Weddings are generally joyous celebrations of love and a time to be shared with your nearest and dearest friends and family. However, the logistical side of wedding planning can often derail the celebratory mood of the day. Weddings are often dictated by the personal preferences and tastes of the happy couple, however, they are often, unfortunately, also dictated by budget considerations. As we move away from the traditional model where parents would pay for the wedding, that financial burden has now fallen to the couple themselves. For younger couples, this can mean that the cost of footing a wedding bill comes at the same time as attempts to purchase their first home or caring for newly born children. Careful planning becomes all the more important to avoid creating undue stress during this time.
How much do wedding invitations cost?
There is definitely an opaqueness to the costs associated with weddings, for a lot of couples, it will be their first experience planning a wedding and for some it may just be their only experience of it. Some elements such as food and beverages cost may be easier to gauge as most people might be able to accurately estimate how much a meal and drinks should cost. Other elements such as a wedding gown or wedding band may be harder to judge as neither qualifies as common purchases for most people. Luckily, information is much more transparent in our current online age and social media sites have made it easier to share our experiences and read up on other peoples’ too.
Average cost of wedding invitations
Wedding stationery may seem like one of the more daunting aspects to arrange in the planning process due to the rarity of printed invitations or postal correspondence in our society now. Whilst save the date cards are often just sent as a digital invite now, most people still want to do something a little more traditional for main wedding invitations. And like with every cost associated with a wedding, the wide range of options makes it hard to work out how much should wedding invitations cost, ranging from $3 per invitation to over $15 each depending on the quantity required.
How much should wedding invitations cost?
Luckily, the online customisation tool on Paperlust goes a long way to answering this. It provides the price upfront and can be adjusted to take into account all quantities of invites and different print and paper options. The ability to scroll through the pricing difference for various papers can be especially illuminating; as we live in an increasingly paperless world, the cost of paper itself may be one that most people don’t spend a lot of time thinking about. They may often be surprised to see the relatively higher costs associated with the premium card stocks preferred for wedding invitations compared to more commonly used printer papers. Paper weight and texture is often the first impression guests will have of the upcoming event and becomes important in setting the tone. Average wedding invitation costs are nearly always dictated by the paper chosen.
The design of the invitation can be another factor which increases the average cost of wedding invitations. Weddings being such a personal event, most people will want a design that is more reflective of their identity as a couple. A graphic designer may be required to create something that is personal, but also requires a bigger budget and a longer lead time. A lot of people wouldn’t know where to start and the process of sending off enquiries and quotes can be daunting and time consuming. Paperlust combines the design efforts of hundreds of independent designers, so customers have a wide range of styles to choose from, without having to source the designer themself. This can bring down the average wedding invitation cost because the designs have already been created and we take care of all the printing processes.
What’s the average cost for 100 wedding invitations?
The invitation customisation tool on Paperlust provides great insight to the customer on how wide the range of average wedding invitation costs can be. The individual average cost for 100 wedding invitations is often cheaper than ordering smaller quantities and some people might like to order extra to keep some as mementos. At one end, there is the standard Digital Printing on Matte paper and at the other, there is the Foil Press on Double Thick Cotton, with the cost of each wedding invitation going from $3 to $9. By increasing or decreasing the quantity of wedding invitations, it is also clear how the economies of scale apply.
What’s the average cost for 150 wedding invitations?
Whilst many weddings are getting smaller and more intimate, they are still often great excuses for a large family event. Many traditional weddings still have guest lists that number in the hundreds. It can be a comfort then that as the quantity of invitations increases, the cost per invitation drops to just over $2 per card for 150 wedding invitations.
Like with a lot of wedding elements, the cost of an item can sometimes just be dictated by your imagination. The field of results varies so wildly from some of the smaller Etsy sellers charging only a few dollars for the design, to the curated range on Paperlust at mostly just under $10 an invite to the $15+ per card that custom designs and specialty print processes. The final decision is so specific to the needs of each couple and their circumstances. We always suggest ordering one of our sample packs first so you can see why the different print and paper options result in the different cost of wedding invitations. Thanks to the sharing of information online, the murky waters of working out average costs of wedding invitations has become clearer, and with the range of possible invitations ever widening, there will hopefully be an option to suit anyone’s taste or budget.