Tips for keeping stationery costs down...

• Reply postcards cost less than reply cards and will also cut back on postage fees
• Select a less expensive paper stock than 100% cotton or linen rag if the longevity of the invitaiton is not a top priority

• If the wedding ceremony and reception are to take place at the same venue, omit the reception card
• Choose thermal lithography printing rather than engraving
• Order supplies from warehouses or wholesale outlets rather than speciality paper boutiques or art stores - they are more likely to have discounts!

• Only purchase inserts you feel are definately neccessary - if you dont think you need menus for your wedding, you dont have to include them
• Order supplies well ahead of time in case of unforseen delays and because rush orders almost always cost significantly more 

Guest Book Alternatives

There are many ways to keep messages from friends and family other than the traditional guestbook – here are some ideas below:


o Ask guests to write their message, advice or inspiration and post it through a sealed decorated box or wishing well – the box could easily be made by you and personalised to your colour scheme and theme...why not leave this for a year unopened and you can then spend your first anniversary sipping champagne and reading all the special messages!

o Guests can pin notes to a ‘wish tree’ this can also make a great focal point! Again, this can be done using a bit of imagination and DIY! The Wedding Chicks have a fantastic Wish Tree template download here.

o Video booth – guests can leave a video message for you to watch over and over!

o Polaroid camera –guests can take their picture and put it with their message or write a message on the back of the picture. These can be ‘pegged’ along a line which will make a fantastic feature at the wedding, not to mention looking great in the pictures

o Pebbles - pebbles are written on by the guests and then kept for years by the couple. They can be stored in a glass vase, or immersed in water.

o Wooden jigsaw puzzles that your guests can sign. Each guest has one piece of the puzzle to sign each and it’s your job as the couple to then put the whole thing together.

o Why not try and double up your guests place names with your guest book idea, by getting them to write a message on the reverse of their place name? you get to keep each place name in a lovely memory box. A great budget and DIY idea too!

o A suitcase; perfect for vintage weddings, or travel themed wedding. Guests are given a postcard to write on and then left to pop it in the suitcase. Looks great for any wedding and make a real feature out of the guest book.

Confetti Self Assembly Wedding Stationery Kits

These DIY wedding invitation kits from Confetti are great if you want to pick your style, embellishments and print from the comfort of your own home – saving lots of money!!!

The DIY kits vary from wedding invitations, orders of service, RSVP's, thank you letters and save the date wedding invitations. You can also create printed menus, table numbers and place cards using their ink and laser jet compatible pre-scored and perforated sheets

Personalised your stationary with their range of trims, ribbons and embellishments. Also available are creative outers, inserts, and envelopes which can be personalised and printed using Confetti’s Print centre.

Thank You Cards!

I couldn't resist making our thank you cards....now the wedding is over I still need to keep myself occupied with craft DIY projects!!



I was going to do them all the same but decided it would be more creative (and fun!) to make each one different. It also meant that I could use left over bits and bobs from the wedding such as ribbon, self-adhisive pearls and gems, and the hearts and  fabric ribbon that I used for the sweetie dispenser for our sweetie bar.  So this way worked out much cheaper than going out and buying a shed load of new bits!

Thank you cards...

So I finally got round to making our thank you cards. Feeling a bit lost after all the wedding preparations being over, I decided I wanted to make the cards myself. It also adds that personal touch!!

I was going to make all the cards the same but I decided to be more creative and make them all slightly different.  This meant that I could use left over wedding craft bits and bobs such as ribbon, pearls, gems, and the fabric ribbon and hearts that I used for our sweetie bar.  Worked out a lot cheaper than buying everything again!

Here's a small selection...I made 50 similar variations.

Apologies for the big gap in posts on here but I've been off getting married! Now back to reality and really don't know what to do with myself, and I'm sure most of you newly weds out there know what that feels like!  Anyway, I will try to keep myself busy by finding lots of bargains, money saving tips, freebies and of course anything to do with wedding DIY to keep posting on here!

So for today....

For some free samples of wedding invitations (try before you buy!) check out these lovely sites..

Fairy God Mother

Special Day Direct

Wedding Stationary by Debbie Jenkins

We collected lots of lovely samples before deciding to make our own but its also a great way of getting some ideas together if you do make your own!

Make your own Table Plan!!

As we’re only having a small number of guests at our wedding abroad, and our reception when we get back isn’t a ‘sit down meal’ affair, we don’t need a table plan but its easy peasy to make your own!

Why not coordinate your place names to match? Or decorate them to match your post box, guest book etc etc…!! Take some inspiration from google images such as these below...

 Pure Invitation do some great DIY table plans that you can order with or without printing

Kookykards have this lovely table plan which makes one 480 x 600 mm table plan and comes in ten different colour schemes - comes complete with everything to make the plan yourself!

Check out some free online templates from websites such as Confetti and the Craft Cabin and get creative!!

Guest Book!

Here’s my guest book which I decorated to coordinate with my post box….only problem is that the lid doesn’t fit on now - I’ll have to fix that by tying some ribbon around it!!

I purchased a blank guest book from eBay and then used the same decorations that I used for the post box which I bought from eBay and a local haberdashery shop.

There are lots of ideas you can use to decorate your guest book – using a quality paper to create a border around the guest book, adding decoupage, embellishments, ribbon etc to fit your theme such as the ones below -

Get Creative...

After making the invitations, I’m now getting round to printing inserts (yes, delayed I know!!). I’

I’m still undecided on what sort of paper to go for – I’m currently decorating my wedding post box and am also going to decorate a guest book to match so I may try to think of a way of coordinating them all…then there’s the order of service booklets….hhmmmm the DIY list is endless!!

Scrapbooking Mad have some great wedding craft papers (as below) decoupages, backing paper etc and what’s even better is that they have free clipart and card making downloads.....something to think about for my thank you cards!!

If you’re thinking of designing and printing your own wedding stationary etc, there are lots of sites offering free wedding clipart and templates.

Here are a few that I found on Google images…