engagements & weddings!
Did you get engaged during Christmas or New Year? Congratulations! Perhaps you’re planning a Valentines proposal?
If you are starting to plan your dream wedding day…let us help you - here’s our guide to getting your stationery just perfect.
Invitations from Alice Palace.
We often get asked what information needs to be included on invitations, so we have come up with a little guide that we hope will cover the questions you may have - this is just a our recommendation though, so feel free to be as creative with your words as you like. This is your wedding, and at Alice Palace, that really is what we believe - it should be exactly how you want it! So if you want it to read along the lines of the classic wording, that’s fine by us, but if you want it a little bit different, that’s fine by us too!
There are so many types of wedding and it’s important that your invitations reflect this. Your invites should also show your personalities as a couple, as well as portraying the actual wedding theme as well. Have a think about your wedding day and the trends/themes you’re looking to go with, and consider the following:
The time of year it will be: Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter
The venue: Church, abroad, garden, hotel
The ‘style’ you’re going for: chic, vintage, romantic, quirky, eco or classic
The ‘feel’ you are going for: whether it will be relaxed and simple or if it will be a more traditional formal occasion.
The colour theme: whether you’ll go for bright, bold or beautiful simple pastel shades, choose something that will compliment you as a couple
Here are some things you DO need to include for your guests - it may seem obvious, but it can often be overlooked!
· Are you having both day and evening guests? If so you will need to have separate invites so your guests know which part(s) of the wedding they are invited to.
· Plan in time for stationery to be designed, printed and posted out to you. And then allow time for writing (or using stamps) to add your guests names to your wedding invitations, and addressing the envelopes (allowing more time if you have a calligrapher, or a great friend with lovely handwriting doing handwritten work). Your invites should be posted at least two to three months in advance of your BIG day. Allow your guests time to receive your invite, plan for it and return the RSVP card. Plan extra time for guests living further a field to receive theirs.
· If you have a lot of invitations to be handwritten/stamped, you can take the help of your family and friends, and have a fun time whilst doing it!
· If you are inviting a single guest can they bring someone with them?
· What kind of wedding are you having: formal, informal, an intimate gathering, a big party etc - let your guests know.
· The dress code needs to be stated, even if there isn’t one, because people will call and ask if this information is not included.
· Be careful not to make the common mistake of ordering for each individual guest (some of your guests will be arriving as a couple or as a family).
· If children are not allowed, either leave their names off when addressing the invite, pass word around that children are not welcome via friends and family, or add something like ‘We politely request no children’ to your invites.
· You’ll need to supply the wording for your invitations, and you may have to give some thought to family circumstances and relationships which can have a bearing on what needs to be written on your invites. You’ll need to include the following info…Your wedding venue, date, and time, wedding reception venue and timings, parent’s names / name of hosts, full names of the bride and groom.
· It is always worth while spending time carefully proof reading your invites. Ask a friend to check the wording too for anything you may have missed.
· Before you seal the envelope, don’t forget to include your RSVP cards at the same time! And any other enclosures such as extra information cards, gift list info, directions, maps…(in our excitement, Mark and I forgot to put rsvp cards in with about half of our invites!!)
· Your RSVP card could include menu choices if you are having them, and any dietary requirements (the RSVP deadline is usually two to four weeks before the wedding).
· Order a few additional invites/RSVP’s on top of your required number, this allows for any mistakes that may happen when writing the invites and also for the extra people who you may have forgotten to add to your original list. And you’ll probably want to keep some as a reminder of the day.
· If someone hasn’t responded to your wedding invitation a week after the RSVP date, call and confirm over the phone.
And finally…
Choosing and designing your wedding stationery should be fun! Once you have your theme, your guest list, somewhere to get married, and a decision about a design… you can watch your wedding stationery come to life!
