How much do I charge for wedding invitations?

Discuss costs with her right away.

I make jewelry and my rule of thumb is to start with cost of supplies, and double it, and the doubled cost of supplies is the absolute minimum I will ever charge. Then decide how much your time is worth, and tack that on. I don't know how intensive these invites are, you know better than I do how much time and effort you are going to need, so...

Oh boy. People always want free work, don't they?

Some questions for you:

- I know you said she hinted at not paying much, but is there any sort of budget that will include the cost of supplies?

- Are you just designing the main invitation piece or are you designing a whole invitation suite (RSVP card, reception card, directions, etc.)?

- How does she want the invite printed (flat, digital, etc.)? I'll assume the cheapest option possible.

From my own experience working with budget conscious brides, I always tell them what my rate is up front that way they can decide whether or not they want to work with me. I usually charge $25/hour and give them a project proposal outlining the pieces they want designed, the materials they would like, printing costs and how long it would take me to finish everything with a disclaimer stating that the cost is just an estimate and that the final cost could be more or less.

I'd recommend sitting down with her and discussing exactly what she wants. This will give you a better idea of whether or not this project is worth your time. Designing invitations is not an easy or a fast project. You should make that clear to her. I'm going to guess right now that your services will probably cost more than what she wants to spend. In which case maybe you just design the layout of the pieces and give her print ready PDFs and she can deal with getting them printed. If she really wants to spend as little as possible you could suggest to her some online invitation companies like Wedding Paper Divas.

Good luck with everything!

How Much For Wedding Invitations

Wow. If you're super close friends, I guess this is ok, but if not, she sounds like a complete moron. Are you sure you want to do this?

I think you need to either give this as a gift and look at it as possible business development, or else decline entirely. The fact that she says you'll save her a lot of money, but she doesn't intend to compensate accordingly, just sends red flags about all of this. And it's why they say business and friendships generally don't mix.

PS - I also agree with others that your offer is for the design only. She'd be responsible for printing and/or supplies.

mmmm its a very tricky situation. she has put you in a horrible position. its unreasonable for her to expect you to do it for free, but regardless,if she is a petty person, if you say no or charge her full price it could end the friendship and lead to a strained relationship at work. Im not saying this is right obviously (you're in the right) but the truth is, that is probably what will happen. So - if she doesnt take rejection well, are you prepared for the friendship to end.

A compromise could be charging her the cost of materials. Or explain that while you are working on her invitations, you can't take on other paid work so you can give her a friends discount (at a rate you choose) but you simply can't do it for free. what a diplomatic nightmare though, probably better to explain that you have massive projects at the moment and no free time

I don't think it should matter how many invitations she needs because you are going to design ONE design for her invitation, ONE design for her programs, and ONE design for her place cards. You aren't designing 130...

You'd want to charge for you time, and factor in time for minor changes after she proofs them.

I'd discuss your fee upfront, before you even begin AND I'd have a written contract of what you are giving her, what she is paying you, and when everything is due. You can get free freelance contracts online if you need them.

You say you are a freelance graphic designer now...maybe take your full rate and cut it in half since she is your friend.

UPDATE: Now, if you are in charge of getting the materials and printing, then the count of items comes in. But, when I did my own invites, I hired someone to do a simple graphic for me to use, paid a one-time fee, and then the files were mine to do with--I could print off as many as I wanted.

PS--I do agree with others--she sounds like a great 'friend'--you may just consider telling her no.

Never work for free always get compensation for your work. I think you need to know what the exact details of the project are. Are you just making the design or are you printing or do you have to assemble anything? Those factor into the cost. Find this out and come back to her with an estimate of the cost. If she complains simply tell her you can't work for free.

They can range from $1 to $10 per invite. I would say that you should charge at least $100 to $150 on the low end of the scale.

you sugest too her maybe that buying invites and printing them from wiltons will be cheaper if you think she is out to save money

50 invites are 20 bucks at wiltons, and they come with envalopes, rsvp cards and envalopes for the rsvp cards...i got mine there you print the sheat and pending design attach the decoration after, it doesnt take that long, the packages contain test sheets too

and wilton have a print guide online too help you where you can choose a nice font, this way she can get invites, rsvp and envalopes for both those for 60 bucks, and have plenty spare in case she mess up some

the materials what cost for invites, and i know people who make their invites themself, but get part of it printed, basic gist from those i talked with if you want something nifty looking you arent going to cut it much more in cost then wiltons...

they also sell packages for programes and place cards, so you can check out the cost of those, but i would think it would be viable to take at least the charge of do it yourself meant to be easy and cheap packages...at least if your doing the printing job as well

basic gist she isnt going from design till printed product for that many people to get it for under somewhere between 100-150 dollars however she turn it

if she wants them handwritten and not printed i would suspect she could easily double the price at least....so yes can see where she want to save money, but not sure she is going about it the rigth way, because i looked into some options with trying to save moneys before i setled on geting mine from wiltons because it turned out the best combination of afordable without being too time consuming...and they got many designs too choose from

Calculate the cost of materials and the cost of the time required.

That's your best bet.

If you want to compare your product against the competition, look at pricing on etsy.com.