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My sister in law's sister is getting married. She asked me to consult with her regarding invites and response cards, and to see how much I would charge her. I have no idea, as I have never made invites and charged for them. It depends on how much work is involved- she needs 50.
If you make cards to order, how much do you charge? Costs+an hourly wage, flat fee?
Do you have a contract that you do up?
Do you get a deposit?
She sort of is family, but I've only met her once, and don't know her well at all. She's wanting to get handmade invites because she wants to save money. I am really not sure how much it's going to save her in the long run- when I did the invites for my cousin's wedding, I did it as her gift, and estimated that I spent about 30 hours on them, and ballparked the gift at $200. I did about 50 for her, too.
Any advice is appreciated.
What I do is make up several samples for the bride to see. I list all materials and cost for materials on a sheet inside each invite, or aattached with each package of invites, response, party favors, thank yous, etc. I estimate my time to make each item also. I typically charge only $1.50 to $2 an hour for my labor because she is going to be buying all her supplies from me and I receive a commission on the sales. I then let the bride have them for her selection. It is then up to her to decide if she is going to save money or to get the invitaion she really wants!
I would make sure you don't lose money on this. I know people don't realize the cost factor in making homemade invites sometimes. The envelopes and supplies add up. I usually do them for family or friends when I want to "gift" them.
You could explain to her that handmade invitations can actually end up being more expensive than commercial ones (because of design time, cost of materials & supplies, time to locate & purchase them, labor time, etc).
If she could show you some commercial ones she liked (there are plenty to see online) to get a ballpark figure on the cost, then you would better be able to tell her if she could save money by having you make them.
This way you get some idea of how elaborate she wants them to be & how much they might cost commercially. Then you can estimate what it would cost for you to make something similar. That way you can decide if you would be able to make them for less OR would want to take less to be able to make them for her OR the value of them should you decide to gift them.
It's only fair for you to have some idea of what you're getting yourself into before you make any commitment on the project or what you would charge.
How does the bride think having custom handmade cards will save her money? If she's trying to low-ball you, don't even get started. Handmade cards and invitations are often much more costly than what you would find at, say, Costco. You need to add up all costs, as stated earlier, plus adhesive. Multiply that by 2-3 to compensate for some of your labor.
A wedding invitation often speaks to what kind of a wedding it's going to be. A custom handmade invitation done well speaks to the formality and elegance of the whole affair. I personally love getting custom invitations and save them all.
I did 125 invitations a couple of yrs ago, the bride always liked my work,but cost was a factor. I used Georgia Pacific cardstock from WalMart as the base,tulle instead of ribbon, and did layers with small pieces of cardstock that were embossed. I found a paper envelope shop, and a large box of envelopes for $10.00, made them around eight cents a piece. With my atg I used 2 rolls of tape at $2.50 a roll. It can be done cost effectively, I would cut everything out and stamp at home, and every break I had at work I was taping together. The information inside the card was printed at Kinko's, and I cut them down, and taped inside. The finished invitation was nice, and many compliments were mentioned at the reception. I kept a running list of everything I used, and doubled the amount as a beginning of how much I would charge.
I was at another wedding a month ago, and after the ceremony the tulle bows were being ripped off the pews, and were going to be thrown away. I got me a trash bag, and scored me some freebies. I ain't proud, free is free, and recycled to boot.
__________________ Patrice. Organized people are just too lazy to look for things.
I made my daughter's wedding invitations and all the "inserts" inside...reply card, envelope, hotels, directions, etc. I had all the printing done at Kinko's but if you were printing those at home you should figure in some cost for your ink and maybe wear and tear on your printer. Also think of the cost of your adhesive and if you are doing any stamping maybe the cost of your ink. Those are just some of the things we don't think about when we are pricing things. You could look online at lots of commercial sites and see what kind of invitations you can get for what price. The bride should understand that having you make them isn't necessarily about saving money or if she does want to save money it will have to be something very simple and easy for you to make....or perhaps you could design something for her and then let her friends and family come and help her assemble them. Of course that would still be work for you to organize all that!
I started doing wedding stationery about a year ago, and 'spoke' to someone on another forum who advised me on pricing. She said she adds up the cost of ALL supplies- this includes stuff like printer ink, - then multiplies it by 4.
1 for the materials,( remember to include stuff like adhesives, knife blades, etc), 1 for the 'sundries'- heating, lighting, wear & tear on printer etc, 1 for your time, and 1 for you!
I actually find thats a pretty good equation.
I would advise you to make two of each sample, then get the design she chooses signed & dated by her as the one accepted- you keep one, and so does she. No arguments or unhappy bunnies later then! I would get a deposit, up to 50% is normal, as once they have a date, or names on, they are useless to anyone else, so you can't recoup anything by selling them. After all, any company online or in store will want a deposit before they start, and full payment before they hand over the stationery.
