Often times the wedding couple do not have the tools needed to build their wedding stationery. Therefore, I will walk you through the process. It seems like a lot of details, however my husband James and I have been working with wedding couples for 15+ years and are quite seasoned when it comes to invitation design. During the design process when you are our client is the time to ask questions regarding any details.
1) Save the date. I have to start with the first piece of stationery you will mail to your guests. If your wedding is local and you do not need guests to “save the date” then you can skip mailing these to your guests. However, if you are having a destination wedding you will want your guests to have ample time to plan ahead. Time off work, saving money, booking hotel rooms and more will require planning. On the save the date most time we just put the names of the couple, wedding date, location (city and state), and then “Invitation and details to follow” at the bottom. A little tip, for your return address use the address where you would like to receive mail. Guests may slip a check or greeting card in the mail to you right away to celebrate the news!
2) Wedding invitation. This invites your guests to your wedding. The text can always be personalized for you. On the invite you want to included family members names or “Together with our families,” this way everyone is included. It is very important to discuss this wording with your family members. A father of the groom called me, the invitation designer, and told me how upset he was that the in-laws were left off the invite. He asked that from now on I tell couples to ask the in-laws if they want to be included on the invite. So there you have it. Personally, I am a bit old fashioned and feel if the parents of the bride are paying they belong at the top. Talk it out. Communicate. You certainly don’t want drama over such a small detail with great importance. … On to the next line, after the names you want an action sentence like so: “invite you to share the beginning of our new life together when we exchange marriage vows.” Then the date, “Saturday, the fourteenth of May two thousand sixteen” and time “at half after four o’clock” for example. Next, line is the city and state and then the actual venue name. The last line of the wedding invitation announces the reception details, one of my favorites: “Dinner, dancing, and happily ever after to follow.”
Many other wedding invitation wording ideas are available to help you write the perfect text.
Love quotes to include on your invitations if you wish.
The invitation envelope should be addressed with the person who is paying for the wedding. Sometimes the bride or groom will use their address if out of state and gifts of money may be mailed to them.
3) Reply Card. Your reply card may read simple R.S.V.P. by this date or go into great detail of number attending and what food the guest wants to choose. It is up to you and your wedding details. If you are having a destination wedding, couples also include brunch, lunch, and other events during the wedding weekend on the response card. If you need a count, put it on your reply card. The response date can be 2-4 weeks before your wedding day. You will want responses earlier if you are booking rooms for your guests and have a block of rooms that may expire. You will have to decide on a date that best fits your unique event.
The reply card envelope will have the persons name who is paying for the event, the wedding couples name or the event planners name and address. The reply envelope should be addressed to the person responsible for keeping count and should have a stamp in the upper right corner.
4) Enclosure or information card. This card is designed to share reception details (if the reception is in a different location than the wedding ceremony), accommodations, directions, events if you are celebrating all weekend, and your personal wedding website url. When this card is designed to go with a pocket folder invitation it is normally 4.75″w x 4.75″h. This size will allow it to be revealed in the pocket and is placed behind the reply card and its envelope.
Accommodation card wording example
If a third enclosure card is needed in a square pocket folder style invitation, the size can be 4.75″w x 6″h. You want all three cards to line up and be visible to your guests. We seldom see a 3rd enclosure card used in a custom invitation design. When it is used it is for destination weddings and wedding weekend events.
Serving wedding couples and event planners since 1998.
Being highly experienced invitation designers, we realize just how important it is to customize your invitations to express your personal style. We have excellent design ideas to offer you so that your invites will stand out among the others and get more fabulous responses from your guests!