Post # 1

Member
54 posts
Worker bee
So Im planning on semi-DIY-ing my invites. I’ve found some really cute templates on etsy that are only $20 for the design and rights to print. Im just wondering, not including buying the paper, envelopes, etc. how much does printing cost? If you printed at home, how much ink/stress did you use? And if you used a place like kinkos, how much did that run? Does it make a difference how much ink is used, or just how many colors? Any advice? Thanks!
Post # 3

Member
822 posts
Busy bee
it depends on the type of printing you choose. regular flat digital printing is your cheapest option. i think a local place quoted me about $50 for 175 invites. i had five pieces so the price was closer to $250. it didn’t matter the coverage of ink on the paper.
in the end, i bought a really nice laser printer for abour $250 and printed them myself. i didn’t even go through one set of starter cartridges.
i went with regular flat printing because i had so many inserts, i used nicer paper, and did pocktetfolds.
Post # 4

Member
5654 posts
Bee Keeper
Printing at home really depends on your personal printer. For us, it just wasn’t reasonable to print at home b/c our printer uses ink like we use air! lol
We printed at our local college b/c it was WAY cheaper than any of the office/printing stores here.
I want to say around 14 cents a sheet when we took in our own paper. I printed our invites on tabloid sheets from them (set up 4 invites per sheet) and was able to print our 60 invites, 60 map inserts (set up the same way), and around 200 monograms (set up to as many I could fit on a sheet) for under 10 bucks.
I would definitely look into your college, and ask for where they do their in-house printing. Ours is called the Media Service Center. =)
Post # 5

Member
363 posts
Helper bee
Kinko’s quoted me around $0.60 per side of paper on my paper, or $1.20 on theirs (I forget the exact number).
The printer we’re using:
For the raised print I was quoted close to $400 on their paper (110 lb. cover) for 90 invites, rsvp, info cards, and envelopes for the invites/rsvp (not printed-that’s another $80 or so) $190 for flat printing on stardream paper, and $120 for flat on 110 lb. cover.
I hope that helps! We chose not to print out own because I think it won’t lok as nice if I’m the one cutting them down.
Post # 6

Member
667 posts
Busy bee
I would really caution doing this. We tried it and after about printing 100 we noticed we had a mistake. “on” instead of “an” the a and o with the font we had looked the same. We are two college educated individuals and we F**k*d it all up. I dunno my new attitude is to leave it up to the professionals. I got my invites and response cards from wedding paper divas for $250.00. Doing it ourselves I figured would have saved us 100.00 bucks if it would have worked out. However, my time is worth more than that. Good Luck! I would love to see how they turn out.
Post # 7

Member
5654 posts
Bee Keeper
@Jamie42003: I almost did this with our monograms…. had the wrong YEAR on them and even after me, DH, my mom, and a number of my friends “proofing” them I almost sent them to print with it wrong! lol
OP: Best way to avoid typo’s on ALL of your invites is to print a few and look at them printed… even show them to someone else that hasn’t been totally enveloped in the planning (my mom showed her bank teller a flyer we had for our non-profit & the teller picked up on a typo)… There’s something about actually having it on paper & OFF the computer screen that makes it easier to see. =)
Thankfully even times when we’ve had to reprint, the low cost of printing where we do has made up for it. I mean we printed just over 300 tickets set up on 80lb gloss tabloid sheets for an event last week and it cost a whopping 8 bucks.
We do cut our own though but I’m totally a perfecitonist & feel better cutting them myself over paying for them to do it… thanks to my cutterpede =)
Post # 8

Member
54 posts
Worker bee
Ok, so what do I need to be googling to find someone to print for me? printing services? These prices sound very doable. As for typos, the etsy seller basically just fills in our info into their pre-worded template (I can change wording if I feel the need, but I like them as is) and then I’ll print it on just plain paper and pass it around to get proofed before I send it to the printers. Thanks for the tip!
Post # 9

Member
55 posts
Worker bee
I designed my own invite/rsvp/direction card suite and had them professionally printed for a total of $35 with envelopes and shipping included. I ordered a set of 50.
Post # 10

Member
135 posts
Blushing bee
@kasmal: I did the same thing. I got my template on Etsy and am printing them on my own. Staples printed mine for .98 cents per sheet….but I have two invites per page. I’m also having a small wedding, so it’s probably only going to cost me $100 total for invites, RSVP, and my info card I’m adding in.
Good luck!
Post # 11

Member
1370 posts
Bumble bee
We had Cardsandpocket print them, for us, it was by far the cheapest. Paper included 2 colour inks, we needed 120 pages double sided, plus 5 more single sided was $163.00, which was WAY less than what we were quoted locally.
Post # 12

Bee
389 posts
Helper bee
- Wedding: May 2012 - El Faro Convention center, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
I only had 2 one-sided 4×6 pieces that I printed on Lux Cotton Heavy Cardstock (which is their most expensive paper) at Catprint for $72.69 for 55 of each.
Post # 13

Member
135 posts
Blushing bee
Kinkos quoted me almost $250 for what a smaller “mom and pop” shop did for $50. I’d steer clear from them for printing. Now, for cutting, they will do a single cut for just over a dollar and can do up to like 200 sheets at once. I had everything for my invites and the side inserts in the pocket folder for about $12.
Post # 14

Member
2413 posts
Buzzing bee
I did it on vistaprint…you just upload the image and print! They always have 50% off sales! For 100 STDs it cost me $34!
Post # 15

Member
135 posts
Blushing bee
Yeah I did STDs on Vistaprint and it was super cheap. I also had cards made for the tears of joy packets made there as well for $3.99.
Post # 16

Member
308 posts
Helper bee
We printed 80 invites and 80 RSVP cards for about 15 dollars at FedEx Kinkos. They were great. I tried to print on my FI’s printer at work, and it was a HUGE pain.