Cheap Wedding Invitations: Best Wedding Invites For a Small Budget

If you've got a smaller budget for your wedding, you're probably looking for ways to save money. And by the time you get to the invitations, you've already paid for so much! Between the venue, the food, drinks, dresses and everything else, your budget's probably maxed out.

The invitations seem like a good place to save some money. Besides, everyone's just going to throw them out, anyway. So why not send cheap wedding invitations?

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The Problem With Cheap Wedding Invitations

The invitations are just one small element in all the planning you're doing. But think about it from the guest's point of view. The wedding invitation is the only information they have about your wedding. They'll get the date, the location and the rest of the details. But they’ll also get a first impression from the look and feel of your invitations.

You know all the details, but your guests don't. You know that even though it’s an unusual venue or time, you’ve done your best to make sure your guests have a great experience. You might have upgraded your decorations, your food or your drinks to make sure everyone enjoys your wedding.

But your guests won’t know that until they arrive. All they know is the information they get from your invitations. If they get cheap invitations, they’ll expect your wedding to be cheap. The invitations you send will influence what your guests wear, how they show up and even the gift they bring.

Of course, you’re not inviting them just for the gifts! But as a guest, if I expect a small, casual wedding, I’ll bring a card with a small gift. If I arrive and it’s actually a full on, sit down dinner I’d be embarrassed that I brought such a small gift. Plus, if the invitation made me think it was low key, I probably dressed low key. Once I arrived I’d realize I’d made a mistake with my outfit, too.

Choose a Wedding Invitation That Matches Your Wedding Style

Is your wedding formal, semi formal or casual? How do you want your guests to dress? Most people will choose their outfits based on the wedding invitation. Even if you don't set a dress code, most people will wear floor length gowns or tuxedos if they receive a formal invitation. If they get a semi formal wedding invitation, most guests will arrive in cocktail dresses or suits. A casual wedding invitation will have guests wearing sundresses, slacks or khakis.

Formal Wedding Invitations

Typically, a formal wedding has a bigger budget. If you’re planning a formal wedding, you’ve probably spent a minimum of $20,000 and you should order professional wedding invitations in a higher price range. Formal wedding stationery suites will include an invitation to the ceremony, plus a reception card, and an RSVP card.

Semi Formal Wedding Invitations

If you’re planning a semi formal wedding, there’s lots of options for affordable wedding invitations. Most semi formal suites include an invitation card plus an RSVP card. Look for affordable invitation sets that match the style and semi formal tone of your wedding.

Casual Wedding Invitations

If you're planning a casual wedding, you can choose affordable wedding invitations that fit your budget the best. You can invite your guests with printed, DIY or handwritten invitations. If your wedding is super casual, you can even invite your guests with an email or text. As long as the style matches your wedding, your invitations are perfect.

Figure Out How Much You Can Spend

I’m not a fan of breaking your wedding budget down by percentages, and here’s why. It works out okay if you’ve got a bigger budget. But if you’re working with a smaller wedding budget, the percentages just don’t make sense. Typical wedding budget breakdowns recommend spending 2 to 3% of your budget on wedding stationery:

With a $15,000 wedding budget, 2 percent is $300 for invitations.
With a $10,000 wedding budget, 2 percent is $200 for invitations.
With a $5,000 wedding budget, 2 percent is $100 for invitations.
With a $2,000 wedding budget, 2 percent is $40 for invitations.

Sample Budget For 100 Guests With 50 Invitations

As soon as you look at this invitation budget, you’ll see a problem - the price of postage stamps! If you’re on a smaller wedding budget, once you’ve allowed for postage there’s nearly nothing left over for the actual invitations.

You’ll need to add $90 to whatever your invitation budget is, in order to cover the stamps. Instead of using percentages, you’ll have to juggle your numbers around, until you can make it work.

$29 Postage stamps x50 for invitations.
$29 Postage stamps x50 for rsvp cards.
$29 Postage stamps x50 for thank you cards.
$125 Wedding invitations.
$100 RSVP cards.
$50 Thank you cards.
Grand Total: $362

Ideas For Saving Money on Your Wedding Invites

One big wedding expense is postage stamps. If you’re inviting people you visit regularly, try hand delivering your wedding invites, and thank you cards to save money on postage.
Another way to save postage is by skipping the RSVP cards and asking your guests to reply on your wedding website.
Instead of ordering matching, personalized thank you cards, buy an affordable stationery set from Amazon and handwrite your thank you’s.
Shop around online and compare prices. Sign up for newsletters from companies you’re interested in. They’ll usually offer coupons, deals or discounts for signing up. Or wait for a sale before ordering your wedding invitations.
Check the budget savvy section for affordable wedding invitations on Minted.
The absolute cheapest way to send wedding invitations is electronically. With digital invitations, you won’t need to worry about printing or postage. And as a bonus: it’s better for the environment!

