Sticker Shock, or "How Expensive Could Invitations Possibly Be?" Part 1

Perhaps I have read too much on WeddingBee already, but I really am intrigued by the Gocco Phenomenon.


The "industry averages" for invitations and reply cards for a wedding with a budget of $12,000 is $360 according to the handy dandy planner on Wedding Wire. At first glance I thought "Wow, that's expensive." But then I thought... postage, envelope, enclosure, reply card, reply envelope, more postage...times the number of guests. *Sigh.* What am I getting myself into?

I started poking around on Wedding Paper Divas to answer the question "how expensive could this be?"

I found quite a few invites that I thought could represent myself and my beloved. My absolute favorite on that site are these modern cards. They are just...to the point, simple, and totally lets the guest know that our wedding is going to be simple and modern. Plus, you can tell from the invite that this is "not your mother's wedding." But, when I look at my imaginary budget...and plug in an imaginary guest list of 250 people... $1400! Hrm. That is not going to work.

I showed my sister the website. Her response, "oooh those are so you! But do them yourself -- and use your handwriting. You could totally make your handwriting a font." Hm. There's an idea. But will it look professional enough?

While trolling the internet, I came across this mythical creature, the Gocco.


Gocco is a home printmaking system. Many of the Wedding Bees swear by it. From looking at the posts by Miss Gloss on WeddingBee I can see why -- it looks professionally done, yet handmade at the same time. It gives the opportunity to save money without looking "cheap".

Now...for more research.

Any ideas on how much hand making invitations using a Gocco will be?
Are there other silk screening kits as easy as the Gocco? Or is it just that it became popular once the Hive found out about it?

****EDIT****

Apparently, I'm not the only one with these questions.
"July09Bride" found this resource CBridge

It looks like I'd be able to do photo resolution silkscreening for $50 or under. The Gocco prices that I've seen cost about $300 for the machine...and then the bulbs are at least $1 per refill. For this silk screening set... I could do the same...with less of a cost for on going work. Huzzah!

Starting off...

Hello Sisters of the Bridal Blogosphere.
I'm not sure of my budget yet. Nor do I *actually* have a ring on my finger. I'm one of the many "nearly engaged/pre-engaged" ladies out there. However, he has told me that a ring is in process. Let's just say that this recession is slowing down a lot of things besides the economy.

I'm hopeful. There are signs of nuptials on the horizon -- my significant other purchased the domain name for me as a surprise. He also often starts off sentences with "When we get married..." and offers ideas like "What if we had a barbeque or a fajita bar at our reception."

So, in the mean time, I'm biding my time. Building a blog full of ideas, DIYs, and joining the community of brides-to-be sounds like fun.