Any and all information and details on this appreciated! (i.e. cost for just invitations, cost for invitations with details insert, what quality of paper used).
We will be sending about 100 invites and I’m wondering if it would save money to edit a design on Etsy and find a local print shop or if it would be cheaper to order some off of sites like zazzle, minted, etc (ones I like are around $230 for 100 invites without details insert).
Thanks in advance :)

After spending countless hours scouring Zola, Zazzle, Esty, Shutterfly, and this sub, I decided it’s finally time to reach out for a lifeline. My mother is insisting that my invitation suite be “professionally done”. So that begs the question… where the heck does one even look for a “professionally done” invitation suite?!
To provide some background, my mom and I are attempting to tackle wedding planning on our own, with the intention of hiring a month-of coordinator to get us to the goal line next year. However, both of us are working busy full time jobs and things have quickly started to teeter on the line of unmanageable for me. Pair that with the fact that she and my dad eloped 30 years ago (no wedding planning involved at all), and we’re really in the dark here.
While we’ve received beautiful invitation suites before, we have never had occasion to actually create one/send one out ourselves. For any events where formal invitations have been required in the past, I’ve DIY’d them on Canva and had them printed. We both agree that (mostly for my sanity) we do not want to attempt to DIY the wedding invites. But due to a total lack of experience, I truly don’t even know where to begin to look now.
I would be looking for the whole nine yards - invitation, matching envelope, matching RSVP card, matching details card, and a save the date in the same style would be an added bonus. Based on my mom’s comments, she seems to think this can be a one-stop-shop kind of ordeal, where they can be customized, printed, and addressed by the same “professional”/place. I haven’t really come across something like this in my many attempts at searching, and I’m near my wits’ end.
tl;dr - My mother is insisting that there’s a one-stop-shop kind of way to handle the invitation suite and I don’t even know where to begin to look.
Any recommendations on where to get an invitation suite “professionally done”? TIA!!!

Hi everyone! I’ve been looking around at invites and save the dates. We really want to send out physical invites. I’ve found a website called Zazzle that seems to have pretty good prices and options. Does anyone have an opinion on this website or any other budget friendly recommendations?

Buckle up, this is a long one! I personally loved pouring over the budget/recaps during the planning process so I knew pretty early on I’d want to write a detailed one of my own. Hopefully someone out there finds this helpful!
Disclaimer: Full transparency I want to start off by saying my parents paid for our wedding. It was a very unexpected offer but we are both very grateful for their generous assistance. My parents covered the venue and vendors and we covered the bar tab and tips.
Our wedding was in March and we booked all of our vendors in late 2021/early 2022 so our pricing will be different from current offerings (still included pricing). We invited 127, 104 RSVP’d yes, and 102 actually came.
Budget: My parents set a budget around $25-30K and I truly tried to stick to the lower end of it as much as possible. I would say the biggest part of the budget went to the venue.
Venue: Crestwood Country Club
Crestwood recently restructured their tiered package pricing (we signed in late 2021) so I can't speak of the current value, but since we were grandfathered in I think we got a pretty amazing deal on the Platinum Package with an off season discount.
Our package included:

• Guest's choice of three mains (plus a veggie option)
• A four course dinner including soup, salad, and the couple's wedding cake
• Two bottles of wine per table with dinner
• A late night snack bar
• Colored premium linens

Food & Beverage: We both come from aggressively large Italian families so the food had to be good and the bar had to be open.
We went with a classic Caesar salad to start followed by family style Portuguese soup to warm those bones on a very chilly March day.
For dinner our guests could pick either a stuffed chicken breast with sage stuffing, a grilled NY strip with red wine demi glace, pasta primavera (veggie), or salmon in a lemon butter sauce. Dinner was served with seasonal vegetables and parmesan whipped potatoes. I know wedding food can be "meh" but I need you to know a groomsman licked his plate clean and everyone is still gushing about it to me.
Our late night snack was a sliders and fries bar and that went over so well. I saw people run from. the dance floor to the bar area to get some.
Dessert came from Vienna Bakery in Barrington RI. We did a pastry buffet with chocolate mousse cups, cannoli, cream puffs, assorted fruit tarts, cheesecake bites, etc. and not a crumb was left over.
Photography: Jacquelina Paiva/ Jackaaalack Photography ($2,050). Seriously, if you are in New England and are looking for a wedding photographer Jackie should be at the top of your list! We already have a sneak peek gallery and I am OBSESSED.
Florals: In Bloom at Quality Fruitland in Seekonk MA ($2,790). Unconventional but worth every single penny. For that price we received 1 medium bridal bouquet, 5 bridesmaid bouquets, 9 boutonnieres, 3 bundles of roses for the moms, 2 flower crowns for the flower girls, 2 flower girl baskets with petals, 10 varied floral centerpieces, 1 floral garland for the head table, 1 large floor arrangement for the welcome area, 2 medium ceremony arrangements, and tulle on the sweeping staircase.
DJ: Music Mixers Entertainment. $1,850 for 5 ½ hours of music coverage (ceremony/cocktail houreception), uplighting, wireless mics for ceremony and toasts, planning sessions, and unlimited use of their wedding planning website and music catalog.
Stationery & Paper Goods: Save the Dates and Invites were from The Knot and Zola with coupons. I created some signage in Canva and had it printed through Walmart and then bought a seating chart template off Etsy (EastAlchamy) and had that printed onto foam board through Staples. I intended to DIY a lot but then gave up when stress got to me.
Decor & Extras:
Here is a quick breakdown of the decor we brought in

