How to Choose the Wedding Stationery to suit your budget

By Michael Brecker

Your wedding is the stationary channel of communication between you and your guests. Think about what your "official channel of marriage." The wedding stationery tell everyone on the 'when', 'where', 'how' and 'what' about your wedding day. Your wedding invitations are your first announcements of your upcoming marriage, and the first communication between you and your guests. And let your guests know where and when the wedding will take place, you also want to invitations to stage for this type of marriage you will have.

For example, if your marriage is a very formal and elegant room, then you should consider in your invitations. It will give your guests an idea of what type of marriage it is and what to wear. Alternatively, if you have a less formal wedding, and invitations to reflect that in color and design.

The wedding invitations, and indeed the whole of your wedding stationery, reflects the mood, style and colors you have for your marriage. For example, your marriage is pink, so we would expect that color to be represented in your wedding stationery.

Wedding Stationery typically includes: Save The Date Card

They tell your guests that you have set the date of your wedding and ask them to put that date until you send your wedding invitations formal six-eight weeks before the wedding. These are a great way to give enough time for guests to organize working hours or holidays, so they can integrate into your wedding date.

These are sent as soon as you decide to date. Wedding Invitation Card

These can be day and evening invitations. The day invitations for customers who you invite to the wedding ceremony, reception and wedding. Night invitations for guests who are invited for the celebrations after the meal.

These are sent out six-eight weeks before the wedding. Order of Service Card

These let customers know what will happen during the wedding ceremony. They are usually distributed on the day.

Place name cards

If you have a seating plan with flour, then they are placed on tables, so customers know where to sit.

Thank You Card

These are your personal thank you to each guest for attending your wedding and for the beautiful present, they gave you.

The three main methods of taking your stationery are DIY, shelf, or custom.

DIY

DIY means "Do It Yourself." Obviously, your wedding stationery will be you. If you are creative and artistic (or short of money), which could be the method for you. When it ' acts of conception, the key is simplicity. Keep the design simple and it will be better and take less time.

However, you do not start everything from scratch. Many stores and on line wedding stationery supplier selling DIY kits that you can use and adapt to your own needs.

Off-The-Shelf

Off-the-shelf media drawings purchased from shops. Many shops, websites and department stores have a large selection of templates that you can use. The choice is vast and can range from the humorous to the beautiful and elegant. You just choose the design you want and order them for you. Because of the range of models available, you may not feel a picking that everybody used. This is a quick and easy way to choose and order your stationery.

Bespoke

Bespoke means that your design is hand made especially for you. You can get the company to adapt a design of their own portfolio, or create an exclusive design for you. This is obviously the most expensive option because it requires more consultation and more work for the designer. If you are ordering from a distance, it is important that you can see the design project before you commit to the final product.

Finally, at the purchase of stationery, always the order of five to ten maps cover the additional last-minute guests or a clerical error, if you write the names by hand.

However, you do so - have a beautiful wedding!

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With everything a bride has to remember on her wedding day, it is no surprise that bringing along a copy of her invitation isn't usually high on the priority list. But, it should be! That extra copy may not last forever, but having photos of it taken on your wedding day will.

And, why wouldn't you want to preserve that first piece of paper that started it all? Plus, while you have your photographer contracted to be with you and taking photos for you anyway, why not have them snap a few of your lovely little invite?

Still not convinced? Check out some of these beauties.

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How would you like a $100 Gift Certificate from Wedding Paper Diva's!!! All you have to do is leave a comment below!



We know that the cold winter months can be, well cold. So to provide a touch of inspiration during the cold winter months, we are sponsoring a “destination wedding” invitation contest!

The conntest will run until December 21st at midnight - and you can win a $100 gift certificate from Wedding Paper Diva's!



Just leave a comment below and we'll randomly select a winner- anyone can enter! If you love paper - what are you waiting for, a $100 gift certificate can be yours!



Tell your friends, your neighbors, your dog!!!

While we are on the subject of stationary {okay, go with me here....} you know that us MasterPiece Weddings girls are Stationary Whores. Self professed of course.



But when I saw this video I knew I had to share it with you! We love LetterPress, we all think it's gorgeous and romantic and beautiful!



But watching the video shows what a true labor of love LetterPress really is! Each piece is hand fed, hand designed. Truly incredible!



Thank you BirdDog for showing us, we heart you!

I know this has been talked about on this blog before, and every bride thinks about how much her invitations will cost and how much will they cost to mail.



But you never know until those bad boys are actually in your hands. Don't assume that just becasue they measure properly for a .42 stamp that they actually will weigh properly for a 1 ounce stamp.



Wait until you have them and then bring them to the post office, have them weigh and measure them - then you will know the proper postage amount. You may even want to bring two, just in case.



{Really beautiful invitation picture from Unique Designs}

As I am sure you already know, MasterPiece Weddings, loves Letterpress, we actually love all things paper, but Letterpress is something that we literally drool over.



So when a care package came from our friends at Erickson Designs, informing us that they have started a new division Lambert Letterpress, I literally jumped up and down!

The stock is unbelievable! {Their business cards are seriously thick, are made of lettra, so they are tree free!!!} The designs are like nothing I've ever seen before, the details... well, let's just say we are swooning over them!



I'll take some pictures of the samples that they sent me, and show you, they are truly amazing!!!

