitations for my graduation party last May I spent an insane number of hours working on it and getting it printed correctly. Even at Kinkos you have to pay $40 just for them to assist you in formatting the printing margins! I’m picky when it comes to invitations/paper, so this was a wake up call for me as I started to think about wedding invitations. I know when I started looking at wedding vendors like photographers and videographer, the prices nearly made me choke! I think there is certainly a lot of insanity in the pricing structures for wedding services, but at the most basic level you are paying them for their talent, for something you just couldn’t do to the same level on your own. <strong> Perhaps I am a bit protective because PRS is my stationer, but having expert help in this area has been valuable to me and I just wanted to present the other side of the coin on this one.</strong> Have you looked on sites like minted.com or Etsy to see if there might be something out there already designed and similar to the look you want? Yes, it may be initially a bit more expensive then completely doing it DIY, but it could save you a lot of time and sleep in the end. :)
Posted by quincygirl77[/QUOTE]

I meant nothing bad about PRS, they are really talented ladies! But in the end I just feel it's a lot of money for something that isn't really a huge priority for me or my FI. I actually found out about them from stalking your bio <img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-laughing.gif" border="0" alt="Laughing" title="Laughing" />. And I probably would go with them if I needed a ton of invites but since I'm only going to need about 80 I just felt like it was a lot of money per invite.

Thanks so much for the suggestions ladies!! I'll have to look into Photoshop and Michael's kits.

brink131 · March 2011

I agree with other ladies, it's all about how much your time and effort is worth to you. I used Photoshop to design mine and I had to teach myself the basics of using it which took a few days. Then there was the headache of trying to figure out just what we wanted the invites to look like and how exactly to translate that onto the screen. We struggled with that because we didn't have a clear vision, which it sounds like you do.

I knew I didn't want to print them myself because our printer's a little wonky and I tend to have difficulties with printing (it's weird, I know). I thought I was going to have Cards and Pockets do the printing but the price they quoted me seemed way too high for what I wanted. Not to mention they didn't have the paper colors I really wanted. I ended up in a local scrapbooking store out here in CA and they were super reseanable and helpful. I had them print and cut my invites and inserts. I also got purple cardstock from them to use for bordering and cut that myself but I notice as I'm starting to assemble the invites that my cutting was not quite as good as their cutting even though I thought I was being really careful.

So if I had to do it all over again, I would save myself the time and worry and find a design I liked on Etsy or wherever and then take it in to a place like this scrapbooking store and have them help me get it done.

quincygirl77 · March 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_minnesota-minneapolis-st-paul_pretty-sure-im-losing-sleep-over-stupid-invites?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:81Discussion:96ed512f-fbe7-4ffc-871f-320800669067Post:162df775-c561-492b-925c-4b3e63e4e4da">Re: Pretty sure I'm losing sleep over these stupid invites</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Pretty sure I'm losing sleep over these stupid invites : I meant nothing bad about PRS, they are really talented ladies! But in the end I just feel it's a lot of money for something that isn't really a huge priority for me or my FI. I actually found out about them from stalking your bio . And I probably would go with them if I needed a ton of invites but since I'm only going to need about 80 I just felt like it was a lot of money per invite. Thanks so much for the suggestions ladies!! I'll have to look into Photoshop and Michael's kits.
Posted by SuperRNluvsChef[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>I am a total blog stalker myself, LOL! Speaking of, I am so exited that you will have Capture as your videographer!! I so wish we had really considered a videographer in our budget earlier, there is just no way it would fit in right now. Their work is SO amazing! </div><div>
</div><div>If the paper portion isn't that important to you it is totally not worth investing in. Good luck with the design process and let us Knotties know if you need help! <img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-smile.gif" border="0" alt="Smile" title="Smile" /></div><div>
</div>

Bimbi284 · March 2011

I used a combo of word and powerpoint for the inserts, paper purchased from Paper Depot and Paper Source. Our printer cut everything for us to the dimensions we provided (that were provided for us by Paper Depot), and then just put 'em all together (ha...not "just"...it took some time, but still)

martiac225 · March 2011

This was something that I wanted to have my creative touch in, but without breaking the bank....cause let's be real, it's an invitation. It get's a quick read and look at and that's about it. 90% of the people that look at it will not appreciate the time and money that gets put into these time-consuming lil devils.
That being said, I spent too much time designing mine

I used the Creative Memories software and then printed them through VP. I purchased the pocket fold paper and envelopes from Anchor Paper. I used coupons and prob spent less than $1 per invite with postage.
For me, 2 months after I sent the invites out, it's no big deal and I realize I spent too much time worrying about them....I blame the damn wedding magazines! haha! GL!!!

musicalsunlight · March 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_minnesota-minneapolis-st-paul_pretty-sure-im-losing-sleep-over-stupid-invites?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:81Discussion:96ed512f-fbe7-4ffc-871f-320800669067Post:d0c79224-36e9-4dfd-92bf-3b8d73b00f49">Re: Pretty sure I'm losing sleep over these stupid invites</a>:
[QUOTE]I used Word for mine and it worked really well. I didn't DIY mine entirely, though, since I bought a kit at Michaels. I really liked the way they came out. With my half-off coupons the invitations came to like $0.83 each and they came with everything I needed. I'd highly suggest them if you decide not to do your cards & pockets.
Posted by graysquirrel[/QUOTE]

This. I used like three 45% off coupons and bought all of mine as kits from Michaels. I haven't printed them or anything yet, but I got all 120 for only $50.

hippolover · March 2011

I don't have the time or patience to make our own invites. We are using 123print.com. They seem to be reasonably price and you can order samples to see what they would look like. They come with everything and you can customize them yourself. I looked at ordering 100 and it was like 85.00?

Hope that helps!

newlyseliski · March 2011

I used Photoshop (I have CS3 at work) to design mine and printed them at a shop in Northfield because they were an off size, double sided color, needed to be specially laid out with crop lines, scored and folded. We're picking them up tonight...woooot (PIP)

I can understand the design cost because there was a lot of time that goes into not only the design itself, but coordinating the project for print, too! I had no idea what I was getting myself into... I figured I'd be good to go with my basic photoshop skills... but there's so much more that goes into it. Paper weight... paper texture... digital press vs. conventional press...

If you want to save money and be less stressed, my advice would be to go the route that the PPs recommended and look for designs online that you like from Vistaprint, 123print, iprint or another affordable printing site if you'd like to save money. Other more costly (but gorgeous) invite sites are minted, storkie, hello lucky and wedding paper divas.

If you want more custom size/style invites, I'd highly recommend teaching yourself photoshop elements and using a site like Smartpress.com that has more options and paper types than the other sites! I'm kicking myself for finding them just after I had already sent our invites off to a printer... we would have saved almost $100!

MaggieandJake · March 2011

I also bought my pocketfolds from cardsandpockets. They were 15% when I bought them so that was a nice savings. I also bought paper from them and envelopes. Altogether I would say I'm spending about $330 for 100 invitations ($197 on pocketfolds, cardstock, and envelopes from cardsandpockets, $90 on postage for both RSVP and invite, and $20 on printing, plus some misc purchase) so it came out to about $3.30 an invite. Definitely not the cheapest you could do, but I thought was pretty good for "custom" invites-none of the boxed kits that I looked at fit for what I wanted color/style-wise.

I made my invitations in word and then embossed a design that I liked onto them. We are using the same design to carry through in our programs and our cake.

Pretty sure I'm losing sleep over these stupid invites

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