Average cost of wedding invites?

[MrsTazlvr]

My father's coworker's daughter is getting married and they are trying to come up with a budget. He asked me how much I spent on my wedding invites but since it was over 4 years ago, I have no clue. She has $1,600 down on the budget. I think it sounds high, but I really have no clue. Is that high? How much on average do people spend for say a wedding of 200 people? Thanks. :)

[tlew12778]

OMG that's crazy! Even rather expensive pocketfolds are like $6 for a set... for 200 ppl you need maybe 100 invites, so that's $600 plus tax, shipping, return postage, etc.

I take it she is not considering DIY?

ETA: Just so you can get an idea, I priced out the DIY for these:
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c142/tlew12778/envelopment1.jpg
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c142/tlew12778/envelopment2.jpg
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c142/tlew12778/envelopment3.jpg

And it came to roughly $400 (a little less actually) for 120 invites including the custom monogram stamp and all inserts and embellishments. This also includes a pre-purchased pocketfold (you save even more if you DIY but I don't have the time for that).

[tenofcups]

Depends on what kind of invites they want and also what else they're considering as part of their invitation budget--does that include just the invitations or does it also include the response cards, thank yous, placecards, calligraphy?

I think $1,600 sounds about right for that number of people and for most of the elements that go with it. I can't remember exactly now, but I think we probably spent about that to invite 160 people in 2002 when we included those other elements (actually with calligraphy, it might have been a bit more). My invites were what I considered expensive, but not outrageously expensive.

[amew]

We spent around that for 350 invites in 2001 (including the invitation, inner and outer envelopes, response card and envelope, and reception card). Calligraphy and thank you notes were in addition to that.

[Marie]

We spent about $125 on the invites and another $100 or so on postage for 150 people. I ordered through a discounter online, addressed them myself, etc.

[kimthebride]

We ordered about 150 invites which included:
- Formal invitation
- Lined envelope
- RSVP card & envelope
- Addressed envelopes
- Return address on envelope

The list price was I think $1400, ordered through a bridal salon from one of those big books. They were more elaborate than your typical invite, so IMO that's a higher-end amount to pay.

[MrsTazlvr]

Thank you all for your input. I will let my father know my findings. ;)

[lawyergirl25]

I think we spent about $140 for 75 invitations, including the invite, inner and outer envelopes, RSVP cards, and RSVP envelopes. It would have been even cheaper if we had ordered earlier - we had to pay extra to put a rush on them. We spent another $40 or so on postage.

$1600 sounds a bit high to me, but if she's paying for calligraphy, fancy papers, and/or an unusual design, I can understand that budget.

[Meredith]

We spent about $700, plus the postage, for about 125 invites. They were very elegant, however, and thermographed. If she wants engraved, then yes, her original budget is accurate. I am glad we spent the money on invites since it was really important to me to have everyone "wowed" when they saw them. :p

[nuhmah]

I think that sounds right if you are figuring in everything from calligraphy, directions cards, RSVP's, envelopes, stamps, thank you cards, their postage, and STD's (if she had them).

We DIY'ed ours, and ended up spending close to $1000 for everything I listed - we had envelopments.

[Kimberland30]

Ours ran just above $400 including tax/shipping.

Formal Invitation
Periwinkle Lettering
Plain outer envelopes with our address
Perwinkle lined inner envelopes
Reception cards with peri lettering
Response cards (two different dates) with peri lettering
Address on Response card envelopes
Thank you notes

We ordered 100 of everything, but 150 of the TY notes. They don't say "Thank You" on them so we can use them for everyday stationary.

[LRL]

Hmmm- We custom designed our invitations for our mid 2004 wedding, and with postage, the total came to about $450. That was for a small wedding and 40 invites mailed. We also got a great deal on the printing. Considering that we had 65 people at our wedding, I don't think that $1600 is an outrageous amount to spend on invites for a 200 person wedding, esp. if they are letterpressed or custom designed.

[Whitters20]

We spent about $400 on 300 invitations and response cards and 200 thank you cards. Then another $300 or so on postage. We addressed everything ourselves and printed our own programs and maps which were not included in the above prices. Our invitations came from www.rexcraft.com. They have much cheaper and some nicer ones although I don't think they carry what most people would term "fancy".

[nettreefrog]

We actually bought the paper and made our own invitations ... I could not fathom buying them when my DH is so creative!

[Janey]

I think ours were around $250 for 110 invitations. We had double envelope, Invite, Reception card, RSVP, and map/directions. We bought the paper and assembled them ourselves, however... and the $250 includes an extra $30 for an extra ream of paper because I kept screwing them up every time I printed them out. :o

[Squee]

OUr invites turned out to be around $5 each. A bit more than we thought they would As they were diy!

[Asha]

we paid just about $200 for our invites for about 100 invitations.

[msnicolea]

We paid about $8 for each "set". We had a fairly small wedding though (80+ guests) so we could splurge a little in this area.

[jellybeany]

We spent about $125 on the invites and another $100 or so on postage for 150 people. I ordered through a discounter online, addressed them myself, etc.

I had the same situation.

[LSirola]

I am also trying to find invitiations.... I want something very simple. I have found that most of them are around $100 for about 50. So what does that include? What is the purpose of an inner and an outer envelope? And if I'm not having response cards(I see all the people invited at least once a week), is it necessary to have both inner and outer envelopes? Should I have my envelopes pre printed with my return adress? Any other suggestions?

