Wedding Stationery Planning

What makes a wedding more official than sending out wedding invitations? A couple’s selection of wedding stationery sets the tone and heralds their celebration as formal or informal, vintage, contemporary, or based on a special theme. When designing invitations, it makes sense to decide on all types of stationery that will be required, such as save-the-date cards, thank you cards, menu cards, table number cards, order of service cards, cake boxes, favour boxes, serviettes, and other personalized items.

Traditional invitations are cream, white, or ivory, on heavyweight paper or card stock, with black or grey print.  The envelopes are addressed by hand, either by the hosts or a professional calligrapher.  The printed contents are usually engraved, using traditional methods, or a less expensive technique called “thermography”.  Raised decorative images, such as monograms, may be plain (blind embossing), imprinted with foil, or pearlised.  Invitations for small gatherings may be prepared by a professional calligrapher or by calligraphy machine.

Informal weddings may be announced with more colourful invitations, decorated with flowers, love birds, butterflies or a photograph of the bride and groom.  Colours often match those that will be seen at the ceremony and reception.  Invitations for weddings with a special theme, such as a beach party or country western affair, are often styled with theme images.  Engraving is not uncommon, but for economy, some couples choose offset printing, the printing technique most often used for business purposes.

Once card stock and design features have been chosen for the wedding stationery, write down all of the information that must be conveyed to the guests. When this is done you can decide what inserts to enclose with the invitations. Following are key details to be communicated in the invitations and inserts:

• Names of the bride, groom, and parents,
• Address and time of the ceremony,
• Address and time of the reception,
• Any dress code,
• Main activities at the reception (such as full dinner and dance; or afternoon cocktails and snacks),
• Map to venues, if locations are not well known,
• Any special requests regarding gifts,
• Families or individual guests who will be invited to the ceremony,
• Families or individual guests who will be invited to the reception.

There are a number of different kinds of inserts that convey the above information. Following is a list of insert types:

1. Reception invitations (useful if the group of people invited to the reception is not exactly the same as the group invited to the ceremony);
2. Response cards, with stamped, addressed envelopes;
3. Inside-the-ribbon cards for guests given special seating at the ceremony;
4. Directions and maps (sometimes sent out separately to those who accept their invitations);
5. 5Accommodation cards for out-of-town and overnight guests;
6. At home cards providing the newly weds’ address on return from their honeymoon.

For formal weddings, there are etiquette guides advising exactly how to place invitations and inserts into envelopes.

Invitations may be written by hand for small, informal gatherings.  It’s customary to use white cotton fibre paper, with or without a monogram, and to write with a blue or black fountain pen.  Some people prefer the personal touch of a handwritten invitation.

To save money, some brides have a small party and make invitations from scratch.  Cards in do-it-yourself kits can be printed on a home printer, folded, and decorated.  Choose from a variety of quality card stock “outers” and “inserts”, in a wide range of colours, with matching envelopes.   For formatting, free templates may be downloaded online—simply type in the details.  Once printed, the invitations can be folded and decorated with ribbons, dried flowers, a photo of the engaged couple; or a monogram, using an embossing stamp.

An order for printed or engraved wedding stationery should be made well in advance, to allow for proofs, corrections, and printing.  Aim to do the mailing at least 8 to 12 weeks prior to the wedding date—and for out-of-town guests, allow at least 10 weeks, as they may need to book  accommodations and time off work.

How many invitations should you order?  The number of invitations can be reduced if several guests live in the same family residence—only one invite needs to go to each residence.  Order about 25 to 30 extra invitations to allow for miscounts, last minute invites, and leftovers for keepsakes.  When ordering other stationery items, such as menus or serviettes, the number ordered will match the number of guests, plus a couple dozen extra.

All images courtesy of flickr user Wedding Paraphernalia, and used under accordance of the Creative Commons Licence specified.