I wanted vintage-looking stationery with ribbons and diamante embellishment; the styles I was looking at were coming in at around £4 for a save the date, and £6 for an invitation, minus the RSVP cards.

I've ended up DIYing them; I bought printed, personalised save the date cards through an online company for 30p each (£3 for 10), and then added two types of ribbon (wide organza ribbon with satin ribbon running through the centre) and a pearl and diamante embellishment. The ribbon cost about £10 for all the cards, the embellishments cost 30p each, and the glue dots I used cost around another £10; so, per card the cost was about £1.50; a big saving.

I'm doing the same for the invitations and estimate that a pocket-fold personalised invitation will cost around £3.50 total with one RSVP card, with additional RSVP cards costing approx 50p each; so, again, a big saving.

Just be aware that it's very time-consuming. Also, I originally wanted lace but couldn't find ANY that I liked, so ended up layering the two types of ribbon; which has actually worked really well. I'll try to upload a picture to my album so you can see the finished product :-)

I bought 30 save the dates for around twenty quid and I got 40 invites for 80 quid. The evening do ones I am getting 30 for 25 quid. Xx

I mad my own cermeony ones but only needed 12. Then ordered postcard ones from Vist@pr1nt for the eveneing reception. worked out about £90 for 12 cermenoy ones and 80 evening ones
xx

sarah: I'm kind of wishing we'd done that TBH. a) it's costing more than we realised and b) it is SO fiddly and time-consuming :-s

We're not bothering with save the dates either. I have a friend making my invites and although it hasn't been exactly problem free, it has worked out very cheap at less than 50p per invite (inc envelope). I would definitely recommend doing your own, we've been able to include lots of detail with ribbon and stick on gems etc :)

Thanks for your input guys. I might look at making my own but I am so in love with the ones I have seen! I need save the dates because my wedding is the 2nd August which is a key holiday weekend. I am already worried some people might have booked up holidays. I have around 65 guests but need less invites because of families and couples sharing. My brothers save the dates and invites were gorgeous and it made me remember them and I know it's only an invite but I would like them to make an impression. I also want them to say a little about my wedding theme etc without giving all away. I might get some card and give it a go. If I do I will upload a pic and see what you all think. Thank you so much girls it is great to compare with other brides and get some fresh ideas.

Barbie86 makes some really good points. Your save the dates need to go out ASAP. I'd stick with something simple and splurge on the actual invites.

I am putting everything (Bar the Menu and Menu choices) in everyones, day and evening invites. That way people can do as they please when it comes to a gift. It will stop potential questions from evening guests wondering what to do/get if they want to get a gift and if people don't want to then that is fine too by us.

I was looking at the same thing, save the dates, pocket fold invites with 3 inserts, and table plans, name cards etc. the theme is vintage lace, getting married in a barn, when looking for the matching stuff, it going to cost us nearly £1000 for the stationary as I wanted it, I couldn't justify that, with 85 day guests and 140 ish for the evening...

So I found an American site, bought all the stuff card, rsvps, everything cut to the dimensions I wanted, it cost about £350 inc shipping and tax, and I bought a vintage stamp and labels for my save the dates from 3tsy. Approx £25. And I have bought lots of lace online for about £50 so all my stationary, inserts, save the dates, day and evening invites, rsvps, name places, table name settings are being handmade. Pic in my albumn. I'm really pleased with how they have turned out, and it's taking approx 15 mins per invite to form, I just now need to print everything.

Lace invites are amazing, and there are some fab ones online. X

I'd diy them :)

Hi Rachel, the bay of e have lots of different colours, but it depends on what you see as reasonable - £10-£15 for 10 seems average on there

hi rachel if you unrestrict your profile can post a link where i got my pocket fold invites from. i wanted fancy black broderie embossed ones for our invites which worked out at about £1 an invite but you can get much cheaper ones x

christina, i didnt print on the cards as pocketfolds are a funny shape, i printed on A4 card and then cut it out and stuck it in the invite as inserts are always easier to do than printing directly on card x

Hi everyone, I too have decided to make all my own wedding stationery.

I went on the well known auction site and ordered a sample of the invitation I wanted then took it apart and I am using as a template. I bought all my supplies of the auction site and its cost me next to nothing I ordered most supplies from Chinese sellers and planned well ahead as it takes a while to receive the stuff but all arrived fine and much cheaper than the UK sellers.

I plan to make the table plan using an ornate mirror and I am copying a design I saw online , not going to bother with save the date cards but i am making all the invitations. I bought picture frames in the sale for the table numbers and again I will copy a design online for the actual table number part. I am not craft or artistic in any way but cant wait to do it.

If you search how to make them it looks quite straightforward. I will keep you updated on how it goes I plan to do a trial/practice this weekend!! Xx

I have made my own save the date cards. I bought all the bits from the bay of e and I think it has cost me £10 to make 50 std cards. I thought that was a bargain! I have gone with quite a simple design, navy blue card, square with the details printed on pearl and then I have put 3 diamantes on each corner of the pearl paper.