Wedding Invitations Hobby Lobby: Design & Ordering Guide

Hobby Lobby Wedding Invitations Are Actually Pretty Decent

Okay so Hobby Lobby isn’t the first place most people think of for wedding invitations but honestly they’ve got some surprisingly good options if you’re working with a tight budget or you want something you can customize yourself. I started paying attention to their invitation section back in spring 2023 when a bride called me literally panicking because her online order got delayed by like six weeks and her wedding was in two months. We ended up at Hobby Lobby at 7pm on a Tuesday and actually found something that worked.

The main thing to know is that Hobby Lobby does invitations in basically three ways: printable invitation kits, pre-designed invitations you can personalize, and DIY supplies if you wanna go full craft mode. Each has its own process and honestly its own headaches but they’re all doable.

The Printable Invitation Kits

These are probably the most popular option and they’re what I recommend if you’re comfortable with basic computer stuff. You buy a kit that comes with blank invitation cards, envelopes, sometimes RSVP cards, and then you print everything at home. The kits usually come in packs of 25 or 50.

Here’s what you gotta know: the cardstock quality varies wildly. Some of their kits use this really nice heavy cardstock that feels expensive and some use paper that’s basically one step above printer paper. Always open the package in the store and feel it if you can. The ones by Gartner Studios are usually pretty solid. The generic Hobby Lobby brand ones are hit or miss.

Most kits come with a template you can download. You’ll find a little card inside the package with a website and a code. You go to the website, enter the code, and download a Word template or sometimes a PDF template. This is where it gets annoying though because their website is kinda terrible? Like the templates don’t always format correctly and I’ve had clients where the margins were completely off when they printed.

My advice is to do a test print on regular paper first. Actually do like three test prints because what looks good on screen doesn’t always translate. And use your home printer if that’s what you’re planning to use for the real thing because printers are weirdly different from each other.

Pre-Designed Invitations You Customize

Hobby Lobby also has these pre-designed invitations where the design is already printed on the card and you just add your specific details. These used to be way more common but they’ve scaled back this section. You’ll find them hanging on those display racks near the stationery section.

The selection is pretty limited honestly. Lots of florals, some rustic designs, a few modern geometric ones. If you’re having a beach wedding or something really specific theme-wise, you probably won’t find what you need here. But for classic weddings they’re fine.

You order these through their website or sometimes in-store if they have the order kiosk working. I say “if it’s working” because I swear half the time I go in there the kiosk is down or the employee doesn’t know how to use it. One time I stood there with a bride for 25 minutes while the cashier called three different people to figure out how to process the order… my cat was probably destroying my couch at home during that whole ordeal but whatever.

The turnaround time is usually about two weeks but during busy wedding season (like April through June) it can be longer. Always add extra time to whatever they tell you. If they say two weeks, assume three.

DIY Supplies Route

If you’re crafty or you just want complete control over every detail, Hobby Lobby has tons of DIY supplies. Blank cards in every size, envelopes in different colors, ribbons, seals, stamps, embellishments, all that stuff.

This is gonna take you way more time than you think. I had a bride in summer 2021 who decided she wanted to hand-make 150 invitations using Hobby Lobby supplies and it took her and her bridesmaids an entire month of weekends. They looked gorgeous but she was so burned out by the end that she told me she never wanted to see a glue gun again.

The advantage is you can make something totally unique and you can often do it cheaper than ordering pre-made invitations. The disadvantage is your dining room table will be covered in paper scraps for weeks and you’ll probably mess up at least 10-15 invitations while you’re figuring out your system.

Pro tip: Hobby Lobby has sales literally all the time. Their paper products go on sale every few weeks and you can usually get 40-50% off. Never buy this stuff at full price. Download their app and check the weekly ad before you go.

Actually Designing Your Invitations

Whether you’re using a template or starting from scratch, you need to think about what information actually goes on a wedding invitation. This seems obvious but you’d be surprised how many people forget important details.

You need: your names (duh), date, time, location (full address not just the venue name because people need to GPS it), and some kind of RSVP information. You also probably want to include your wedding website if you have one because that’s where people will look for hotels and registry info and all that.

For the design itself, keep it readable. I see so many DIY invitations where people use these super decorative fonts and you literally cannot read the address or time. Use a fancy font for names if you want but keep the important details in something clear. And make the font size at least 10 point, preferably 11 or 12, because your older relatives will appreciate it.

Color-wise, Hobby Lobby’s printing capabilities are actually pretty good if you’re doing it at home. Their cardstock comes in lots of colors so you can do colored paper with black text which looks classy and prints easily. If you’re trying to print full-color designs at home… honestly that’s where things get tricky because home printers aren’t great with full bleeds and color matching.

The Printing Process If You’re Doing It At Home

Get good ink cartridges. Not the cheap refills, actual good ones. You’re gonna use more ink than you expect and there’s nothing worse than running out of cyan halfway through printing 100 invitations.

Print in small batches. Don’t try to do all 100 at once because if something goes wrong—and something always goes wrong—you’ll waste less paper. I usually tell people to do batches of 10.

Feed the cardstock into your printer manually if you can, one sheet at a time. Most home printers aren’t really designed for heavy cardstock and they jam easily. This takes forever but it’s better than dealing with jams or, my personal printing nightmare: when the cardstock goes through crooked and everything prints at an angle.

