Let me start by saying this is a post to discuss the downsides of DIYing stationery for your big event. There are obviously pros, one of the most commonly considered is the cut in cost! And even that isn’t usually as cheap as most brides start out thinking it will be. If I had a dollar for every time I’d had a bride say that she wished she would have known better and gotten professional invitations made... well I’d be typing this post from my beach house in Fiji.
The complaints we hear from brides who made the decision to do it themselves are all the same:
1. It took way more time than I imagined it would
2. It didn’t cost as much less than professional as I thought it would
3. They didn’t turn out as I had hoped
The first one, the TIME that goes into it is not an issue for all brides. Not all brides are working or school full time and trying to plan a wedding in their “spare time” (although most are). Some even have family members who will volunteer to take on big projects like this for them, but many brides have such a clear picture of what they want that they’re afraid to leave something like this in the hands of anyone else. Fair enough, since your wedding stationery is the first impression of your big day that your guests will get... but we’ll get more into the quality later on. Just remind yourself that this is quite a project, and be realistic with yourself about whether or not dedicating that amount of time is even a possibility for you. Going into it aware of this will keep you from allowing the stress to ruin this magical season of your life.
The second one, the COST issue is not as big of a deal. It’s not like most brides are crying because they didn’t save as much as they wanted. It’s more of a “lesson learned” in retrospect kind of thing. With cost being a primary reason so many brides are choosing DIY, it’s a little disheartening (when figuring in the cons) that this “pro” didn’t turn out to be as beneficial as hoped for.
The third one, the QUALITY issue is a big one. I know plenty of brides who tried DIY and ended up going out and purchasing professional invitations afterward because the finished DIY product was one step above preschool macaroni art level. But, there are plenty of brides who can’t afford to go pay for professional ones after spending so much on the craft supplies, and get stuck with an invitation they are not too pleased with. Think this is just the ploy of a stationery company, to look down on DIY brides? Take a quick (comedic) break and enjoy these craft fails (from a great website called CraftFail.com) and see! Just because you have an idea or someone tells you something will work, that doesn’t mean it will. Get ready to laugh...
We hope you enjoyed those as much as we do. You get the point, but if you’d like to continue your laughter at all the “Nailed It”s, go check out craftfail.com to see more.
All that said to say, it can seem like we're trying to talk to you out of DIY. Of course, we would LOVE for you to get your invitations done professionally and love it even more if you chose IntriCutz; but if you choose not to, it should be an informed choice, realistic about what is possible for you. No one wants their guests' first impression of their wedding to be a hot mess of glue spots with pieces falling off, and no one wants to lose patches of hair from the stress of trying to complete all the things you need to do for your wedding. Professionals do this for a living (duh), and it will save you so much time (and time is money for many) and stress to just let professionals do what they do best so you are free to just enjoy the process!
grt
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