We have just come back off holiday and was talking to someone about making my own invites and they suggested using Picasso as you can do loads of different things with that :-) xx

do a trial run and see if you are happy with the quality.

I'd say give it a go, so cheap it's worth the gamble - good luck! x

My brother designed my invites on his computer and we printed them off and chopped them to size. they looked amazing and as if they had been done by a professional company. we saved loads of money and my design didnt have lots of block colour so altho we went through quite abit of paper the ink cost next to nothing.

I think getting my brother to do them was a fab idea as it meant if i changed my mind last minute it could be done easily, i trusted him to do a good job and we only paid for paper. it was also nice to get him involved as his gf is my moh and so nice for him coz she is doing so much for me.

i think my brother used photo shop but got some font designs off the internet for free. x

Oh I see, thanks. When we get our Mac set up this evening I'll have a look :)

I'm currently setting up doing bespoke stationery etc so I can give you a few tips from my past errors and learning curve.

First of all most ink jets will not print on pearlesant paper. The ink just slides off and you need a laser printer for that. (I do know of some ivory/gold shimmer paper that does print nicely on inkjet though.

Use at least 250-300 gsm for the card stock. Any lighter and it will feel cheap and be hard to stand up properly. If you are using flat card to fold into cards then invest in either a decent paper trimmer that does scoring as well or use a steel ruler and a bone tool. If you try to fold it any other way it will look awful.

If you are printing designs then make sure the images you use are at least 300dpi as poor quality images won't print well.

Keep the design simple and work out your costings as you create. Its very easy to get carried away with a desgin that looks pretty but by the time you price up the ribbon, stick ons, gems etc the price can soon get out of hand and you would have been just as well to buy them in.

Use cheap paper and card to do your prototypes on as it works out cheaper when it goes in the bin if you don't like it.

When placing inserts into the card use thin strips of double sided tape and fold the insert in half. Place the double sided tape along one side and then lay inside the card sticky side up until the borders are all even. Hold the edge and then close the card over it until it sticks into place.

If you get stuck or need any help let me know. I have a cutter that can cut out any shape or design so can always do things for you rather than you having to buy expensive die cutters etc.

There is software also available for creating your own invites and cards. We have designed and printed our own, using a sketch of the spanish steps we bought on holiday to rome which is where h2b proposed. We scanned the sketch in and thats the front of our invites. He has also designed our own thankyou cards for afterwards as well.