Thoughtfully designed and curated to suit the mood of your celebration, wedding stationery is imperative to tying your wedding concept together whilst also communicating all the essential information to your guests. However, from save-the-dates, to invitations, placecards, menus and more, the cost of working with a designer on your stationery suite can quickly add up, leaving a large and unexpected dent in your budget. For a more cost effective solution, why not consider a DIY approach and let your creative flair come to life. With thousands of templates, fonts and customizable options, these are 6 of the best and easy to use apps and platforms to get you started on curating your stationery vision.
But don't underestimate the DIY approach, it's a task not for the faint hearted! It will require a keen eye for detail, time to create quality results and an understanding of the printing specifications. Our tip – source a printer early on so you can understand the process correctly, create material in line with their required printing specifications and to ensure they have the particular paper stock and machinery on hand to make your digital design a tangible reality.
Canva
You don’t need to be a design pro to use Canva. The platform is a favorite for its simple, user-friendly interface and powerful design tools. An all-in-one digital studio, Canva offers a vast library of editable templates, fonts, and graphics - just about everything you need to create unique personalized wedding stationery in minutes. With drag-and-drop tools, you can customize any chosen template however you want, designing invitations and save-the-day cards that are as special as your big day.
Array Creative Design, Foliage Paper
Pros
+ Large library with thousands of templates that can cater to any taste and wedding style.
+ Collaboration feature that allows you to share your design with your partner or friends to work on your beautiful stationery together.
+ Very intuitive and doesn't require any background in design
Cons
- A general design tool that is not wedding-specific
- No guest management or tracking tools
- Not as suitable for complex, intricate designs
Cost
You can use Canva for free, but with some limitations. For $15/month, Canva Pro unlocks premium content, advanced design tools, and AI features. Printing through Canva starts at $8.13, with prices varying based on the type of paper, finish, and quantity.
Paperless Post
Paperless Post is the go-to digital invitation maker with endless features. The platform collaborates with top designers, fashion houses and stationery designers to create beautiful, premium designs for any occasion. You can easily customize RSVP cards, save-the-dates, and invites by playing with colors, layouts, and stickers. It’s a chance to create invitations that are truly reflective of your personal style.
Pros
+ Collaboration with top designers and brands, offering exclusive templates that you can personalize
+ All-in-one. Paperless Post invitations replace the need for a separate wedding website
+ Allows to track opens and RSVPs with convenient guest management tools
Cons
- The platform uses a "Coins" system that some might find confusing
- To avoid running out of Coins mid-process, you have to plan and estimate your Coin needs in advance
- Mostly focused on invitations and save the dates
Cost
Paperless Post offers both free and premium design elements. Premium cards start at 2 Coins per recipient. Additional premium features such as envelopes, envelope liners, backdrops, insert cards, reply cards, logos, and stamps each require extra Coins per recipient. There are 25, 100, 200, 400 and 1,000 Coin packages for $12, $23, $35, $60 and $120
Procreate
Procreate is a powerful platform great for couples with artistic skills, planning to create custom wedding invite designs made from scratch. The app gives complete creative control over every detail and supports high-resolution canvases, so that your digital designs can be printed at high quality.
Aerialist Press, Paige Tuzée Designs
Pros
+ Complete creative control and freedom
+ With a big choice of brushes and drawing tools, it's perfect for hand-drawn designs: unique illustrations, calligraphy, and textures that give a custom touch
+ Since it's an app, you can conveniently work on your designs on the go
Cons
- Procreate is a professional-grade, requiring a background and skills in arts and design
- Designed exclusively for iPad (and iPhone), which makes it inconvenient for Android users
- Requires additional hardware such as Apple Pencil for the best experience
Cost
Procreate is a one-time purchase of $12.99 with no subscriptions.
Minted
Featuring a large library of templates, Minted allows you to personalize nearly every aspect of your wedding invitations, from the color palette and fonts to the layout and wording to make it truly your own. Experiment with different shapes and formats, and even add a monogram or illustrations. Plus, you can order free samples to see and feel the quality of the invitations before making a final decision.
Pros
+ Offers free wedding invitation samples to see and feel printing methods, paper types, and finishing touches up close
+ Foil-pressed and letterpress printing options
+ You can get free guidance from a stationery expert
Cons
- Minted primarily focuses on physical stationery
- The level of customization is limited compared to fully DIY platforms
- Getting a replacement for your order can take quite a while
Cost
Pricing varies depending on the format, type, paper, and printing method chosen. You can also subscribe to Minted More for $38/year to get access to exclusive offers - a great choice if you plan to use the platform in the long run.
Squarespace
Squarespace is a popular website builder that can make all the planning more enjoyable and your invitations digital. The platform offers thousands of website templates to choose from to create your own wedding website, all customizable to include features and designs to whatever your heart desires. It makes it easy to set up digital forms for dietary requirements, wedding registry, song requests, interactive destination guides and so much more!
Pros
+ Provides a free trial so you can explore and test everything before making a commitment
+ Highly interactive, with potential for animation, videos, links, imagery and more
+ You can customize your site with everything your guests may need, from registry information and RSVP forms to photo galleries
Cons
- Specifically for building a wedding website, not ideal for couples wanting printed invitations
- To keep your site active, you'll need to opt for a paid plan
- You'll need to purchase a domain name for an additional cost
Cost
You can enjoy a complimentary 14-day trial, with the option to continue for $25 per month thereafter.
Evite
With Evite you can create digital invitations and cards with no prior experience in design. Very simple in use, it allows you to customize your invitations with your own photos, text, and color schemes to match your wedding theme and preferred style. Aside from invitations, Evite also offers tools for planning other wedding-related events.
Pros
+ Evite focuses on digital invitations, making it an eco-friendly choice
+ Offers tools that make it easy to manage guestlists, RSVPs and send guest reminders
+ You can add a co-host to help you with managing
Cons
- Shows ads without Evite Premium subscription
- Evites can sometimes end up in spam folders, meaning your guests might miss the invitation
- While environmentally conscious, digital invitations might feel less formal
Cost
Evite offers a free invitation service, as well as a premium. The paid packages include the Small Package at $17.99, the Medium Package at $36.99, the Large Package at $68.99, and the X-Large Package at $99.99.
