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Wedding budget by category

How much do wedding invitations cost?

$490–$2,750
A printed suite is $7–$41 a household, and 120 guests is about 65 households, not 120: $490 trimmed, $1,040 standard, $2,750 letterpress, postage both ways included. By text it is $87.
Figures as of August 2026

Almost every invitation price you will read is quoted per card, and almost every budget built from those prices is wrong, because you do not mail one suite per guest — you mail one per address. A 120-person guest list is about 65 envelopes. Here is the whole suite priced line by line against that number, postage in both directions included.

Run your numbers free →See the suite line by line

One envelope, every line inside it

🧾 The full suite, priced line by line

Everything below is the cost of one mailing household — one address, one outer envelope, however many people live behind it. Multiply by your household count, never by your guest count. National pricing, digital print, quantities in the 60–100 range where most couples order.

Breakdown 01

One printed suite · digital print · per household Save-the-date & envelope $1.85 Save-the-date postage $0.82 Invitation card $3.95 Details / enclosure card $1.15 RSVP card $1.05 Reply envelope $0.45 Outer envelope, printed $0.95 Guest addressing, digital $0.85 Outbound postage, 2 oz $1.11 RSVP return postage, 1 oz $0.82 Liner or wax seal $1.15 Per household $14.15 · 120 guests = 65 households = $920

Source: Text My Wedding budget model, reviewed August 2026 — Text My Wedding, 2026

Full suiteRun this

Breakdown 02

Trimmed suite · digital print · per household Save-the-date postcard $1.05 Save-the-date postage, postcard $0.65 Invitation card $2.35 Details on the wedding website $0.00 RSVP card $0.85 Reply envelope $0.40 Outer envelope, blank $0.35 Outbound postage, 2 oz $1.11 RSVP return postage, 1 oz $0.82 Per household $7.58 · 65 households = $493

Source: Text My Wedding budget model, reviewed August 2026 — Text My Wedding, 2026

TrimmedRun this

Breakdown 03

The floor · one paper invitation, nothing else mailed Invitation card $3.95 Outer envelope, blank $0.95 Guest addressing, digital $0.85 Outbound postage, 1 oz $0.82 Save-the-date, details, RSVP sent by text Per household $6.57 · 65 households = $427 Weigh one assembled invitation before you buy a single stamp.

Source: First-Class Mail prices: $0.82 first ounce, $0.29 each additional ounce, $0.49 nonmachinable surcharge, $0.65 postcard — U.S. Postal Service, Notice 123 Price List, effective 12 July 2026, 2026

Paper invitation onlyRun this

Breakdown 04

Everything on the stationery line · 120 guests Mailed suite, 65 households @ $14.15 $920 Printer setup & proofs $120 Thank-you cards & postage, 65 @ $1.90 $124 Programs, 120 @ $1.10 $132 Menus, 120 @ $1.35 $162 Place & escort cards, 120 @ $0.85 $102 Table numbers & signage $145 Total $1,705 · $26.23 per household · $14.21 per guest Mailed paper is per household; day-of paper is per guest. Both live on this line. This is what the calculator's Stationery & postage line prices — about $1,675 at 120 guests — not the $1,040 mailed suite alone.

Source: Text My Wedding budget model, reviewed August 2026 — Text My Wedding, 2026

Including day-of paperRun this

Run it against your own list

The calculator below is preset to the stationery line and does the household conversion for you: type a guest count, watch it become an envelope count, and see the printed suite and the one-time text price side by side.

Run your numbers →

The number every incumbent gets wrong

📬 Your guest count is not your invitation count

Couples share an envelope. Families share an envelope. Only guests invited on their own get one each. Across real guest lists that averages about 1.85 people per address, which is the ratio the calculator uses — so divide, then price.

Breakdown 05

100 guests → mailing households Couples at one address 30 households (60 guests) Families of four 5 households (20 guests) Invited on their own 20 households (20 guests) Households to mail 55 Standard suite, 55 @ $14.15 $778 Setup & proofs $120 Total $898 · $8.98 per guest

Source: Text My Wedding budget model, reviewed August 2026 — Text My Wedding, 2026

100 guestsRun this

Breakdown 06

150 guests → mailing households Couples at one address 50 households (100 guests) Families of four 6 households (24 guests) Invited on their own 26 households (26 guests) Households to mail 82 Standard suite, 82 @ $14.15 $1,160 Setup & proofs $140 Total $1,300 · $8.67 per guest

Source: Text My Wedding budget model, reviewed August 2026 — Text My Wedding, 2026

150 guestsRun this

Breakdown 07

220 guests → mailing households Couples at one address 74 households (148 guests) Families of four 9 households (36 guests) Invited on their own 36 households (36 guests) Households to mail 119 Standard suite, 119 @ $14.15 $1,684 Setup & proofs $180 Total $1,864 · $8.47 per guest Budgeted as 220 suites instead of 119: $3,293 — a $1,429 error.

