D-I-Y Invitations :: How to do it right! By: Chaviva Lifson, Tickle Tickle Inc.

Many clients sit down with me and they have already seen something that works for them. The invitations of their dreams… but it needs some tweaking. They recognize that they want a style that may exceed their budget. They have 3 choices:

1)            Modify the style
2)            Modify the budget
3)            Do some of the invitation assembly themselves.

If a bride and groom are interested in the DIY option I will never discourage them. The sense of pride and accomplishment that I have seen in couples is phenomenal! I will make several recommendations to make sure that the experience is a good one for them.

Recommendations:

-          Have a professional take care of the layout and printing. These are 2 aspects of invitation design that can be most frustrating, overwhelming and time consuming. The money spent on the layout and printing by a professional can actually save you quite a bit as it can become very costly if errors are many and the invitations are incorrectly printed.

-          Have your designer help you “design” your invitation – colours, layers, embellishments! You know what you like and they have the experience. There will usually be a design fee charged, but many designers will deduct it from the final bill if you are using them for printing as well. It never hurts to ask.

-          You can source the paper yourself and try to save some money, but ask your designer for a “materials only” price. The paper quality will likely be better and you may be surprised that the price is similar – without you having to run around and find everything yourself. (They have the resources since this is what they do for a living!)

-          Many designers will rent their professional tape guns out for a small fee – either by the day or the week.

Ask about “Assembly Nights”. They are essentially a night where you get a few friends together at your place, and your designer will get you all started on the proper way to do the invitation assembly. It will be about 1-2 hours of your designer’s time, but you will have the peace of mind that it is being done properly. Once the designer leaves, you can continue with your party as long as you want. Grab some wine, put on some great music and you’ll be recommending DIY invitations to everyone!

Written By: Tickle Tickle Invitation