13 Ways to Save Money on Your Wedding Stationery PART 1!
Hey Friends! Welcome to my first ever blog post! I decided to kick things off with a post jam packed with super helpful tips and tricks to help you save some MONEY on your wedding stationery without sacrificing on style or quality. Keep reading if you want to get the low down on some of my juicy cost saving secrets, but ssh don’t tell anyone!😉
Pin me on Pinterest to keep these tips in your back pocket!
1. Order extra invitations
My first tip is to order extra invitations. It may seem counterintuitive but you'll save money in the long run. It's a good idea to have a few spares in case you have late additions to your guest list or run into an issue with your invitation being delivered to a guest. I would recommend ordering an extra 10-20 invitation sets just in case, and remember to order per household or family, not per guest! It costs significantly more to make a second small order than to add a few spares to your initial order. Plus you'll be paying for shipping again and maybe even expedited fees for rush orders and production. Some stationers may even have an order minimum of 50 invitations for example and you may only need an extra 15. So you'll be unnecessarily forking out for more than you require if you need to make a second order. This tip also applies to your, Save the Date cards and place cards (order blank ones), menus and Thank You cards.
If you are hiring a calligrapher or handwriting your own envelopes I would also recommend ordering 20% more in case you make any mistakes. And just so you know, I don’t have any minimum orders for digital and white ink printing, but there is a minimum order of 50 for letterpress, hot foil stamping, embossing and die cut shapes. There’s a minimum order of 20 for envelope printing.
Tip! Remember, you'll want to keep at least one wedding invitation suite for yourself as a keepsake and a couple (one assembled and one unassembled) for your photographer to capture on your wedding day!
2. Beware of the large letter
The cost of postage is even more expensive now, can you believe it!? In Australia, small letters cost $1.20 in postage and large letters, $2.40. A simple way to cut your postage in half is to keep your invitation suite small enough to fit in an envelope that is 130mm x 190mm in size and less than 5mm in thickness. So what size should you make your main invitation card? Go for an invitation card size that is 120mm x 180mm. DL size cards are also considered small letters. Just be wary of multiple cards in your suite especially if they’re extra thick, and embellishments such as wax seals, ribbon and florals which may increase the thickness of your invitation suite, as anything over 5mm thick will be considered a large letter. If you want to keep your invites as a small letter, steer clear of A5 (148mm x 210mm) size cards and those sneaky 140mm x 140mm square cards which look small but are actually a large letter! It’s always a smart idea to take your assembled wedding stationery suite to the post office to check the postage cost before you purchase all your stamps.
Tip! Hand deliver your invitations to cut down on postage costs!
The Quinne semi-custom suite fits in a DL envelope which is considered a small letter!
3. Ditch the envelopes
How about ditching envelopes altogether to save some coin? A great idea is to opt to have your Save the Date, RSVP card and even your Thank You card designs as a postcard format, so you don't have to worry about the cost of envelopes. Genius!
4. Go full out on the invitation card
Love the beautiful sculptural look of letterpress printing or the high metallic shine of hot foil stamping? I sure do - they definitely give your invitations that super luxe look. Flat digital printing is the least expensive printing technique but if you’re keen to use letterpress or hot foil printing for your invitations, consider applying these printing methods just on your invitation card, and using digital printing on the insert cards such as your reply and details cards. This will save you bucket loads of money.
Another tip is to use one colour for these printing processes to reduce the cost. Because letterpress and foil printing uses a plate for each colour, it costs more the more colours you have in your design as the printer needs to make up multiple set of plates and spend time setting up for more print runs of the different colours. See the next tip for a cheaper alternative to hot foil stamping!
Tip! Save money on your hot foil stamping by using it on a small area of your invitation design such as your names as larger areas cost more to foil.
5. Opt for digital gold, silver or metallic printing
If you’re keen to use hot foil stamping (or pressing) but the cost is beyond your budget, I’m here to tell you there’s an alternative to achieve that metallic aesthetic! Digital gold, silver and metallic printing is going to be your new best friend. It’s far less expensive than hot foil stamping and comes in an array of different colours. Unlike hot foil stamping (and letterpress printing) you are able to print short runs and variable data with a quicker turnaround!
Please note, although digital gold, silver or metallic printing does look lovely, you won’t get that shiny lustrous finish hot foil stamping can achieve. Also, there are some paper stocks that do not work well with this printing method so please check with me!
The Polly semi-custom suite menu printed in digital gold, with swing tag place card & wax seal
6. Drop the weight
Extra thick heavy paper stock definitely looks lovely and luxurious but maybe use it just for the main invitation and go for a lighter weight paper for your other invitation insert cards. Also, research your paper stock options and ask your stationer if they’re less expensive alternatives to the ones you like. I’m always happy to email photos of paper swatches and discuss different papers. You can see my popular paper stocks I offer here.
7. Have your guests RSVP online
Not only will you cut costs by not including a reply card in your invitation suite, you’ll save yourself from purchasing stamps! Simply include your email address (or phone number) on your details card for guests to RSVP or request them to reply on your wedding website with a QR code.
I hope you’ve found this super helpful. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments and be sure to read Part 2 for some more savvy money saving tips. You can also subscribe to my newsletter to keep up to date on the latest blog posts, special discounts and offers!
Alana x