Invitations: Staing Within Your Budget

The wedding invitation sets the tone for your wedding. It's the first impression your guests will get of the upcoming event.

Unfortunately, wedding invitations are also a perfect example of how spending on nuptials can take on a life of its own. At first blush, this topic looks like small change. How much can a few invitations, envelopes and stamps cost, anyway?

Glance through any invitation catalog or visit any stationery store, however, and you'll quickly realize how this little expense can grow to big bucks in no time. The average amount spent on invitations is $200. Fancier options and extras can push the tab over $1,000.


What you're buying
Buying invitations is a little like buying a meal at an ࠬa carte restaurant. The entr饠is reasonably priced, but you have to buy the salad, appetizer and dessert separately.

With invitations, the entr饠is the basic invitation design (paper style and printing) plus the envelopes (two for formal invitations and one for more informal options). The "accessories" -- priced separately from the original invitation -- are as follows:

• Reception cards
  
• Response cards (an envelope with your return address printed is included with each response card)
  
• Postage for response-card envelopes
  
• Envelope linings -- to add a little flair and color to invitations
  
• Printing your return address on the back flap of the outer envelopes
  
• Informals (used mainly as thank-you notes)
  
• Exclusive (or photo) lettering -- more expensive than regular lettering, but exclusive lettering gives you a wider choice of type-styles
  

Sample cost breakdown
To see how these add up, check out the sample costs for 200 invitations from a popular invitation brand available at most print shops and stationers.

Basic invitation Return address on flap Reception card Response card Lined envelopes Informals	158.50 40.30 77.50 95.50 34.00 77.50
Total	$483.30

The basic invitation was less than $160. Add some extras, however, and the bill can double or triple. That's not even including the postage!

The bottom line: The best money-saving strategy with wedding invitations is creating alternatives to those "optional extras."