When my husband and I got married, I made the wedding invitations myself.  I did this partly because I think custom-made invitations are ridiculously expensive, and after all, we were on a budget.  But I also did it because I wanted wedding invitations that didn’t look just like everybody else’s.

We opted for photo invitations, which we thought were more unique and personalized than the typical wedding invitation styles.  I printed our homemade wedding invitations using a photo printer and the heaviest cardstock we could find, and then used a paper cutter to trim them down to size.  I made the reception inserts the same way, and bought a professional-looking do-it-yourself kit for the response cards and envelopes.  For the finishing touch, I chose traditional fancy wedding invitation envelopes — the kinds with the lined inner envelope and the unlined outer (mailing) envelope.

To make your own wedding invitations, you will need:

• Some ideas for design and visual layout – Search online for wedding invitation layout suggestions
• Some ideas for the text that you want on the invitation and inserts – Search online for wedding invitation verse suggestions
• Heavy duty cardstock or photo paper, depending on how heavy grade or glossy you want your invitations to be
• Fancy envelopes – Lined or unlined, double or single
• A paper cutter to produce straight, smooth edges – I like guillotine cutters work best, but personal trimmers or rotary trimmers could also work

Although some people prefer to just have someone else do their wedding invitations, I actually enjoyed making our invitations.  It felt to me like a much more personal way to prepare for our wedding, and I certainly liked the results much better than I would have liked cookie-cutter traditional invitations!