Custom Wedding Invitation Business

If you are very creative or artistically talented, you'll want to consider selling custom invitations.  These are invitations that you design and create yourself and it's a very profitable business because you can basically set your own prices.

Creating your own invitations will really set your business apart from the rest, too, because not many people can do this.  Imagine how happy that bride would be if, instead of some wholesale wedding invitation that she could get anywhere, you where able to create for her one that matched the colors of the bridesmaids' dresses and had the exact same ribbons or flowers that she was using throughout the wedding.  Why, she'd be willing to pay anything for that!

If your designs are good, try to include some special feature to your invitations that will make them unique to you.  This will allow you to charge a higher price, especially once people start recognizing your special brand.

The biggest problem that most people have with Custom Invitations is not so much the design but finding the supplies, and at a reasonable price.  This is where the custom wedding invitation business gets tricky.

Make sure you create your fabulous invitations with supplies that are readily available, especially the ones you use for samples.  If a client wants to order one of your sample designs that you created a year ago, you want to make sure you can still get the supplies to make it for them, and at the same price.

Fortunately, with these types of invitations, you are the one who decides the price.  So if the cost of a particular embellishment rises, you can adjust your prices accordingly.

How to Create A Wedding Program

A wedding program is created in almost the same way as the invitation, except that the insert papers are cut to the same size as the cover to make them easier to stack neatly and staple together.

Once you've received all of the details about the service from the church or the bride or the wedding planner simply lay out your pages again in Microsoft Word.

Only this time, you'll want to lay it out in 4 pages instead of one.  You want your program to read like a book.  So fold your insert paper in half down the middle again, and take the measurement of one “page” or one half of the paper.  By folding it in half, you've created 4 pages on which to enter text.  So you need to set up 4 different pages on your computer and also configure your printer accordingly.

Again, don't forget to configure your printer.  Once you get this set up, practice on some cheap printer paper to make sure the pages line up properly.  Different printers print pages like this in different sequences.

Wedding Stationery Etiquette

Let's take a look at the rules of etiquette for some of the other traditional wedding stationery you may chose to provide.

Save The Date Card – This card can be as formal or light and breezy as your client wants. There are no particular rules of etiquette here.

Order Of The Day Card - An order of the day is for civil ceremonies where guests will not be singing hymns or sitting through a long ceremony. This is a brief itinerary of the day's events, such as the time the groom will arrive, the time the bride will arrive, the time and place of the ceremony, the time and place of the reception, etc. Order of the day cards are used in place of the more formal wedding program.

Response Card – More traditional wedding invitations often include a response card, in the same size and design as the invitation, along with an envelope. Your text here is optional, you just need to provide a place for them to let the bride know if they'll be attending.

Wedding Programs – Again, there is no traditional format for this, but most wedding programs include:

• The full names of the bride and groom
• The wedding date
• The city and state
• The order of the wedding ceremony, inluding musical selections, the composers, the performer, as well as readings, the author and the reader.
• A brief description of each attendant's relationship to the bride or groom
• An explanation of any ethnic customs or rituals used during the ceremony.
• A brief Thank You to everyone for attending

Menu Cards - There are usually 5 menu cards per table of 10 guests, and they include the menu details and a listing of any wines that are being served.

Place Cards – Place cards help your guests know where to sit and can be a simple as a hand written card or you can get as elaborate as you like.

Thank You Cards – Thank You cards should be in the same design as the invitation and are usually left blank inside as each will have a different, unique message written by the clients.

Most of the suppliers that you contact for your wedding invitation blanks will also carry a full line of stationery products to go along with each card design.

Now that you know the basics of wedding stationery etiquette, you can now start creating wedding invitations.

How to Choose Paper for your Wedding Invitations

If you're creating wedding invitations for your clients or you're making a wedding invitation for your own wedding, you know that a wedding is one of the most memorable events of everyone's life. Thus it is essential to use a high quality paper for your wedding invitations to make it the best. Go to an art store, craft store, Paper Company, or copy stores to begin your search. With the use of personal computers and e-commerce, specialty paper can be found in many online stores today.

Here are some useful tips:

• Select a paper based on your theme of wedding. Example: for a fall wedding, use a leaf theme.
• Keep within your budget. Some papers are very expensive, so shop around to find the best deals.
• Purchase extra paper for mistakes and last minute invitees.
• Make sure the line of paper is in stock and not on clearance.
• If available, coordinate matching envelopes with paper selection.
• Always use a heavy stock for the single layer invitation or for the bottom sheet of any layered invitation.
• Shop in bulk for discount prices.
• Use a light weight paper for the top layers, belly bands or wraps.
• Look for paper that comes in 8.5" x 11" size. This is a standard size paper that you can feed through your personal printer.