August 21, 2020
Wedding stationery in my opinion is such a fun and creative aspect of wedding planning. They set the tone of what you want the event experience to be, they allow your creativity and tastes as a couple to shine, and the best part is breaking all the rules and customizing the whole process to what you want it to be. So, whether your invitations are super traditional and elegant with poetic verbiage, rustic and homey, or want your dog on every piece of signage, there is undoubtedly an invitation suite for you! One of my favorite friendors as a professional to work with on all wedding stationery is Basic Invite because they make the process so seamless for me as a planner and my couples and have so many resources on their site to guide you through each step including your free customizable wedding website.
Save the Dates:
The first part of the Wedding stationery process are your Save- the -Dates, or if you’re a 2020 bride possibly you may need a Change -the -Date. Since these are the first element of your event, you want the tone to reflect you and your event theme so that the printed elements that follow are cohesive, match and will be able to be beautifully captured by your photographer. As a planner I have always seen this first piece as an area where couples can have a lot fun with design, photos and customization. If it’s early in the design process or you’re unsure of a theme for your wedding, sending beautiful engagement photos and keeping it simple always helps. The whole point of a Save-the-Date is to convey that this big day is happening and you better be there! Rule of thumb is to send these out at a minimum of six months before the wedding, but earlier is great too. This can be event specific so always consult your planner for etiquette based on your individual wedding.
The Invitation Suite:
The Wedding invitation suite is so much fun. If you're a paper girl like me, it is so fun to explore different colors/prints, textures, weights, print formats like foiling or debossing, envelope shapes and liners, wax seals or stickers. The possibilities are endless and thus, why the process is so fun. The options and details really allow couples to be totally unique and there is literally something for every couple. What is great about using Basic Invite is they have over 180 color options for invites, over 40 different colors for envelopes, and 900+ wedding invitation sets that include each printed piece you need for your event (think rsvp, details, accommodations,etc) and even seal and send wedding invites if your a little less traditional or super simple in paper taste. I definitely know this can seem overwhelming but I always guide my couples to start with the theme or what they know they do not like, and work backwards to print or colors. Utilize your planner and the stationer to help you hone in on aesthetic and verbiage specific to you as a couple and reflective of the mood of the wedding. Basic Invite has great sample verbiage and etiquette examples for all type of scenarios on the site which is great as we go through the design process. The absolute best part is the site allows you to see the digital sample of your invite suite, as well as order the custom sample so that you can tangibly see your invite and corresponding details before you approve to purchase them. You definitely want to have this part of the event squared away about 90 days prior to the wedding. The basic rule of thumb is to mail invitations 6-8 weeks before your wedding date, and to order based on household. So if there are 200 guest and they are all couples order 100 plus I recommend about 20 extra for any additions or photos and keepsakes. Using Basic Invite during the invitation process is so amazingly stress free and organized because they will do free address collection, which is such an amazing service.
Additional Details:
Depending on the couple, and style of event there are so many other printed pieces involved. There are engagement party cards, programs, menus, welcome signs, escort/placecards, signature cocktail signs, favor tag, thank you notes/letters. Again, not every couple needs everything, so do what’s best for your event. Make the details about you as a couple, and use a platform like Basic Invite where all the pieces are at your fingers ready to tell your story!
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