Telling the World: Your Wedding Invitations

You’ve set the date and picked your dress but now it’s time to tell all your family and friends the details of your special day. To do that you need your invitations. These days, invitations run the gamut from the classic embossed invite to the super chic scroll. But what’s the perfect fit for your and your wedding theme? This is where your chosen stationer will be an invaluable help to you.

With so many options and terms, it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle. Do your homework before you head to your stationer. Try to find colours and examples of the feel you want for your invitations for your stationer. Your invitations tell your guests what type of wedding you are having. You don’t want an extremely formal invitation for a backyard BBQ or vice versa. Do you want embossing (a printing technique the forms the letters and images with a raised “relief” surface) or would you prefer off-set printing (“flat” printing used on everyday flyers, letterhead, etc)? Embossing will generally cost more and you are usually limited to one type and colour of ink, but is a great detail for a more formal wedding, whereas off-set printing is more casual with a lot more colour and price options.

The company you choose for your wedding stationary should be able to give you exactly what you want to help reflect the feel and theme for your wedding day. Don’t forget about thank-you cards, programs, placecards for your table settings and all the other stationary that goes along with your wedding day.

If you’re the crafty type, there are also a lot of do-it-yourself kits out there. Head out to places like Michaels or even Staples and you will see a lot of wedding invitation kits that you can print right at home. Keep in mind that these do-it-yourself kits might not look as professional as a stationers’ will, but they can be a great fit for the couple on a tight budget or the wedding that promises to be a small and intimate affair.

To get ideas for wording your invitations, click here.

Electronic invites are becoming increasingly popular. For the eco-conscious bride, this helps save on paper and the environment. For the modern bride, this is a great way to invite your family and friends to your special day in a trendy and chic way. E-vites can also save you a lot on postage, depending on the avenue you choose. E-vites can be DVD invites you send out – these can include a slideshow of your favourite pics of the two of you, a brief re-enactment of how you met – you have unlimited options. Another e-vite is to send out an email version of your invitations, which can also include a picture of the happy couple and all the information your guests will need. A lot of people are also doing responses via email or a save-the-date webpage, where your guests can reply to your invitation and write a little note to the happy couple.

Often it is the small choices and details that will influence the overall look of your wedding invitations. For example; if you choose a smaller typeface or font (the style and appearance of the overall letters) it will give your invitations a more modern feel. Try to avoid too much clutter on your invites, keep them clean. There’s no limit on the materials that can be used; things like vellum paper (made from a cotton blend with a translucent, frosted appearance and a smooth finish) to metallic papers, to ribbons and coloured envelopes. You are limited only by your imagination…and your budget!