Is There Any Special Equipment Needed For An Invitation Business?

People who are considering starting their own wedding invitation business frequently ask, “Is there any special equipment needed for an invitation business?” In order to answer that question, you first need to decide what type of wedding invitation business you're going to be running. Will you be a manufacturer's agent? Will you sell bespoke? Or will you be selling combined wedding invitations?

No matter what business plan you intend to follow, you will need to be able to provide a portfolio of you work. I you decide to start off as a manufacturer's agent, you can ask the manufacturer that you'll be representing to supply you with one of their sample binders or catalogs. This may have a slight fee involved, but it will still be easier and less expensive then either of the other two business plans. If you chose to follow the bespoke model, or the combined model, you'll have to create your own portfolio and this will mean purchasing all of the necessary supplies, including a binder, yourself.

Another thing that you'll need, regardless of which business model you choose, is order forms and pricing information. Again, as an agent, these will be supplied by the manufacturer you chose to represent. The bespoke and combined business models require that you make these items yourself.

Now, as for assembly equipment, to begin your bespoke or combined business, you can get away with using an adhesive roller with double sided tape to assemble the invitations and the wedding program. But as your sales allow, it would be wise to invest in a saddle stapler. It will give you a more professional look for the program. This piece of equipment makes assembling your programs so much quicker and easier. I don't know we ever did without it. They normally run around $500, but you might be able to find one second hand. And you could check on eBay, too.

Another piece of equipment that you'll find very useful is the A4 Creasing Machine. It does exactly what it says it does, it creases your invitations. When you're creating bespoke, you put a lot of time and effort into making each individual invitation into a work of art. Paper, when creased by hand, tends to crinkle and look a little messy. This creasing machine takes care of neatly creasing your cards, quickly, for a much more professional look. These can be found for around $250. Again, check around and see if you can find one second hand or maybe on eBay.

The most expensive piece of equipment that we have is our Hot Foil Blocking Machine. Sounds scary doesn't it? Well, it's a very small machine that you use to add bits of gold or silver, or any color of foil to your invitations. It works by combining heat and pressure to seal the foil to the card or invitation. This machine is quite pricey. You might be able to find one second hand for around $500, and a brand new one will cost around $2000.00. Make sure, when you do buy this, that you get some special training along with it so you'll know how to use it.