Wedding invitations are one of those details you can’t just skip. Although you may prefer to say, “Oh, that sounds nice, but we’re not doing it for our wedding,” invitations are not optional. But that doesn’t mean it has to cost a lot of money to send them out.
In this blog post, I’ll provide you with some tips on how to save money on wedding invitations without guests even noticing. As a result, you’ll be able to stretch that budget even further.
Let’s get started!
How to Save Money on Wedding Invitations
1. Keep your invitations simple.
You don’t need to overwhelm yourself with all the “extras”. Things like vellum jackets and belly bands are nice, but each one multiplied by your total number of invites really adds up. If you don’t like the style or don’t need it, skip it. It is unlikely anyone will notice.
You only need five basic components:
– the invitation card
– the outer envelope
– the RSVP card
– the RSVP envelope
– enclosure card: “for more details, please see our wedding website at [link]”
The invitation card will reveal the main parts of the wedding: who is getting married, where, and when.
Since the invitation card provides information on the ceremony only, you’ll use that enclosure card mentioned to include a link to your wedding website. Guests can then access your wedding website and find out details such as dress code, hotel accommodations, reception time, cocktail hour, things to do around town, etc.
Take it one step further: accept online digital RSVPs via the same wedding website and you can skip the RSVP card and RSVP envelope altogether. On the enclosure card, you’ll simply include, “To RSVP for our wedding and for additional details, please see our wedding website at [LINK]”.
TIP: You can make a 100% free wedding website here.
Here’s an example of an enclosure card stating this in detail:
To make it super easy for guests to RSVP instantly, get a QR code here that links to your wedding website. Then, print it on a card like this:
See? You’re saving money already. I like it.
2. Send RSVP cards as a postcard instead.
If you prefer sending traditional RSVP cards but want to save money on wedding invitations, send postcards instead. This eliminates the need for the RSVP envelope and will save on postage, too, since postcard stamps cost less than first-class mail postage (currently $0.51 for a postcard stamp vs. $0.66 for a regular stamp, via USPS).
For as low as $0.71 each, you can send a minimalist postcard RSVP like this one to your guests:
Additionally, you can opt for an invitation that folds into itself to create its own envelope. As a bonus, the RSVP card is attached to the invite with perforation and can be sent in the mail as a postcard. Brilliant! You can get this style via Minted.
3. Make sure you only send one invitation per household.
Don’t send too many invitations! You only need to send one invite per household, unless a guest is 18 years of age or older (then, they’ll receive their own invitation).
4. Check for accurate postage at the post office.
One unique way to save money on invitations is by making sure you don’t add too much postage — or not enough. Without enough postage, the post office will stamp this ugly “insufficient postage” stamp in red across the front of each invitation. These will all get sent back to you and you’ll be back to square one. This means a total reprint of envelopes and you’ll need to repurchase the postage all over again. Yikes!
If you add too much postage, the invitations will reahc the destination but that will be money wasted.
You can save money by taking one fully-assembled wedding invitation to the post office. Ask them to weigh it and tell you exactly how much postage it costs to mail it. This way, your invites will be perfectly posted and ready for delivery.
Now that you know how to save money on wedding invitations, take it one step further. Read: 7 Best Places to Buy Cheap Wedding Invitations to cut costs and get quality cards for less.
Happy Planning!
xo
Emma
