10 Things You Need to Know Before Ordering Your Wedding Invitations

You never get a second chance to make a first impression...

A wedding invitation sets the tone for the entire day ~ it signals the formality and style of the event, reflects the personalities of the couple, and has the potential to make the invited guests very excited to be included in the celebration.

Before you order your wedding invitations, here are 10 things that you need to know and do.

Before you make any decisions:

1. Get a clear picture in your mind of your dream wedding and of your personal taste and style.

Close your eyes and envision your wedding day. What do you see? Is it a black-tie affair, a less formal garden or beach wedding, or something in between? Is the event during the day or in the evening? Is it in your hometown or a destination wedding? Write down at least five adjectives that best describe how you want your wedding day to look and feel. For example: traditional, romantic, lavish, minimalist, sophisticated, elegant, fun, casual, party, etc.

In your fashion, decor, and lifestyle, do your tastes tend more toward traditional or more contemporary? More subtle and understated or more bold and colorful? Classic elegance with an updated twist? It’s OK to be drawn to a mix of styles, just try to hone in on the types of things you are usually drawn to and your own personal style.

2. Determine if your wedding will have a theme or a symbol that is significant.

Is your wedding in the mountains or at the beach? Do you share a love of sailing? Did you meet on a train?

Are there any items of significance that you want to incorporate into your wedding and possibly your invitations or accessories? Do you want to create a custom duogram {first letters of your first names} for your invitations and/or a custom monogram to use at the reception and following? This custom duogram or monogram can serve as a “logo” for your wedding that can be carried through as few or as many pieces as you’d like. {Your wedding consultant can show you examples of custom duograms and monograms during your appointment that may inspire you.

3. Decide if there is a color palette for your wedding.

Do you want to carry a particular color or set of colors into your invitations or accessories? What color{s} are the bridesmaids’ dresses? Is the wedding in a particular season that you’d like to incorporate? If you have specific colors that you’d like to include in your invitations or accessories, it would be great to bring in any samples or swatches with you to the appointment.

4. Determine the number of invitations you will need to send.

Keep in mind that this is not the number of guests that you’d like to invite ~ this is the number of households to which invitations will be sent. For example, if you are inviting 200 people and three-quarters of them are married, the number of invitations you will need is more like 125 or 150. Always order extra invitations. Guest lists have a way of creeping up, often suddenly and at the last minute. The cost of ordering more than you think you’ll need as part of your initial order is far, far less than the cost of ordering a small number at a later date. {Keep in mind that the cost of invitations is primarily based on the design, layout and running of the printing press, not in the quantity of invitations, so ordering a small number later can often be nearly as expensive as the initial order.}

5. Understand the various invitation printing methods and choices in invitation stock.

An experienced wedding stationer can explain each of the methods of printing and the differences between them. These methods include letterpress, engraving, embossing, thermography, and flat printing. Before your appointment, start to notice any mentions in bridal magazines about the various ways that featured invitations are printed. If you have a preference for one or more, let your stationer know what you like or don’t like about each style. It’s also great if you can bring in magazine pages or samples of invitation styles that you like.

6. Decide what other cards and features to include with your invitation.

Would you prefer a reply card and envelope or a reply postcard? Will you need a reception card, directions card, accommodations card, or wedding website card? Do you like pocket folds, belly bands, ribbons, envelope liners, or all of the above? Do you want single envelopes or double envelopes? You will want to see, touch and feel a variety of samples to help you decide what you like best as you build your perfect wedding invitation suite.

7. Have a rough idea of your budget.

However, be open to being educated about what different invitation styles and printing methods cost. Too often, bridal magazines do a disservice by showcasing luxurious suites of high-end wedding invitations with all the bells and whistles, but then advise in the back of the magazine that you assign a woefully low percentage of the budget for wedding invitations and accessories. This just creates unreasonable expectations from the outset. A great stationer will inform you about the varying costs of different printing methods, stocks, and add-ons and will work with you to create a wedding invitation suite that is within your monetary comfort zone.

8. Determine who will be issuing the wedding invitation.

Does your family situation fit the traditional mold in which the bride’s parents issue the invitation? Or does your family situation look like many these days in which varying circumstances dictate wording that is different from the traditional? For example, are your parents divorced? remarried? one or both parents deceased? Are the grooms’ parents equally involved and contributing to the wedding financially? Are you paying for the majority of the wedding expenses yourselves?

Your bridal consultant will be able to navigate with you the wording of your invitations as may be dictated by any complexities in your family situations and etiquette guidelines. Believe it or not, there are guidelines for just about any situation and it’s best that you are fully aware of how to properly word your wedding invitation so as to avoid offending anyone or causing any embarrassment or hard feelings. That being said, the role of a good stationer expert is to inform you of the guidelines and make recommendations; your job is to make an informed decision about what feels comfortable for you and your family situation.

You will also need to decide whose address will be on the response envelope {the bride’s parents, the bride, the bride and groom?}. Similarly, you will need to decide whose address to put on the outer envelope flap. Typically, this is the address of the person{s} who are issuing the invitations.

9. Decide how you would like the wedding envelopes to be addressed.

Will you or your family or friends be hand-addressing the envelopes? Will you hire a calligrapher? Will you have the addresses printed on the envelopes? Always order extra envelopes {typically 20% extra} for any errors in addressing.

10. Make your decision.

Making your final decision doesn’t have to be stressful. Be sure to give yourself a chance to be informed and to look at several options before you buy. Trust your own instincts. There will likely be one invitation style that you continue to come back to over and over ~ that is generally “the one.” Ask yourself three questions about each of the invitation options that you are seriously considering:

    a) Which invitation reflects the tone and spirit of our wedding day?
    b)    Which invitation most fits our personality and style? and
    c)    Which invitation do I see my guests getting really excited by when they find it in their mailbox? Once you’ve found an invitation that fits all of these criteria, smile and relax – you’ve done it!

All of these variables and decisions may seem overwhelming at first. Just take a deep breath and take them one at a time. Decide on those things that you can before your appointment {e.g., your personal style, number of invitations}. During your appointment at R.S.V.P., your wedding consultant will walk you through and educate you on all of the other variables to help you make an informed decision that feels comfortable for you and your family's budget while recommending invitations that fit your style and personality.

With these ten tips in mind, and helpful advice and education from a great wedding stationer, the creation of your perfect wedding invitation {the sneak preview into your special day} should be an exciting, creative, and wonderful experience. Have fun and remember:

You never get a second chance to make a first impression!

If you have any questions or need help designing your wedding invitations email me at nique_unique@comcast.net