If you are in the process of planning your wedding, you have probably already begun looking for the perfect wedding invitations. What you may not know is that you can print wedding invitations yourself using your computer and your printer. Not only does this have the potential to save you quite a bit of money, but it also gives you added flexibility because you can add another guest to the list at the last minute if you need to and then just zip off another invitation.

For time imemorial -- all right, for the past ten to fifteen years -- software that allows anyone with a computer and a printer to create their own homemade greeting card has been pretty popular. So popular in fact that many different companies got in on the act and competed their way down to extreme affordability, at least as far as computer software goes. Most of these greeting card softwares cost less than a computer video game, and you might have even gotten one free with your PC.

But of course, who wants their wedding invitations printed on silly little pieces of white copy paper that's been folded four times to make it a little less flimsy looking. No one. These days amateur desktop publishing is so sophisticated that you can get nearly any size, thickness, style and color of paper at a reasonable price -- and a lot of this stuff is made specifically for use in inkjet printers. So you can pick out something with the texture, thickness and color you want, in the size and shape you want, use your greeting card software to create a custom design that you love and print it out using the inexpensive inkjet you probably already own.

But you still might be thinking about those cheesy looking cards you've seen over the years, shaking your head thinking there's no way your wedding is going to be amateur hour. But a lot has changed in the past several years. For one thing the cheap printers that are being given away with new computer packages these days are usually capable of some pretty decent photo-quality printing even if the machines themselves aren't that durable. If you actually went out and deliberately bought yourself something halfway decent in the last year or so chances are your printer is more than adequate for the job.

Sure, it's not that easy. You might have to hunt around for the perfect paper if you've got something really specific in mind, and you will probably have to spend a little time learning the ins and outs of your greeting card software, but if you start today and put your heart into it the reward for your hard work and dedication will be getting exactly what you've always dreamed of and saving money at the same time.

Helpful Tip: When you are figuring up the cost of your wedding invitations, don't forget to include postage expenses. It makes sense to assemble an invitation (with return card if applicable) inside the envelope and take it with the to the post office to have it weighed. This way, you'll make sure you apply enough postage. It would be heartbreaking to find all of your wedding invitations returned for insufficient postage and have to resend them.

Best of luck in the journey towards your wedding day!