Your wedding stationery is important. It gives your guests all of the crucial details about your wedding, establishes the style of your wedding and sets expectations about your big day for your friends and family. These tips from StarDust's wedding stationery gurus will tell you what you need to know as you start thinking paper.
1. Know your details
Details, details, details! They are the
name of the game in wedding planning. Before you set about ordering your
wedding invitations, you must have several details nailed down. You need to
have your date, time and location secured (that means contract in place!). Be
sure to have exact spellings, full venue addresses and other such details.
You’ll want to have your complete guest list (so you know your numbers) with
all correct info and spellings (especially if you’ll be handing it off to a
calligrapher). What is the style, theme and color scheme of your wedding – your
invitation should reflect that. What is your budget? All of these details
should be established before you order!
2. Timing is everything
When should you order? Plan to order your
stationery three to four months prior to the wedding, as you want to allow
plenty of time for proofing, printing, assembling, addressing and mailing.
You’ll want to mail them approximately six to eight weeks out from your
wedding, depending on how many of your guests are out of town. Generally, your
RSVP deadline needs to be two weeks from your wedding date. Your caterer will
want your final count no later than one week out and oftentimes, they want it
sooner than that.
3. Numbers matter
You order one invitation suite per couple
or family. But always order 25 more than you think you need, as reorders are
expensive. You’ll want these extras to be sure you have a keepsake, to cover
any last-minute or overlooked guests, for mistakes, etc. You’re also supposed
to send a separate invitation to any single adults over the age of 16 so if any
of your guests have kids that age, you’ll need to send them their own invite.
We also strongly recommend you order 25 additional envelopes, especially if you
are having them professionally addressed. In fact, many calligraphers require
it.
4. Study up on etiquette
While many etiquette rules have relaxed
over time, you still want to be sure to properly address people with important titles
and not commit any major faux pas on your wedding invitations. For example,
did you know it’s considered improper to include “no kids” or “adults only” on
your invitation? The correct way to handle this is to simply address the
invitation to the actual people invited. If the whole family is invited, you
would include the children’s names on the envelope; but if you’re only inviting
the parents, just their names appear. Resources such as Crane’s Blue Book of
Wedding stationery and Emily Post’s Wedding Etiquette can be invaluable in
ensuring you don’t make any mistakes on your invitations. (We sell both of these books at StarDust and consider them excellent resources.) Or better, yet,
consult with your stationery expert when ordering your invitations. They are
bound to know the all the ins and outs!
5. Consider all the pieces you’ll need
Will you send a save-the-date? Will your
invitation ensemble include a separate reception card or can you include the
reception details on the invitation itself? Will you order a response
card/envelope or does the style of your wedding allow you something more casual
such as an RSVP postcard? Do you need to include a map card?
What about wedding day paper products?
Wedding programs, reception menus, escort cards and table numbers are all
pieces that go a long way in carrying your wedding design throughout your
entire event. Does your stationery design lend itself to these pieces?
Partner with your invitation expert to
determine the answer to these questions and discern which pieces you need.
6. Proof, proof, proof!
Typos are expensive. If you find mistakes
after your stationery has been printed, you’ll need to have the piece(s)
reprinted, which can be very costly! It pays to pay the minimal fee for proofs
and to check and re-check before approving them. And have a few other people
proof them, as well!
7. Have a pro address them
If your wedding is fairly formal and you
don’t have perfect penmanship or an abundance of time to sit hand-addressing
your invitations, you’ll probably want to engage a calligrapher to address
them. There is nothing that helps your guests anticipate your fabulous wedding
more than receiving a gorgeously addressed invitation to the big event! There
are some vendors who can pull off very nice looking “computer calligraphy” but
be sure to check samples of their work before you commit. And despite some
relaxing of stationery rules, labels are still unacceptable on wedding
invitations. Just. Don’t.
8. Some assembly required
Occasionally, invitations that have
peripheral design elements (think ribbons, twine and wraps, for instance) do
not come from the print house assembled. If this is the case, sometimes you can
pay the company extra to have them assembled prior to shipping or sometimes you
can pay your retailer to do it once the order arrives. Just be sure to confirm
to what degree of assembly your order will arrive in so you are not surprised or
so you can make appropriate arrangements. Additionally, you’ll need to assemble
the invitation suite in the proper order when putting them into your envelopes.
Yes, there is a proper order. Your order should come with some instruction on
this or your stationer can give you direction.
9. Proper postage
Do not mess around with the postage!
Trying to send your invites with insufficient postage will waste both time and
money. Take a completely assembled invitation to your post office and have them
weigh it so you can be sure you put enough postage on them. Also be sure to
include a first-class stamp on your response envelope! Nothing says “I don’t
care if you come” like a response card your guest would have to put their own
stamp on. L
10. Follow up!
Sometimes guests don’t send their
responses back by the requested deadline. It’s perfectly acceptable to have
someone contact them to determine if the invitee plans to attend your wedding
or not. After all, you need to get final numbers in to your caterer and
possibly florist (since guest count affects table numbers). It’s not rude to
call or email to ask if they will attend; it was rude of them not to honor your
requested deadline. It’s best to have the person (your, fiancé or parents) with
the closest relationship with the invitee make contact.
Alterations are a fact of life when it comes to bridal
gowns. Yes, the stylist will measure you (bust, waist, hips and
hem-to-waist-to-hollow-to-hem) and often – if you are ordering a couture gown –
the gown will be made for you, based on those specific measurements. But even
then, when the gown comes in, you very likely will need to have at least
minimal alterations made to your gown. You want it to fit like a glove, after
all, so a little nip here and tuck there and raising of the hemline may be in
order to accomplish that. The areas you can expect to make some tweaks include
the hem, sides, bustle and possibly adding cups.
