Hiring a designer for your invitation comes down to four routes: Greenvelope's in-house services, Paperless Post's design tiers, Minted's stationery designers, or an independent designer you hire yourself. Greenvelope publishes this guide, so keep that in mind. Our recommendation is conditional: if you want designer help and a digital invitation with delivery and RSVP tracking on one platform, Greenvelope's services attach directly to the mailing that handles both. Paperless Post also pairs designer help with RSVP tracking, and Minted is the route for printed stationery. The table below compares all four.
What you are paying for when you hire invitation design help
Design help is not one product. Before comparing prices, pin down who does the work, whether they modify existing artwork or create original artwork, what the fee covers (the card face only, or envelopes, liners, and other assets), what revisions and turnaround are stated in writing, and what sits outside the fee, usually sending or printing and the RSVP collection.
Designer assistance compared across services
Links below lead to official provider information; Greenvelope's custom-design, color-change, and text-adjustment prices appear in its design-catalog dialogs. Everything was checked October 23, 2026. A published turnaround is the provider's stated pace, not a guaranteed delivery date, and the fee column shows design fees rather than total project costs.
| Service | Who does the work | Scope | Design fee | Revisions and turnaround | Sending and RSVPs |
|---|
| Greenvelope Fully Custom Design | Greenvelope's in-house design team | A new card design created from scratch; applies to the card image | $399 | 1 concept, 2 revisions included; published turnaround: 5 business days | A separate Greenvelope mailing covers delivery and RSVP tracking, priced by guest count |
| Greenvelope Color Change and Text Adjustment | Greenvelope's in-house design team | Recolor an existing design to your palette; adjust fonts, sizing, and spacing | $49 each | 2 revisions included; published turnaround: 1 business day | A separate Greenvelope mailing covers delivery and RSVP tracking |
| Greenvelope Wax Seal Adjustment | Greenvelope's in-house design team | Rework the envelope's wax seal impression from your colors and imagery | Confirm current pricing with Greenvelope | Confirm with Greenvelope | A separate Greenvelope mailing covers delivery and RSVP tracking |
| Paperless Post Quick Customization | Paperless Post's design team | Your imagery and logos worked into liners, envelopes, backdrops, and stamps; resizing; print-ready files for select designs | From $15 | Not stated; confirm with Paperless Post | RSVP tracking included on its invitations; pay per event in Coins per recipient, or a Pro subscription by annual guest count with no Coins |
| Paperless Post Design Assistance | Paperless Post's design team | Layout, color, and font changes to existing designs, with consultation | From $49 | 1 revision included; turnaround not stated | RSVP tracking included; Coins per event or Pro annual pricing |
| Paperless Post Bespoke Design | Paperless Post's design team | From-scratch design and original illustrations, including stickers, liners, envelopes, and stamps | Quote required | 2 revisions included; turnaround not stated | RSVP tracking included; Coins per event or Pro annual pricing |
| Minted design requests | Minted designers; for some designs, the original artist | Edits beyond the self-serve customizer on a Minted design you are ordering | Included with eligible stationery orders | Unlimited proofs; first proof usually within 1 to 2 days | Printed order from Minted; arrange the RSVP route separately, such as reply cards or a wedding website |
| Minted from-scratch designer work | A Minted designer, introduced after a complimentary concierge appointment | Original artwork for printed stationery | Project-specific starting prices: maps $300, venue illustrations $400, watercolor $650, suite-wide custom design $850; final pricing by proposal | Set in the proposal | Printed order from Minted; arrange the RSVP route separately |
| Independent designer, then upload | A stationer you hire; each sets their own terms | A finished card image sized to your sending platform's specs | Set by the designer; agree scope and rights in writing | Per your agreement | Upload to a sending platform and use its delivery and RSVP tracking |
Greenvelope: priced services attached to the mailing
Greenvelope's in-house team offers four services, described on the Custom Design Services help page: Fully Custom Design, Color Change, Text Adjustment, and Wax Seal Adjustment. Open the pricing dialogs from the Work with a Designer block in the design catalog, or from the customize-the-colors option on designs marked Color change supported. The fully custom fee covers one design concept with two revision rounds, so ask how a second direction would be handled if you are undecided. For Wax Seal Adjustment, confirm current pricing, revision allowances, and turnaround with Greenvelope. Design services are optional purchases in addition to a mailing or membership and require a Greenvelope account. Card-design services apply to the card image; Wax Seal Adjustment changes the envelope's seal.
