While your wedding is first and foremost a declaration of your love, you must also look at it logically: it is a really expensive social event. So, before discussing who will and won’t be invited, let’s be clear on the financial implication of each guest. Adding an additional guest won’t just add the cost of a plate to your final budget. Instead, you have to factor in that guest’s invitation, wedding program, favors, chair covers… you get the point. Each additional guest you invite could be $100+ out of your pocket! Do you still want to invite upstairs neighbor, or have you suddenly remembered the time she overflowed her tub and it leaked into your bedroom?

Who to invite:

Deciding who to invite to your wedding doesn’t have to be rocket science. Instead, look at it as a game of Jenga! Stack up all the people you want to invite and then start to remove guests one by one, being careful to avoid a collapse.

Once you and your fiancé have decided upon the number of guests that will be invited, you should both write out a guest list-wish list. This list should have the names of everyone you would invite if money were no object. Next, sort your list into 3 priority groups: A, B, and C. The A Group are guests that must be invited: parents, siblings, etc. The C Group are guests that you would like to invite: distant relatives, college friends. Those in the B Group fall in between.

When it’s time to send out invitations, start with Group A. As Group A guests decline the invitation, begin to invite guests from the B Group. When the B Group has been exhausted, move on to the C Group. This method keeps you sane and your guest list manageable. That is, of course, until someone asks to bring their toddler to the ceremony….

Getting ready to get married is a huge, sometimes overwhelming experience, and you may thing that a DIY wedding invitation will simply add stress. However, designing your own wedding invitations can allow you to get exactly what you want without paying a fortune, and it’s not all that hard, either. So follow these simple steps to let loose your creativity and create your own wedding invitations.

1. Gather inspiration. A few online searches will bring up plenty of beautiful invitation designs that you can draw ideas from. Look specifically at invitations by professional designers and letterpress stationery leaders, and use some of their brilliant ideas in your own DIY wedding invitations.

2. Good design is first of all about balance, which is simply how different parts of an invitation are related to one another position-wise. Look through your inspirational pictures for ideas about whether you want all the objects and texts to be spread evenly across the background or to be arranged more loosely on the page. Multiple objects on your wedding invitations will add texture and balance to your invitations.

3. Find your “anchor” object or focal point. Professional wedding invitations, you’ll probably notice, will be centered around a picture, object, or design that acts as the invitation’s focal point. A particularly popular technique is to use a picture of you and your fiancé slightly off of the center of the invitation and to put a frame around the picture. Placing the anchor off-center and using a frame will lend a more polished look to your DIY wedding invitations.

4. Be sure that your colors aren’t too bright or busy and that they are complimentary. Using different shades of the same color can keep your invitations simple and classy, but you can also use just two contrasting colors for extra pizzazz. Before you decide on colored papers, experiment with printing on them, as different colors will look different. Also, when choosing fonts, make sure your text is visible and the style suits your wedding – an elegant font for an upscale wedding, and something simpler for a down-to-earth celebration.

With these steps, you can create beautiful, personalized DIY wedding invitations. Keep it simple, and your invitations will be cherished by you and your guests for a lifetime.