It CAN be cheaper to have them handmade, depending on what people want. If they just want cheap & cheerful, then there are thousands of ' off the shelf' wedding stationery sets, as the other posters have said, that would be a lot cheaper. However, if they want something nice, elegant, classy, then even at the 4x equation, handmade is cheaper.
Go have a google search for 'Handmade Wedding Stationery, or 'Bespoke W.S', and you will see what I mean. They don't have to be fancy- but they are expensive!
Get a decent time frame set- you can be surprised just how long these can take, and to be honest, it gets a bit boring repeating 50 of any design- you will want a break, lol.:-D
Don't be tempted to cut your price if she says its too expensive- non card- makers really have no understanding of just how long these things take.
One (sneaky) way of stopping people asking you to 'knock a bit off the price', is to do up the bill, adding a quarter to a third to the prices.
Put the total at the bottom- then add' 25% discount for friends & family', and minus off the quarter you added.
You get a realistic return for your efforts, and they believe you gave them a discount! Trust me, this works- I got fed up being asked to 'knock a bit off for friends', when because they were friends I had cut the prices to the bone anyway!:-D
Hope this helps a bit.
If she REALLY wants to save money, she can get two sets of wedding invitation kits at Michaels this week for $30 (regular price: $40). Each kit comes with stuff for 30 or 40 cards. OR, she can be patient and wait 'til they are NOT on sale, and use a 40%-off coupon and get them for $24 each. Then she would only be paying $50 for 50 invitations.
Thanks for your replies- I gave her the quote ($250 for materials and work) and she said she budgeted $100 for invites- Sophie, what you said is exactly what I suggested to her! The materials would have been nearly $130, so she was getting a fairly good deal for my time.
I think the advice in this thread is solid and still stands.
TBH I have been honing my calligraphy skills (still a way to go) as a side business addressing envelopes. I'm ok with repetitive work as I regularly make 100+ Christmas cards of the same design.
I have made invitations for 2 Bridal Showers 1 bachlorette party and A baby shower. For my Daughter and Daughter in law. Each time I have been approached to do Wedding invites. Eachtime I have declined. Making 50 of something is terdious, and there's the pressure of being sure everything is perfect and spelled correctly ETC. I didn't want that responsibility. I think sometimes people equate handmade with less expensive when in reality it's more expensive unless you have a business and can get your materials wholesale.
__________________ Bev
Organized People are just too lazy to hunt for things!!!
I recently made invitations for a baby shower. I made sure no colouring or fussy-cutting was involved. Just two-step stamping and die-cuts. It went by reasonably quickly. I only made 25 though. Not 50. The trick for me is to not count, or keep track, as I am assembling them. If I keep track, I feel sooooooooooo burdened. If I assume, on the other hand, that I still have thousands left to do, before I know it, I'm done with that step!! This also helped me mentally think that it went by reasonably quickly.
I'll throw in my two cents! A couple of years ago I did a season in the fall of several craft shows, and made many, many paper craft items, including cards. I worked for hours and hours like a whirling dervish on getting everything ready and taking all the stuff to the shows. Then I spent all day at my booth at the shows. I'm glad I had the experience, and met some really nice people.
When the dust settled, and I tallied up my costs for supplies, hours spent making things, and the cost of gas to and from the shows - I did not make a profit. Oh, and I forgot the add the cost of things I purchased from other crafters, and buying lunch while I was at the craft shows! I think I lost money, lol.:mrgreen:
I also once made 75 invitations for a Golden Wedding Anniversary Party. Same story. I didn't make any money, but didn't need to buy my lunches as part of the deal.
Now, when anyone asks "Do you sell those?" I always say with a smile, "I work for love, not for money."
I make gifts and cards for friends and family, but paper crafting for profit is not for me.
__________________ Bugga in OK
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." Dalai Lama
I made the invitations for my sons wedding but I had a digi image I could insert instead of stamping. Many people ask me of I have considered selling my cards and I just tell them that if I HAD to make them, it wouldn't be fun anymore!
I would also never try to make cards for money. I made those invitations for a co-worker. She did insist on paying, but she was the one who asked me and really, really wanted me to make them. I would never solicit business for cards. I could really make GOBS more money just working any minimum-wage job than I could making and selling cards!!
Thanks for the feedback. I do needlework from home and do make money doing it, its not alot but feeds my hobby :-) I would love to do this but incorporate my love of making cards. Time is not a problem. I guess I will do up some examples and see what happens.
Making wedding invitations for someone...