Source: Text My Wedding budget model, reviewed August 2026 — Text My Wedding, 2026

220 guestsRun this

Digital, foil or letterpress

🖨️ The same 82 households, printed three ways

Identical suite, identical guest list, identical postage — only the press changes. This is the single biggest multiplier on the page, and the only one your guests will actually notice in their hands.

Breakdown 08

82 households · digital print Invitation card, 82 @ $3.95 $324 Details card, 82 @ $1.15 $94 RSVP card + reply envelope $123 Save-the-date & envelope $152 Envelopes, printing & addressing $148 Postage, both directions $226 Total $1,067 · $13.01 per household Flat printed on heavy stock. Nothing about it looks cheap at arm's length.

Source: Commercial printing industry price and wage data, used to age per-card costs forward — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Industries at a Glance: Printing and Related Support Activities (NAICS 323), 2025

DigitalRun this

Breakdown 09

82 households · flat foil Invitation card, 82 @ $7.20 $590 Details card, 82 @ $2.60 $213 RSVP card + reply envelope $254 Save-the-date & envelope $279 Envelopes, printing & addressing $180 Postage, both directions $226 Total $1,742 · $21.25 per household Foil on the names only, digital everywhere else, is the usual compromise.

Flat foilRun this

Breakdown 10

82 households · letterpress, hand-addressed Invitation card, 82 @ $11.50 $943 Details card, 82 @ $4.20 $344 RSVP card + reply envelope $357 Save-the-date, letterpress $394 Lined envelopes + calligraphy $459 Wax seals $111 Postage, both directions $289 Plates, dies & proofs $450 Total $3,347 · $40.82 per household Postage is higher here: three ounces, and the wax seal makes it nonmachinable.

LetterpressRun this

You pay the post office twice

📮 Postage, in both directions

Every quote you get from a printer stops at the box on your doorstep. These are the 2026 USPS prices for what happens next: $0.82 for the first ounce, $0.29 for each ounce after that, $0.49 more if the envelope is square or sealed with wax, $0.65 for a postcard.

Breakdown 11

Postage on one standard suite · 2026 rates Save-the-date, 1 oz letter $0.82 Invitation, 2 oz $1.11 RSVP reply stamp, 1 oz $0.82 Per household $2.75 82 households · $226 in stamps alone, before a single card is printed.

StandardRun this

Breakdown 12

Postage on a square, wax-sealed suite First ounce $0.82 Second ounce $0.29 Third ounce $0.29 Nonmachinable surcharge $0.49 Outbound, one invitation $1.89 Plus the save-the-date $0.82 and the reply stamp $0.82 Per household $3.53 · 82 households = $289 The wax seal costs $0.49 a household in postage on top of the seal itself.

Square & sealedRun this

Breakdown 13

Reply-card postage · 82 households Reply stamps bought, 82 @ $0.82 $67 Say 62 cards come back by the date Stamps that never get posted $16 Households you chase another way 20 You buy all 82 stamps in March and still text 20 people in June.

Reply stampsRun this

The same three mailings, one price

💬 What the paper is actually buying you

Save-the-date, invitation, day-of details: three mailings, whatever the medium. On paper each one is priced per household and repeats the postage. By text the whole thing is a single one-time plan, and it is one flat price across a wide band of guest counts rather than a per-household one. Plans are $57 for 500 outbound messages, $87 for 1,200, $137 for 2,500 and $237 for 5,000 — and receiving replies starts at the $87 plan, so any wedding collecting RSVPs by text is pricing that one.

Breakdown 14

100 guests · save-the-date, invitation, day-of details Messages sent, 3 × 100 300 Text My Wedding Plus $87 once Printed equivalent, 55 households $898 Difference −$811 Plus is the first plan that receives replies, so it is the one to price if the RSVPs are coming back by text. Send-only is $57.

