You Get What You Pay For
August 19, 2010
I read a great article from Lauren, who owns Every Last Detail Blog about getting what you pay for in terms of your wedding (read the full article here).
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All of my clients have said my pricing is really fair (some have even said I came in cheaper than others they had looked at), and I’ve done my research and I’m pretty comparable to my online and local competitors. I’ve even had multiple customers comment in their testimonials and via email that they never imagined they could afford custom designs, and they were surprised at how affordable I am. But yet, I still have some customers who freak when they see an estimate from me and say that there’s no way invitations can cost that much. I even had a customer who said that she thought she could get a set of 100 invitations, envelopes (printed with all the addresses), and RSVPs for around or under $100. In a lot of cases, I can’t even purchase the materials for that much!
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A basic rundown of what I need to purchase for each project is: paper, any accessories (ribbon, rhinestones, etc.), ink, replacement cutting blades, and lots of mounting adhesive. All of that costs money, and lots of it. If you’re just printing your invitation on one sheet of paper and mailing it, that’s fine – but a lot of my projects consist of many layers of paper. And everything I purchase is 100% archival/acid-free so your invitations stay looking pretty for years after your wedding. The last thing you want is to have your keepsake invitations yellowing and peeling after a year or two.
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And then comes the concept of time and work (and this is on top of my full-time job).
- I design every piece of your invitation package, and I print them all, checking to make sure every piece of paper is flawless. A ream of paper often times comes with many imperfections on them that would just look sloppy if on your final invitation. I can’t tell you how many pieces I just put to the side for mounting paper.
- I cut and assemble everything by hand. This is days and weeks of work, and if rhinestones are being added, you can add days onto that.
- I print your envelopes and RSVP envelopes with the sender/recipient addresses and any decoration to match the invitation. I do this very meticulously by hand – I can’t just shove them into the printer and walk away, it takes a lot of time and double-checking so everything is absolutely correct.
- And then I assemble and stamp all pieces, double-checking them as I go, which can take me a full day for a set of 100 invitations. I’m a perfectionist and I just won’t send something out that isn’t up to my standards.
- Any other pieces (programs, table numbers, table name cards, seating charts, favors, etc.) take just as much time – again there’s the printing, cutting, and assembling of everything.
I know that in terms of labor, I’m extremely underpaid for the time and effort I put into each piece. But at this point, I’m fine with that – I love what I do, and I have a full-time job so this is like a hobby (that has taken over my life…lol). In terms of time spent on a project, though, it can be weeks up to months. And I’ve had multiple people ask for invitations that they need to mail in a week or two – that just isn’t going to happen. There’s so much that goes into each piece, I would have to work 24 hours a day to get that accomplished.
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So anyway, Lauren’s article hit home with me and I felt the need to make a post of my own – she used a great analogy of a restaurant. Yes, you can go to Target or Office Max and get the pre-designed wedding stationary and print everything yourself – but if you want something really spectacular and custom designed to fit your day, you need to understand how much time and effort is going into making each piece perfect…and appreciate the fact that I need to be compensated for my time and materials.
