How Much Do Wedding Invitations Cost? Everything Couples Need to Know

When it comes to understanding just how much wedding invitations cost, keep in mind that you need to account for more than just the invitation cards themselves. (Because nothing in wedding planning is as straightforward as it seems!) The 3% rule applies to your entire wedding invitation suite, which encompasses everything from your save-the-dates to postage. Here’s everything that couples typically include in a wedding invitation suite:

• Save-the-dates
• Invitation cards
• Detail and enclosure cards, such as RSVP cards, travel and registry information, and invitations to surrounding events like a welcome party or rehearsal dinner
• Belly bands
• Envelopes
• Recipient addressing
• Postage, including postage for save the dates and return envelopes if you’d like guests to mail back their RSVPs
• Decorative details and accents like wax seals and ribbons
• Thank You Cards

Pro tips:

• Envelopes with designs that coordinate with the invitation and recipient addressing are included in all Minted’s orders. Various envelope colors and addressing styles are available.
• Join Minted membership program to access the biggest discount and free domestic shipping all year on your stationery orders.

Combining your and your spouse-to-be’s initials into a beautiful custom crest or monogram is a great way to level up your wedding invitation suite. These can cost hundreds of dollars when done by a traditional wedding invitation designer or can cost as little as $10 when you customize one of Minted’s crest and monogram templates.

You’ve snagged your dream venue, so why not feature it in your invitations? Minted makes it easy to customize your invitations with an illustration of your venue, whether you’re tying the knot at a historic chateau, in the city where you and your partner fell in love, or at a family ranch. A completely custom drawing or watercolor painting of your venue (like the one shown in the invitation suite below) can be added to your invitations for anywhere from $300-$435, or you can customize your invitations with a crest or monogram from $5 to $10. You can request to change the color or texts, fonts of these design elements to fit with your invitations.

If a custom drawing of your venue isn’t your style (or is simply out of your budget), you can also incorporate illustrated details of design elements like bows, oysters, florals, and cocktails that communicate the vibe of your big day. With each clocking in at just $5, you could even pull together a small edit of your favorite illustrations in a similar art style to use across all of your stationery.

Nothing communicates elegance quite like a wedding invitation printed on a thick, heavyweight cardstock. These more premium paper products are necessary for invitations that feature letterpress or embossed elements, and will typically increase the cost of each invitation by about $2 (Minted’s Premium Paper is an additional $1.75 per card). You could also opt for a Pearlescent Paper to add a subtle shimmer to your cards (expect to pay about $1 extra per card) or go eco-friendly by printing your invitations on recycled paper (expect to pay about $1 extra per card).

Over the last few years, the amount of couples ditching standard rectangular cards in favor of invitations in unusual shapes has exploded. The trend is an easy — and relatively low-cost — way to inject a lot of personality into your invitations. An invite with scalloped edges or an arched shape is sure to stand-out in a sea of more traditional wedding invitations, after all! Expect to pay an additional $0.35-$0.50 per invitation if you go this route.

It doesn’t get much more classic than letterpress invitations, in which elements are pressed into the cardstock and then filled with a color. Undeniably luxurious, expect to pay more for invitations with letterpress details than you would for those that are digitally printed. This increased cost is due to the complexity of this printing style, as a custom letterpress plate needs to be made for each order. And, in the case that your design features letterpress elements in multiple colors, multiple letterpress plates will need to be created to print each color in individual layers. Letterpress cards also need to be printed on a thicker paper to hold the embossing process. At Minted, we use 100% cotton paper for a luxurious feel and they cost about $5.50 a card.

Created using a similar technique to letterpress invitations, but without the ink, embossing and blind debossing involve pressing a design onto your invitation (creating a raised ridge in the case of embossing and a depression in the case of debossing). Expect to pay about the same amount for embossing and blind debossing as you would for letterpress invitation styles.

Pro Tip: All Minted letterpress designs can be made into a blind debossing style. Simply choose “blind deboss” as one of your colors in our online customizer.

Shiny, sparkly, and eye-catching, foil-pressed invitations are as glamorous as they are fun. On top of the Minted foil-pressed wedding invitations, almost all of our designs can be customized with foil-pressed lettering for an additional $75. Couples typically use this feature to foil-press accents like their names or wedding date. Invitations with more intricate foil-pressed elements typically cost about $0.50 more per card than standard-printed designs.

While you can always opt to DIY your addressing, we wholeheartedly recommend going with a vendor for your invitations that will do it for you (your hands — and your local postal workers! — will thank you). This can be surprisingly affordable; Minted offers free recipient addressing in a variety of styles, including calligraphy, with all invitations and save the date orders. If you opt for hand-written addressing done by a calligrapher, expect anywhere from $2.50 to $6.00 per envelope. We also strongly encourage couples to opt to print their envelopes with their return addresses (which runs about $0.65 per envelope), which will save you tons of time while assembling your invitation suites.

Delight your guests from the moment they open their envelopes by including a liner that coordinates with your invitation design. These liners can vary in cost depending on style and customizations like venue sketches or monograms. To add a pop of foil, Minted offers pre-lined envelopes in gold, silver, and rose gold. The liner typically costs between $1-$2 per envelope.

Pro Tip: Minted’s online customizer allows you to see liner designs that coordinate with your invitation suite. These can be further customized through Full Service Proofing to update the color or design as needed. You can also explore these envelope liners sold and shipped by our curated artists.

