Well, not really “discovered”. I’ve known that Etsy.com has existed for some time. However my perception of the website was more along the lines of handmade arts and crafts like jewelry, vintage-style trinkets, and knit/crochet goods.
It wasn’t until I started Google-ing “affordable custom letterpress stationary” for my wedding that I discovered that Etsy is potentially.. so. much. more.
But let’s back up for a second. When I started thinking about wedding stationary, I worried about what the cost would be for us to “design” our own invitations with a print house. A couple affordable ones that I found online required additional design fees (which would bring the costs back up) and mentioned that I could save a good amount of money if I went with one of their pre-made designs. Um, no.
We want a somewhat unique look to our wedding paper and I am not savvy in Photoshop or Illustrator at all. So during one of my Etsy-browsing sessions, I had an “a-ha” moment after speaking with one of my coworkers earlier in the day.
She told me about party printables and then I realized what a great resource Etsy is. There are actually designers out there who will help you create what you want to print so you can be a (somewhat) DIY bride!
Check out these images from my coworker’s daughter’s first birthday last year – Anders Ruff designed these printables and my friend printed everything out herself. So cute!
So I thought to myself, what if I could find a designer to create and, more importantly, format my invitations in a PDF that I could just take to the affordable printer I found? There are a couple of listings on Etsy that seem affordable – I’m ready to send out some emails to inquire about design-only costs. Wish me luck!
What do you think? Have you gone this route before for your wedding invitations? If there are any brides out there with any advice, I’d love to hear them!
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