This next question has do do with liquor at a reception and offering a cash bar. I feel quite honestly, this is completely unacceptable. Try really hard not to have a cash bar, if your budget is that tight, just don't have alcohol. Or limit the alcohol to beer and wine only - take a peek at this great post by my friend Saundra.

Here is Invitation Consultants take on having a cash bar at the reception:

• How should I indicate that there will be a cash bar at the reception?

What Emily Post would say…any references to food or drink should not be included in the invitation wording (however, it is of course acceptable to include the menu options on your RSVP card).

What we have to add…Your best bet would be to put this information on a reception card if absolutely necessary. Otherwise, again, this is great information to include on your wedding website and to be spread via word of mouth. Other examples that fall into this category would include if you want your guests to know you are having a dry reception.

I hope this information will help you navigate the sometimes bumpy road of wedding invitation wording etiquette. Please feel free to post any questions or comments. And visit our blog for more fun invitation facts!



Thanks so much to Melissa for giving me the opportunity to post this week, it sure has been fun!

This next question has been a very touchy issue with lots of brides. Although I think everyone already knows the answer, for some reason durning the planning process our minds get all foggy with mis-information. Let's see what Invitation Consultants has to say about gifts. And have you seen their blog?



• How do I let everyone know our registry information?





What Emily Post would say…it is NOT acceptable to list gift registry information in your wedding invitation wording. Traditional etiquette would have you avoid mentioning gifts at all, even to say “no gifts, please.”

What we have to add…Save the date announcements and bridal shower invitations are meant to be informal, so it’s more acceptable to indicate registry information there. Just as with attire inquiries, guests will want to know where you have registered, so including your wedding website in your save the date or bridal shower invitation enclosure would be really helpful.

However, if you have any specific requests such as wanting monetary gifts only, please do NOT notate this request anywhere on invitations, save the dates, or enclosure cards. Requests for specific types of gifts should be limited to being spread by word of mouth or listed on your wedding website.

Today Invitation Consultants tackle attire... this is a question I ask of all of my brides, what are they expecting their guests to wear. You can very easily accomplish this task by the formality of the invitation.



• How do I notate what attire is requested/required?



What Emily Post would say…you only need to notate the dress if the reception and wedding are held at the same location. Also, if the event is Black or White Tie, you’d want to indicate so in the bottom right corner of your reception card (or invitation if applicable).

What we have to add…for non-formal weddings, consider using the word of mouth or wedding website approach. Although you don’t need to notate the dress on your invitations, a lot of guests may ask you what they should wear (I had a beach wedding, and a LOT of people were unsure of the appropriate dress). This could save you some phone calls, which is always a plus. Please also make the distinction between requested and required. For example, if the country club is requiring jackets and ties from the gentleman for entry, then say so. However, if you are requesting costumes, then you can indicate this, but you cannot require it of your guests.

Check out Invitation Consultants Blog!

Recently we've recieved numerous invitation questions, and for those answers, I turned to our old friends at Invitation Consultants. This week we are going to be tackling those invitation etiquette concernts. So without further ado, I bring you Dawn from Invitation Consultants.



Hello, adventurous readers! My name is Dawn, and I am a consultant with Invitation Consultants. Although our consultants answer questions on our products and the ordering process, we also receive a lot of inquires regarding invitation wording and etiquette. Most brides have never done this before, so all the intricacies of wedding etiquette can be a bit (or sometimes a lot) overwhelming. Sometimes clients will apologize for their not already knowing the answers to the questions they ask, but let me just tell you, I did not know a THING about this topic until I started working in the wedding industry. Try not to be hard on yourselves; this is for the most part all new information. If you, like me, were not all born with the inane sense of Emily Post perfect etiquette, the following is a list of common invitation etiquette questions and our suggestion for how to answer them:



• How do I request adults only for my wedding and/or reception?



What Emily Post would say…it is simply not appropriate to write this request (no matter what the format) on the invitation or enclosure cards. The most tactful way would be to address the invitations only to members of the family who are invited. So, for instance, you would address them to “Mr. and Mrs. John Smith” instead of “The Smith Family.”



What we have to add…never underestimate the power of word of mouth. Your request can start from the bridal party or your mother/mother-in-law and spread from there. Also, a lot of brides and grooms have their own wedding website, which can be created at no cost at many different websites (listed below in “resources”). You can list this request on the website as backup. If you insist on writing the request, we recommend doing so on the either the reception card (preferably smaller at the bottom) or within the RSVP wording, such as “___ out of ___ adults will attend.” If you have a lot of guests with families traveling from out of town, it would be a really nice gesture to consider hiring a couple of babysitters (or enlisting teenage family members/friends). It’s a lot cheaper to buy pizza for the children than to have them attend event, and it will make everyone happy!



Don't worry there is lots more to come this week from Invitation Consultants!

Can you hear the Buzz tonight?

Dare to b Unique the motto of Unique Designs... I had such a blast chatting with them! It's nice when you meet someone that you click with right away, and are able to chat about anything. I've had the best two meetings with Giovanni and Kenya from Unique Designs!

They are so much fun - have such great spirits, and are willing to do or try anything! Oh, did I mention they are do invitations!! My favorite subject lately... paper! You should check out their site, and then in the next month when they unveil their Couture line, you can swoon and drool with me!