Inspired Brides brings elegant, affordable, and easy-to-assemble kits to creative and do-it-yourself brides. Our professionally designed, highly customizable DIY wedding invitation kits include all of the materials and instructions you need to start creating right away.

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May 8, 2013 More couples deciding to have 'do-it-yourself' weddings to cut costs Courtesy of ARAcontent When Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of former President and Mrs. Bill Clinton, got married the family was tight-lipped about how much they shelled out to celebrate the nuptials. However, nobody in the know placed the estimate at less than $2 million and many expert onlookers pegged the amount as high as $5 million. While few modern brides have pockets that deep, the average cost for a wedding in America is still between $20,000 and $25,000. For some couples, that's as much as they will make in their first year as newlyweds, especially if they are students on a tight budget. For those that want a nice celebration without breaking the bank, creative couples are breaking the mold. The do-it-yourself wedding is growing in popularity. Traditionalists might be aghast to hear that a friend or family member is considering such a passe strategy to celebrate their marriage. However, most people have attended a do-it-yourself wedding already and don't even know it. When newlywed Roshelle Brown got married for the second time, both she and her husband were on tight budgets, dealing with bills, separate households and children. Brown, however, has always been creative. "I just figured: why pay someone to do my invitations when I could do it myself?" Like Brown, many brides begin the DIY adventure with do-it-yourself invitations. As a cost-saving strategy, it certainly makes sense. According to the Internet comparison portal Cost Helper, commercial wedding invitations can run as much as $9 a pop. Even cheap options available from printing houses can cost around $4. Multiply that by the number of guests - often 100 or more - and it starts to add up. When a bride breaks the mold and goes for do-it-yourself invitations, the numbers quickly dip. By using a kit from a craft store, DIY wedding invitations can be mailed to an entire guest list for about $1.50 each. If a couple is computer-savvy and can design their own wedding invitation on a common graphic program, the cost per invitation can be brought down to about 15 to 25 cents: the price to print a photo at a local photo center. Hannah Smith was surprised to find that her college graphic class saved her so much money in the wedding planning process. She designed her own wedding invitations using PhotoShop with basic strategies she'd learned in class. "If someone would have told me the class would help me have a nicer wedding, I probably would have laughed at them," she jokes. Of course, for very creative couples, the DIY flavor goes well beyond invitations. This is also the realm where most socialites start to twitch. From asking your gifted friends to provide entertainment or photograph the wedding, to potluck receptions, there are dozens of ways that cash-strapped families are tying the knot. Most people hesitate to implement these money-saving wedding techniques, because they can certainly look tacky. "The key is to make these strategies tasteful and transparent. Do not compromise class for cash," says wedding consultant Lily Spencer. Weddings are not known for being cheap and it's certainly not possible for all couples to be skilled in all the areas necessary to pull off a budget event. Luckily, most brides find that their families and friends are also on tight budgets, and this can work in their favor. Even if a bride and her significant other don't have what it takes to make their own invitations, they probably have a friend or family member who does. Instead of expecting the normal toasters and crockpots for wedding gifts, savvy couples are happily taking skills and talents in lieu of traditional wrapped presents. The main caution that most wedding planners give, however, is to carefully screen each offer. The last thing a bride wants is to end up with fuzzy wedding photos or a dress that doesn't fit right. If a potluck reception is attempted, always ask for the guest's best recipe and transfer it to a matched set of serving dishes. Do-it-yourself weddings can be a huge success, providing a high-class, but low-cost way for couples to begin their life together. While no one will claim that these strategies will ever outshine Chelsea's million-dollar affair, they should certainly cut it for the average couple's celebration. January 2, 2012 Happy New Year to all of our 2012 brides! Wedding preparation season is once again in high gear! If you're wondering how early you should start your DIY wedding invitations, here are some quick guidelines: - Invitations should usually be sent out 2 months prior to the wedding - Invitations for overseas guests should be sent 3 months prior to the wedding - If you're working at a leisurely pace, you'll probably want to give yourself 2 to 3 weeks to make the invitations. If you have help and are well prepared, you can get them done in a day! - We usually fill orders within 10-12 business days, and shipping