Your marriage ceremony stationery is one of the official ways to share your distinctive love story with guests. Not solely that, but the save-the-dates and invitations you decide on will actually set the tone for your upcoming celebration-sounds pretty necessary, right? With all of that in mind, choosing the right stationery may feel like lots of stress. To assist in lightening the load, we’re sharing 5 tips to help you get started on choosing your wedding invitations.
1. Keep your Save-the-Dates Simple
Save-the-Dates are important because they should be sent out right when you secure your venue. However, you can keep these really simple. Many couples opt for using engagement photos as the background, which is a nice keepsake for your family and friends. If you know your theme, you can also create a simple postcard that encapsulates it. These need to go out fast so don’t dwell on them too long. Remember the most important information on your save-the-date is the date (of course!) and the location if you are having it out of town (or have a lot of guests coming in from out of town).
2. Consider Wedding Websites & E-Invites
With most of us connected online now, many couples choose to do everything digitally. From their save-the-dates, to their invites, to make things easier they prefer to have it all online. Do what’s best for you and your partner. It might be less stressful for some couples to go this route because many wedding websites are free. This also helps them cut down on cost if tangible invitations aren’t important to them. If you have many guests coming from abroad, this will also help with things not getting lost in the mail. Wedding websites are also useful because you can include your love story there. Maybe most of your family and friends know the story, but some received an abridged version. With a wedding website you can include all the details you want.
Here are some of the top sites for you to create a wedding website:
https://www.theknot.com/gs/wedding-websites?vers=3
https://withjoy.com/wedding-website/
https://www.minted.com/wedding-websites
https://www.zola.com/wedding-planning/website
3. Think About Formal Wedding Invitations
You can take some extra time with the invitations as soon as friends have the date penciled in, but most agree that formal invites need to arrive a minimum of eight to twelve weeks before the wedding. Formal wedding invitations can be a beautiful memento for your family and friends. These also hold all the vital information for your big day all in one space. Not only are the invitations supposed to look beautiful, they should also be easy to navigate and read.
The easiest way to narrow down what you want for your invitations is to narrow down your wedding theme and style. If you have your wedding theme and style, you can easily pick out the color scheme and theme for your invitations.
If you have not thought about it, here are some ideas on how to pick corresponding colors to themes and styles. The signature pale blues, purples, and yellows of the Regency period are excellent for a romantic soiree. For fall, flip to those wealthy, earthy hues in shades of brown and pink. For something more daring and moody palette think of deep plum, darkish navy and black hues. Bold designs with black and gold or silver color schemes evoke all the glitz and glamor of the wedding for Gatsby himself. You can also add extra elements like ribbon and lace, wax seals, or other materials like wood veneer, metal or cork to make your invitations more distinctive.
4. Give Thought to Mixing Digital and Formal Invitations
You may be caught in a situation where your grandma may appreciate a formal invitation but your college friends are a-okay with you sending out a digital one. In that case, you can print formal invitations for guests who will appreciate and need them and for everyone else send out digital invites. This way, you aren’t hounding a relative to try and get online if they do not wish to and you’re making it easy for those that grew up around the internet and apps to quickly respond.
This is also a great way to go if you want all the traditional keepsakes for your wedding. You can keep a copy of your wedding invitation for yourself. Consult with your partner and see if this is an option for you. This hybrid mode should also save you a bit of money since paper invitations usually have a cost while many websites with digital invitations these days are free.
5. Find Inspiration Online or from Your Recently Married Friends and Family
This might sound like a no brainer, but asking your married friends may help you immensely. If you have friends or close family members who were married recently, they surely will have suggestions and tips they could give you. They probably also went through all the stress of making these decisions and who better to advise than someone who has gone through the same experiences. If you’re the first one to get married, do not worry, the internet is a great resource. Depending on your research style, you can start with Pinterest and a mood board. Then start Googling wedding invitation designs.
Remember all that matters at the end of the day is celebrating you and your partner’s love. If the both of you communicate and make these decisions together, surely you will find exactly what you are looking for.
