If I told you we had the magic ingredients to save money on invitations, what would you do? Jump for joy?

• Add those ceremony signs your budget just won’t allow?

• Give these to your guests?

If you’re wondering how to save money on invitations, we don’t care what you do with the savings, we just hope it puts a smile on your sometimes-stressed-out face. :) Realize that your wedding doesn’t have to cost a ton, it’s all about being smart on how you spend your budget.

There are several ways to save money on invitations. First, let’s talk about invitations for the bride on a budget.

1. Buy inexpensive invitations

The easiest way — and a no-brainer, really — to save cash on your wedding invitations? Buy inexpensive ones! We spoke about this at length in the past, so we don’t want to repeat ourselves. Instead, read: 9 Best Places for Cheap Wedding Invitations for a comprehensive guide.

Right off the top of my head, I know you can get affordable invites at Minted (look for the ‘bride on a budget’ section), Basic Invite, and Etsy.

2. Get FREE envelopes

Most of the time, envelopes are factored into the invitation cost. They ought to be included; if not, consider buying your invitations where you get free envelopes as part of your order. You need them and you’re obviously going to use them, so you might as well get them bundled into your invitation cost. As one example, you always get free invitation envelopes here at Minted, as part of your order. The envelopes are free and sized just right to fit your invitations.

3. All-in-one wedding invitations

You can save money on wedding invitations with an all-in-one design format. Simply put, an all-in-one invitation includes your invitation with wedding details and RSVP card attached with perforation. This saves money on multiple pieces of printed paper; guests simply fill out the RSVP card and return. Nice + easy!

This invitation example is by Deegan Design (available here):

I love this Lori Wemple:

Here’s how it works (design below by Leah Bisch):

And this by Lehan Veenker:

All-in-one invitations are exclusively available here.

4. Save money on calligraphy

You can save on invites by hand-addressing your envelopes or you’ll have to pay for a calligrapher to do it for you. But what if you could skip BOTH? Ah, yes — there’s a little secret few people know about and that is free guest addressing. We found out that you can get your invitation envelopes custom-addressed in beautiful fonts to coordinate with your wedding invites for FREE exclusively here. It’s absolutely free with your invitation order.

And on top of that, you can save time and money on return addressing. Instead of stamping or hand-writing each return address, save yourself the hassle with return address printing. It’s a small fee, but not much considering how much time and ink you would use writing them all yourself. See it in action here.

5. Print your own to save money on invitations

Printable wedding invitations — also known as wedding invitation templates or diy invitations — are a big deal when you want to cut costs. We’ve seen incredibly beautiful printable wedding invitation designs on Etsy, Amazon Handmade, and Minted, just to name a few.

These invitations are a printable style, which means you can buy a design file and print as many as you’d like. There are helpful hints + tips on printing your own invitations (so you don’t screw it up, which is what most brides are worried about). Don’t worry, it’s super easy! See more here.

Here are just a few printable invitations to inspire you and prove they don’t look any different than traditional printed-for-you invites!

6. Send email wedding invitations

Sending emailed wedding invitations is not just a growing trend; it’s a popular choice for couples who want to eliminate paper waste and choose a more eco-friendly alternative to paper invitations. I used to be on the fence over this, but after careful thought I’ve realized it makes sense for some. With email invitations, you send a completely beautiful and customized design to your guest email addresses. Your wedding details are included, along with info on how to RSVP. The only place I’ve found to be useful in email invitations and pretty much foolproof is Greenvelope.

With emailed invitations, you’ll cut costs versus mailing invitations (postage really adds up) and guests will already have your invitation info in their phones, helpful for when they’re driving around town and trying to figure out a) what time the ceremony starts and b) what to punch into their GPS. ;)

The only downside to consider with email invites: some guests may not have email, many may not check email regularly enough, and your mom definitely wants a printed out version of your actual invitation. But if your guests are pretty tech-savvy, email wedding invites are easy and will definitely save you cash. Explore your options here.

PRO TIP: You can also send email save the dates! This is an option in case you want to send paper invitations but save money with emailed save the dates.

7. Get free wedding invitation samples

In a way, getting a sample of a wedding invitation BEFORE you buy will undoubtedly save you money. Suppose you received the sample and then realized you really didn’t like it. With a free sample, you’re out zero dollars. Without a sample in person, you may have purchased ALL of your invitations, realized you didn’t like them, and you’re left with two options: 1) mail them anyway, just because you already paid, or 2) purchase entirely new invitations, which is a waste of paper and money.

I know if it was me, I would much rather get free samples first. (Use code 10FREESAMPLES here to get up to 10 free!)

BONUS: Get a free wedding website

While you’re getting all savvy + saving money, you might as well also grab a free wedding website here! It costs zero and you can update it with your pictures, wedding details, wedding party info, etc. Enjoy!

P.S. This is just one style — there are many website designs to choose from on the website.

And there you have it: our top tips for how to save money on invitations. Which tip here will save you the most? Which of these tips have you already tried? Have one to add to our list? Be sure to include it in the comment box below! We’d love to hear from you. ↓

Hope it helps + Happy Planning!

xo
Emma