Budget Savvy Wedding Invitation Designs From Minted

All In One wedding invitations are a budget savvy way to save money. All the information is printed on one long card, with a detachable RSVP card at the bottom. They arrive with all your guests addresses pre-printed for you. All you need to do is add postage stamps, fold and seal them with the included stickers. The entire wedding suite can cost as little as $2 per card and you won’t need to order separate RSVP cards.

Send a Single Card Instead of an Invitation Suite

This suggestion might be shouted down by wedding etiquette experts, but: consider skipping paper RSVP cards. Depending on your crowd, more than half your guest won’t return them anyway. Save money on the cards and the stamps by allowing RSVP on your wedding website only.

Since most people aren’t returning the cards, what’s the difference if they don't respond by mail or via your website? Either way, you’ll need to reach out to them to get an answer.

Four Panel Cards in regular or petite sizes are perfect for including all your wedding information in one spot. You can include details for your wedding ceremony and reception on the same card.

Minted invitations even include a free, matching website to collect your RSVPs. You can set up your wedding website before you mail the invitations, and wait for the replies to arrive online.

Want a closer look at the wedding invitations from Minted? Get 3 free samples with the code 3FREE.

Inexpensive Wedding Invitations: Electronic or Email Wedding Invites

Electronic wedding invitations are becoming more popular. They're easy to customize and send. You'll save money on paper and postage. Plus they're better for the environment.

If you've got older, or more traditional wedding guests that you're worried about, plan on calling them ahead of time. If you let them know what to expect, they won't be confused or offended. They'll be pleased you took the time to call them and happy to receive the invitation.

Is It Cheaper to Buy or Make Your Wedding Invitations?

If you're looking for standard printed wedding invitations, you can either DIY or order professionally printed ones for the same amount of money.

Remember, DIY isn't free. You'll still need to buy paper, ink and wedding invitation envelopes. Plus you'll need special tools, like a printer or craft cutting machine. If you're not already a crafter, just setting up to make DIY wedding invitations could end up costing more than a nice, professionally printed invitation suite.

Of course, if you love crafting projects, making wedding invitations can be a lot of fun. And you can add special touches, like wax seals or hand tied ribbons, that would be out of budget if you ordered them professionally done.

How to DIY Affordable Wedding Invitations

One easy way to DIY some inexpensive wedding invitations is by designing them on your computer, then uploading them to print at an online printer. It’s great to send invitations that are inexpensive, but it’s best if they don’t look too cheap. Two things that make DIY invitations look cheap are poor design and low quality paper.

How to Avoid Poor Design

Even professional designers have a hard time coming up with something completely new. If you want to design your own wedding invitations, look for a free template that you can tweak, to make it your own.

Or you can check out Etsy for professionally designed templates that are affordable and easy to customize. You can find thousands of wedding invitation templates for less than $10. Simply purchase the template. Follow the sellers instructions to personalize it for your wedding. Then upload it to a discount printer.

Need some ideas? Here’s a favorites list of cheap templates from Etsy: Affordable Wedding Invitation Templates

How to Avoid Low Quality Paper

Most printers offer a few different types of paper, usually value, standard or deluxe. If you’re planning a formal wedding, you’ll want to choose a thick, high quality paper. But for most semi formal or casual wedding invitations, standard, or even the value paper is fine.

If the price seems very low, try to get a sample of the paper ahead of time and make sure it’s not too thin or flimsy. Sometimes thinner paper won’t take printing as well as higher quality paper. When you get your sample, make sure the ink doesn’t seem faded or blurred.

Remember: Size is Important

If you’re on a tight budget for your wedding, a few cents difference in postage will matter, especially once you multiply it by 50 or more. The size of your invitations will affect how much postage you’ll need to buy for the envelopes.

For the least expensive option, choose an invitation that’s 5” x 7” or smaller and weighs less than one ounce. If it’s heavier, it’ll cost more. Odd sizes will also need more postage. A square invitation is really cool looking, but it’ll cost an extra 30 cents for each one.

Standard Postage For Wedding Invitations:

An invitation that is 5” x 7” and weighs less than one ounce costs 58 cents
One to two ounces costs 78 cents
Odd shapes start at 88 cents
International mail costs more, depending on the destination

Affordable Wedding Invitations

When you first start looking at invitations, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Take your time checking out the different options. But don’t get too hung up on it. As soon as you find some that match your style, and fit your budget - you’ve found the perfect wedding invitations!

Don’t Forget Your Free Sample

It’s always a good idea to get a sample before you order your wedding invitations. You’ll be able to see the printing quality, and feel the weight and texture of the paper. You can even have it weighed and make sure the postage will fit your budget.

If you’re interested in the All In One, Four Panel or Petit Wedding Invitations from Minted, you can choose 3 free invitation samples with the code 3FREE :

Order Free Samples