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One of the first DIY projects that a bride on the budget turns to is wedding invitations. It used to be that a homemade wedding invitation could be spotted a mile away, with its uneven edges and crooked lines. Now, with the prevalence of ready-to-go cardstock, Photoshop for designs and high-quality printers, it's easier than ever to print your own wedding invitations. All it takes to print your own wedding invitations is five easy steps.

Step one: Choose your paper. Web sites such as paper-papers.com and discountcardstock.com offer cheap cardstock in a variety of colors and finished to complete your project. Choose the heaviest paper you can afford to ensure a higher quality. Don't forget to buy matching envelopes. The other option is to buy a wedding invitation kit, which includes paper, envelopes and matching accessories, and can be bought everywhere from Wal-Mart to specialty stationary stores.

Step two: Make sure your printer is up to snuff. Laser printers work best to print your own wedding invitations because the ink dries quickly and you can get more bang for your buck out of one cartridge. Laserjet printers can be costly, though, so weigh your options and make sure that the cost of buying a printer will be well worth it in the end. (Perhaps you have a home business with a printer that could use upgrading?)

Step three: Find a basic greeting card or graphic design program. Photoshop Element runs about $100, while rudimentary greeting card software can be found for $10-$20. Find a tutorial online and learn how to use the different features before designing the invitations.

Step four: Design the invitations. For a non-designer, the best option is to browse through professionally designed invitations online and find one you like. While you shouldn't copy it exactly - that would compromise the designer's copyright - get inspiration in the form of colors, patterns or shapes. Remember that simple is always better. The worst thing that can happen is that you'll look back on your invitation in 20 years and wonder why you designed the invitation with so many different elements on it. Take fonts into consideration - typically wedding invitations uses an elegant script font, but play around with what you want depending on the atmosphere you're aiming for. Keep the font size between nine and twelve point - big enough that it's readable for all your guests, but small enough that all the pertinent information will fit - and only use two fonts at maximum to keep the invitation from looking like alphabet soup.