Source: Text My Wedding plan prices and message allowances — Text My Wedding, 2026

100 guestsRun this

Breakdown 15

150 guests · three mailings plus RSVP reminders Messages sent, 3 × 150 450 Reminders to 40 households 40 Total messages 490 Text My Wedding Plus $87 once Printed equivalent, 82 households $1,300 Difference −$1,213 490 of the plan's 1,200 messages. Same $87 as the 100-guest run above — this is the flat stretch the paper column never has.

Source: Text My Wedding plan prices and message allowances — Text My Wedding, 2026

150 guestsRun this

Breakdown 16

220 guests · mailings, reminders and day-of updates Messages sent, 3 × 220 660 Reminders and day-of updates 280 Total messages 940 Text My Wedding Plus $87 once Printed equivalent, 119 households $1,864 Difference −$1,777 The paper line grew $966 between 100 and 220 guests. The text line did not move at all — the same $87 plan covers both.

Source: Text My Wedding plan prices and message allowances — Text My Wedding, 2026

220 guestsRun this

Breakdown 17

120 guests · print the invitation, text the rest Invitation, envelope & addressing, 65 @ $5.75 $374 Outbound postage, 65 @ $1.11 $72 Save-the-date, details and RSVPs by text $87 once Total $533 · versus $1,040 for the full printed suite One thing in the mail, everything that needs an answer by text. The calculator's matching channel reads $972, because its stationery line carries the day-of paper as well as the mailing.

Source: Text My Wedding plan prices and message allowances — Text My Wedding, 2026

Print one, text the restRun this

Start here

Which invitation number is yours?

The spread on this page is six-fold, and almost none of it is taste — it is how many pieces you mail, how they are printed, and how many envelopes you address. Find your row before you price a single card.

Which of these is the wedding you are mailing?

Full printed suite, digitally printed, save-the-date included

$14–$17 a household all in. At 100 guests — 55 households — that is about $900 including setup, proofs and postage in both directions.

Letterpress or foil, hand-addressed, lined envelopes

$34–$41 a household. The same 55 households runs $2,250–$2,700, and plates, dies and calligraphy are most of the jump, not the paper.

One paper invitation, details on the website, RSVPs online

$4–$8 a household. Dropping the save-the-date, the details card and the reply envelope takes about two thirds off the line.

200 guests or more, or two ceremonies to announce

Paper is the fastest-growing line you have: 109 households at $14.15 is $1,543 before a single reprint, and every late addition costs the setup fee again.

See the full breakdown →

You would rather not mail anything at all

Three text mailings, with the replies collected, is $87 once for a list of up to about 400 guests. It is the one line in your budget that is a flat price rather than a per-household one.

See the full breakdown →

Where the money goes

What actually moves the stationery line

Stationery is a small share of a wedding budget and one of the easiest to get wrong by a factor of two, because the first decision — what you are counting — happens before you price anything. Biggest lever first.

2–4.5% of the total — $1,705 on a $40,000 wedding at 120 guests, day-of paper included.

Households instead of guests — −46%

120 guests is about 65 addresses. Budget per guest and you have nearly doubled the line before choosing a single card.

Print method — +$8 to +$28 per household

Digital is about $13 a household all in, flat foil about $21, letterpress with calligraphy about $41. Same suite, same postage.

How many pieces you mail — −$7.58 per household

Dropping the save-the-date, the details card and the reply envelope takes a $14.15 suite down to $6.57. Details go on the website; replies come back by text.

Postage, both directions — +$2.75 to +$3.53 per household

Two ounces outbound is $1.11, the reply stamp is $0.82, the save-the-date is $0.82, and a square or wax-sealed envelope adds $0.49 more.

Hand addressing — +$2.65 per household

Calligraphy runs about $3.50 an envelope against $0.85 for digital addressing — $217 across 82 households.

Reprints and late additions — +8% to +12%

A second order of ten suites pays the setup fee again. Order 15% over your household count the first time instead.

Rules of thumb

Four things worth knowing before you order

None of these are etiquette. They are the practical rules that keep the number you budget and the number you pay within a few dollars of each other.

Count addresses, then count paper

Build the household list first — couples and families on one line, everyone else on their own — and only then multiply. Roughly 1.85 guests per address is a good planning figure until your real list says otherwise.

Order 15% more suites than households

Addressing mistakes, late additions and one for your own album all come out of the same box. At 82 households order 94; a reorder of twelve costs almost as much as the original setup.