• BB8 Bride & Groom droids (DIY project)
• StaCloud light domes (DIY Project)
• Moon Arch photo spot (DIY project- arch bought at Tablecloth Factory)
• Assorted LED string lights (Target)
• Cake Topper ("Till Deathstar do us Part" from Etsy)
• Star Wars cake cutting set (Etsy)
• Custom matches for cigar bar (1 box of 50 from Zazzle with custom sticker)
• Artwork guest book (Etsy- OurLoveWasBorn star chart of our first date, engagement, and wedding)

Groomsmen Attire: The groom, groomsmen, and dads all wore three piece black suits from Men's Wearhouse with a platinum tie/vest. It was incredibly easy to set up a profile and have the guys go to their local stores for measurements and adjustments leading up to the big day. The suits were accessorized with custom Star Wars pocket squares.
Bridal Party Attire: All of the bridesmaids purchased their dresses from Azazie. All I asked was that they picked something floor length and in the color "Ink Blue" preferably in a chiffon fabric. They all wore silver shoes and everyone used the celestial pins from their bridesmaid gifts in their hair.
Gifts included matching satin pajamas, diamond earrings, and warm wraps in a neutral color.
Bride's Attire: The dress was purchased from Alexandra’s Bridal Boutique in Fall River MA (as for Meghan! She was a gem). The overall cost of the dress and alterations ended up being around $3K. Alterations were a flat fee of $795 and I will say now that it is over they didn't do the best job. They neglected to hem my dress a second time so I was tripping over it a lot on the day of but that would be my only complaint.
My wedding shoes were the Betsey Johnson Cady booties and then I changed into a pair of Jessica Simpson platform flip flops to dance in. Veil, earrings, and tiara all are from Etsy (LadySolomia and RoseRedRoseWhite).
My hair was masterfully crafted by Erin Asciola at Dirty Blonde Salon in Bristol RI and I did my own makeup using the following products: NARS Light Reflecting Longwear foundation, Fenty Beauty Pro Filt'r powder, KVD Beauty Tattoo Liner, Urban Decay All Nighter Spray, Benefit Precisely My Brow pencil, ULTA Beauty brand clear brow gel, ULTA Beauty brand shadow primer, MILK Makeup Hydrogrip primer, Embryolisse moisturizer, Too Faced Milk Chocolate bronzer, Fenty Beauty contour stick in Amber Rare Beauty liquid blush in Hope, Rare Beauty pressed highlighter in Enlighten, ABH Mini Glam 2 Go shadow palette, Charlotte Tilbury Pillowtalk liner and lipstick, and some magnetic lash strips from TJ Maxx cut into half lashes.
If you made it this far I have to admit that it was the best night of my life and I would easily do this again next year despite all of the stress and drama leading up to it. Now that it is all over I'm going to put the wedding binder deep into my closet and take a very long nap on the couch with my new husband. Thanks for reading, if you have any questions I'm happy to answer them!

I bought a tri-fold invitation off Zazzle thinking it would be easiemore cost effective. I cannot get my printer to take the paper and everything I have tried ends up in a jam. Does anyone have experience printing in this type of invitation? Ready to burn them and buy new ones lol

I can’t find invitations that go with my theme, starlit vineyard. I’ve found starry invitations, vineyard invitations, starry mountain invitations, etc but no starry vineyards. I’ve looked at Etsy, Canva, Minted, Zazzle, and none have templates that I can edit to what I’m looking for. Any suggestions?

