Weddingbee Blog

Word to the wise: read Mrs. Hot Wings’ warning post Are you considering DIY? Read this first before you embark on any major projects. I wish I would have. Why? Because I spent more than I would have liked on our Save the Dates. I hate to admit it, because I like to think of myself as a cost-conscious bride, but the truth is I spent more than it would have cost us to just order the stinkin’ things.

Here’s the approximate breakdown:

• 100 Magnets = $100
• Paper Source Envelopes = $35
• Embossing Powder, Ink, & Heating Device = $30 ($10 stamp, $10 powder, and $10 heating device with a coupon)
• Labels = $40 for full sheet labels (This does not including the money I spent on our sticker machine, because I abandoned that method half way through the process)
• Ribbon = $20 (approximately $1 per ribbon)
• Tags = Free (I used cardstock from home)
• Postage = $30 (each envelope cost 44 cents and we had about 60 to send)

Grand total = $255

To make myself feel better, I remember the Save the Dates I considered ordering, which cost about $500, and think “at least I didn’t do that!” Nevertheless, there’s still a lot about our DIY Save the Dates I wish I would have done differently, and feel compelled to share so that you’ll be smarter than me.

I’m one of those people that loves to plan, but loves jumping in and getting started more. I don’t like to read manuals or follow directions, I usually jump in and see what I can figure out on my own first. While sometimes this saves me time, in making our save the dates, this cost me money.

Planning FAIL! I was so excited about ordering the magnets, I ordered 100 without even having our guest list finalized. After getting the guest list nailed down, amidst the creation of our save the dates, I now have more than 30 extra magnets and nothing to do with them. Even though you probably already know this, I highly suggest having the guest list ready and knowing exactly how many Save the Dates you’re making, before you start.

Don’t do too much either. I was really excited with the final look of our save the dates, but in all honestly, if they weren’t embossed and didn’t have the ribbon, nobody would have noticed. Mama Brooch and Granny Brooch tried to tell me not to go overboard, but I just wouldn’t listen. In hindsight, I don’t think the ribbon or the embossing were necessary, although I’m glad we chose to do it.

I can’t say it enough…

Plan, plan, plan!

I wasted so much money on trial and error. Money that is not accounted for in this breakdown. Namely, on the sticker machine. When it ran out of paper the first time, I should have gone ahead to plan B. Instead, I tried replacing the paper, breaking it, and buying a new one. Just to switch methods and go with full sheet labels later. I also wasted a lot of envelopes trying out different things because I didn’t know what I wanted to do (stamping before embossing, testing out labels before making our own, that sort of thing). So, be smarter than me and plan it out!

Oh, and look at price tags! I was so thrilled walking into Paper Source for the first time, I bought a ton of paper and envelopes, and other crap I didn’t need. Want to know the total of my first purchase there? A whopping $80! For what? Well, let’s see $11 ribbon for one. Ribbon I really liked and thought we’d use, until I realized the price.

I’m going to try to use the expensive ribbon for something else, but I would have saved myself a few bucks just looking at the price tag in the beginning and realizing I can’t by 10 of these for all of our save the dates! Eventually, I went with ribbon a fraction of the cost.

How much did you spend on your Save the Dates? Was it more or less than you anticipated you’d spend?