You’ve finally nailed down the ceremony time and wedding breakfast amongst the hundred other little details to make your day perfect, so now it’s time to send out the wedding invitations. If you have been prudent enough in sending save the dates, then we recommend sending your invitations 3 to 4 months ahead. If this is going to be the first your guests hear of the wedding then a little sooner, 4 to 6 months ahead of time will give them chance to arrange time off work, childcare if necessary, travel and accommodation.
Then there is the elephant in the room, a traditional paper invitation or a digital e-vite? We could be a little biased here at Weddings by Lumi, but to send an invitation by the post requesting an RSVP is the traditional way to do it. It takes extra care and effort and shows your chosen guests how special they are to you to have been invited to your big day. If being eco-friendly is important to you, then there is a whole host of cardstock available from recycled card and papers to plantable seed papers that will have the least environmental impact.
How do you choose your perfect wedding invitations from the hundreds of suppliers? Our advice, get a sample! Any reputable wedding stationery company will offer a sample, if you’re lucky a free one too. A sample is a great way to get a feel for the company, and also you get to see the quality of the card stock and print for yourself.
Once you have settled on a supplier it is time to think about numbers and the split between your day guests and evening guests. Remember you only need 1 invite per couple or household, not for each guest. The day guests need to know a lot more information than the evening, so perhaps a more comprehensive invitation is needed for the day. Our recommendation is a concertina invitation which contains the details of the day, additional information, menu choices and an RSVP card all in one! For the evening guests a postcard invitation can be more cost effective whilst containing all of the required information and in the matching design too. Remember to consider the postage costs when pricing your invitations. The jump between a letter and large letter can be quite steep, so check the Royal Mail website or better still pack up your sample and take it to the Post Office to get a postage price. When you have decided on the numbers and style of invitation, then you are ready to place your order. We recommend to order a few extras just in case and remember to ask if there are volume discounts available for your wedding stationery. At this point you might get a bigger saving if you order your on the day stationery at the same time. Even if you do not have the details ready for them to be printed yet, you could secure a larger discount. Bonus!
Your chosen supplier should be able to offer you some wording suggestions and templates, and will more than likely ask you to fill out a form with all of your details ready to produce a digital proof. We highly recommend you check with your stationer that they offer a digital proof before placing your order. This is crucial to making sure you are happy with the wording, layout and spelling. Make sure you get 2 or 3 people to read over the proof as once you have accepted the proof and given the go ahead to print, any mistakes could mean a costly re-print.
Receiving your printed invitations is, for us, one of the most magical parts of the wedding planning. To see you and your partners names printed in ink for the first time gives you butterflies and makes you realise how real and how soon the big day is (and how much there is left to do!). So, grab your partner, besties, Mum, whoever has been by your side so far and a glass of wine, and get those invitations written, sealed and ready to go.