For invitation suites that contain multiple enclosure cards, it can be a nice touch to keep everything contained within a belly band, jacket, or ribbon. These can range in price depending on the quality of material and level of detail. On average, these embellishments cost $0.50 - $2.00 per invitation.

If you’re opting for a belly band or vellum jacket — or just want to add a vintage element to your envelopes — wax seals are a great finishing touch. Many vendors offer pre-made seals with adhesive backing for you to simply stick onto your invitation suites. Wax seals customized with your monogram will cost about $2 a seal, whereas seals that feature more standard iconography clock in at about $1 each.

Pro Tip: Minted offers versatile Wax Seal designs to use as entreé indicators on your Menus or Place Cards for a unique touch that your guests (and caterer) will love.

As one of the few truly non-negotiable elements on this list, it can be easy for couples to overlook postage when building their invitation budget! To understand how much to set aside for postage, be sure to take one of your completed invitation suites to the post office to get weighed. Doing so will ensure you purchase the right amount of stamps, and avoid a disaster of having your wedding invitations returned because of insufficient postage.

At the time of writing, U.S. Forever Stamps cost $0.68, and come in a wide range of designs (ask your post office if you can see all of the designs they have available). Collections of vintage stamps can be a beautiful way to make each invitation feel extra special and we have been seeing this trend in classic weddings. On average, a vintage stamp costs about $5 an envelope.

Create a shared online spreadsheet where guests can enter their details, and give guests clear instructions on how to submit their addresses to avoid confusion. Start gathering addresses as early as possible—this should ideally be one of your very first steps after you finalize your guest list (which should happen before you send out save-the-dates). Use an address verification service to make sure everything is formatted correctly.

If you’re running behind, look into rush ordering services to speed things up. In the meantime, send digital save-the-dates to give guests a heads-up. Prioritize mailing invitations to out-of-town guests first so they have extra time to make arrangements. If needed, mail your invitations in batches rather than waiting for all of them to be ready at once.

Before buying stamps, take a fully assembled invitation set to the post office to have it weighed. Keep in mind that different inserts and envelope materials can slightly change the weight. Consider color and liner variations that might add to the overall weight. When in doubt, add a little extra postage to avoid any mailing mishaps.

Order a sample kit before placing your full order to test the layout. Try out different assembly methods with a few sets first to see what works best. Once your invitations arrive, set up an assembly line with family or friends to make the process smoother and more efficient. Keep a checklist handy so you don’t accidentally leave out any pieces or mix up the order!

If you’re struggling to assemble your wedding invites, we have a detailed guide that will give you all the necessary tips and tricks from wedding pros!

Have multiple people proofread your invitations before they go to print. Reading the text backward can help catch spelling errors that might be overlooked otherwise. Create a checklist of essential information to verify before placing your final order. Always order extra sets in case you need replacements.

Include pre-numbered RSVP cards to track responses easily and set up a digital RSVP system as a backup for guests who prefer to respond online. Make sure meal choices (if applicable) are clearly outlined. Follow up with guests who haven’t responded at least one week before the deadline.

Order 15-20% extra invitations to accommodate last-minute additions. Keep some invitations without inner envelopes until the final guest list is confirmed. Have a backup plan for quick additional printing if necessary. Consider digital invitations for very last-minute additions to save time and costs.

Absolutely! Many couples want their wedding invitations to feel deeply personal, and incorporating custom artwork is a great way to achieve that. Minted allows full customization, meaning you can upload your own design elements, illustrations, or patterns to reflect your unique wedding theme. Plus, our team of designers is available to help refine your artwork to ensure it prints beautifully on your chosen paper.

Your wedding invitation should provide guests with all the essential details they need to attend your big day seamlessly. Make sure to include your full names, wedding date, start time, venue name and address, RSVP instructions, and any necessary dress code details. If your wedding has multiple events, such as a welcome dinner or post-wedding brunch, you may also want to include an enclosure card or direct guests to a wedding website for additional details. For more tips, check out our full guide to wedding invitation wording and etiquette.

While matching your invitation design to your wedding colors is a great way to create a cohesive aesthetic, it’s not a strict requirement. Your invitations should complement your overall wedding style rather than feeling constrained by an exact color match. If you’re unsure, ordering a sample can help you see how the colors translate to print before making your final decision.

It’s always a good idea to order extra invitations—typically 15-20% more than your guest list—to account for last-minute guest list additions, keepsakes, or any mistakes made while addressing. Having extras on hand also helps if any invitations get lost in the mail or if you need to resend to guests who didn’t receive theirs.

Yes! Minted offers sample kits that allow you to preview paper quality, printing techniques, and different design styles before placing your full order. This is a great way to ensure that you love the texture, thickness, and finish of your invitations before committing. If you have a custom design, you can also request a proof to see how it looks in print before finalizing your order.

The best way to indicate whether a guest is allowed a plus-one is to be clear on both the envelope and the invitation itself. If a guest is welcome to bring a plus-one, you can address the invitation as "[Guest Name] & Guest." If you know the name of their plus-one, including it on the envelope makes it even more personal. If you’re limiting plus-ones, addressing the invitation to only the invited guest (without "& Guest") is a polite but firm way to indicate that only they are invited. Including RSVP cards with clear name lines can also help prevent any confusion.

Absolutely! Many modern couples opt for a hybrid approach by sending traditional paper invitations while using an online RSVP system to streamline responses. You can include a QR code or website link on your RSVP card, directing guests to a simple online form where they can confirm their attendance. This not only saves time but also helps with organization, especially if you need to track meal choices or accommodations.