Cheaper to DIY or BUY?

AlexsBride · October 21, 2009

I love all the creative boarding pass STD's and Passport invitations that you ladies have made! I just have a quick question (and if it has been discussed before, my apologies, I searched and didn't find the answer to this particular question)

We will be having a small destination wedding, under 30 people joining us. While I love the idea of making my own STD's and invites, I think that by the time I buy all the tools and printer ink, plus all the time it will take (I am not that handy on computer graphic programs!) that since I need so few it might be cheaper to have them made custom by an actual invitation artist!

What do you think? Cheaper to DIY or Buy? I know that by doing my research the boarding pass STD jackets are actually more expensive than just the pass, so maybe I could make my own jackets? I'm on a tight budget, that's why I am asking...

diamondpooch · October 21, 2009

Ya this is what I'm starting to think! I bought all the stuff for DIY program fans and in the end I will have spent $82 before I calculate the shipping it took to get my rafia fans and even more if I didn't already have my hole punch and paper cutter! Maybe that's cheap but I bet through vista print they wld b just as cheap .

azulskies · October 21, 2009

I haven't made my invites yet so maybe the other brides can give you better advice but I do think it's cheaper in the long run to DIY but I think it depends on the research that you do..as in, looking for the cheapest places to get all of the items needed and trying never to pay full price.

For me, I looked up the cheapest options when it came to the paper for my invitations. I bought most of my items on cardsandpockets.com but I bought it all during a sale. I bought a paper cutter at Michael's and used a 50% off coupon and I'll probably sell it after the wedding. So I think as long as you have everything pretty planned, it's better financially to DIY.

alkoch · October 21, 2009

AlexsBride - I think it is cheaper to DIY but it does require more (a lot) time on your part. I made 150 boarding pass invitations and they were only $180 including stamps and envelopes. And for the jackets I just got white card stock and printed a colorful design on it (so it was super cheap!)

I think if you have the patience it is worth it to DIY - it makes it so much more fun and you are so proud of your work! We got so many compliments on the invitations- they even said they were better than some professional ones they saw.

But also I really enjoy doing things like this - so I really recommend it!

Good luck - either way your guests will love them

AlexsBride · October 21, 2009

Thanks girls! I think being that I am in Canada...there is less places to buy things, buying online is expensive because of shipping from the states. I just thought that since I am probably only needing around 20 of each, it might be a little cheaper to buy them. Ahhhh. I guess I have lots of time though, so plenty of research can be done in the meantime. I saw some templates online but I just have not that much time since I spend most of my day chasing after my 18 month old daughter! And I'll be honest...the computer designing portion of it scares the heck outta me. I can put our names and all that stuff but to make them look gorgeous and WOW...that's a whole other thing!

becks · October 21, 2009

Doing it DIY isn't that hard once you get a design you like. You really only need a couple of tools (paper cutter and corner rounding punch), and if you buy the inexpensive ones and learn how to use them before you start working on your invites you can totally DIY them. The hardest part is finding the time to design put them together, because that can take a long time.

That being said there are several designers here that are really reasonable price-wise. Worst case, contact some of us for pricing and at least figure out what the pricing would be.

Good luck

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