You can spend as much money as you like or have available but, at the end of the day, there’s nothing nicer than original hand-made wedding stationery that is completely unique. Here are a few ideas for creating something that is totally unique to the two of you.

• Take inspiration from designs around you including birthday cards, magazines and art work that you might see in exhibitions or galleries.
• Create a pretty collage. Start with an A5 sheet of paper, leave space for the wording and play around with buttons, feathers, pressed flowers, ribbon, beads, sequins – even Love Heart sweets until you have a prototype that you are happy with. Write or print the wording on to a smaller piece of card or paper and stick it in place. Keep the design simple and make sure you use a strong, clear drying PVA glue.
• Give it a high-tech look with an A5 size piece of heavy acetate with foil or plastic details and write with a metallic pen.
• Go for something plain and simple with a heavy white card and a parcel type ribbon tie.
• Tracing paper flatters a simple invitation and all you need to do is overlay a sheet on flat card and cut it to the same size before securing it with ribbon through a hole in both layers. For a folded card, cut the tracing papers to the full width, fold and put the two layers together like a book, tie a ribbon around the spine to hold them together.
• A good craft store will have a selection of make-your-own cards with matching envelopes in a range of colours. You can also get real pressed flower stickers and a butterfly-shaped hole punch.
• In the invitation envelope, put loose dried flower petals, Love heart sweets, a foil-wrapped chocolate heart, sequins or confetti, which will fall out of the envelope when it is opened.
• Print plain service sheets or menus on a simple A4 page but, to make them look a bit more special, roll them up, tie them with ribbon and put them in a big basket for guests to collect at the entrance to the wedding venue, church or dining room.
• Choose a favourite black and white photo of yourselves, the venue or the cake and transform it into an invitation, menu, place card or thank you card. You will be able to get postcard-size versions printed at a good printers.