Wedding Invitations
Your wedding invitations set the impression your guests will have of your wedding, including the overall style of the reception. This part of the wedding planning should be impactful and stylish. Just like your invitations, sets the tone for type of wedding you will have, any stationary used to commemorate your big day will leave a definite impression on all of your guests.
Set Your Budget
Unless you are lucky enough not to have to worry about costs you will have to establish your budget for what you can afford to spend on invitations and any other stationary used for your wedding. To start with consider how many guests will be there to establish how many wedding invitations you will actually need. You may want to consider the idea of hand crafting your own wedding stationery if you are the type of person who would like to add her own personal touch. Just be sure that you are up to challenge and have the time for what that might demand of you.
What Stationary Should You Be Using
To set a budget it helps to get a sense of how many invitations and other stationery that you will need, so that you can estimate if there will be room in the budget to add some additional extras that make it that much more stylish.
Here’s our guide to the wedding stationery you may wish to consider:
- Wedding Day Invitations
- Engagement Announcement
- RSVP Cards
- Order Of Service
- Guest Books
- Menus
- Favor Boxes
- Thank You Cards
- Personal Wedding Websites
- Table Seating Plans
- Name Place Cards And Table Numbers/Names
- Photo Albums
Personal Wedding Websites
Before ordering your wedding stationery make sure you are clear about the quantity required because if you do not calculate accurately or you decide to add more people to the guest list it will usually take a few weeks and maybe even a few months to receive the extras and will be costly to do so. To keep it simple, you should allow one invitation per family or couple. Always make sure to order extra invitations to compensate for mistakes, or having to invite guests on your reserve list.
When compiling your list of guests consider the following:
- How many people will you be able to accommodate on your budget?
- Start with family and those who are closest to you.
- Once you have tallied the total of family and close friends start to consider who has played an important role in your life.
- Do not forget to include certain work colleagues and business associates.
Choosing Wedding Stationary Styles
The wedding invitations that you send out will allow your wedding guests a glimpse at the style and feel of your wedding day. Your wedding stationery should reflect the style or theme of your wedding as well as the appropriate formality of the day.
Many wedding stationery designers offer a wide assortment of styles and colors while others may specialise in one particular sort of invitation style. They might offer the letterpress style for more formal invitations or handmade invitations for a more personal touch. Decide on the formality of the wedding before shopping for invitations.
Engravings
Usually formal wedding invitations are of a classic design that uses simple, traditional fonts. The wording is often engraved onto high quality cream or white card in various colors such as black, silver or gold using techniques such as letterpress or thermography. Some couples go a little further and hire a calligrapher to professionally hand write their invitations. For a more informal wedding you might choose from a various assortment of styles such as the handmade, printed designs, or photo cards.
Themed Weddings
Themed weddings are also becoming increasingly popular. You may consider incorporating the colors of the bridesmaid dresses, flowers, table decorations, venue decorations and so on to match the wedding stationary.
Popular Themes
Almost any theme can be adapted and incorporated into your wedding stationery!
Beach Theme: Sand, seashells, nautical, and tropical, nature, floral
Seasonal: Considering what time of year you are getting married you might consider a Christmas, Easter, Summer, or Autumn theme.
Landmark Cities: London and New York are not surprisingly popular themes!
Cultural: South American, Oriental, and Caribbean
Musical: Jazz, Country
Historical: Tudor, Medieval
Making the Order
Now that you have set a budget, decided on your guest list and theme, it is time to visit wedding stationery shops or designers to discuss your requirements, order samples and finalise prices and ordering times. Look out for companies that may offer to send you one or more of their FREE samples. The company may ask for a small fee for a sample invitation however they will usually refund you once you have placed an order.
Make sure to order wedding stationary in plenty of time before the wedding accounting for printing errors and other mistakes that can occur. If you are working with a small window of time you may want to consider purchasing wedding invitations and other stationary at a larger outlet that offer many off-the-shelf types to choose from.
Making Your Own Wedding Stationary
Whether it is for budget reasons or you simply want to incorporate a more personal touch you may have decided to make your own wedding stationary. Invite your bridesmaids to come and participate and make a party out of it! Before you consider the DIY option you should first make sure that you have a real plan and design for this project. Some designs can appear to be very simple but little things like tying bows can become very stressful unless you have had some type of experience with crafts. You may need to buy a paper cutter, adhesives, ect., as well as the paper and other embellishments.