Hey all, I’m hoping this community could help me with an issue I’m facing. I have a blind family member and I’m needing to get my wedding invitation either reprinted in braille, or have braille added to the existing invitation for them. Im having a really hard time finding resources to help me with this.
I’ve reach out to the local community group for the blind and visually impaired, and they don’t have a brailler. I’ve checked places like vista print and zazzle, but they seem to only have uncustomizable greeting cards. I’ve checked Etsy and I’ve only found shops that allow minimal customization. I’m open to literally any suggestions, whether there’s some way I could do this myself, or an online source I could order this from. Thank you so much!

I'm trying to figure out how to spend less than $100 on ~100 invitations. I'm considering trying to make the invitation and get it printed as 4x6 photos on matte paper which is $0.19 a print. Has anyone done this? Do you think it would work?
I also found some budget invitations from zazzle for like $0.33 each, but I wasn't sure on the quality of those since they're so much cheaper.
Advice? Other suggestions for keeping invite costs down? Totally comfortable designing them myself just trying not to spend a ton on printing.

Hi everyone! My wedding is 5/28 this year and I’m currently working on finding wedding invites. Do any of you have suggestions beyond The Knot, Zazzle, or Minted? I just can’t find the classic/simple style I’m wanting and starting to lose hope. I’m thinking of reaching out to Seasame Press but was wondering if any of you had good experiences elsewhere! Thanks!

Join us in community as often as you can every first and third Thursday via Zoom at

8 pm EST, 7 pm CST, 6 pm MST, 5 pm PST. Meet Fellow nudists and get a chance to chat. Contact [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) to signup.
Topics for February 2nd
​

• Body Acceptance/Body Dysmorphia
• New to Nudism
• Finding Nudist Partners or Companions
• Married Nudists/Nude Retirement
• Nudism and Culture
• Nudist Advocacy
• Women in Nude Recreation
• Ham Radio and Short Wave Enthusiasts
• Nude Cruising
• Travel
• Music
• Writing

If you don’t see a topic that you are interested in, we are willing to add new rooms. Just suggest them at the beginning of the meeting.
Get AANR Online Hats and other Merchandise
at https://www.zazzle.com/store/aanr_store/products?qs=online
Big Nude Boat 2023 - AANR Online Gathering In-Person Gathering
There will be a gathering of folks from the AANR Online Meet and Greets on the Bare Necessities Big Nude Boat 2023 on the Carnival Pride during the first night of the Cruise at Sail Away at Deck 9 Aft Serenity Bar on February 12th. This will give us a chance to get to meet one another in person and exchange contact information. See you there!!!

Hello lovely ppl! Has anyone done all caps on their wedding invites? We are using Zazzle but it’s not allowing me to change anything to lowercase. In the text box I can put lowercase but the example invitation on the screen still shows up as all CAPS.
Has this happened to anyone else or has anyone else done all caps for their invites? The invitation still looks nice but I was told having everything capitalized is not the proper etiquette. Maybe I am overthinking it as I’m not one to stick to tradition but any input would be appreciated!

Looking to purchase our invitations in the next month. I know Zazzle has a deal right now; does anyone know if other vendors do deals for Valentines Day or if there might be other upcoming discounts?

I posted a Zazzle vs. Minted question after hearing mixed reviews about both.
Here is my full review of both companies, hope it helps!
https://www.reddit.com/weddingplanning/comments/z75p7m/zazzle_review/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

• Zazzle:
  
  • Pros:
    • Budget friendly.
    • Has coupon codes, almost weekly. We got our invites ($4.95 each, 45 copies) for 50% off and envelopes/stickers for 20% off. In total we were able to get our dinner menus, envelopes, custom stickers, and invites/RSVP cards for under $400.
    • Easily customizable. Any template, design, font, etc. is customizable. They have an edit tool, a crude photoshop software, but it works. They also have the ability to add your wedding QR code and custom background colors etc.
    • Heard that printing smudged but there was no issues for us.
  • Cons:
    • No free shipping, even for samples. Have to pay for single print samples (not much but minted is $0)
    • Some designs (like menus) only come in glossy paper. No option to change the paper type.
    • Shipping is strange. They charge for standard shipping (there isn't a code for free shipping) and all items come separately. Zazzle doesn't offer the option to ship items together--which is a little inconvenient.
    • "HD print" doesn't do anything. The standard print vs HD print looked exactly the same.

