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After a few invite posts with no photos, I’m ready to reveal the Starfish invites!
Since we went with a super simple design on the invitation suite, I wanted to add a fun embellishment. I’ve seen twine used on a few other bees’ invites and knew it would be the perfect finishing touch.
I wish I didn’t have to blur anything out, because the invite looks pretty blah here, but we used a calligraphy font for our names to make them stand out a bit.
Sometimes DIY projects end up costing more than if you had just purchased the product elsewhere, such as our save the dates. I didn’t know if our invites would end up being a savings or if they would end up costing us a ton, but I figured I had no time to figure it out and went head-on into the project.
Invitation Budget
PaperSource
5 packs 4 Bar Luxe White Flat Cards (sets of 25)- $3.50 ea, $17.50 total
Calligraphy Budget
I didn’t want our calligraphy too formal, as we are going for a more casual vibe, so I love the font she used. We also had to get the lighthouse stamps to follow along with our nautical vibe. A friend helped address about 35 invites, so I plan to get her a thank you gift, which isn’t included in the budget. If we weren’t in such a time crunch, I would have loved to have had her do all of them.
Postage Budget
Materials I already owned
Total Cost for invitation materials: $222.58, not including tax for items from Michaels and Paper-Source
Total Cost for Calligraphy: $58.00
Total Cost for Postage:$107.60
Total cost for 120 invites: $388.18, or $3.23 per invitation
DIY invites actually helped us come in under budget! Based on research I had done, I was expecting to pay a minimum of $450.00 for 120 invitations that include the outer envelope, invitation, reception card, response card, and response envelope. I also have a lot of leftover supplies, like lots of baker’s twine I plan to use for other projects. The largest expense was the personal calligraphy address stamp, which will also be used for many years to come! I was pleasantly surprised by the final cost of the invitations. Which not only includes the invites, but the calligraphy and postage, as well. It did help that we had many materials already left over from our save the dates, which ended up costing more per card than our invites.
We had originally budgeted $500 for invites, $126.00 for postage and $150.00 for calligraphy. I had thought we’d need .61 cent stamps for the outer envelopes, but we only needed .44 cent stamps, which was a savings. We went under budget by $387.82! We spent about 50% of our expected budget, which is super helpful, because I’m really nervous we’ll be over-budget with our guest list.
Did your invites cost more or less than you were expecting?
Tjose look great! Good job getting them out and congrats on tying all those bows.
Oh my goodness, I wish my handwriting was that gorgeous!
Want to do address my invites too?
They look amazing!
Thanks so much for including the cost breakdown! So many times I wonder about that on the big invite reveals.
Starfish - love the twine, colors, and calligraphy! Ok, fine, I love it all. Great work!
Beautiful! The twine definitely adds a lot - I love it!
They look great! Love the twine. Classy and simple 
What fonts did you use?
They were less than I was expecting, but with the 61 cent stamps it really added to the cost and with postage they were still pretty cheap at $2.44/invite and think all in all they prob were less when I factor in that we had enough to make 100 with some supplies left over.
Oh duh …..I love how yours turned out…they may be simple, but they sure are classy and that twine adds a very nice touch!
you did such a great job!! with your invitations and your budgeting! congrats : ) i’ve taken notes…
We were under budget until it came time to print them. We were going to take them somewhere to get printed, but in the end I figured out a way to do them at home. Some of them are not perfect but I’m still really pleased overall.
yours look very classy! the ridiculous $28 for twine was very much worth it. i think it adds a lot.
i have no idea if mine are under budget or not. i’m diy-ing them and won’t add up the final cost. i know that i L-O-V-E mine and that’s all that matters to me.
(plus it would just be so hard to do because certain things are being used for multiple projects)
They look fabulous! And way to go, coming in under budget!!
I did DIY invitations, and was so convinced I was saving money, until I added it all up and…what the heck! Where did that number come from?!
But my reason for DIYing wasn’t for cost: it was because after WAY too much shopping, I’d found absolutely nothing even similar to what I wanted. This way, I got exactly what I’d envisioned.
@DizzyDaffodil: I wish that were my handwriting! That was done by a friend of the family.
@edot: The main font is Biondi, I’ll ahve to look up the rest. I did it on my sisters computer, and dont have access right now.
@bakerysensei: It is hard to add up, liek the twine will be used in many other places, as will the other items. We had a good amount of supplies left over.
@Sarah: That happend to me with my save the dates. I couldnt believe the final number!
Awesome job! Love the font that your calligraphy is done in too! What font is that?
Wow! Your invites are way chic and the twine really ties the whole thing together. Awesome!
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Mrs. Starfish, Boston/Newport Age and Occupation: 25, Operations Assistant Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Sales Engagement Date: October 8, 2008 Wedding Date: October 2010 Venue: The Atlantic Beach Club About Me: I'm a perfectionist who is a planner at heart. I don't do well with surprises. I love planning, crafting, Newport RI, family and friends, and most importantly, Mr. Starfish---all of which will be big components in our October wedding in our favorite little city by the sea.
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