Digital or paper? A fair comparison
This page sells digital invitations, so treat its conclusion with suspicion and its numbers as the rough market ranges they are. Many couples land in the middle: digital for most guests, a few printed cards for the people who will keep them on the mantelpiece.
| Paper | Digital | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical cost for 100 guests | Roughly £250–£700 for printed invitations, inserts and postage | £0 with Vowlio; paid platforms typically charge a one-off fee in the £40–£120 range |
| Time to guests’ hands | Design, proofing, printing and post: usually 3–6 weeks | Built in minutes, delivered the moment you send the link |
| Changing a detail | Reprint, or phone every guest | Rebuild the link and resend it; the page always shows the latest version |
| Replies (RSVP) | Reply cards, phone calls and a spreadsheet you maintain by hand | Guests tap through to your own form; replies arrive in one place |
| What guests keep | A physical card — genuinely lovely, and genuinely easy to lose | A link that becomes a keepsake page after the day |
| Environmental cost | Paper, printing, envelopes and two rounds of post | A web page — close to nothing per guest |
The honest summary: paper wins on touch and tradition; digital wins on cost, speed, changes and replies. If your budget or your conscience points one way and your heart the other, the hybrid — digital for most, printed for a few — is what a large share of couples actually do.