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9 design apps for DIY wedding invitations (4 are FREE!)
Feeling the design spirit and want to try making DIY wedding invitations? We love this for you! You'll need some tools to make this happen,... Read more
We love DIY invitations, and we have a big ol' collection of inspiring posts for the crafty and artistic, 5 tips to make your DIY invitations look impressive and wedding invitation wording that won't make you barf.
But lately, we've been hearing a lot from readers asking about online graphic tool Canva… Wondering, can I use Canva to make wedding invitations? And the answer is OMG YES. Canva is great for ordinary mortals DIYing their wedding stationery. You don't need to be an artist or a nerd to create cute stuff. What's more, Canva can be a source for free wedding invitations — or almost free.
We decided to check it out for ourselves, just to see if we could figure it out. (We're wedding bloggers, NOT graphic designers over here! We can talk your ear off about WordPress and posting calendars, but can't figure out Photoshop layers to save our lives!)
Turns out it's as easy as we've been hearing.
Here's a step-by-step tutorial on how to make free wedding invitations online with Canva…
Pick a template
You can start from scratch and do the designing yourself… but Canva has myriad wedding invitation templates, from ones perfect for goth weddings to the lesbian wedding. Browse through and see if you find something perfect. (They even have templates for RSVPs and wedding invitation envelopes, although you'd have to get DIY with your envelope liners.)
When you find an invitation design you like, click “Use this template” and you'll end up on the main workspace dashboard.
The menus across the top and down the left-hand side give you lots of options, but let's save those for later.
Find the parts you can change
Right now, just hover over the template and you'll see the elements of the invitation outlined. The Black and Red Gothic Wedding Invitation shown below has images — the white lace on black — at the top and bottom, plus four text boxes with themed fonts. In the screenshot below you can see the outline of the text box containing the names of the happy couple.
Double click on the word(s) you want to change. They'll be highlighted, and you can just type the new text.
Once you've replaced all the words you need to change, you'll have your well-designed invitation ready to go.
Changing out the images is just as easy as changing the words. You can upload your own photos, or buy graphics and photos from Canva.
Make the physical objects
Canva lets you order invitations directly. You can choose the quality of paper, the finish, and quantities from 25 to 100. The price varies depending on those choicest of course, but the price is always economical.
You can also download the design as a PDF (best choice if you plan to print them out) or as a graphics file. Word is, you'll get better results if you order from Canva. The downloads are not always as crisp as you might want. On the other hand, being able to print your invitations yourself may be an important part of the plan.
Don't stop!
Using options across the top and down the side of the workspace, you can make changes to your invitation that can work just as well for a save the date card, place cards, signage, menus — whatever else you need. In the example below, a poem to be used as a reading in the wedding is ready to be printed out on cardstock for a take-home souvenir for guests.
Delete and drag the elements you found when you hovered over the template! Change the color scheme! Add your own pictures and words! Give yourself time to play with the color palette tools and you'll be impressed by what you can do.
Or, if you've got enough to do, search templates (top left hand corner of the workspace) for other ready-made designs that will work with what you have. There's a limit, after all.
As far as where to print your invitations? Unless you have an insanely upscale printer, printing your own wedding invitations and rsvp card probably won't look great. Most of the Offbeat Brides we talked to about using Canva, did their printing with Vistaprint, and we know why… THEY'RE SUPER AFFORDABLE! Offbeat Wed readers have been digging on Vistaprint for over a decade! Their inks look pretty premium, making them a great value.
Check out Canva for yourself. Then come back and show us how your DIY wedding invitations turned out!
Thinking of making your own invitations with Canva, but want some inspiration?
- Questions about how many stamps to put on your invitations? We gotchoo with everything you need to about post office tricks and postage stamp stuff
- Got a paper cutter? Then you could try making these DIY invitations
- Get some ideas from Etsy with this invitation suite inspo
About the Author: Offbeat Weditors
Working tirelessly to bring you stimulating content day after day, the Offbeat Wed editors will not sleep until you've gotten your offbeat fix.
