Modern home printers can produce professional results.
Traditional wedding invitations are professionally designed and printed on high-end paper. A printing company can create and mail your invitations for you, but this can be costly. If you enjoy creating items on your computer and want to save money so you will have more to spend on something else, such as your honeymoon, consider creating and printing your own wedding invitations at home.
Instructions
1. Decide whether to use your own printer. Laser printers can print high-quality text on large volumes of pages. If you do not own a laser printer, try to borrow one from a friend or employer. If you use your own printer and are planning a large wedding, plan to replace the ink cartridge at least once.
2. Select the type of paper for the invitations. Options range from standard printer paper to high-end paper, such as linen or parchment. You also may want to purchase card stock to use for response (RSVP) cards. Consider business card templates, which allow you to print many RSVP cards at once using the same sheet of card stock.
3. Select an envelope to use for mailing. Choose one large enough to hold a smaller pre-stamped envelope with each invitation, allowing guests to conveniently complete and return their RSVP cards. Consider using an outer envelope that matches the color scheme you have chosen for your wedding.
4. Select the computer program you will use to design and print your wedding invitations. You can do this with most office software, including Microsoft Office. If you do not have Microsoft Office installed, consider OpenOffice.org, which is free.
5. Create and print your wedding invitations. At a minimum, each invitation should include the names of the couple-to-be, wedding time, date, location and dress code. You might consider including a map to the location, the website address that guests can visit for more information, descriptions of the available meal choices and hotel suggestions for guests coming from other cities. If you do not want to design the entire invitation from scratch, download a wedding invitation template and modify it.
6. Create and print your RSVP cards. Each card should have a space for guests to write their name, along with the names of friends or family members who will accompany them. If your wedding will have multiple meal choices, include spaces for guests to indicate their meal preferences.
7. Type or print the addresses of your prospective guests on the outer envelopes. If you are including pre-stamped inner envelopes for RSVP cards, make sure that each inner envelope has your address. If you do not have calligraphy training, you can use Microsoft Office or OpenOffice.org to print addresses directly on the envelopes.
8. Add postage to the outer and inner envelopes. You may purchase a roll or booklet of stamps from your local post office, or print postage directly on the envelopes using one of the services suggested by the United States Postal Service.
9. Assemble and mail the invitations. Each outer envelope should contain one invitation, and if applicable, one RSVP card and smaller pre-stamped inner envelope.
Tags: RSVP cards, your wedding, Microsoft Office, print your, wedding invitations, card stock