Starting a wedding invitation business is one thing – you need to know how to design wedding invitations, where to print your invitations, the best places to source envelopes, and so much more! But even if you know all of that…how do you get clients for your wedding invitation business? Because none of the other stuff matters if no one is buying your work!

I know tons of talented designers who aren’t booking the clients they deserve, not because they aren’t good enough, but because they’re not sure how to market their invitation business! So while I can’t wave a magic wand and get you booked up immediately – here are my best tips for how to get clients for your wedding invitation business.

Know Who Your Ideal Clients Are

Don’t skip this step! It’s one almost everyone is getting wrong. You’re constantly sharing your work, but it’s not connecting with anyone, or maybe it’s connecting with the wrong people (people who end up ghosting, not having the right budget, etc.). This is all because you don’t know who you’re talking to.

If you want your messaging to reach the right clients – you need to be where they are. You need to understand how they talk. You need to know WHY they would want to work with you. And the answers to those questions will be different for every type of client. So fill out this free worksheet and be as detailed as you can. Turn this ideal client into a very specific persona, and make sure you’re thinking about *that person* (it’s helpful to give them a name!) every time you’re marketing your work! 

Build Your Invitation Portfolio

You need at least 10 invitation suites in your portfolio. Why? Because this shows that you know what you’re doing. If you have friends who need invitations, you can offer to give them a really discounted rate, or you can simply invest in creating these suites as a cost of starting your business.

These 10 suites should be the type of work you really want to create – and the type of work your ideal client will LOVE. That might mean investing in some embellishments or higher-end print methods, but it’s worth it, I promise. No one is going to book you if you don’t have good work to show. Some of my favorite printers have a 10 minimum quantity, so you don’t have to buy a ton! 

Style the suites and photograph them the way your ideal client would want you to! If your ideal market is high-end, you might want to hire a photographer to take high-end photos, for instance.

Building a portfolio is also helpful because it will teach you a lot about design, printing, etc.

Build a Website

Yes, you need a website if you want to book invitation clients. No, it doesn’t have to be complicated! You need just a few things on your website – if you’re not tech-savvy, I recommend Squarespace as it’s really plug-and-play and easy to set up something beautiful!

You CAN dive deep into SEO, and I think it’s a highly under-rated marketing technique, but if you’re not going to do that then just think of your website as a place people go to find more info. Most likely, you’re sparking their interest on another platform (in the next section!), and they’re just visiting the website for the details: your exact offerings, starting price, contact info, etc. And for that added trust factor that you’re not some weird AI scam. So that’s all your website really needs to provide!

Share your Invitations on Instagram + Pinterest

Instagram and Pinterest are still the 2 platforms I’d focus on for 2026 as a wedding invitation designer. They are both visual, easily searchable, and more curated than something like TikTok. Personally, I see a ton of stuff on TikTok that I was NOT looking for, but wedding invitations are something that your clients will actively be looking for, and for that type of product, I usually go to Instagram or Pinterest.

For best results, try to share on Instagram once a weekday. A mix of reels and carousels will usually yield the most engagement. I like to think of Reels as a tool for expanding to NEW followers, and carousels for reaching EXISTING followers. I don’t think I need to repeat it…but your work here should capture your ideal client! Not sure what to post? Here’s a freebie for you!

For Pinterest, grab Tailwind – I schedule posts a few times a quarter but Tailwind makes it look like my account is active every day! 

Should I Sell Invitations on Etsy?

*IF* your work is a good fit for Etsy, then I would recommend starting there vs. your own website. You technically don’t even need an Instagram if you’re going deep into Etsy – but Pinterest and Etsy work well together so I’d still recommend pinning all of your Etsy listings! 

Now how do you know if your work is a good fit for Etsy? With invitations, the main difference is just how customizable your work is. You CAN sell custom invitations on Etsy, but in general, you’ll be a better fit if people can see what they’re getting and the options available to them. So if you do semi-custom invitations or templates, those will do well on Etsy. Custom invitations will often be a little harder to sell on Etsy.

If your work is a good fit for the Etsy audience, then diving deep into Etsy can be really great because there’s a built-in audience and you won’t have to drive traffic if you understand how to get traffic directly on Etsy. You may end up expanding to your own site eventually, but you’ll need to start driving your own leads there.

If you don’t think you want to deal with Etsy, or it’s not right for your ideal audience, then definitely start with Instagram and Pinterest, in addition to a simple website.

Network with Wedding Planners + Vendors

One of the best things you can do when you start your invitation business is to network within the wedding community. Specifically, wedding planners are a wonderful resource for qualified, higher-budget clients!

My best tips for getting leads from Wedding Planners:

• Research! Don’t reach out to EVERY wedding planner, but only those that work with similar clients
• Treat them as the client
• Explain how you can make their life easier
• Make contact in a natural way, build the relationship over time
• Send sample kits that work well for their clients, and go over the sample kits with them on Zoom or in person
• Help them with styled shoots or small events as a way of showing what it’s like to work with you

There is not a magic wand that I can give you to forge positive relationships with planners. This takes time! Planners are not some fairies giving out leads, they are people too. They want to see that you’re going to make their life easier, serve their clients well, and create gorgeous work! How can you best prove that to them? 

A really simple plan for connecting with planners is to attend one networking event per month, and to reach out to 5 new wedding planners every month! Don’t copy and paste a scammy email, but reach out to them individually and personally.

Repeat

Now is the hard part – you just have to rinse and repeat this strategy! It’s not a simple get-rich-quick scheme or everyone would be doing it. But if you are true to who your ideal client is, and post your messaging in the right places for those people to see it – then the clients WILL come. This will get easier the bigger your portfolio is, the bigger your online presence is, and the more people you’ve networked with. So make sure to set aside some time every week to work on your marketing, even when you’re busy with projects, so that the leads keep coming in!

Things I Wouldn’t Do

I wouldn’t recommend a few things when it comes to marketing your wedding invitation business:

• I wouldn’t scam every person you know in real life when they get engaged (these people are not always your ideal client, and you’re burning friendships)
• I wouldn’t invest in a fancy website with all the bells and whistles until you have proof of concept
• I wouldn’t rebrand 7 times
• I wouldn’t change your offerings every month when you feel like something isn’t working. Stay the course!
• I wouldn’t do styled shoots that aren’t speaking to your ideal client
• I wouldn’t pay for advertising in The Knot, Wedding Wire, etc.! These have consistently proven to not be worth it and they have only gotten worse over the years

Need More Help?

Want to develop a personalized marketing plan together? This is my favorite thing to do! Book a consult call here! We’ll come up with your core messages, ideal client strategy, and an easy plan to follow as you grow your business.