It is a cool rainy day here, you can tell that fall is for sure around the corner. I thought I would sit with a pot of tea and do a little writing today.

Since I have stopped making custom invitations I thought I would share some of my tips I have learned when dealing with DIY invitations.

More couples are trying to save money on their wedding and one of the first budgets they start cutting is the Invitation budget. With websites like Pinterest easy to access, more couples are finding their creative side and working on invitations themselves.

Browsing around my normal sites that I love, I noticed that Minted has a Print-It-Yourself section for all you crafty couples. I will attach some samples of theirs at the end for you to go browse.

Now you have your invitation all designed and ready to go to print. Here are some things I learned the hard way about printing.

1. Learn about your printer – Learn what your printer actually can and cannot do.  This will come in handy when you need to pick your paper for your invite because I will tell you right away not every printer accepts every kind of paper.
2. Check your printer settings – Most printers will print leaving a white border around your invitations.  This is not a big deal it will just mean some cutting and trimming.  So check your settings and see where the printer is going to be placing your image and what size paper you can print on.  If it is letter size see if you are able to fit 2 images on one piece.  Saves time and money.
3. Choose your paper carefully – Right off if you are looking into wanting a crystallized/pearlized paper and you have an inkjet printer, you either want to stop right there and get it professionally printed or you will want an inkjet printer.  When printing on these papers the ink jet printer will not print on it very bright and most times the ink will actually smudge.  If you are choosing just a plain card stock then your inkjet printer is still in the running for printing your invitations.
4. Choose your paper thickness – This will tie in with learning about your printer.  Printers have a max weight of paper that will feed properly.  The thicker the card stock, the less likely it will feed through your printer properly.  Look at how your printer feeds the paper too.  If you can feed the paper from the back it will more than likely take a thicker card stock.  It is the printers that loop paper around when it prints that will cause most problems with thick card stock.
5. Test print – Grab samples of a couple of papers you would like to print on and run them through your printer to see what comes out looking the best.  Of course this is time-consuming but this is the leg work of DIY that will save you money in the long run.  Once you find the paper that works best and that you love, do a test print of the invitation before you send the bigger print job.  If everything looks good than you are good to go.

When I would start printing the invitations I would normally only send a couple to print.  I wanted to make sure they were printing okay and I was happy with them.  Ensure your printer has proper air flow as well, as that puppy is going to heat up.

Invitations are printed and you are good to go now!  Good Job!

Here’s a little cheat too in case you are panicking because you think your printer won’t handle this and you don’t want to go buy another printer.  Print on a thinner paper that your printer has no problem printing on, then mount it onto a coloured card stock.  It’s a little more work but it can really make your invitation pop and again save money because you are printing it yourself.

Hope by sharing my printing woes, it will help you have less when you are printing your own.

Like promised here are some great templates you can buy for unlimited use from Minted Print It Yourself.  Their site is also great because it explains everything you need to know about the process.  Here are some examples and click them to view and purchase.  Please note I am affiliated with them and may be compensated for your purchase.

Enjoy your DIY!!