Foto: @lebfreier.photography

8 Mistakes in DIY Wedding Invitations

If you've decided to design your own wedding invitations, you've already taken a brave and creative step towards your big day. Homemade invitations are not only personal, but also a beautiful way to get your loved ones in the mood for your special event. I totally understand that you're full of ideas and inspiration, but there are a few big pitfalls that are easy to fall into. That's why today I want to save you from the 8 most common mistakes made with DIY wedding invitations.

If you have decided to make your own wedding invitations, then that is a great decision. You have probably already started gathering inspiration and ideas. I have a lot of tips for you when it comes to homemade wedding invitations - because I used to make my own invitation cards too!

The result is not only authentic and individual invitations, but also, in the best case, high-quality cards. A concern of many DIY brides is that the homemade wedding invitations will also look homemade or "cheap". To prevent this from happening, I want to save you from 8 mistakes today. In my four years as a wedding stationery designer, I have seen one or two faux pas that could have been avoided. But now let's start with the 8 most common mistakes with DIY stationery and invitations:

Poor quality of materials : Use high-quality products to avoid frustration and disappointment. It is better to invest a few euros more in good materials than to waste time with inferior products. From my own experience, I can only recommend spending a few euros more and getting good materials straight away. This will save you money and time in the end. You can find high-quality materials in craft and art supply stores. If you don't have a store like this nearby, just use the relevant online shops.

Content overload : Avoid overloading your invitations with too much information. Less is often more, and a clean design with white space looks more professional and appealing. If you find it difficult to arrange text and images, just look at photos of professional stationery and try to imitate the placement. It can also help to shorten long sentences to the essential content.
Too many finishing touches : It's tempting to decorate your invitations with various finishing touches such as wax seals, ribbons and stickers, but less is often more. Limit yourself to 2-3 highlights in the entire stationery. I love wax seals, silk ribbons and the like - no question about it - but I would never use them all at the same time for the stationery. Think about which finishing touches are important to you and create a sample to test the effect.
Too little space around the edges : Make sure you leave enough space around the edges of your invitations to make the design look airy and professional. To achieve a professional design, leave at least 1.5 centimeters of space around the edges (excluding watercolor elements or graphics that you want to extend beyond the edge).
Pixelated photos or graphics : Make sure that the quality of your photos and graphics is sufficient and does not appear pixelated. Photos that you have received via WhatsApp are not suitable for printing. The file size can be an important indicator. Photo files under 1 MB should only fit on the invitation in very small quantities. If your photos are to fill the entire front, I recommend making sure the file size is over 1 MB. More is of course better. Cell phone photos taken in daylight are now absolutely sufficient, as long as they have not been compressed by messenger or editing apps.
Hard to read font : Choose clear and easy to read fonts and make sure that the font size is appropriate. The more curved and detailed the font, the harder it is to read. Of course, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't use decorative fonts for your stationery. But make sure that the font is always big enough and maybe use it for headings or your names on the front. For the body text, I recommend a simple and clear font in combination with the decorative font. Other adjustments here are line spacing and font color. It doesn't necessarily have to be black, but to ensure good legibility, we strongly advise against light yellow and cream tones (if you are printing on white paper).
Lack of structure in the content : Structure your content with subheadings, highlights and symbols to make your invitations clearer and more appealing. Subheadings and highlights can ensure that your invitation gains structure and form. If you print long texts without paragraphs on the invitation, guests will not only be overwhelmed by the amount of information. They will also have a harder time finding important information.
Wrong choice of paper : Choose a high-quality paper with a grammage of at least 200 g/m² that is suitable for your printer and reproduces the colors well. The biggest mistake when it comes to wedding invitations is choosing the wrong paper. A more detailed blog post will follow shortly. But how do you find good paper? Unfortunately not by ordering it "blindly" online. Here again, we recommend well-stocked art shops. Alternatively, you can order paper samples online for little money from many online printing companies and craft shops. It is definitely worth it so that you can get a feel for the paper weight, colors and texture. I recommend a grammage of at least 200 g/m² for DIY cards. For reference: For my wedding stationery, the paper starts at 260g/m²! Especially if you print your invitations at home, make sure that the paper is suitable for your printer. Otherwise you run the risk that the colors will not be displayed well or the text will run.

With these tips, you'll be well equipped to make your DIY wedding invitations a success. But no matter what you decide, I'm always here to support and inspire you.

Photo: @lebfreier.photography

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