Alright, this issue seems to be one of the more debated ones in wedding planning these days…especially for those on a tight budget. When printed invitations can cost you upwards of $500-$1000 (or more for letter press), and practically everyone (even your grandma) is online these days, it only seems natural that wedding evites would be a practical choice. Not to mention, they are environmentally friendly…for wedding couples trying to go green, this is a great way to save money, and trees.
But are they tacky? My simple answer to this is, they can be. if you do it right, evites can be a great way to save money on your wedding, while still accomplishing the purpose that invitations are for- inviting people to your wedding! In fact, they have the potential to be more effective than printed invitations in getting quicker responses, as even though dropping a pre-stamped envelope in the mail is pretty simple, a couple clicks on the computer (where most people spend a large amount of their day anyway) is even easier. And with the influx of couples creating wedding websites where guests can find out more information about their wedding, having the option to RSVP right on the website is not only smart, it just makes sense.
So, where to find these “classy evites?” Evite.com is one of the most popular, and simple to use, sites out there. And their selection is quite substantial. While they have some not-so-great designs, some of them are actually quite pretty:
And with the option to customize colors and fonts, add a map with directions to your event, add music to your invitation, and even provide links to your wedding registries, these evites are packed with features that even expensive letter press invitations can’t beat. Evite.com also includes a “reminder” feature, reminding guests who haven’t RSVP’d to do so, and you can set the reminder for whenever (and how many times) your little heart desires.
Sendomatic.com is another evite site, with some beautiful designs. They can even create a custom design if you don’t see what you like. However, there is a little catch to this one. The first 50 evites are free, but they charge after 50. In addition, if you want your evites to be advertisement-free, there is a charge. $7.95 for up to 50 evites, $13.95 for 50-100 evites, $24.95 for 100-200 evites, and up. Or, sendomatic.com gives you the option to send out the link to your evite yourself, instead of through Sendomatic, for $39.95. but with this option, you lose the RSVP tracking tool that Sendomatic offers.
For your $7.95 for 50 advertisement-free evites (or more), you receive the RSVP tracking, picture/logo upload, polling features, email reminders, weather checking tool, voice/text/phone reminders, as well as a “synch with calendar” tool, allowing guests to synch your event with their google, AOL, yahoo, etc. calendars. While this site does charge, $7.95-$24.95 is still cheaper than printed options.
So. Are evites the only way to save money on invitations? No. If your heart is set on printed invitations, there are still many options for you to consider that I will post soon. However, evites are something you may want to consider, as they are both budget and environmentally friendly.
Happy planning!
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