The most useful tricks of wedding invitations

Are you just starting to choose wedding invitations? We will tell you everything you need to know to order, seal and send them.

Decide on the style of your wedding

Invitations - this is the first hint to guests about the style of your celebration. In addition to the message about the place and time of the wedding, the invitation — rather, even its style — gives guests a hint about the degree of formality of your wedding. You must understand what style of celebration you are planning - classic and elegant, or glamorous and modern - before ordering accessories, as they must match the chosen style. After that, start browsing photos of invitations and websites of designers, to later tell your designer what you want. 

Knowledge of your colors

Think about the colors of the wedding - maybe you want your invitations to match them, do not forget about the rest of the printing (seating cards, menus, seating plans), everything should be done in the same style and color scheme. The combination of white, ivory or cream with black or gold is a classic choice for elegant wedding invitations, you can make invitations more vivid by adding other colors or foils of a different color, as well as envelopes with patterned inserts. When choosing colors, remember that the invitation should be well read. 

Play with size and shape

Standard rectangular cards are traditional for wedding invitations. But recently, couples are increasingly choosing more modern and original round, shaped and square invitations. Keep in mind that non-standard in size invitations may require more expensive envelopes, and larger ones will be more expensive. 

Make sure the text is readable.

Choosing colors and patterns, do not forget about the text - the information you place on the invitation is the main reason for sending / delivering the invitation. Of course, your designer will help you with this, but there are two basic rules: to avoid light text on a light background and dark text on a dark background. Yellow and pastel colors are difficult to read, so if you are going to use them, make sure that the background is sufficiently contrasting that the letters are visible on it, or use these colors in the design, not in the text. Also, be careful with difficult-to-read fonts, such as handwritten ones - don’t sacrifice readability. 

Choose text wisely

Russia does not have strict requirements for the text of the invitation, but if you want a European-style wedding, then it is logical to follow their traditions and rules. Learn the rules for writing invitations. By tradition, the one who holds the wedding is mentioned first in the invitation. Usually, the invitation should include all the necessary information, including the time of the ceremony. In the classic wedding invitations after the guest's name should be something like a request, for example, “we ask to honor you with your presence”. 

Do not overload the card

List only the main points in the text: the time and place of the ceremony, the names of the couple, the dress code (if necessary) and information for answering the RSVP invitation.
Attempting to contain a lot of information in the invitation can lead to a deterioration in its readability, and it will not look elegant. Instructions on how to get to the venue of the ceremony, details about the wedding banquet should be placed on your wedding website and / or on a special separate card. The only kind of information that should not be printed anywhere is the gift list. The only acceptable place is your wedding website. 

Start early

Your save-the-date cards (if you need them) should be given to guests 6-8 months before the wedding. Printing these cards can take from several days to several weeks and even longer, it depends on your imagination. Although your save-the-date cards should not be in the same style as the rest of the printing, it’s better to order everything from one specialist / company, this will ease the whole process and can help to save. Therefore, you should start choosing a designer 9-11 months before the wedding. You must order invitations 4-5 months before the wedding so that they can be delivered (if you are going to send them by mail), 6-8 weeks before the wedding. If your wedding is held abroad, it is better to send invitations even earlier - 10-12 weeks before the wedding. 

Specify dates clearly

Specify the date of the response to the invitation in the lower right corner of your invitation or on a separate card, make sure that the guests should give an answer no later than 3-4 weeks after receiving the invitation - check with your restaurant when they need to know the final number of guests. The more time you allot for guests to respond, the more likely they are to forget, and you need time to plan your seating arrangements. Moreover, the final number of guests may affect the number of central compositions on the tables, and other decorative elements that your contractors must finish a few weeks before the wedding. 

