Did you use the same "theme" with STD & invites?

samanthag · September 22, 2008

Hey girls!

I've been browsing through the DIY projects and I LUV the boarding pass invites!!

Here's my question, I sent out STD magnets with pretty much no theme what so ever. Actually even the colors on the magnet will NOT be what we are doing for the wedding. The day my FI & I ordered them we still had no clue on decor and wanted to hurry & give everyone as much notice as possible.

So here I am now looking at actual invites and 1) they are SUPER expensive and 2) I'm wondering if you girls sent out STD boarding pass (or something similar) and then followed with the boarding pass invites?

How much would you say (if any) you saved doing it yourself?

Am I making any sense?

Thanks for your help!

IslamoradaBride · September 22, 2008

Just to answer the first question, we send out STD postcards from Vistaprint that have nothing to do with our colors or theme or anything like that. We used our e-pics (which were shot here in Georgia) but will be going for a pocket fold invite with a sand dollar motif that my mom is going to DIY. Both are saving us tons of $$ because of DIY-- I think the STDs with postage ended up being maybe $50 for 100 postcards and stamps. Haven't gotten the invite supplies yet but I priced them out for around $250 or so, and my mom has found some different supplies that are cheaper too.

So yeah, DIY will save you $ but not time, if that makes sense.

DWandMJ · September 22, 2008

We are combining the concept of a STD with our invitations by sending out the boarding pass invitations about six months prior because a lot of people already know when and where we're tying the knot.

I never figured out how many hours were actually spent designing our invitations because a lot of the time was spent figuring out how to navigate through Adobe Photoshop. Clipart/Flashart/Quick graphics were never used, so they turned out (at least on the computer monitor) beautifully and appear to be professionally done. The design was reflective of our wedding colors and will be carried throughout our thank you cards, itineraries, and possibly our reception invitations. Because they are currently a work in progress we're looking at the following projected expenses for three boarding pass sections per 8.5"x11" page:

Projected costs excluding labor:

1. 150 count package of 110 lb. white cardstock = $5.00 (only using 50)

2. Laserjet printing @ UPS Store $0.35/page (during sale), 50 invites= $20.00

3. Envelopes = $20.00 (tbd)

4. Clear labels = $10.00

5. Postage = $25.00 (tbd)

Total: $80.00

Had we gone through a professional (whose concepts and overall theme were definately mimicked in the construction of our DIY) we were looking at $250 for 50 invitations which did not include postage or addressing.

If we had access to a color laser jet printer free to use (which we didn't), that would save, as does handing out as many invitations as possibly instead of mailing.

Good luck!