The Final Invitation Post

It's been a while since I've posted anything about our invitations, but I've had so many posts them I figured I'd give you a break before wrapping things up. I promise this will be the last post on the invitations (as implied by the title), so what better way to wrap things up than by going over the costs.

I mailed out 59 invitations. I have 7 extras that are completed in the house. Plus I have enough supplies to make at least 4 or 5 more. So to make things slightly less complicated, we're going to calculate the cost for making a total of 70 invites.
Scrapbooking Paper
Each invite used 2.25 sheets of paper (the pocketfold (1.25 sheets), the envelope lining (.5 sheets), the bellyband and the purple backing of the invitation (.5 sheets for these together)). Most pieces were purchased for $0.69 each. But some were at $0.25 each, and some were at $0.10. Plus I bought a book of pattern paper (for around $4? I lost that receipt.) and used 8 pages of out it to line paper. And I used a bunch of paper leftover from my scrapbooking days to line envelopes. So let's say $0.50 per sheet.
$1.125 per invite or $78.75 per 70 invitations.

Vellum Paper
$11.99 for 50 sheets of paper (Office Depot Brand Premium Translucent Vellum Paper), and I used half a sheet per invite.
$.12 per invite or $8.39 for 70.

Invitation Backing
$14.49 for 100 sheets of paper (Premium Banana Fiber Paper from New Leaf Paper). Again I used half a sheet per invite.
$0.07 per invite or $5.07 for 70.

Card Stock
I used this for the RSVP, Information, and Directions card, which meant I needed a total of 1.5 sheets per invitations. This was Southworth's Business 25% cotton cover stock (65 lb.) purchased at $18.49 for 100 sheets.
$0.27 per invite of $19.41 for 70.

Ribbon
I purchased 1 spool of ribbon for $2.50 that got me through about 65 invitations. Yes, I did go out and buy a second. But considering there was ribbon I wasted from cutting it too small and having to through it away, I think you can safely say all I really needed was one spool, which is what I'll be using in my calculation.
$2.50 for 70.

Photo Corners
I used these to get the invitations stuck in the middle so it could still be removable. I bought a box for $3.99 and still have a ton of extras.
$3.99 for 70

Tape Runner
I went through a TON of these. I had three already that I quickly went through (although 2 of them were basically useless and pretty much broke). And probably went through at least 4 complete rolls from various brand. (Nothing like a late night Target run for tape runners, right?) I'm not sure what I purchased each for, except the refills from that Target run were $6.14 each. So let's calculate based on 4 refills.
4 refills at $6.14 each or $24.56 for 70 invitations.

Envelopes
I bought 90 envelopes for $41.20 from a local printing store. (If I remember they were $0.45 each plus tax.)
$0.46 per invite or $32.04 for 70

Stamps
I used 3 $0.45 forever stamps for each invite. (1 for the RSVP, 2 for the invitation itself.
$1.35 per invite or $94.50 for 70.

(Not Included in these costs are the paper trimmer, the scorer, and the hole punch because I'm obviously going to have TONS of other projects that they will be needed for. (What they may be I'm still unsure of.) Also the expensive printer the boy bought me as a holiday present so I could actually print them. I also used a few photo splits to help hold the bellyband together, which were left over from my scrapbooking days. And the wraparound labels were made from normal computer paper that was lying around the house. And one more... ink cartridge aren't included here. I think I went through about 2.5 black ink cartridges, but again there's an MIA receipt.)

In Total:
Without Postage: $174.71 for 70 invitations or $2.49 per invite
With Postage: $269.21 for 70 invitations or $3.84 per invite

So did DIYing our invitations pay off financially? At first I was ready to tell you no. But now that I've totaled it up I'm actually a little surprised. Consider the fact that our STDs were $1.99 each before postage and the invitations came out only $0.50 above that. I never did research invitations to see their actual cost, and while I would imagine I could buy pre-made invitations for this price, I wouldn't be getting nearly as much. So I guess I could call my DIY invitations a success.

And again, since I promise this is my last invite post, here's a link to all of the posts in case you missed them.
The Big Reveal
Behind the Pocketfold
Behind the Invitation
Behind the Inserts
Behind the Labels
Behind the Process

If you don't mind sharing, what did you wind up spending our your invitations? And would you ever considering completely DIY-ing your wedding invitations?