How to Start a Wedding Invitation Business, Part 3: Pricing
Pricing is one of the most difficult things to nail down for your wedding invitation business. You price too low and not only are you not able to make ends meet, but you also run the risk of clients not valuing your services. If you price too high, you run the risk of losing potential clients looking for more affordable alternatives.
There are several factors that go into pricing too–what will you charge for a design fee? Will you require a deposit or for clients to pay in full? Will you post prices online or require potential clients to request a custom quote? It’s a lot to take in!
So, how do you get started with pricing? Well, there isn’t really a one size fits all approach, unfortunately. Each business is different and should approach pricing carefully based on its goals, experience, and clientele. Instead, I’m sharing how I price my stationery along with helpful tips I’ve learned about pricing so you can make an informed decision for your brand.
And while we might differ on some things, I hope this helps you feel less intimidated when pricing your wedding stationery.
Before we get started…
You might be surprised to know that when I first started my wedding invitation business, I priced my stationery lower than Minted. I had no clue what I was getting myself into back then, but I figured that Minted was probably the industry standard for pricing and there was no way I (an inexperienced designer) could compete with a company that big.
Even though I was booking a ton of clients, the small profit I made was not worth the amount of time, love, and attention that I gave each person. In other words, my clients were getting champagne on a beer budget. But–after seeing so many other stationers who charged double my price for the same quality of work–I finally took the plunge and nearly tripled my pricing.
By then, I had also made several big investments in my business from business resources to hiring a brand and website designer. I knew there was more value to my wedding stationery than just the end result.
I am not just selling a “piece of paper”.
Behind every “piece of paper” are my years of experience, thousands of investment dollars, high quality materials, research and development, brand recognition, marketing efforts, etiquette expertise, sleepless nights, and one stellar client experience.
When I gained confidence in my wedding invitation business, high-end clients quickly followed. Now, I have much better profit margins, a higher average order amount, and attract my ideal client.
You didn’t start your business to work for free. Take the leap and raise your prices. Or, if you’re just getting started, charge double what you think you’re worth.
Now, let’s walk through exactly how you can do that.
Semi-Custom vs. Custom
Wedding invitation pricing varies greatly on the type of stationery being created. So, first, decide what type of stationery you’ll be creating–semi-custom, custom, or both.
semi-custom
Semi-custom wedding invitations are pre-designed. Things like font style, ink color, wording, etc., are personalized to meet the clients needs, but the layout of the invitation stays the same as the original design. Semi-custom wedding invitations are less expensive than custom invitations because they don’t take as much time to create. You’re essentially starting from a “template” and adding in a few personalized touches in between.
custom
A custom invitation is built completely from scratch, fully personalized to the client’s desires. Because of the length of time spent, fully custom wedding stationery should be at least double the cost of semi-custom invitations.
both
Most stationers offer both semi-custom and custom invitations, but just know that you don’t have to. Some stationers really enjoy creating invitations from scratch, so they don’t even bother with creating a semi-custom line. Other stationers–myself included–don’t enjoy the custom process, so they focus on semi-custom stationery only.
In the beginning, it might be a good idea to offer both custom and semi-custom. Custom work will stretch your design wings and give you more experience working one-on-one with clients. You’ll also learn over time what style of invitations are most requested by your clients, which can help you nail down your niche.
How to Price Your Stationery
There are many variables when it comes to pricing wedding stationery. That will largely depend on the amount of time it takes to create, printing processes involved, how many pieces are included in your suite, assembly and postage, etc. The sky is really the limit here!
But, there is a very basic formula for calculating your services, even if you’re just starting out. I talk about it at length in this blog post. But, I’ll go over it again, because it’s incredibly relevant to our topic today.
Here’s the formula that I personally use:
(Design Fee + Materials + Packaging + Overhead Cost) x Markup = Cost
Because I offer free shipping (more on that below), I add one extra step:
Cost + Shipping = Final Retail Price
Design Fee
Your design fee is how much your time is worth. (And yes, it’s worth a lot more than minimum wage!) Think of how long it will take you on average to create stationery for your clients, including the amount of time it may take for any possible design revisions per each client. Consider how much you want to pay yourself for each order.
Materials
For stationers, materials can include things like paper and envelopes, or embellishments like wax seals, vellum, etc.
