DIY Wedding Signs: 7 Ideas, What They Cost and Which Ones You Actually Need

The DIY wedding signs worth making are a welcome sign, a seating chart and table numbers, and you can do all three for well under $150 with a mirror, a frame or a big print on a cheap easel. Everything else, like bar menus, guest book and "unplugged ceremony" signs, is optional, and a small framed print does the job for a few dollars.

For a sense of scale, Green Wedding Shoes puts store-bought signs at around $50 to $150 for the larger ones and $15 to $50 for the small ones (Green Wedding Shoes). Custom pieces from a sign designer cost more: Made & True lists $150 to $400+ for a custom acrylic welcome sign and $200 to $500+ for a seating chart, and says couples often spend $400 to $1,500 on signage in total (Made & True). That is a lot of money for things guests look at for a few seconds, which is exactly why signs are such a good DIY project.

Which signs do you actually need?

Green Wedding Shoes says it well: you can have as many or as few signs as you like. Nobody is checking. Here is how we would rank them on a budget:

• Seating chart. The only sign that does a real job. If you have assigned tables, people need to find their seat.
• Table numbers. Needed if you have a seating chart, pointless if you don't.
• Welcome sign. Not needed at all, but it is the one that ends up in your photos, so it is the one most couples care about.
• Directional signs. Only if the venue is confusing, like a ceremony in one field and dinner in a barn.
• Bar menu, guest book, cards and gifts, unplugged ceremony. Nice, not needed. Each one is a small print in a frame.

If you only make one thing, make a seating chart, and use our seating chart planning guide to work out who sits where. If you have the time and energy for two, add the welcome sign.

7 DIY wedding sign ideas, from cheapest to priciest

1. Table numbers in photo frames

The easiest sign project there is. A $1.25 Dollar Tree frame with a printed number inside comes to about $1.31 a table, against about $7.95 for one acrylic number with a stand on Etsy. For 12 tables, that is roughly $16 instead of $95. Each one takes about ten minutes. Our table numbers guide has the exact frame size and how to make a set look matched rather than thrifted.

2. Small framed prints for everything else

Guest book, cards and gifts, signature drinks, "unplugged ceremony": all of these work as a 5x7 or 8x10 print in a frame you already own or grab for a couple of dollars. Buy one frame style for every small sign at the wedding and they will look like a set, even if each one has different words. To see where signs fit next to everything else, use our wedding decor checklist.

3. A big print on an easel

The cheapest large welcome sign is an engineer print, a huge black and white print on thin paper meant for building plans. A blogger who uses them a lot paid $7 to $8 for a 24x36 inch black and white print at Staples, about $11 at FedEx, and about $12 for one in color (Everyday Reading). Her post was last updated in 2023, so check the price at the counter. Stand it on an easel like IKEA's MÅLA for $29.99 with a sheet of foam board or cardboard behind it, and the print and easel together come to under $40.

The trade-off: the paper is thin and the black is more gray than black, so this works best for simple lettering, not photos.

4. A chalkboard welcome or menu sign

A cheap poster frame, a can of chalkboard spray paint and a box of chalk come to about $17.40, which our chalkboard sign guide walks you through. Be honest with yourself here: a ready-made 18x24 inch framed chalkboard is about $29.99 on Amazon, so you save only about $12.59. Make it if you enjoy the project or want a specific size. If you just want a chalkboard, buy one and spend your evening on the lettering instead.

5. A mirror welcome sign

This is the one people ask about, because it looks expensive. A $6.97 Walmart wall mirror, a $3.97 white paint marker and an easel make a mirror welcome sign for about $41, and it takes about two hours. A hand-painted welcome mirror on Etsy was $281.61 when we checked. That is a saving of about $240, which makes it one of the best value DIY projects on the whole wedding.

6. A mirror seating chart

Same idea, bigger mirror. A full-length floor mirror and two paint markers come to about $87 for our mirror seating chart, against $322.06 for a ready-made gold acrylic one on Etsy. Plan for about four hours, and more if you have a long guest list. Made & True estimates 4 to 10 hours for a DIY seating chart done well, and that matches what we see: writing 120 names neatly is slow work.

7. Reuse one sign twice

Not a sign, but a money trick. Use the same easel for the welcome sign at the ceremony, then have someone move it next to the dinner tables for the seating chart or the bar menu. One $29.99 easel covers two or three signs.

What it costs: DIY vs ready-made

US prices we checked in October 2026, from the cost box on each guide.

Sign	DIY cost	Ready-made	You save	Time
Table numbers, 12 tables	about $16	about $95	about $79	about 2 hours
Chalkboard sign	$17.40	$29.99	$12.59	about 1.5 hours
Engineer print on an easel	about $37 to $38	$50 to $150 (store-bought large sign)	depends	under 1 hour
Mirror welcome sign	$40.93	$281.61	$240.68	about 2 hours
Mirror seating chart	$87.17	$322.06	$234.89	about 4 hours

The mirror projects save the most by far. The chalkboard saves the least.

When DIY signs are not worth it

DIY is the right call for most couples, but not for everyone. Buy or print instead if:

• You don't like your handwriting. Freehand lettering on a mirror is the hard part. A print shop or a vinyl lettering decal can do the words while you do the rest.
• The seating chart changes every week. If RSVPs are still coming in two weeks out, write the chart last, or print it on paper and mount it, so a late change costs you a reprint and not a whole mirror.
• You are already short on time. Four hours of lettering the week of the wedding is four hours you won't spend sleeping.
• The saving is small. The chalkboard is the clear example. Under $15 saved is not worth a stressful evening.

Tips for signs people can actually read

• Fewer words. "Welcome to the wedding of Sam and Alex" plus the date is plenty. Long poems on a welcome sign don't get read.
• Big letters. Guests read a seating chart from a few steps away, often in a crowd. Make the names bigger than feels necessary.
• Have someone else check the spelling. Names, dates and table numbers. You will read what you meant to write, not what is there.
• Think about wind and sun. Outdoor easels tip over and mirrors catch the sun. Weigh the legs down and check where the light hits at the time of the ceremony.
• Pick one style. One font, one color and one material for every sign makes a handful of cheap signs look planned.

The short version

Make the seating chart and table numbers if you have assigned seats, add a welcome sign if you want one for the photos, and skip the rest unless you enjoy it. The mirror welcome sign and mirror seating chart save you about $240 each, table numbers cost about $1.31 a table, and one easel can carry two or three signs over the course of the day.