There are seemingly myriad preparations required to pull together a great wedding - an event that will elicit fond memories even decades down the road. Among the needs are a ceremony location, food, photographer, possibly a DJ, and other factors, including your wedding inviations. All of these can be very expensive, but there are ways to cut corners without diminishing quality.

Free printable wedding invitations can be found all over the Internet, or you can even design your own. But, can you make them look good? From the paper you use to the quality of printing, it all affects the final printed product.

So regardless of your wedding location, what are the tricks and tips that can take a ink-jet printed wedding invitation from shoddy to professional? To find out, keep reading and you'll learn exactly what is involved in turning free, printable wedding invitations into classic, professional-looking masterpieces.

Buy a High-Quality Paper Stock

Have you ever seen a high-quality invitation printed on 20-lb copier paper stock? No, and there's a reason. By investing in a high-quality, heavy card stock for your invitations, you'll give them an expensive look and feel. You'll also notice that your print quality will improve, as will the overall texture of the invitation.

You can pick up pre-cut card stock at most craft or paper stores. Or, you can purchase a ream of plain, white or cream-colored card stock and cut each invitation out yourself. If you do cut the invitations, be sure to use a high-quality paper cutter to ensure accuracy and a straight, clean cut. When making your own invitations, reply cards and wedding programs, try to buy the same type of stock paper so that they match.

Print With a Dependable Printer

If your printer constantly jams, prints unevenly or leaves unsightly ink lines on your documents, you don't want to use it for your wedding invitations. Instead of wrestling with a cheap printer that's not up to the job, ask a friend to use theirs or take the invitations to a copy shop where they can do fast, laser-printed copies for as little as 5-cents an invitation.

Add an Embellishment

There's nothing wrong with a classic invitation printed on a basic, clean piece of white card stock. Like that little, black dress in your closet - it's traditional, safe and always looks great. However, you can also take your wedding invitations to another level with a small, personal touch or embellishment.

Try adding a small bow at the top, or affixing a small charm or die-cut paper charm (these can often be found at scrapbooking stores). A style that's become increasingly popular is to print your wedding invitations on vellum paper, which is see-through and creates a soft, ghosted effect.

Pick a Font That's Clear

Searching for free printable wedding invitations online is great, but don't get sucked in by complex, but hard-to-read fonts. Ideally, you want all your wedding guests to be able to easily read and understand every word of your invitation. So, stay away from overly ornate, script fonts that don't always work on paper.