Friday 21 February 2014

Making Handmade Pocket Invitations For Half The Price Of Professionals Part 1

Hello There My Lovely's, 

I know I have been naughty not blogging for a while, but I have been working on soooo many projects and this is just one of the them, so bare with me while it is in parts, but it will be worth it trust me!


So are you at the point where you've seen so many beautiful invites but have been told the cost per one and now in a high street card shop looking depressed at the options, never fear I have a solution! 



I fell truly in love with the pocket style invites but not the price! By a professional stationary person you'll be looking between £2.50-£3.50 per invite, which I understand due to the time and effort each one takes. But you might think well I'll look online, unfortunately you'll be paying more for online companies around £3.75-£4.50 per invite some places higher, but as with most things the more you buy you get a deal, such as £10 off. So if I took the average price say £3.25 and 60 of them made (my figure of needing) it would cost me £195.00 just for the invitations, but remember the added cost on top for the envelopes, stamps and you would want to match your invites to the place cards, table plan and menus, so do think of the costs that could be added. Stamps is very important, especially in England as the price are increasing every month it feels like and these types of invites require a large stamp, we sent them second class at 60p a go! So if your happy to spend £500 for stationary go ahead, go crazy, but if you want to do it for the price and have something you've done yourself this is how!




Now don't be fooled into thinking I can buy it cheap online, as this might not be the case! On Ebay the average price for a blank card is £1.54 per invite, with the cheapest I found being in America at £1.10 per invite, but remember you would have to pay shipping, but even at this low cost that £66 for 60. I became excited to see Hobby Craft sold them in packs of 8 at £8.49, making it only £1.06 per invite but for 60 I would have to buy 13 packs which would cost £110.37 just for the pocket! I know this all seems ok and wondering why I am complaining but remember all these figures are just for the pocket, you would still need to buy the inserts, decoration, envelopes and if your using you own printer ink!




So what is the cheap option? Buy A4 card! And the amazing thing is card comes in so many colors, effects and thickness.



So I'll get the the point we spent £98.55! But this does not include the sweets and chocolates I went through making them!



How did we do it? Before we brought anything we looked for design ideas, go to the wedding fairs, look online and then all you have to do is think logical and be creative. You have your ideas so sit and make them using cheap paper and crayons. Decide what you like and make 4 or 5 different types, then keep making the same one you like until you think you've perfected the design.



We brought our paper from a company in Nantwich, called Alexander Paper Supplies and of course the magical Ebay. Here's a break down of our £98.55.



100 Sheets of White Ice Diamond Lustre Card    £20.24
100 Sheets of "Three Sheet" White Card  £11.94
100 White C5 Envelopes £  8.75
Velcro Spots £  5.49
Teal Ribbon £  7.84
Silver Ribbon  £10.00
Double Sided Tape  £  5.00
Color & Black Ink £29.90
                                                                                 
We brought 2 of the 100 Sheets of "Three Sheet" White Card to make our place cards and menus with and we thought it would be easier to just have it in.


Now I made our slowly over the course of 3 months, as my Bridesmaids live in Liverpool, my parents in Stoke and Mike got a tad bored after he was finished cutting, the Best Man only managed to make 5! If you have a team nearby this will take no time, but it does all depend how dedicated you feel, I only made 10 at a time, plus I was house hunting.



In the next blog I will take through the computer work and construction! 



See you soon! xx

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