There will be about 50 invited to the wedding. most likely only 25-35 invitations sent out(one per household right?). Should I order about 100 thank you's? I kind of think that each gift giver should get their own thank you. I also want to send out wedding announcements, should I have those preprinted with my address? Any thoughts?
Lauren

[tlew12778]

I am also trying to find invitiations.... I want something very simple. I have found that most of them are around $100 for about 50. So what does that include? What is the purpose of an inner and an outer envelope? And if I'm not having response cards(I see all the people invited at least once a week), is it necessary to have both inner and outer envelopes? Should I have my envelopes pre printed with my return adress? Any other suggestions?

There will be about 50 invited to the wedding. most likely only 25-35 invitations sent out(one per household right?). Should I order about 100 thank you's? I kind of think that each gift giver should get their own thank you. I also want to send out wedding announcements, should I have those preprinted with my address? Any thoughts?
Lauren

It depends on the company from whom you order your invites. Some are "sets" so they include everything, others are just the main invitation and envelopes, then you have to add the other inserts a la carte.

The outer envelope is for the address and postage, and can get mucked up in the mail... the inner envelope should have your guests name calligraphed or printed on them with no address. It's a "clean" envelope so to speak. Some ppl skip the inner envelope (esp. if using pocketfolds or envelopment style invites).

You should have a response card even though you see almost everybody every week. Etiquette-wise it's the proper thing to do. Actually, that's not true... technically speaking the response card is a modern addition to the wedding invitation as it was expected that guests wrote out a formal RSVP in letter form. Since most ppl do not know this nowadays, the RSVP card is included. If you do not want to provide mail-back RSVPs, you could include a card that requests guests to RSVP via telephone or website. The RSVP has nothing to do with the inner envelope as per above. However, many RSVPS include an additional self-addressed, stamped envelope for the guests to use.

Technically, anyone over the age of 18 should receive a separate invitation even if they still live at home. So in this case, it's not one per household.

The number of thank yous is up to her. I would send one thank you per gift. If you have 50 ppl, that is probably 50 gifts. You could order 100 and use the extra as personal stationary later on if they only have a monogram on them or something.

As for wedding announcements, I would not include an address. If you have a website, you could include your URL since you could put up pictures for ppl to see. I would tend to think that adding an address = expecting a gift or card, etc. and I do not think that guests who were not invited to the reception should be expected to give gifts (but that's my personal opinion). Generally wedding announcements are sent after the fact, not before. Otherwise it would be a save the date.

[LSirola]

Wow, thanks for the explanation of everything. It was very helpful.
The only thing is.. about the announcements. From everything I've read so far(magazines, websites, and different wedding "checklists"), they all say to send out the announcements the day of or the day before the wedding. I have a huge extended family up north, and even if I did invite each and every one of them, only maybe two would come. I just thought it would be nice to let them know that I am married now. But if I can wait until after the wedding to send out announcements, it would be nice to be able to include a picture. I'd have to look into how expensive that would be though. A website is a great idea, my fiance actually does web design. But with our wedding date two and a half months away, I don't know when he would have time to make one for us.
Thanks again for all the helpful info
Lauren

[tlew12778]

Oh hm. I honestly never read those checklists. Although I suppose that could make sense... if you send them out a day or 2 before the wedding then they would get it after the wedding. I think this is really up to you. If you want to include a picture then just wait to send them out. Ask your photographer how long it will take to get your photos back or else be willing to include a non-pro shot if you don't want wait until your pro-shots are back.

My "announcements" are being hand delivered by us to family & friends that will not be invited to either the ceremony or the reception. But, that's bc I live in Italy and that's how it's done here. They get a favor of jordan almonds in a sachet with our names and dates calligraphed onto a tiny card. Obviously this is going to take place after the fact since we will be on HM for 2 weeks immediately following the wedding.

[Kristy]

We paid around $200 for 80 or so invitations. They were pocketfolds with inserts. They were a bit more on the pricey side because the pocketfold color had just come out and only a few places carried them. I also bought very heavy weight Stardream cardstock, so that definitely added to the price. We printed and cut everything ourselves though, and that helped with the costs.

[Mrs.Pfeiffer]

A website is a great idea, my fiance actually does web design. But with our wedding date two and a half months away, I don't know when he would have time to make one for us.
Thanks again for all the helpful info
Lauren

If you go to the knot.com, they have websites that you can do fairly quickly, but just adding the info about your wedding. Here is mine....

http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/AmandaZimmerman&AdamPfeiffer

it hasn't been updated recently, but you can get the idea. (I don't have to update it as much as it should be until I tell anyone about it, right? :))

[PG-rated]

FYI, you're not supposed to send out announcements until the wedding has actually taken place, because the announcement is worded such that the wedding has already happened. People aren't supposed to receive them on the day of the wedding.

I think a picture with announcements would be a really nice idea, especially for family that you haven't seen in a long time.

[Vishenka69]

Our invites (3 years ago) were $350 for a set of 100. But with digital calligraphy and postage, that number was doubled.

[PrincesaMexicana]

I got married August of 2003 and for 125 invites with reception cards, no response cards - $220.00.