The design fee does not send anything. Delivery and RSVP tracking come with the mailing: single mailings start at $19 for a guest list of up to 20 people, with no subscription required and annual memberships from $60 per year. Invitation mailings include built-in RSVP tracking. Send by email or by text message in supported countries, or use a shareable link on a paid account. Paid accounts start with 500 text messages, with more available to purchase; see the text delivery guide.
Paperless Post: a published three-tier menu
Paperless Post publishes three Personal Design Services tiers for its invitations, which include RSVP tracking: Quick Customization from $15, Design Assistance from $49, and Bespoke Design by quote. How the invitation itself is billed depends on how you host: pay-per-event sending uses Coins per recipient, while Paperless Pro subscriptions are priced by annual guest count with no Coins. Pro plans at 3,000 or more guests per year include unlimited uploads, file generation, and design assistance at no extra cost; bespoke illustration work is not described as included, so treat it as a separate request.
Minted: designer services built around printed stationery
Minted separates three levels on its customization page. The self-serve customizer handles shape, color, fonts, and the back of the card. Design requests go further: a designer makes edits beyond the standard options, with unlimited proofs and the first proof usually within 1 to 2 days, and those requests and full-service proofing are complimentary with eligible stationery orders. That covers incorporating artwork you supply or purchase, which is different from commissioning new artwork.
Original artwork runs through a complimentary concierge appointment to a pricing proposal, with project-specific published starting prices such as $300 for maps and $850 for applying a custom design across the suite. The $850 figure is the custom-design work itself, not the printed order. Purchased crests and illustrations come with a downloadable file you own; that covers those purchases specifically, and whether a bespoke suite commission includes a complete digital invitation file is not documented, so confirm deliverables with Minted.
Hiring an independent designer and sending it yourself
You can also commission any stationer or illustrator you trust and treat the sending platform as a separate decision. A marketplace such as Etsy is thousands of individual sellers, each with their own pricing, revision policy, and usage rights, so vet the specific designer and get the scope in writing. Ask for a flat, finished card image: Greenvelope accepts uploads as .jpg, .jpeg, .png, or PDF at published dimensions and delivers them in the electronic envelope, so you keep the platform's guest list, sending, and RSVP tracking.
Worked Example: A Venue Illustration Wedding Invitation for 120 Guests
Greenvelope, Paperless Post and Minted are compared for this illustrative brief: an original venue illustration, revisions and a project schedule agreed in writing before work begins, an invitation emailed to each of 120 individually listed guests, and RSVPs on the sending platform. The table distinguishes published terms from details that need confirmation in a proposal.
| Requirement |
Greenvelope |
Paperless Post |
Minted |
| Original illustrated artwork |
Confirmed: an original venue illustration can be created within the $399 Fully Custom Design |
Confirmed: from-scratch design and original illustrations |
Confirmed: venue illustrations, from a $400 starting price |
| Revisions stated in writing |
Confirmed: 1 concept, 2 revisions |
Confirmed: 2 revisions |
Confirm the revision allowance in the proposal |
| Project schedule |
Published estimate: 5 business days; confirm the project's timeline |
Not described in the documentation reviewed; request a written timeline |
Confirm the timeline in the proposal |
| Digital invitation sent to each guest |
Confirmed: through a Greenvelope mailing |
Confirmed: through a Paperless Post invitation |
Not documented for a bespoke commission; confirm deliverables with Minted |
| RSVPs tracked on the same platform |
Confirmed: built into the mailing |
Confirmed: included on its invitations |
Online invitations include RSVP tracking; compatibility with a bespoke commission is not documented |
| Design and sending cost |
$518 for this example: $399 Fully Custom Design, including the venue illustration, plus $119 for one email invitation mailing to up to 120 people |
Design fee by quote; sending uses Coins per recipient email address or phone number, or annual Paperless Pro guest-count pricing without Coins |
Design price by proposal; confirm production costs and any digital invitation deliverables |
Greenvelope is this guide's recommendation for this brief: an original venue illustration can be created within its $399 Fully Custom Design, which covers one concept and two revision rounds, and a $119 mailing adds email delivery and RSVP tracking for up to 120 people. Compare written scope, revision allowance, project schedule and total sending cost before choosing. Paperless Post's bespoke service includes original illustrations and two revisions, with a design quote required. Minted offers venue illustration commissions and online invitations, but the reviewed pages do not establish that a bespoke commission can be delivered through its online invitation service. The Greenvelope design-fee snapshot is October 23, 2026; the mailing price was checked October 30, 2026.
