Standard Wedding Invitations

You have a few options. Local print shops, online printers, and boutique stationery studios all print wedding invitations. Online printing tends to give you the most choices for paper, finishes, and quantities, usually at a better price. Turnaround can be as fast as the same business day. Gold Image Printing has been doing this for over 25 years, ships nationwide, and lets you configure your order and see pricing in real time before you commit to anything.

Any online print shop that accepts uploaded artwork will work. Most accept PDF, JPG, or AI files. If you don't have a designer, that's fine too. Gold Image Printing offers free downloadable templates that are already sized and set up correctly for print. You can also use the online design tool to build your invitation directly on the site without downloading anything or hiring someone separately.

It depends on what you need. If you use one of our free templates and customize the wording yourself, there's no design cost at all. If you want a professional designer to create something from scratch, we offer design services. The best way to get a price is to send us a custom quote request and describe what you're looking for. We'll get back to you with options that fit your budget.

Every wedding invitation needs five things. A host line saying who is hosting, the couple's names, the date and time, the venue name and address, and any dress code or RSVP details. Traditional wording spells numbers out in full, so "Saturday, the fourteenth of June" rather than 6/14. There's a lot of flexibility beyond that depending on your style and who's hosting. Our Wedding Invitation Wording covers all the variations with real examples you can use.

Standard wedding invitations are full-color digital prints on premium card stock with no specialty finish added. They're the fastest option, with same-day turnaround available, and the most affordable. If you want something with a tactile or visual upgrade, like foil stamping, letterpress, embossing, or soft touch, those are separate products with their own production process and pricing. Standard is a great choice if you want high quality without the specialty premium.

A few things set us apart. We've been printing wedding stationery for over 25 years. We offer eight premium paper stocks chosen specifically for wedding printing, real-time pricing so there are no surprises, and same-day turnaround on standard orders. Every order gets a digital proof before we print anything. And if you want to upgrade later, we have a full range of specialty finishes available as separate products, from foil stamping to letterpress to soft touch.

It varies based on quantity, paper stock, size, and whether you add any specialty finishes. For standard digital printing, most couples pay somewhere between $0.50 and $2.00 per invitation when ordering 50 to 150 pieces. Specialty finishes like foil or letterpress cost more because of the extra production involved. The easiest way to get your exact price is to use our configurator. It updates in real time as you select your options, so you know exactly what you're paying before you order.

No. Full-color printing on the front is already included in the base price. The only extra cost is if you want full-color printing on the back as well, and that's shown clearly in the configurator before you place your order. So you can have a rich, full-color design with photos, illustrations, or deep backgrounds without paying anything extra for color.

Traditional etiquette puts the bride's name first. That's been the convention for formal invitations for a long time. That said, plenty of modern couples go alphabetical, list names by preference, or just choose whatever sounds better with the wording. For same-sex couples, either name works. There's no rule that overrides what feels right to you. Our Wedding Invitation Wording Guide has examples for every situation if you want to see how different options look written out.

Sometimes, but not usually. DIY looks cheaper at first glance. Once you add up paper, ink, printer wear, cutting tools, and the time it takes, the cost gets close to professional printing pretty quickly. And if something goes wrong, reprinting at home costs you again. For small weddings under 30 guests, DIY can make sense. For anything larger, professional printing is almost always more cost-effective, and the quality difference in color accuracy and clean edges is significant.

Printed invitations do something digital ones simply can't. Guests can hold them, feel the paper, and keep them as a memento. They don't get lost in a spam folder or buried in an inbox. A printed invitation signals the significance of the occasion before a guest even reads a word. For formal weddings especially, print sets a tone that an email just doesn't. A lot of guests still frame or keep wedding invitations for years after the event.

Yes. We have free downloadable templates for every invitation size we offer, including 4x6, 5x7, 5.5x8.5, and 6x9. Each one includes bleed, trim, and safe zone guides so your file is print-ready from the start. Templates are available for Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. If you'd rather not download anything, you can design directly in our online tool and skip the file setup entirely.

Depends on what matters most to you. Minted and Zola have large template libraries if you want lots of pre-designed options. Boutique stationery studios offer high-end custom design but at a significant price premium. Gold Image Printing is a strong choice if you want real flexibility, transparent pricing, fast turnaround, and access to specialty finishes like foil, letterpress, and soft touch without boutique markups. Over 25 years in the business means we've printed a lot of weddings and know what works.

The most popular wedding invitation size is 5" x 7" because it offers the perfect balance between space, readability, and mailing convenience. It also fits easily into standard envelopes without requiring extra postage.

Standard wedding invitations can be printed the same business day at Gold Image Printing, which makes us one of the fastest options available for rush orders. Specialty finishes take a bit longer depending on the process involved. Shipping time is on top of production time and varies by your location. If your timeline is tight, reach out before ordering and we can confirm what's realistic for your delivery date.

Most couples send wedding invitations 6 to 8 weeks before the wedding date. For destination weddings or events over a holiday weekend, send them 10 to 12 weeks out to give guests enough time to make travel arrangements. Before the invitations go out, save the dates typically go out 4 to 6 months in advance to hold the date on guests' calendars. If you're ordering printed invitations, factor in production and shipping time on top of your send date. Same-day printing is available at Gold Image Printing, but most couples plan their order at least a week before their target mailing date to leave room for proofing and any adjustments.

Eggshell and cotton papers are the most popular for weddings due to their premium feel and elegant texture. Gold Image Printing offers eight paper stocks specifically chosen for weddings, including 17.5pt Eggshell Ultra White, Crane Lettra 100% cotton, and Royal Sundance Felt.

Order based on households, not individual guests. One invitation per household, not per person. Always add a buffer on top of your final count for keepsakes, late additions, and vendor copies like your photographer or planner. It is much cheaper to order extras with your original run than to reprint a small quantity later.

Yes. Every order includes a digital proof so you can review your design, check spelling, and approve everything before we print a single piece. Nothing goes to production without your sign-off.

Absolutely. We offer matching RSVP cards, detail cards, enclosure cards, and envelopes that coordinate with your invitation design. You can build a complete wedding suite or just add the pieces you need.