Stationery 101

Before you order invite or put a save-the-date in the mail, read these expert tips for saving big without sacrificing style.

Photo by: Monica Buck

Choose One Color Palette Decide on your wedding's colors before you order your stationery. Start with the save-the-date cards, and run the same colors through the invitations, place cards and programs. This lets you get away with spending less on some materials. "You could have white letters engraved on green for the invitation, then print everything else in green ink on white stock, using less expensive thermography," planner Claudia Hanlin of the Wedding Library says.

Be Your Own Printer If you have a quality laser printer, you can save more. Spend the money to have save-the-dates, invitations and RSVP cards printed professionally, says Sabrina Moyle, co-owner of Hello! Lucky, a San Francisco invitations company. Then do the maps, accommodation cards and programs yourself.

Watch Your Postage It takes at least 52 cents to mail an odd-size or square invitation. Worse, says planner Geri Wolf of the Style Laboratory in Minneapolis, the post office doesn't make a 52-cent stamp, "so people often spend more to get the 63-cent stamp." The lesson here: Before you settle on an invitation, make sure to find out the postage it will require. You'll score further savings if you choose preprinted RSVP post-cards over traditional reply cards with matching envelopes.