Recently updated on February 3rd, 2021
As a bride-to-be with champagne taste on a tap-water teacher salary, can I just say… the struggle is extra real.
During my 6 months of thrifty, DIY wedding planning I have made it my goal to save as much money as I can without sacrificing the aesthetic of one of the most beautiful and special days of my life. Oh, and my fiancé’s too…
When it came time to order our Save the Dates I thought to myself, “I got this“.
I was going to go online, select one of the hundreds of Wedding Etsy shops, find a design that we both loved and click order. $200 and up?! I even looked at other “thrifty” printing services and the price wasn’t any prettier.
I get it. People need to make a profit off of their hard, creative work, and by all means keep on creating! However, I couldn’t justify spending even $100 on a partial invitation that really can be avoided with just a group text… let’s be real. Plus, I would rather put that money towards something else. Like food.
We debated on not even sending out Save the Dates, but again, champagne taste.
So naturally, I took the DIY route. I’m so glad I did!
Let me just tell you, I am by no means a painter. I will credit myself for being a creative person, but definitely not a vpainter.
This took a bit of trial and error, but the beauty of watercolor is that it really is just an impression of what you’re painting. My translation: as long as these reddish brown strokes kind of look like Sedona, we’re good. (tying the knot in Sedona, AZ!)
Oh, and I definitely roughly sketched the image lightly with pencil prior to painting, because I love having guidance in my life.
Once my little painting was dry, I scanned it with my iPhone and uploaded it onto my laptop. From here, I used Fotor Photo Editor (free version) and added my text. Literally, that easy.
Finally, I uploaded the final product onto VistaPrint.com. I was able to create a postcard out of my design which saved on envelopes (which aren’t that expensive, I know…) We chose our paper option and ordered! Voila, DIY Save the Dates!
Total Cost With Vista Print:
Cost of other Materials:
- Watercolors... $3.97
- Watercolor Paper… $5.97
- Brushes… free (I had them already)
Total Materials with tax: $9.94
Total Project Cost: $46.40
That’s over $150 saved! That, and our guests are LOVING them. Maybe they are just buttering up the bride, but some of them are telling me that they are such a keep sake!
Will we DIY our invitations? umm, YES!
I hope this was at least somewhat helpful and encouraging to any of you brides on a budget! Check back to see what I “DIY” for our invitations!
Looking for a way to save some extra money for the wedding?! Check out how I saved over $600 by not buying/replacing these products!
Also, take a look at how I made $130.74 while exercising! All of this passive income has been such a blessing in my wedding planning!
