Our quest to invite our guests: round three

As with most things wedding planning, I turned to the internet to find our invitations.  I was looking for an invitation that, by the time it was in my possession, required me to address the envelope and slap a stamp on it - and that's it.  I won't bore you with a step-by-step recollection of all of the different websites I looked at and all of the different designs I contemplated.  But what I will tell you is that invitation shopping is hard work.  It's very difficult to find a design that you like, that comes in the colors you're looking for, and won't break the bank.  Many websites will advertise that a specific design starts "as low as $1.49 per invite," but what they fail to tell you in that eye-catching price quote is that the $1.49 covers the invitation and only the invitation - not the envelope, not the response card, not the response card's envelope, and so on.  AND the unit price of $1.49 is only achieved when you order 500+ invitations.  Nope, nope, nope.

Despite trying to be a fiscally responsible and smart shopper, I still managed to fall in love with a design that was WAY more than what I could ever justify spending.

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I loved the color palette, the monogram detailing, and the minimalist look.  I didn't love that it was going to cost us more than $500 for 100 invitations.  And we likely needed more than just 100 invitations.  So, with my budgetary tail between my legs, I redirected my search, looking for lower-cost alternatives.  

I looked at popular sites like VistaPrint.com, but none of their designs were really hitting home with me.  Some were cute, but I was struck by how many of them looked like party invitations as opposed to wedding invitations.  I also looked at what the wedding industry calls "affordable invitations," and came up with a lot of results reminiscent of this:

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You can barely see it, but there's some white-on-white detailing on the paper.  This style of invitation is busy and simple in all the wrong places for my taste.  

So, now I was in a pickle.  I had exhausted all of the wallet-friendly wedding invitations options I knew of, and I had come up empty-handed.  Everything that caught my eye also strangled my finances.  Just as I was about to give up hope and make a choice that either compromised my vision or my budget, I was introduced to the best little website around, and everything was smooth sailing from that point on.  What website?  That's for next time!

How did your search for custom wedding invitations go?  Did you, too, have a hard time finding the right one?