​

• Minted:
  
  • Pros:
    • Does not offer coupon codes but if you order a free sample, they send you a 10-15% off code.
    • The sample came in a really nice box with all the different possible paper options and color options.
    • Sample is free.
  • Cons:
    • Limited ability to customize. The only things that can be edited is text. If you want the graphics to be larger or change the font, you need to contact the artist. I'm sure this is easy but not for me
    • Invites only. There aren't any other stationary that can be ordered--I guess you can ask the artist to custom design something. For us, the hassle of discussing design with the artist wasn't worth it.
    • Pricey for JUST invites. for 45 (invites + envelopes) it was around $295 (without the coupon code)

1. I want to buy the cheapest paper option for invitations (matte). If anyone here has done so, is it super flimsy or does it have a bit of sturdiness to it?
   
2. Is there a way to create 3 different versions of the same design without having to start from scratch each time? Basically I’d like to just save 3 different versions but I can’t do figure out how, and the Zazzle team hasn’t been helpful.
   

TIA!

Hi! Anyone have recommendations on wedding invitation vendors aside from Zola, Minted, and Zazzle? I'm in the VA/DC area and working with a small business owner would be awesome to support also! Any helpful links, IG handle, or recommendations would be appreciated! Thanks!

Hi Weddit,
Considering purchasing invitations on zazzle but our wedding planner heard that the print quality is not good. She recommended we use an etsy store or minted.
​
Has anyone had bad printing issues with them? Has anyone tried the "High Definition" printing option?
​
Update 1: I ordered a sample from Minted and a single print from Zazzle (one standard paper print with HD, one premium paper print with HD, one standard paper without HD), will post review. :) TY for everyone's input!
​
Update 2: We ordered invitation samples from zazzle and minted. The following is my comprehensive review!

• Zazzle:
  • Pros:
    • Budget friendly.
    • Has coupon codes, almost weekly. We got our invites ($4.95 each, 45 copies) for 50% off and envelopes/stickers for 20% off. In total we were able to get our dinner menus, envelopes, custom stickers, and invites/RSVP cards for under $400.
    • Easily customizable. Any template, design, font, etc. is customizable. They have an edit tool, a crude photoshop software, but it works. They also have the ability to add your wedding QR code and custom background colors etc.
    • Heard that printing smudged but there was no issues for us.
  • Cons:
    • No free shipping, even for samples. Have to pay for single print samples (not much but minted is $0)
    • Some designs (like menus) only come in glossy paper. No option to change the paper type.
    • Shipping is strange. They charge for standard shipping (there isn't a code for free shipping) and all items come separately. Zazzle doesn't offer the option to ship items together--which is a little inconvenient.
    • "HD print" doesn't do anything. The standard print vs HD print looked exactly the same.
• Minted:
  • Pros:
    • Does not offer coupon codes but if you order a free sample, they send you a 10-15% off code.
    • The sample came in a really nice box with all the different possible paper options and color options.
    • Sample is free.
  • Cons:
    • Limited ability to customize. The only things that can be edited is text. If you want the graphics to be larger or change the font, you need to contact the artist. I'm sure this is easy but not for me
    • Invites only. There aren't any other stationary that can be ordered--I guess you can ask the artist to custom design something. For us, the hassle of discussing design with the artist wasn't worth it.
    • Pricey for JUST invites. for 45 (invites + envelopes) it was around $295 (without the coupon code)

I have no clue what I’m doing! I went to Zazzle and Shutterfly and I feel like they’re a little pricey. Also, am I supposed to buy the invitations and rsvp cards separately? Are there any websites that come with the whole package? Thank y’all in advance! I so lost!

So, my fiancee and I found an invite design on Zazzle we liked. I customized it as a 5x7, added to the cart, and we went back over it once more. Found a couple spelling/alignment issues. I fixed them in the design, but it wasn't reflecting in the order, so I removed and re-added it.
They came in today, but they came in as 3x5. I'm assuming somehow it reset to that from 5x7 when I re-added it, and I must have missed it.
I called to see if there was anything they could do, and they gave me a full credit for the smaller size ones to use towards the right size. He ALSO gave me a special discount code to use since the one I had used expired.
So, yeah, Zazzle gets a REALLY good rating from me.

What site did everyone use for the STD. I haven’t loved how any of the ones I’ve used looked in preview mode.
For context, I’ve looked at Zazzle, invitation maker and a couple others.
ETA: Thank you all for your suggestions! Definitely will look into everything!