Your wedding invitations are the first glimpse into the style of your wedding day. So set the tone of your celebration early and chose the right stationery for your big day style.
First things first…
Firstly, you can’t do anything formal with your wedding stationery until you have set an actual wedding date, in fact until then, you can’t really organise much at all.
Once your date is in place you can get going. Have a look online for wedding stationery that catches your eye. Ask your friends for recommendations, do you research and visit wedding shows where there are usually a good few wedding stationery designers exhibiting. You should get samples of the stationery before you finally make up your mind, especially if you’re commissioning something special.
If you’re a formal kind of a bride, then opt for an invitation with a classier edge. More of a boho, go with the flow kind of a girl? Then your stationery is likely to have a more relaxed and casual look about it. If you’re like most brides you want your wedding stationery to make a personal statement about you and you’ll want your stationery to be unusual and individual.
Don’t go over budget either, decide what you’re going to spend and stick to it. You don’t want to have intricate, handmade wedding invitations, at the expense of your food budget.
Wording your invitations
Well obviously your name and partners name, the date and venue of the wedding ceremony and/or the reception. It needs to be made clear if the guests are invited to the ceremony and reception or the reception only. You also need to inform the invited guest exactly who the invitation extends to and whether they can bring a plus one. It’s useful if the invitation shows whether the wedding is informal, formal, an intimate gathering or a big party.
You should make any dress code clear – whether men should be expected to wear morning coats or lounge suits and if hats need to be worn and shoulders need to be covered for the ceremony. If you don’t put this people will probably call and ask or not bother at all. The party hosting the wedding should also be obvious, is it the parents or the bride and groom?
You should send one invitation for every couple and family although if elder members of the family live away from home then it’s polite to send them a separate invitation of their own. If you don’t want children at your wedding then leave their names off the invitation or make it clear that children are included via friends and family.
RSVPs
If you have a deadline for RSVP then make this clear at the bottom of the invitation and ask for any special dietary requirements, you may like to have a separate RSVP card created for all of this. Usually the RSVP should be two to four weeks before the wedding date. Make sure you order extra invitations to allow for mistakes and bear in mind that about 30% of your guests will be unable to come, so you may want spares to invite others.
If somebody hasn’t replied to your invitation a week after the RSVP date has been and gone then you should call them to confirm their intentions over the phone. It’s a lovely idea to send your parents and wedding party invitations as a souvenir, even though the wedding date will already be firmly in their diaries!
Sending thank you notes
It’s a good plan to order your thank-you cards at the same time as your wedding invitations so that you have them ready. If you can write thank-you cards as your gifts arrive you will be well ahead and many guests will send gifts as soon as they receive your wedding invitation, don’t email or text your thank yous! Make the effort to write a handwritten note – it doesn’t have to be long but you do need to acknowledge your gifts individually. Mention what the gift was, don’t just say ‘thank-you for your present’ and if you’re writing after the wedding then thank your guests for being with you on your special day. If they sent a gift and didn’t attend the wedding you should say how sorry you were that they couldn’t share the day with you and how much you enjoyed it.