Let each invitation dry for like 30 seconds before you stack them. Ink takes a minute to set on cardstock and if you stack them immediately they’ll smudge or stick together.

What About Printing Services

If your home printer situation is questionable or you just don’t wanna deal with it, you can take your Hobby Lobby cardstock to a print shop. FedEx Office, Staples, local print shops—most of them will print on your own paper for a fee.

Call ahead and ask about their policy on customer-provided paper. Some places charge extra, some won’t do it at all. Also ask if they’ve printed on that specific type of cardstock before because some cardstocks don’t play nice with commercial printers.

Expect to pay anywhere from 50 cents to $2 per invitation for printing. Which kinda defeats the purpose of buying cheap Hobby Lobby supplies but at least you know they’ll print correctly.

Envelopes Are Their Own Special Nightmare

Okay so you’ve got your invitations printed and they look great. Now you gotta deal with envelopes and this is where a lot of DIY projects fall apart.

Hobby Lobby’s envelope selection is decent but here’s what annoys me: the envelope sizes don’t always match their invitation sizes perfectly. You’ll buy a 5×7 invitation kit and the envelopes will be slightly too big or slightly too small. Always check that the envelopes actually fit the invitations before you leave the store.

Addressing envelopes is its own whole thing. You can handwrite them which looks personal but takes forever and your hand will cramp. You can print labels which is fast but looks less formal. Or you can print directly on the envelopes if your printer can handle it—most can’t really handle thick envelopes though so…

I’ve started recommending that people just get a calligraphy pen and practice their handwriting or hire someone on Etsy to do calligraphy addressing. It costs extra but it makes such a difference in how the whole invitation feels when someone receives it.

Assembly Tips That’ll Save Your Sanity

Set up an assembly line. Seriously, get your bridesmaids or family members together, put on a trashy reality show (I’ve assembled many invitations while watching The Bachelor), and create stations. One person stuffs invitations into envelopes, one person seals them, one person puts on stamps, whatever.

Do not lick 100 envelopes yourself. Get a sponge and a little bowl of water for sealing. Your tongue will thank you.

Weigh one complete invitation at the post office before you buy stamps. If your invitation is heavy or thick or has multiple inserts, it might need extra postage. Nothing worse than sending out 100 invitations that all get returned for insufficient postage.

Speaking of stamps, you can get away with regular Forever stamps for most invitations but if you want something prettier, the post office has wedding-specific stamps. Or you can order custom stamps online which is kinda cool.

Timeline For Hobby Lobby Invitations

If you’re doing printable kits: give yourself at least 4-6 weeks before you need to mail them. One week to design and test print, one week to actually print everything (you won’t wanna do it all in one day trust me), one week for assembly, and buffer time for mistakes.

If you’re ordering pre-designed ones: order at least 8 weeks before your mail date. Two weeks for production, buffer time for shipping delays or errors, time to address and assemble.

If you’re going full DIY craft mode: honestly start like 3 months out. I’m not even kidding. It takes so much longer than you think.

Budget Breakdown

Printable kit for 50 invitations: usually $20-40 depending on quality
Envelopes if not included: $10-20
Ink cartridges: $30-50
RSVP cards and envelopes: $15-25
Stamps for 50 invitations: around $60
Total: roughly $135-195 for 50 invitations

That’s actually pretty good compared to custom invitations which can easily run $5-10 per invitation. But factor in your time because you’re basically trading money for labor here.

Common Problems And How To Fix Them

Template won’t download: Try a different browser. Their website works better on Chrome than Safari in my experience. If that doesn’t work, call their customer service number on the package.

Colors look different when printed: This is normal unfortunately. Screens display colors differently than printers. Do test prints and adjust your colors to compensate. Usually you need to make colors slightly darker or more saturated than they look on screen.

Printer keeps jamming: Your cardstock might be too thick for your printer. Check your printer’s specifications for maximum paper weight. Most home printers handle up to 80lb cardstock but some max out at 65lb.

Text is printing too close to the edge: Adjust your margins in the template. Most printers have a minimum margin they can print to, usually about 0.25 inches. Keep all your important text at least 0.5 inches from any edge to be safe.

Ran out of supplies: This is why you always buy extra. Get supplies for at least 10-15% more invitations than you need. So if you need 100 invitations, buy supplies for 115.

Is Hobby Lobby Actually Worth It

Look, Hobby Lobby invitations aren’t gonna win any design awards but they’re totally fine for most weddings. If you’re having a casual wedding, a backyard wedding, or you’re just not that into spending tons of money on paper that people throw away anyway, they’re a solid choice.

The quality is good enough that guests won’t think you were cheap, especially if you take time with the details and do nice addressing and maybe add a ribbon or seal. But if you’re having a formal black-tie wedding at a fancy venue, you might wanna look at higher-end options because there’s only so much you can do with Hobby Lobby supplies to make them look ultra elegant.

The biggest advantage is flexibility and cost. You can customize exactly what you want and do it for way less than ordering from a stationer. The biggest disadvantage is time and effort—you’re doing all the work yourself so it’s definitely more stressful than just ordering online and having them show up at your door ready to go.