I want to semi-DIY the invitations.  I will get the main invitation printed somewhere and I'll buy the pocketenvelope.  So how time consuming do you think it would be to do 50 invitations with the reception card, weekend events, reply, etc.?  I have until March to get them done, but if I'm only going to save a few bucks  and it's a lot of time I'd rather just order them.

It depends on how many layers you want for the invitation part and how you want to decorate the outside. I have more to say, but I'm gonna PM you the rest :)

I am doing the same thing. I ordered my pocket fold invitation and put a layer of  wallpaper damask down for the background and red paper to outline the invitation that matched my theme, then had a local printer print the invitation and the fillers. When we sat down and did them one evening (myself and 1 other person) we were able to do 75 in one night. I think you should def. be able to get them done  before they need to go out. Just round up some friends and start an assembly line. Hope that helps :)

I haven't done mine yet but I'm going to DIY. I did a read a tip that says if you really want to save money on invites, also consider if you really need all the inserts.  Bulky invitations also mean more expensive stamps and are less eco-friendly.  So I think you'll save money, time, and stress if you do them yourself and keep them nice yet simple...

It depends on how complicated a design you're doing.  Mine are bilingual pocketfolders...and are taking FOREVER!!  But I find it worth it!  The design you described sounds doable... just try to get done as many steps as you can as soon as you can.

Oh Id say a weekend easy. But if your worried about it taking too long, make a little party of it and invite a few girlfriends round to help. 

Ours took a little longer than expected but they turned out great so it was all worth it. We spend a few hours (~3h) over 3 days, I think. The days were spread out so it wasnt too overwhelming...my DH and SIL/BM helped. Preprinting and cutting all the pieces made the assembly part easier. We made about 120 invites.

But if factoring in the design process...would be more because i did a little every day over a couple of weeks.

The design you're talking about sounds like it could be done in 1 weekend. It will go much faster if you have help.

I did about 40 and it took 3 hours. I think it really depends what you're doing. I did some embossing, glueing of crystals and envelop inserts. :)

I think you could do it over a few evenings or pop it out in a weekend.