Fall Wedding Invitations

Hey Ladies!! I am really trying to save some serious $$$ so we can have a great, beautiful wedding like all us want. I have looked at so many places and wedding invitations are just ridiculous amounts, but I am so new at this and just don`t know. Can you make them yourself and still save money or is it around the same amount these days?? My brother and a friend of mine are both in graphic design and are great with computers...but so busy. I was thinking about having them design them and stuff. Any suggestions what I can do with some kind of fall theme...leaves or something?? And I would love to put them on really nice kind of vellum/ or see-through paper but just don`t know where to go here in TN. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.