Surely wedding invitations are a must have. But is the extreme cost really necessary these days? Certainly not! There's no reason why you can't make your own beautiful wedding invitations! For a very simple style you can simply purchase specialty paper at an office supply store that's made for printing your own invitations at home on your printer.

If you want something a little more elaborate, here's an idea. For a beach wedding how about a truly unique message in a bottle invitation? You can purchase bottles at thrift stores, online, or a craft store. There's no rule that says they all have to be the same type of bottle. You can feel free to mix and match. They don't have to be glass bottles either. There are many suppliers you can order clear plastic bottles from online. These will be light for mailing as well. Then buy some parchment style stationary at an office supply store, print out your invitation with an appropriate font, and roll it up! You might consider tearing the edges, and rubbing a little bit of dark colored chalk or ink on the edges for an aged look. You can also burn the edges with a lighter, just take care when doing this. Roll the paper and slip it in the bottle. If you want to dress it up a bit more you could tie some shells and raffia around the neck of the bottle. You could also put a tiny amount of sandbox sand in the bottom of the bottle with some tiny shells mixed in. To avoid loose messy sand, mix the sand and shells with some white school glue in a bowl, and spoon it into the bottle. When the glue dries, it will dry clear and the sand will be held in place.