Are you ready to order your wedding invitations? These are some of my tips to get started, and questions you should be asking your wedding stationery designer.
Budget
For most couples, staying in budget is the most important factor for any part of wedding planning, invitations included. This is always something you should research before you’re ready to start working on your wedding stationery to send out to guests. It’s important to find a designer you’d like to work with and who you’ve already received a quote from before you begin. This way you’ll avoid any surprises and end up rushing the process, or choosing a designer you’re not happy with just because they’re within your budget.
I released my line of semi-custom wedding invitations to make foiling affordable for couples on smaller budgets for this reason.
Wedding Colors
If you’re choosing a semi-custom wedding invitation design, knowing your wedding colors is something that will bring your stationery to life. I recently worked with a couple that were having a Wes Anderson inspired color scheme which transformed their semi-custom wedding invitations into something very unique.
Style
I always ask after a Pinterest board or any image references when a potential client emails me, especially when it’s a custom design client. It’s really important to understand what kind of event you’re throwing so that the stationery can reflect this. Your stationery is the first thing your guests will see and therefore sets the tone for the day, allowing guests a better understanding of what to expect. Are you throwing a classic wedding with a strict dress-code, or a relaxed wedding on the beach? These are things you should be telling your wedding stationery designer.
Invitation Wording
This is on my to-do list of things to write a specific blog post about, as I often get asked by my clients how they should word their invitations. If you’re having a formal wedding, it’s very traditional to include your parents names’, your full names, and spell out the date and time of your event. However if you’re throwing a less formal wedding, you might prefer to have something less wordy, and more minimal.
How Many Invitations Do I Need?
I’ve sometimes had people email in and request a quote for 500 invitations. This would be an extremely large wedding of about 750-1000 people! Usually what people forget is not every single person needs to receive an invitation, but rather every household or couple. It’s safe to say that you would need to order 50-75% of your final head count.
Order Extras
I love to include a couple of extra invitations as keepsakes, but it is always worth it to order a few more sets of invitations. If you’re hiring a calligrapher you will definitely want to buy a few more envelopes, as most require this in case of any mistakes.
Artworking
Artworking is a term designers use which just means we’re getting your invitations print-ready after you’ve signed it all off and confirmed everything is correct. This is something you should pay great attention to, as most stationers will state that any errors or typos is not a fault of theirs, but of the client. This is simply because we can’t be sure of all your wedding details, or the spellings of these.
When To Send Out Your Wedding Invitations
You can read more about this subject here. Typically I would say at least 9 months for your save the dates, and invitations should be sent out at least 2 months before the big day (I would usually recommend 4-6 months before).
RSVP
If you’re sending out a printed rsvp card, it’s important to make the return of it as easy as possible for your guests. You should have the rsvp return envelope addressed (we can foil your return address!) and have a stamp on it so they won’t have to pay for postage.
Guest Addressing
This can often be an after thought for any couple who’ve purchased their stationery. I would love to be able to offer calligraphy, and I do practice it as a hobby but I’m nowhere near good enough to offer it as a service! There are however some amazing calligraphers that can offer this service. Typically it seems that an average cost is $3.50 per envelope. Nicety Studio does however offer guest address printing directly onto your envelopes for every semi-custom and custom suite.
On The Day Wedding Stationery
This is the trickiest part for any couple working with a stationer. You have guests that don’t respond in time or change their mind, and we have print deadlines. One of the easiest ways to avoid this, is sending your invitations out early, and therefore being able to have an earlier ‘rsvp by…’ date. That way you can start working on your seating plan, gathering names for escort/place cards and you shouldn’t miss any design/print deadlines.
Thank You Cards
This is something a lot of clients forget and fall behind on. Make sure you’re keeping track of who is attending your wedding, so that you can send them a thank you card after.
I’d love to hear from you! If you’d like to ask any further questions or would like to place an order please email me at anna@nicetystudio.com.