Printing your own Invitations and any of the other papers forming your ensemble is possible using any of a number of 'desktop publishing' software products or using software especially designed for printing wedding invitations. However, just as you would have them printed commercially, you need to know how to create 'socially correct' wordings, proper addressing, and have a knowledge of typesetting.
Commercial VS your Laser or Ink-Jet Printer: Commercially printed Invitations are usually Thermographed (often called raised ink) or Engraved (very expensive). You cannot do either of these at home. But you can print very high quality Invitations using a Laser or Ink-Jet printer. Aside from choosing the paper style, you should make sure that the paper accepts Laser or Ink-Jet printing. Ink-Jet printing on the wrong paper causes the ink to bleed.
Paper Stock: The most commonly used Invitation stock is called a Single Panel Baronial in either White or Ecru (an ivory color). Next is a multi-panel which has both embossing and debossing. The paper quality is very important and should also be a substantial paper weight (similar to cover stock). Make sure your Laser or Ink-Jet can accept this heavier stock. As a minimum, the paper should have a weight similar to that of business cards.
You can also use "flat printed" papers. These simply contain some artwork with no paper texture or embossing or debossing. From there you have fully embossed paper designs which range from plain white paper whose artwork is embossed into the paper to printed artwork enhanced by embossing.
Your problem is that the entire wedding printing industry tightly controls the availability of these papers BECAUSE THEY (1) ARE DESIGNED FOR COMMERCIAL PRESSES AND (2) DO NOT WANT YOU TO PRINT YOUR OWN. You may find advertisements in some of the bride's magazines that offer paper stock. Often the cost for blank paper is the same as if you had it printed. Your choice is also very limited.
If you find a paper that is heavily embossed bear in mind that a Laser printer can crush the embossing (flatten it) or an Ink-Jet printer can rub (leave marks) on the raised areas.
Two sources of Invitation (and related stock) include Paper Direct (800-272-7377) and Queblo (800-523-9080). When you call for a catalog, ASK FOR SAMPLES. When you get the catalog, GET A SAMPLE OF THE PAPER YOU WANT BEFORE YOU PLACE AN ORDER. Print something on it to check the quality.
Your Ensemble: A Wedding Ensemble consists of Invitations, Announcements, Respond Cards, Reception Cards, Place Cards, Pew Cards, Direction Cards, Thank You and Informal Personal Notes, At Home or New Address Cards, and your Wedding Program.
Invitations - sent to those you want to come to the wedding. To save money, you can add your Reception 'invitation' at the end of the wedding wording (thus saving you the cost of Reception Cards).
Announcements - sent just after the wedding to those you know could not come or simply sent when your wedding is very private.
Responds - small card with preaddressed and stamped envelope enclosed with your invitation to be returned to you. The invitee places a check mark next to ATTENDING or DECLINES or some other variation.
Reception - small card specifically indicating that a reception follows the wedding along with its location. (People who don't get this card, are not invited to the Reception.)
Pew Cards - sent to members of the immediate families. These are handed to the ushers to indicate that the bearer sits 'Between the Ribbon'.
Place Cards - for the Reception indicating which table a person or couple is seated. Usually placed in the hallway outside the reception room.
Direction Cards - provide instructions to the wedding and reception locations. Included with the Invitation.
Thank You's - small folding cards with 'Thank You' imprinted on the front. Hand write your thanks inside.
Informal Personal Notes - custom printed 'thank you's'.
At Home Cards - small cards with your new address.
Wedding Program - a folding booklet as simple as one sheet of paper folded in half with a title page (cover) and two inside pages. The left page often lists your service chronology and the right page credits participants.
Your least expensive approach is the Invitation and Envelope with a Reception wording appended to the Wedding Wording. Include an RSVP and telephone number as a footnote.
Wordings: This is critical!!! You will find numerous resources on the Internet describing wordings. Or visit your local print shop and peruse the wedding invitation catalogs. A proper wording is a balance between your taste and certain factors over which you have no control. For example, how do you create a wording for the situation where your mother is deceased and the groom's parents are divorced and neither is interested in your wedding?
Envelope Addressing: You MUST make sure that proper etiquette is used for addressing. This includes attention to military personnel, judges, mayors, doctors, and so on. Some of the wedding invitation catalogs (your local print shop) have guidelines.
Typesetting: OK you have your wording, know how to address envelopes, have paper stock, and your printer works fine both for the papers and envelopes. Now you need to know
1) The FONT
2) The FONT SIZE
3) The spacing between the lines
Your FONT is selected based on what you have in inventory combined with the tone of your invitation. A formal invitation dictates an elegant, formal font not often available on your system. So you go buy a 'font collection'. BEWARE of those! 100 fonts for $29.95 is a 'you get what you pay for' situation.
A good font costs $200. Cheap fonts abound. What is a good font? Aside from the beauty of the design, the technical implementation of the design is very important. A quality font is technically well described . . . when enlarged . . . it still has round edges. A cheap font of the letter 'O' when enlarged will be made of discrete lines.
Your FONT SIZE is equally important. Most Invitations are printed somewhere between 18 points and 22 points. However, you cannot judge the appearance simply based on point size since most elegant fonts print at different legibilities for the same font size. Try it and you'll see.
The LINE SPACING is also important. You simply cannot set your Word Processor for double space.
Professionally printed invitations are processed so that the number of lines in the wording along with the widest (longest) line cause the font size to be adjusted for best legibility. Your only choice is hit and miss. But a good rule is setting your point size to something between 18 and 22 with at least one and a half line spacing. Check the printing to make sure that it does not conflict with any artwork on the paper.
Software Usable For The Task: You can use your Word Processor (viz., Word for Windows, Word Perfect, etc.), or software products such as Corel Draw, Micrografx Designer, and Arts and Letters. In these cases, you must create a page layout for each paper stock in your ensemble and define the print area. Type your wording and select the font and its size. Most of these applications let you choose a line spacing. See how it looks and print it.