DIY wedding invitations provide an excellent means of aiding a wedding budget. With the availability of various supplies from craft, stationary and online stores, the possibilities are endless, and creativity is the limit. When making your own wedding invitations, be sure to account for variables such as time, and plan according to the guest list.

Timing
Wedding invitations require many complicated steps, including designing, creating, printing, addressing and mailing. All of these steps take ample time and preparation to ensure a quality final invitation. Wedding invitations should be sent approximately two months before guests are expected to RSVP. When calculating the time necessary for invitation creation, always keep this deadline in mind. One of the simplest ways to ensure the deadline is met is to obtain a calendar and then count backward with each step from your given deadline, writing goals on the calendar. For example, when making invitations on a computer, plan to dedicate at least one full day to the printing. When invitations will be hand written, plan on more along the lines of an hour for each invitation.

Paper
When creating your own wedding invitations, you are not limited to plain card stock. Online stationary stores offer pre-decorated card stock that simply requires printing or writing. If desiring a more creative invitation, consider using scrapbook or stationary paper. Finally, confirm the final size of your invitation before beginning production to ensure matching envelopes are readily available, and consider purchasing the necessary envelopes in advance if they are of a nonstandard size.

Message
Books and websites offer ideas for the invitation's phrasing. Consider sites such as "Wedding Bee" or "Martha Stewart Weddings" for traditional messages. These invitations are a keepsake memory, so make the phrases and lettering something that will be fondly and proudly remembered.

Always proofread the invitations very carefully. Have a few friends and relatives proofread them as well for some added eyes. Finally, use formal grammar and phrasing, as weddings are formal events. Locations and dates should be completely spelled out on the invitation instead of being enumerated. For example, the correct way to write out an address is "North Seventh Avenue," not "N. 7th Ave."

Details
If someone in the wedding party has a hidden talent such as stamping or sketching, consider incorporating this into the invitations. Other creative accents could include ribbons, tissue paper or creative craft objects. If the wedding has a small guest list where invitations can be hand delivered, consider a substitute for the conventional envelope such as a bottle or a scroll, if it suits the theme.

Source: ehow.com