Packaging
Write out everything you’re going to use to pack and ship, add it all up, and include it with the cost of your pricing. Include things like the shipping box, tissue paper, packing paper, mailing label, packaging tape, etc. I even add an extra $2 for other packaging supplies that I might be overlooking.
Overhead Cost
Overhead costs are non-tangible expenses that don’t go directly into making products, but rather running your shop. In other words, what does it cost to operate your wedding invitation business?
This can include things such as the cost of Adobe Suite, advertising, employees, website fees, etc.
Here is how I calculate overhead:
Cost of Yearly Expenses / Number of Sales per Year = Overhead Cost Per Sale
The number of average clients I get every year varies, as will yours. But, once you’ve been in business for a year or more, you’ll have a better estimate.
For example, let’s say I spend $5 a year for my website fees, $5 a year for Adobe Suite, and $5 a year for one employee. (Obviously, those aren’t accurate numbers. It just makes the math much easier!) That’s $15 per year on overhead expenses.
Then, let’s say I book 5 brides per year. I would divide my total yearly overhead expenses ($15) by the number of anticipated sales per year (5). So, my overhead cost is $3.
$15 in Expenses Yearly / 5 Sales Each Year = $3 in Overhead Cost Per Sale
If you’re in the early stages of your business, set a goal of booking 1-2 clients per month and calculate your overhead cost that way.
Markup
There are two main ways to calculate your markup. You can mark them up by a percentage, i.e. a 50% markup. Or, you can mark them up 2 to 3x’s (or more).
Free Shipping
Just offer the free shipping. There are so many people still on the fence about it. But honestly, it all comes down to the fact that when a buyer adds something to her cart, she doesn’t want to see an additional cost added to her order when she’s ready to check out. If you’re still undecided, I recommend checking out this article on the benefits of free shipping.
It’s okay to include shipping in your markup costs. Personally, I just add it to the cost of my products at the end so there is no markup. Feel free to do whatever works best for your wedding invitation business.
How to Be Confident in Your Pricing
You can sell your wedding stationery for whatever price you want. But, you won’t attract any clients if you can’t back up your pricing. This is the key to being confident in what your services are worth.
Think about your experience level and all the research and development that goes into making your stationery. Have you been featured in a magazine or online anywhere? Is your client experience unparalleled? Are you networking with wedding planners? Do you share valuable advice or inspiration about wedding stationery on Instagram? Basically, how are you going above and beyond to stand out in the industry?
This also applies to beginners who are just learning how to start a wedding stationery business. What is your startup cost? What is your skill level? How much have you invested in research and development so far? How do you plan to go above and beyond in your business?
These extra things you do for your business (and essentially your clients) allow you to confidently increase pricing because they add value behind your products.
Why I Chose to Post Prices Online
It’s so important in the wedding industry to post your prices online. The wedding industry is foreign and unfamiliar to most of our clients. They’ve never done this before, so they aren’t sure what to expect. This can lead to frustration on both ends.
Because clients are uneducated about our industry, they don’t understand the cost of stationery. Many times, that leads to an attempt to haggling, requesting a “DIY template”, or simply being “ghosted” because they’re too embarrassed to tell us they can’t afford it. By being transparent to our clients and prospective clients in our pricing, we can let them know what to expect up front. This will lead to a better experience all around, and you’ll stop getting inquiries from clients who don’t have the budget for your services.
If you sell semi-custom wedding invitations, posting prices is a must. Most brides looking for semi-custom invitations need a bit of a quicker turnaround. It’s so much easier for them to be able to add something to their cart and checkout, rather than waiting around for a custom quote.
Even if you’re selling custom wedding stationery, at least let clients know what your minimum cost is somewhere on your website. For example, “Fully custom wedding stationery starts at $3,000+.”
Deposit or Pay in Full?
There really is not wrong way to do this! You can give clients both options, if you prefer.
Because I primarily focus on semi-custom stationery, clients pay in full before working with me. I am, of course, more than happy to work with clients upon request if they need to split up payments. For example, a 50% deposit to get started and the remaining balance due before items are sent to print.
For custom wedding invitations, a non-refundable deposit may be the best way to start. As you work closely with the client, things may change in their suite that could cause the price to go up.
One last thing…
Pricing will look different for all of us, and that’s okay! But, I hope this post was helpful for you in some way, especially if you’re ready to start a wedding invitation business.
Do you have any other questions about pricing that I haven’t covered yet? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below. How do you price your wedding stationery? What is your number one hangup when it comes to pricing?
