Wedding Invitations should be mailed 6-8 weeks before

WEDDING INVITATIONS

Your wedding invitations give your wedding guests their first look at your wedding day. While the purpose of the wedding invitation is to provide names, times, and places of the wedding ceremony and reception, they will also be a reflection of your style and set the tone for the wedding.

Whether you are planning a traditional and formal wedding, or a more casual or contemporary wedding, you will be able be able to find wedding invitations to match your style and fit within your budget. First envision your wedding and then find the invitations to convey this mood.

The final look and cost of the wedding invitation is determined by many details. You will choose the color and quality of paper, the invitation design, the typestyle, the ink color, the printing method, tissue paper, and what enclosures you will use.

Wedding invitations are available from local printers, better stationers or stationery design companies. Many paper and craft stores also offer many great paper products and graphic supplies for those who want to design and print their own.

WEDDING INVITATIONS TIMETABLE

Wedding invitations should be ordered approximately three months before the wedding. This gives the printer the time necessary to print the order and allow a little extra time for any unexpected errors or delays.

You also want time for addressing the invitations. If you are having the work done by a calligrapher, make sure you have that time scheduled and reserved in advance.

Invitations should be mailed out to guests 6 to 8 weeks before the wedding. This gives the invited guests time to plan and prepare for the wedding and take care of any necessary travel or childcare arrangements.

When you send out the invitations, request a R.S.V.P. date 2-3 weeks before the wedding date. This gives you enough time to get the final head count and make final seating and catering arrangements.

WEDDING INVITATIONS WORDING

The wedding invitations are issued by the hosts of the ceremony. If the parents are hosting the wedding, their names are on the invitation; if the bride and groom are hosting their own wedding, their names are on the invitation. The wedding invitation is not intended as a way to let everyone know the names of the parents, but to let guests know who the event is for and who is hosting it.

Some sample wording for wedding invitations:

• Formal/Traditional Wedding Invitation (hosted by the bride's parents) - Mr. And Mrs. David Ryan Smith request the honour of your presence at the marriage of their daughter, Kimberly Marie to Mr. Tom Davis Saturday, the 11th of June at four o'clock at the Open Door Christian Church. The church is located at 123 Main St, Anytown, California.
• Wedding Invitation (hosted by the bride and groom) - Kimberly Marie and Tom Davis invite you to celebrate their marriage on Saturday, the 11th of June at two o'clock at the Alexander Winery. The winery is located at 123 Rural Road, Anytown, California.

These are only a couple samples of the wording used on wedding invitations. Most printers will have examples of wording that can be used for a variety of circumstances, including the proper wording if the parents are divorced, widowed, and/or remarried and you want their names on the wedding invitations.

If you are having a very casual wedding event and you want to convey this on the wedding invitations, you could even say something fun on the invitation, such as "We're finally tying the knot" or "She finally said yes." You can be as creative and unique as you want, or you can stay with traditional words.

WEDDING INVITATION ENCLOSURES

When choosing your wedding invitations, you will also be deciding on enclosure cards. Common enclosure cards that are used are the Reply Card and Envelope, the Reception Card (used if the reception is at a different location than the wedding), and a Map and Directions Card. Enclosure cards should match the invitations and use the same paper, ink color, and typestyle.

What should NOT be included in the invitation is a wedding gift list. You should wait and give out this information when it is requested by your guests.

WEDDING INVITATIONS POSTAGE TIP

If you have a strict wedding budget, one of the choices you can make to save money and still send out beautiful wedding invitations is to choose a standard size invitation. Invitations with larger styles or those with unusual shape styles require more postage than those that fit inside a standard size envelope.