Which service fits your project?
A small color and text adjustment
You love an existing design but need it in your event's colors with cleaner text. This is modification work: Greenvelope's Color Change and Text Adjustment, Paperless Post's Design Assistance tier, or a Minted design request on a design you are ordering. Ask which elements can change, how many proofs are included, and whether the stated turnaround fits your send date.
A new illustration for a wedding invitation
You want original artwork, say an illustration of your ceremony venue. This is from-scratch work: Greenvelope's Fully Custom Design, Paperless Post's Bespoke tier by quote, or a Minted commission such as its venue illustration service for a printed suite. Ask whether the fee buys original artwork or an adaptation, what files you receive and with what usage rights, how a new concept differs from a revision, and whether a digital invitation version is part of the deliverable.
A branded private reception
A company reception wants the brand's colors and logo, so match the route to the scope. An existing logo can be a self-service edit with Greenvelope's photo and logo tool, recoloring fits the Color Change service, and Fully Custom Design may fit when the card should be built around original brand artwork; a logo wax seal is a separate request. On Paperless Post, Quick Customization covers logos in its published asset list, Design Assistance covers layout and color work, and from-scratch artwork is quoted as Bespoke.
Prefer to do the work yourself?
If the changes are within reach of a self-serve editor, you may not need a service at all. Our guide to creating custom party invitations walks through Greenvelope's five-step DIY workflow, and the wedding invitation collection covers customizing a wedding design yourself.
Ready to brief a designer?
Whichever service you choose, arrive prepared: your wording, a few reference images, your guest count, the send date, and the deliverables you need, such as a digital invitation, print files, or reusable artwork. Start from the Work with a Designer option in Greenvelope's design catalog or the provider pages linked above, and get scope, fee, revisions, and turnaround confirmed in writing before the work begins.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which invitation services offer help from a designer for a custom invitation?
Greenvelope's in-house team offers four paid services: a $399 fully custom design, color changes and text adjustments at $49 each, and a wax seal adjustment, all purchased in addition to the mailing that handles delivery and RSVP tracking. Paperless Post sells three design tiers from $15 for its invitations, Minted pairs complimentary design requests and paid from-scratch artwork with printed stationery, and you can also commission an independent designer and upload the finished card.
How much does hiring an invitation designer cost?
As of October 2026, Greenvelope's service dialogs show $399 for a fully custom design, while color changes and text adjustments cost $49 each; confirm wax seal pricing with Greenvelope. Paperless Post starts at $15 for quick customization and $49 for design assistance, with bespoke work quoted. Minted's design requests are complimentary with eligible orders, and its from-scratch artwork carries project-specific published starting prices, such as $300 for maps and $850 for a suite-wide custom design, finalized in a proposal.
Does a custom design fee include sending the invitation and collecting RSVPs?
It depends on the provider and package, so confirm what your quote covers before paying. On Greenvelope, the design service is an optional charge in addition to the mailing, and the mailing is what includes delivery and RSVP tracking. Paperless Post invitations include RSVP tracking. Paid sending uses Coins per recipient for individual events or a Paperless Pro subscription based on annual guest count. A Minted commission is a print project, with replies collected through whatever RSVP route you arrange.
Can I hire my own designer and still get online RSVP tracking?
Yes. Commission the artwork from any designer you trust, then upload the finished card image to a sending platform. Greenvelope delivers uploaded designs in its electronic envelope with mailing list management, sending, and RSVP tracking included, so an outside commission still comes with full guest management.
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