Having your wedding invitations professionally printed can cost an arm and a leg these days and with more and more people using home computers, or at least having access to a friend's computer, you can save a great deal of money by simply producing your own invitations at home.
Do it yourself wedding invitations can look extremely professional these days and you'll find that it is easy enough to get hold of the necessary blank stationery either through a local store or online. You'll even get full instructions, including how to go about wording your invitations.
Getting your do it yourself wedding invitations just right does however require a little bit of planning and, in particular, you will need to think carefully about just what you should include along with the invitation card itself.
Your printed invitation card will normally be wrapped in tissue and popped into an unsealed but addressed envelope. This in turn will be enclosed in a second envelope which will be sealed and addressed for posting and which should include your return address in case the postal service is unable to deliver it or the recipient is no longer living at the address you have.
So far so good and everything you need up to this point will be included in any standard wedding invitation kit that you buy from your local stationer or purchase online. However, you will need to think about a few other things that you should include.
First you'll need to include a reply or response card to give your guests a simply way to let you know whether or not they will be attending. You should also include a stamped and self-addressed envelope for convenience.
Next, if the marriage ceremony and wedding reception are being held at different venues, you should include a reception card. This should be in the same style as your wedding invitation and is, in effect, a separate invitation to the reception.
For guests who are traveling any distance to the ceremony you may wish to include a map with directions to both the ceremony and reception venues. Again these should be printed on card in the same style as your wedding invitation. Where the marriage ceremony and reception are at different venues some couples prefer to have maps to the reception available at the ceremony rather than to include them with the wedding invitation, while other couples feel that guests might feel happier knowing the location of the reception in advance.
Finally, again for guests from out-of-town, you might like to include accommodation cards with details of suitable hotels and guest houses in the area, together with their phone numbers and, where available, website addresses.
At this point couples often ask if they should include their list of suggested wedding presents with their invitations. The answer to this is a simple no! Your wedding invitation is simply that ? an invitation to join you and share in the pleasure of your special day and you should not put your guests in the position of feeling obliged to give you something in return for your hospitality. Of course your guests may ask if they can bring a gift with them and may also ask if there is anything in particular that you would like. In those circumstances it is quite acceptable to provide them some ideas ? but not until they ask!
For additional information about "Do It Yourself Wedding Invitations" please visit Talking Weddings at
http://talkingweddings.com/ 
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