I remember meeting vendors when I got married (and granted, that was twelve years ago!!), each of them asked me what my budget was.  Uh, my what?!  I was clueless each time.  I didn’t want to spend more than I had to to get what I wanted.  It was so confusing!  At the time, in 2007, wedding blogs didn’t really exist yet so I was pretty clueless.  Budget breakdowns in wedding magazine wildly varied, so I didn’t know where to begin.  How are you supposed to budget for wedding invitations?

It can be hard to come prepared to your consultation when you don’t know what you want to spend!  Being unprepared often results in sticker shock.  If you don’t know what your budget is, but want all the things, you’ll be surprised that your quote is so high!  Thanks to Pinterest, it’s easy to want letterpress, foil, wax seals and vellum wraps for our wedding stationery.  It’s my job to help you understand what each of these things are, and what their cost is.

 

Your stationery budget should be around 7 – 11% of your total budget.  That means if your wedding budget is $44,105 (the national average according to Brides 2018 poll), you can plan on spending between $3,000 – $4800.  This includes your save the date, invitation suite, and wedding day stationery.

 

What do you get for that price?

Well, an actual person (hi, that’s me!) on your stationery team that’s there to answer all of your questions, someone to offer advice on how to get the most out of your budget, a live designer (hi, that’s still me!) who is creating a custom design just for you, and someone to make sure you only have to do the fun stuff when it comes to your stationery.

So why are some of the big box stores so inexpensive?  (I get this question a lot!)  They’re able to offer wedding stationery at a much lower price point because they’re working with much larger quantities and their customization options are so limited.  Have you ever noticed that they don’t offer to foil your names or wedding location on your invitation card?  That’s because they use the same copper plate for every single person that orders that invitation — there’s no customization necessary!  Custom stationers can foil any piece on your stationery.

 

Perhaps you have a price in mind that you’re comfortable with:  but what do you get for that number?

It’s hard to say since custom stationery is so custom.  You may want to prioritize foil printing your names or hand calligraphy over a custom map, while another bride has her heart set on gold foiling all the things.  One major perk of working with a custom stationer is the flexibility over pricing and quantity, so I can get you exactly what you want without going over budget!  The best way to find out what your price point gets you is by filling out our questionnaire and scheduling a consultation.  Are you ready to be a #blushbride?