I knew that I didn’t want my wedding invitations to be boring or traditional and I wanted them to be as DIY as possible.   I began to get discouraged since all of the invitations I liked didn’t at all fit into my budget, but then our friend and graphic designer, Kirby Doss saved the day.  He took my handwriting and ideas and made our invitations oh so lovely.

I wrote this about ten times.

With our wedding invitations we sent a RSVP postcard (which used less paper than a traditional RSVP card with an envelope) and a map to the Plymouth Bluff Environmental Center which had our registry information on the back.

(I thought maybe when our guests filled out their RSVP card they would remember that global warming kills polar bears and I am sure that is exactly what they thought.)

This was on the back of the map that we sent with our invitations.

Since we forgot to put a blank for the guest’s name on the RSVP postcard and I didn’t notice until I picked them up from the printer, I put a small number on the opposite side in pencil in the bottom right hand corner that corresponded to the guest name on my wedding guest list spreadsheet.

If you would like me to email you a link to this template, leave me a comment.

My advice to anyone who is shopping for wedding invitations on a budget:

• When you start to get discouraged, step away from the computer and come back to it later, picking out invitations is not worth stressing yourself out.  You will be less creative and decisive when you are stressed.
• If you know Photoshop or other editing software, be creative and see what you can come up with on your own.  Free fonts are available from dafont or you can do like I did and write it yourself.
• Look for inspiration on Etsy or check out the galleries at Once Wed, Style Me Pretty or Martha Stewart Weddings.