Lindsey Mastis

We wanted our wedding invitations to reflect our theme: relaxed, fun, and personal. Instead of opting for the usual (and might I add, expensive) wedding invitations, I did them myself. All it took was patience, some creativity with Photoshop, $100, and an excellent printing expert from Staples.

Our wedding is being held in our hometown, St. Louis. But we love to travel and wanted to show our guests some of our adventures. Our invitations include several photographs– from our half-marathons in Las Vegas and Virginia Beach, to vacations in Alaska and Mexico, and historic excursions to Mount Vernon and Harpers Ferry.

On back, the information is easy to understand. We’re even renting a trolley and inviting our guests to arrive early for a quick tour through Forest Park. It’s much more than the standard black and white invitation with the ribbon at the top. And it’s easier to read– especially for our older guests (and people like me who already need reading glasses).

Breaking with tradition: We are not sending return envelopes. Our guests can RSVP online, or call us on our cell phones. Not only is it more convenient, but it helps save the environment. (Not to mention it saved us $50 in extra postage).

I designed the invitations to fit the dimensions of a FedEx Office (formally Kinkos) postcard (5.5 x 8.5). But when I went there to have them printed up, they looked horrible. First, I went to an office location that only had one professional printing machine. I knew I was in trouble when the guy started kicking the paper tray.

I traveled down the road a few more miles to a large FedEx Office location. The staff was nice, but the quality was the same. I bought 100 envelopes, and then I went to Staples.

The printing specialist was incredible. He knew all the differences in paper. I recommend printing off a test sheet. I was able to go home and tweak the photos that looked too dark.

By now, you’re probably thinking this was soooo easy and that I did everything right. Not at all! I’m super-late getting the invitations out (thanks to two blizzards in the Washington, DC area). And after I had all 100 invitations printed, I noticed there was a huge error. I wrote down the wrong time for the reception and there was no easy fix. I’d have to get them reprinted. I was so upset– I just paid $200 for the invitations!

Now, I’m going to praise Staples. When I found the error, I corrected it. I also noticed I could fit two invitations on one piece of regular-sized paper if I reformatted the page. I went back with a corrected version and while I waited for the new prints, I told the printing expert what happened.

To my surprise, he took back the copies that were wrong. And because I had fit two invitations on each sheet, my new bill was only $100. My mistake actually saved me $100. And postage cost $44 for 100 invitations.

Total cost for invitations and postage: $144. I feel like I pressed that “Easy Button.”