Did you like what you found in traditional wedding albums but you wish you could change just one thing about the design? Or was the design perfect until you discovered the price of the whole set? If you answered yes to these questions then a custom wedding invitation is the way to go.

The long and the short answer is yes! Absolutely. The beauty of going with a custom wedding invitation is that the control is entirely in your hands. You get to decide on the look, the feel, the style, the colors and even the end cost of your own wedding invitations. The best thing about going with a custom design is that you can choose an elaborate style and then work with your designer to create a similar theme for you at a better price for your budget. This is almost always better than going with a pre-designed invitation in a cookie cutter album.

Choose an invitation designer that understands your style and personality. Don't worry! That isn't as daunting to do as it sounds. Keep the following in mind:

• Do the invitations in their existing gallery match the design that you have in mind?

• Does the designer clearly demonstrate flexibility - meaning that they really can create your idea from scratch... not just change the color of an existing album invitation?

• Are the prices or price ranges listed right on their website? They should be. There is no reason to hide them. Do the price ranges fit comfortably into your budget?

A good invitation designer will listen to you and ask you a lot of question at first. You will do most of the talking while they get a really good idea of what you have in mind. Some designers will then take your ideas and sketch a layout for you. Others will use a graphics program. Some of the higher end designers will create an actual prototype of the invitation.

The point here is that it does not matter how they choose to convey the design to you - the important part is that you are included in the process every step of the way. They will come to you when pivotal decisions need to be made or deadlines need to be met.

Keep in mind that most of the prices you see for custom wedding invitations are for the blank card stock only. They may not include the cost of:

• Printing
• Assembly
• Shipping

Well - they aren't actually hidden. It's just that your choices will affect the cost of these things.

Printing Costs - If you want to use a black, flat ink for your invitation wording then you can expect the price to start at around .25 cents an invitation. However if you choose to go with the raised lettering (also known as Thermography) style of ink then the costs will rise accordingly. Another thing that will affect your printing price is the number ink of colors you are using and even the paper size.

Assembly costs - depend entirely on the number of complete invitation sets (the invitation itself, the response and reception cards and any additional enclosures) you need as well as how intricate or straight forward the invitation design is. Most custom invitation designers' offer a flat rate fee per X amount of invitations as a good starting point.

Shipping - is a fairly obvious charge but you may not have to worry about it. Some places offer free shipping when you reach a certain level of sales (i.e. orders over $25.00) and others might offer you a discount on shipping if you order by a certain date. The key here is to make sure you order your invitations in time to avoid being charged rush shipping fees. They can add up quickly.

Planning a social celebration should be fun, inspiring and unforgettable! The key is paying special attention to the details. Fine-tune your gifts, choose the perfect favors, and create an invitation that makes you say "Wow - that is so US!" Finding the perfect one for you is easy. Just get started with the links below.