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Making Wedding Invitations
So, one of our wedding guests had a friend over to their place and the friend saw our wedding invitations. She commented that she liked them, our wedding guest said that I made them, and she was impressed I guess because she asked our wedding guest if I'd be willing to make hers!
Last November (at a different friend's wedding), I talked about it with our wedding guest and said sure, I might be interested. Fast forward to today, the bride e-mails me and wants me to do everything - 150 invites, table numbers, programs, name cards, the works! And, she's getting married on 10/09/10!
I want to do it for her, because I'm not really doing anything else, but I don't have a clue how much to tell her as an estimate. The invites are the biggest cost of course, but I don't know if I'll be saving her any money. Mine we cheap because the labor was free! 
Looking back at our wedding budget, it cost $2.15 per invite (it was a pocketfold with 4 inserts and a bellyband). I have no clue what she wants, so I guess I'll have to figure that out first. DH says to triple what ours cost and tell her that as an estimate.
I guess my question is for those who ordered invitations... do you know how much yours were per invite? I have no idea how much they really cost to have them done professionally. What would you charge if you were doing it? TIA!
Re: Making Wedding Invitations
A good starting point would be http://pal.einvite.com/dept/Wedding/WeddingInvitations/?Cobrand=PAL&Site=PAL&vk=1777211146 . You will be able to compare many different styles of invitations w/ and w/o inserts and envelopes. It'll give you a ballpark figure.
For an exact amount, I suggest pricing the materials and tacking on a percentage (or amount) for labor depending on how much you're doing. My initial thought was 30%.
I ordered mine off of this website... http://www.theamericanwedding.com/shopping/prod_catalog/main.asp-cat-74
I'm sure you can find a comparable style.
I would assume since she said she loved YOUR invitations, that she wants pocketfolds. I've gotten a whole lot of inquiries from brides for me to do pocketfolds for them (since we did them for our wedding) and once they hear the quoted price they aren't interested-in fact, they usually don't even email me back. In my experience, brides want pocketfolds right now since they're so popular but they're not willing to pay the cost for them. As far as how much to charge for them, the normal mark-up is to take the amount it costs for you to produce them (all of the materials from the paper to the ribbon- don't forget the cost of ink and adhesives!) and double it. And unless you don't want to charge her labor, you will need to figure up a decent hourly wage and pay yourself per hour for the amount of time you're going to spend on them. If you do some looking on Etsy, pocketfold invites range anywhere from around $3.50 per invite to around $8 per invite, which I do not find unreasonable. They take a TON of work, and require a lot more materials to make. But I'm guessing she won't want to pay that.
I think a bigger concern is the timing. I'm not sure if you'll be able to get them finished in time, especially pocketfolds. I'm doing invitations for a 10/10/10 bride right now, and I have the invitation suite fully designed and am getting ready to place the final order for supplies and start production. And I'm only making 75 invites and they aren't pocketfolds. Since she will want to mail the invites 6-8 weeks prior to the wedding, the bride will need to have them in her hands, addressed, and ready to mail around Aug. 1st. You may be able to do it but you're going to have to work 24/7 to get them finished on time.
I think you should find out exactly what she wants, and go from there. If you don't think you will get them done in time, then be honest with her about that. Honestly, she should have contacted you A LOT sooner if she knew she was interested in you doing them for her. If nothing else, suggest she order her invites from a quick-order type company, and offer to do all of the accessories (programs, etc.). Good luck Kellie! If I can be any more help, don't hesitate to ask!
Oh, I forgot to say- I would ask her if she wants pocketfolds and how many inserts. And what type of paper (plain, metallic, etc.) How many inserts she wants.... that will get you started on the cost of the invites. Also, I don't know what type of printer you have, but lots of times you can save money by printing the components on 11 x 17" paper instead of 8.5 x 11". You can usually fit more onto a sheet of paper that way, especially when it comes to things with smaller dimensions like small inserts and escort cards. You're also going to need to know what type of programs she wants so you know how much paper you need.
And honestly, you probably won't save her any money! Don't feel bad if your estimate comes in higher than she wants to pay. Don't sell yourself short- you are worth good money!!!