This will be your main expense. The way to save money on your invitations is to order 25 more than you think you need to begin with. This way you do not have to pay an additional set-up if you need to re-order more later. Also, you’ll want to pick at least 3 different invitations and look for the same or similar invitation with both companies. You will find that the same or similar invitations have very different prices with Carlson Craft and BirchCraft. One company will always be a bit less expensive than the other. Also, you’ll want to choose several different invitations within different price ranges so that once you have everything broken down you know what your budget allows.

This is also an important part of your wedding ensemble. Response Cards are necessary to have people RSVP to the wedding and reception. You need Response Cards to get an accurate head count for your caterers. If you are on a limited budget, there are ways to help you with this expense. There are Send and Seal invitations that have the Response Card attached to the invitation. Another way is to have people respond via e-mail. You would provide the e-mail address either on the invitation or have a small printed addition to place in with your invitation. Please note that Response Cards have the printed return address on them to save you time from having to write it in.

This is an optional expense. The purpose of the Reception Card is to let people know the when and where of the Reception. The Reception card is inserted into the envelope with the invitation. To save money on this expense, you can have a small corner copy printed on the actual invitation giving the Reception details. There is a small fee for this option, but the cost is a bit less than buying Reception Cards.

Invitations come with two envelopes; an inner into which the invitation is inserted and an outer which is for addressing. The purpose of the 2 envelopes is to give the guest a pristine inner envelope that contains the actual invitation since the outer envelope usually gets dirty during shipping. Some people choose to have the inner envelope lined with the ink color on the invitation. It looks very classy; but for people on a budget is an unnecessary expense.

This is an added expense, but we highly recommend doing it. This option prints the return address either in black or the same color ink as your invitation on the back of the outer envelope. This saves you time from having to write it over and over and is also very classy. Also, you can have it printed in the same font as your invitations. The fee is very minimal for this option as well.

Standard ink is black. Your choices in ink color varies with Carlson Craft and BirchCraft. The ink color is for the color of the text on your invitation. This is a very nice option because you have your invitations printed in the colors of your wedding. The fee for this is very minimal.

This is an expense that is unavoidable. Shipping is often an expense that people do not budget for. Shipping can be as little as $10 or as much as $100+, depending on when you order and how you choose to have your items shipped. Typical shipping charges are between $10 and $40 for regular ground shipping (in most cases). We recommend ordering your invitations 12-16 weeks BEFORE your wedding to give yourself ample time to receive and address them. Ground shipping is the least expensive option and ordering in advance allows this option to be utilized. If you have to rush or overnight ship your invitations, the shipping can be as much if not more than the cost of your invitations (from $30-$100+). Also be advised that lasered items are usually breakable; therefore they need more packaging and are heavier, thus costing more money to ship!

It is a good idea to have a proof of your invitations and save yourself the time and frustration of receiving an invitation with misprinted or misspelled information. Please read our Helpful Tips and Return & Misprint Policy to learn more about the importance of ordering proofs. The cost of having proofs either e-mailed or faxed to you is $5, and is a solid investment. We highly recommend getting proofs!