Consider expenses

The price of an invitation can vary in a very large range from 15 rubles to several thousand. It all depends on the design, printing method, paper and quantity. Designer high-quality paper, color printing, classic printing methods (letterpress or embossing) and personal design will greatly increase the price, as well as additional details such as envelope inserts and additional cards. That is why you need to determine in advance how much you are willing to spend and prioritize - what matters to you: complex printing technologies, personal design, or many additional details / cards. If you plan to hire a calligrapher, then the cost of its services should be taken into account. But do not forget that you choose your own invitations and they just need to lay the appropriate budget.

Order envelopes early. Hire a professional to address them.

When you order your invitations, see if you can take the envelopes home right away (as quickly as possible). In this case, if you have another specialist other than your designer (for example, a calligrapher), for putting the return address on the envelopes (most designers print addresses for free or very cheap), he will have a head start. Although you do not have to hire a calligrapher to address envelopes, we strongly recommend that handwritten addresses look beautiful and give the impression of elegance. Traditionally, envelopes are signed by hand, so if you do not have the perfect handwriting, then it is better to trust a professional. If, however, you plan to sign envelopes yourself, then do it in several ways, in order to avoid untidiness and mistakes. While using printed inscriptions is easy (and fairly cheap), handwritten spelling of each address is not only more formal, but also more individual. This way shows the guests that you want to see them at your wedding so much that you take the time to sign envelopes by hand (or hire a calligrapher). But if you write almost like chicken paw, and you do not have the opportunity to hire a calligrapher, you can print the address yourself using handwritten fonts.

Triple validation

Before your invitations are printed, your designer must send you a final layout (in paper or electronic form). Ask to check not only the mother and the groom. Ask your friend or girlfriend who knows the grammar well to read the layout before finally confirming it to the designer. You will be surprised what mistakes you could make (especially carefully check the date and time). 

Count the families

You do not need an invitation for each guest. Look at your guest list and calculate how many families / couples you invite, before telling the number of invitations to your designer, maybe you can cut the budget a lot. Couples who live together can send one invitation, if the couple does not live together, you can send as one invitation to the guest with whom you are closer (with the names of both), or you can send two invitations. For families it is necessary to provide one invitation. But there are exceptions: if children live separately or they are over 18, they should receive a separate invitation. 

Order additional invitations

Duplicate invitations expensive. order as much as you need according to your guest list, plus 25%, in case you have to send again, save a few for memory (believe, your mothers will definitely want to), or plan to send invitations to the “spare” guest list. In our practice there was such a case. Due to the very popular wedding date, besides falling on the “long” June weekend, many guests could not confirm their presence. Therefore, the bride decided to invite a few guests who had not been planned before. In this case, you need to specify a later date of confirmation of presence. Even if you plan to hire a calligrapher, order additional envelopes in case of errors and corrections (usually calligraphers ask for 15-20% more envelopes than necessary).

Do not forget about the rest of the cards.

Order your menus, programs, thank-you cards along with invitations. In this case, your designer can include all the cards in one order, which will reduce the cost and speed up printing. This is also a good way to make sure that all the printing will be combined with each other, even if the design of some cards will be slightly different (for example, a different primary color or pattern). Also do not forget about the little things: tags for gifts to guests and stickers.

 Do not forget the thank you cards

Keep track of your wedding presence replies with special services or signs. Make a column in which you will mark the responses of the guests. As soon as gifts begin to arrive (if you want physical gifts and allow them to be sent by guests by mail), start signing thank-you cards, do not delay. If the gift is received before the wedding, the thank-you card must be sent no later than 2 weeks from the moment the gift was received. For gifts received on or after the wedding day, it is acceptable to send thanks in a month. 

Glue stamp

This may be obvious, but it is easy to forget: if you want guests to reply to an invitation sent by mail, then attach an envelope with a return address and stamps. In this case, guests do not have to pay for shipping. According to tradition, the return address is indicated by the person who organizes the wedding (it could be your parents, for example), but if your parents organize a wedding, and you keep the guest list, you can specify your return address. You can order stamps in the same style with the rest of the printing. Such brands can be not only a decorative element, but also fulfill their direct role. You just need to make sure that the Russian post accepts them.
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