can take anywhere from 3 to 10 business days (depending on your location) Taking all of these factors into account, we recommend placing your order around 4 months prior to your wedding day, or sooner if you have the time available! Have fun with your creations, and best wishes for your wedding day! November 25, 2010 After a long, hard search to uncover the highest quality papers at the best possible prices, we're happy to announce our the availability of our new paper colors! Order samples today to bring a fresh new look to your wedding invitation creations! The colors are: - Avocado Linen - Black Pearl - Buttermilk Pearl - Chalice Silver Pearl - Chocolate Smooth - Cognac Pearl - Gold Dust Pearl - Lime Linen - Mandarin Pearl - Mango Pearl - Navy Pearl - Purple Pearl - Raspberry Pearl - Red Lacquer Pearl - Royal Blue Pearl - Umber Brown Smooth - White Gold Pearl - White Pearl - Light Sage (Ribbon) - Royal Blue (Ribbon) Have fun designing your DIY wedding invitations, and best wishes for your wedding day! March 12, 2010 We're now well into wedding invitation madness season, so don't delay! Some of our brides have come back to us to show off their beautiful DIY wedding invitation designs, and we've been thoroughly impressed by your creativity and unique designs! If you've created a design from one of our DIY wedding invitation kits that you want to show to the world, just send us some pictures and we'll put it into our gallery. And maybe we'll turn it into a product and name it after you! Have fun with your creations, and best wishes for your wedding day! February 14, 2009 Happy Valentines Day to all of our loving brides! Love is in the air... and our super creative brides are showing how a little love and attentiveness can go a LONG way! Thanks to those of you who have sent pictures of your amazing designs. We're going to be posting them in our Ideas Gallery soon, please keep them coming! And don't forget our free placecards giveaway. Scroll down to our January 5th blog entry for more details! February 5, 2009 A faster server for even faster service! Thanks to your input, we've gone and upgraded our servers so they should be twice as fast now. Slow shopping experiences should be a thing of the past! January 26, 2009 Wedding preparation season is in full gear! If you're wondering how early you should start your invitations, here are some quick guidelines: - Invitations should usually be sent out 2 months prior to the wedding - Invitations for overseas guests should be sent 3 months prior to the wedding - If you're working at a leisurely pace, you'll probably want to give yourself 2 to 3 weeks to make the invitations. If you have help and are well prepared, you can get them done in a day! - We usually fill orders within 10-12 business days, and shipping can take anywhere from 3 to 10 business days (depending on your location) Taking all of these factors into account, we recommend placing your order around 4 months prior to your wedding day, or sooner if you have the time available! January 5, 2009 Happy New Year! We're celebrating the new year by offering a new promotion with orders of our Invitation Kits: Spread the word and receive free placecards! If you're happy with our samples and plan on ordering with us, spread the word! Let everyone know by making a posting to your favorite online bridal forum and we'll include a set of placecards with your order, free of charge.* Simply mention Inspired Brides and provide a link to our website (http://www.inspiredbrides.com) in your posting, and let other brides know how you plan on personalizing our kits for your special day. Then, send an email to info@inspiredbrides.com with a link to your posting BEFORE placing your final order, and we'll send you your personal Promo Code to receive your free placecards with your final order! *Offer valid on orders of Invitation Kits only, not available on orders of parts, accessories, or other product kits. Must be completed prior to placing your final order, as we cannot ship placecards separately. You will receive one placecard (in cream or white cardstock to match your invitation) for each Invitation Kit ordered. December 13, 2008 We're not just for brides anymore! We've recently filled a bunch of orders for holiday cards and party invitations using our standard wedding invitation kits. Our keen-eyed brides have pointed out that our fully customizable pocketfolder kits can be used for any occasion, and we're less costly than Hallmark! Happy holidays everyone, and we wish you the best in the new year! December 4, 2008 Use our new Program Kits to keep your guests informed on your wedding day! Choose from a variety of styles and sizes, and then customize your colors using the product customizer. And remember, free samples are always available so your color selections are never in doubt! November 28, 2008 Our first seven Save the Date Kits have now been added to the site! Play with different color combinations to find a perfect match for your wedding! November 20, 2008 Today we added three new categories in a new area called Wedding Accessories Kits. Designing and ordering your Wedding Programs, Save the Date cards, and Menus is now easier than ever! Stay tuned as we'll soon be adding Thank You Cards, Place Cards, Menus and Favour Boxes!