What do wedding invitations cost? We have a great post about WHY invitations cost what they do, but a lot of couples ask me the question “What can we do with our budget?” so I thought we’d help answer that today! There are so many misleading posts out there – you’ll find The Knot saying that average wedding invitation cost is around $500, and then Brides tells us that the average couple spends $5,000 – $8,000 on invites, so it’s hard to know what to believe.

Keep on scrolling for an example of what you can get at a few different price points!

The truth is that every budget is fine for invitations – at first glance, Minted.com’s 2-piece invites start at about $3/set. I always like to say the upper limit to wedding invitation costs doesn’t reeeeally exist. If you want us to hire Chippendales to deliver your invitations on horseback…we will. So that’s a pretty big range for what invitations cost – $3 up to infinity?

The trick to wedding budgeting is all about prioritizing what’s valuable to you and your fiancé. We’ve covered five general price levels that are common amongst our clients, but keep in mind that all of these wedding invites are mix-and-match-able (say that 3 times fast!).

Also, you may say that these four invitations aren’t the exact same. We get that, we’re not trying to pull one over on you – but the basic layout with watercolor frames and text on the inside is the same. We’ll use these similar invitations to show you which pieces and printing methods affect the price – and by how much. We’ll also offer a general disclaimer that all pricing listed is approximate and subject to change for many reasons.hu7jyi8o;

Pre-Designed Wedding Invitations

Price for 100 – $620

$6.20/Suite

This suite has everything that you need – an invitation, an RSVP card, 2 matching envelopes, and the added bonus of an envelope liner for a little extra flair! Both pieces are printed on single-thick paper, but the full-color watercolor designs add an extra pop! This design is available in our shop here, so there is no custom design fee which cuts the price down a good bit. Add in a little hand addressing, and you’ll have beautiful suites without breaking the bank!

To save money on these wedding invites:

Without the envelope liner, you’re looking at $5 apiece, so $500 total. If you do online RSVPs, we can even remove the reply envelope, so that’ll be an extra $1 apiece off. You’re looking at $400 for 100 invites.

Pre-Designed Invitations + Upgrades

Price for 100 – $1,020 (varies)

$10.20/Suite (varies)

If you want to add a little pizzazz to any of our pre-designed invitation suites, you can choose from a variety of upgrades. The pictured suite includes an addition of silk ribbon and wax seal, which are about ~$2 per suite additional, each. You can also see calligraphy addressing and vintage postage, both of which can give your invitations a pop too!

Some upgrade options include things like:

• Printed addressing $
• Belly Bands $
• String Tie $
• Calligraphy Addressing $$$
• Letterpress or Foil Printing $$$
• Wax Seals $$
• Vintage Postage $$$
• Vellum Wrap $
• Silk Ribbon $$

Pre-designed Invitations + Customization

Price for 100 – $1,200

$6/suite + $600 customization

Not seeing exaaactly what you want anywhere? You can always adapt an invitation suite by adding custom artwork or changing things up slightly. This is an example of our Monogram Suite, but with a custom venue illustration added at the top.

Custom Wedding Invitations

Price for 100 – $2,750

$1,500 Custom Design Fee + $9/Suite + $350 Foil Upgrade

If you’re looking for something a bit more one-of-a-kind, then custom design may be the way to go for your invitations! This suite includes the same pieces, technically, but a design would be something new that is inspired by you and your fiancé’s love story. Our custom design packages include anything from calligraphy names and watercolor maps to venue sketches and puppy drawings!

If you want to upgrade your invitations a little, but aren’t sure which will make the most impact, you’ll likely be in our most popular client area, which is that of custom designed invitations with a few choice upgrades. For this suite, we’ve added gold foil printing and double-thick paper on the main invitation, a die-cut Details card, and printed return + guest addresses. The foil printing and double thick paper help the main invitation stand out above all the other pieces (it is the most important, after all!).

Custom Invitations with All the Bells + Whistles

Price for 100 – $3,500 minimum

$1,500 Custom Design Fee + $16.50/Suite + $350 Foil Upgrade

You’d be hard-pressed to find an upper limit to invitation costs if you were really searching for it. I could diamond-encrust a crystal ball, etch it with your wedding info, and pay 100 Chippendales to deliver them on horseback around the country, sure (anyone? Bueller?).

But in the interest of keeping us in the real world, this suite is a great example of a couple who prioritized branding and stationery elements for their wedding. They even had 12 matching pieces for the day of the wedding, using these design elements. For the invites, we added the gold foil stamping, double thick paper, 2 extra insert cards, a printed vellum wrap, custom wax seal, return address printing, and gold address calligraphy. We like to imagine that each guest felt like they’d received a special gift in the mail that day – and that they understood they were being invited to a luxurious event, full of meaningful, personalized touches!

The Cost of Wedding Invitations

Micro-Wedding Invitations

We’ve got a whole bunch of micro-wedding invitations in our Etsy Shop!

When it comes to things like foil stamping and letterpress printing, those don’t often make sense for small weddings because of a high cost of entry. But there are lots of upgrades that work well for small weddings!

• Silk Ribbon
• Wax Seal
• Belly Band
• String Tie
• Envelope Liners
• Pocket Enclosures
• Vellum Wraps
• Hand-painted Details
• Calligraphy Addressing
• Gold leafing

All of these details aren’t quantity-dependent, so if you only have 10 invitations, you only have to pay for 10 wax seals, for instance. You can create a really customized look even using a pre-determined invitation design (like one from our shop).

Save Money on Wedding Invites

Some of my favorite cost-saving invitation tips are below! The biggest thing you can do is go with a pre-designed or semi-custom suite, as custom design time will be your absolute largest cost in most cases.

1. Use the back of your Cards (not the invitation card!)
2. Online RSVPs
3. String Tie! It’s a really inexpensive upgrade that gives a luxury feel
4. Stick to digital printing
5. Upgrade the invitation itself to double-thick or luxury printing, but stick with digital printing for the other pieces
6. Oversized invites! Going a size up from 5×7″ to 5.5×8.5″ is a significantly lower cost than doing letterpress printing or foil stamping and it feels really luxurious!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this breakdown of wedding invitations at different price points. Let me know what you’re thinking for your invitations, and feel free to shop ours on Etsy or submit a request for a custom invitation design.

xoxo,

Laney