Weigh a finished suite before buying stamps

Assemble one — invitation, details card, RSVP card, reply envelope, liner — and take it to the counter. Two ounces is the norm, not the exception, and a square envelope or a wax seal adds $0.49 on top.

A postcard save-the-date is the least expensive mailing there is

At $0.65 postage and no outer envelope it runs $1.70 a household against $2.67 for a card in an envelope — about $80 across 82 households, for a mailing nobody keeps.

Costly mistakes

Where invitation budgets go wrong

Four of these five produce a number that looks careful in a spreadsheet and is wrong by hundreds when the invoices land.

Pricing per guest instead of per household

The single most expensive error on this page. 220 guests is 119 envelopes, not 220 — budgeting per guest overstates the line by about $1,429 and hides how little it moves when the list changes.

Quoting the invitation card and forgetting the other ten lines

The card is $3.95 of a $14.15 household. Save-the-date, details card, RSVP card, both envelopes, addressing, liner and postage in both directions are the rest.

Assuming one Forever stamp covers the invitation

An assembled suite almost always crosses one ounce. At 2026 prices the second ounce is $0.29 and a square or wax-sealed envelope is $0.49 more, so the real figure is $1.11–$1.60, not $0.82.

Forgetting the reply stamp you buy for everyone

You pay postage on all 82 reply envelopes months in advance. Whatever share never gets posted back, you chase those households by phone or text anyway — so you have bought the stamp and done the chasing.

Counting day-of paper twice

Programs, menus, place cards and signage are per guest, not per household, and they already sit inside the calculator's stationery row. Add them a second time and you have double-counted about $540 at 120 guests.

Run the numbers

Your stationery line, by household

Type your guest count and the calculator converts it to mailing addresses before it prices anything, then puts the printed suite next to the one-time text price. Everything runs in your browser.

Your wedding

Change anything — the allocation rebuilds as you go.

How many guests?65 mailing households at this count

guests

Where is the wedding?The 50-state blend.

How are you doing it?

StationeryPriced per household — 65 of them at 120 guests

Hold back a contingency8% of everything above, for the overages

Your estimate

$43,725all in

$38,500–$49,000 realistic range · $364 per guest

Venue & rentals

Site fee plus tables, chairs, linen and the tent line if you need one.

$9,600

22%

Catering & bar

Buffet service with an open bar is the default; both are adjustable.

$11,950

27%

Photography & video

Eight hours of coverage. Guest count barely moves this line.

$3,900

Attire & alterations

Both outfits, alterations, shoes and accessories.

$2,900

Flowers & decor

Personal flowers are fixed; centrepieces scale with the table count.

$3,075

Music & entertainment

A DJ for the reception plus ceremony sound. A band roughly triples it.

$2,375

Stationery & postage

$250 fixed · $1,425 per head

$1,675

Rings

Wedding bands only. Engagement rings usually pre-date the budget.

$1,800

Hair & beauty

Trial plus day-of for the couple. Add per head if you cover the party.

$900

Transport & parking

Couple's car is fixed; a guest shuttle is where the per-head part comes in.

$950

Favors & gifts

Welcome bags, favors and gifts for the wedding party.

$1,350

Contingency

A percentage of everything above, held back for the overages.

$3,250

Cut the paper line — invite by text →

Modelled from public wage and price data, reviewed August 2026. Real quotes vary — use this to set the shape of the budget, then replace lines with real numbers as they come in.

Everything runs right in your browser — no account, no saved budget, and your guest count and dollar figures never leave this page. We do record anonymous, coarse usage: a size range rather than your number, and which options you picked, so we know the tool is working.

Where these numbers come from

Text My Wedding budget model, reviewed August 2026 — Text My Wedding, 2026. Source
Regional price parities, the basis for the regional multipliers — U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2025. Source
First-Class Mail prices: $0.82 first ounce, $0.29 each additional ounce, $0.49 nonmachinable surcharge, $0.65 postcard — U.S. Postal Service, Notice 123 Price List, effective 12 July 2026, 2026. Source
Commercial printing industry price and wage data, used to age per-card costs forward — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Industries at a Glance: Printing and Related Support Activities (NAICS 323), 2025. Source
Text My Wedding plan prices and message allowances — Text My Wedding, 2026. Source

Last updated 2026-08-10

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