So, before moving on to our 2014 wedding invitations a look back to of our favourite wedding invitations of 2013.
A wedding in Paris
We liked this one as the actual wedding invitation had highlights and the Eiffel Tower created in a gold foil to add an extra piece of luxury and uniqueness to the invitation.
For the save the date invitation we took inspiration from the Eiffel Tower theme to use the tower as the letter A in Save the Date and so tie the 2 pieces of the wedding invitation together.
We were made most welcome on Sunday by everyone at Rolls Royce Derby and by Bridefayre who organised the event.
Lots of new brides to be and appointments in the diary, looking forward to producing lots of exciting wedding invitations!
What is wedding stationery?
We are busy at this time of the year with the autumn wedding shows, and we are aware of many brides and grooms just beginning their wedding planning and asking the question.
“What is wedding stationery? ”
So here is a quick guide to the main elements, for you to consider.
Save The Date
Day Invitation
Evening Invitation
Save The Date
Reply Card
Order Of Service
Place Card
Menu
Table Plan
Save the Date Cards
Sent out to your guests well in advance of your wedding to announce the date to ensure they keep the date free!. Particularly useful if your wedding is being planned on a weekday, a wedding abroad or when people are likely to be away on holiday. Save the Dates can be sent out a year or more in advance of your wedding, a tip here is to send them with your Christmas cards.
Wedding Day Invitations
Traditionally wedding invitations are sent out by the hosts of the wedding, about six to eight weeks before the wedding. In the past this was nearly always the brides parents today many couples are hosting the wedding.The wording can be designed to suit your situation. They will include details of the date, time and venue of the ceremony and reception and give a reply address. Our pocketfold design allows you to also include all the information you need to give your guests, accommodation, directions, gift list, and any other information your guests will find useful. Tip here is to order a few extra wedding invitations for keepsakes, in case of mistakes or to cater for changes in your guest list. Ordering at a later date will normally involve extra costs.Hopefully this ensures both you and your guests have plenty of time to plan accordingly.
Evening Wedding Invitations
These are reception only invitations allowing you to invite additional guests to the evening reception and are usually sent out at the same time as the wedding invitations so that guests clearly understand to which part of the wedding celebration they are invited. These can either be the same size as the day invitation or sometimes a smaller version.
Wedding Reply Cards
Printed reply cards or RSVPs allow your guests to let you know if they will be able to attend. Essential to finalise the number of guests who are planning to attend your wedding,they will cut down the amount of follow up telephone calls required.Normally we include these with the day invitation,Tip here is to make sure the RSVP date allows ample time to chase guests up and confirm numbers with your chosen venue,
Wedding Order of Service
Orders of Service allow guests to follow your wedding ceremony by including format of the ceremony with the prayers and hymns you have chosen.Most of the information that goes into an order of service will obviously come from whoever is carrying out the ceremony. He/she will be able to advise accordingly and should be the first point of contact for any couple. It is a personal preference as to how much information should be included here. For example, when it comes to a hymn or a reading some couples may wish to include just the title, whereas some would include all of the words in addition to the title. Tip here the text will usually need to be approved by your wedding official before printing. Our service allows you to have matching order of service to your invitations. Normally aim to provide one per guest/share between two.
Menu Cards
Menu cards inform your guests of the wedding breakfast and can include the toasts. These can be produced in all shapes and sizes to co-ordinate with all your other stationery.
Wedding Place Cards
A welcoming touch for your guests when finding their seat. Also an attractive keepsake of your wedding day.
Wedding Table Plan
These are really useful to indicate to your guests which table they are seated at during your wedding breakfast.
Wedding Thank You Cards
Allows you to thank your guests for sharing your day and for their gifts. Tip here is you may also receive gifts from people who didn’t attend the wedding.
We stand at many wedding fayres at this time of the year and meet many couples just starting out on their wedding planning and we hope this quick guide will help you through some of the stationery planning, and enable you to make the coorect decisions and have all the information for your stationer.
Invitations right first time Part one
How many to order
One of the first questions we ask is “How many invitations do you require?”
The reply is usually the number of guests the couple are expecting. This is always too many and leads to a quote way above the budget and a big shock. Remember your guests are in pairs, singles and family groups, it is so easy to become fixated on the total guest number.
Helpful hint:
Go through your guest list and account for the couples, singles and family groups to reach the number you actually need, you will be surprised at the number required. It is always a good guide to add at least 10% to this to allow for mistakes if you are writing guest names. It will also give you a number of spares for any late additions and substituting for any original guests who are unable to attend, also you or other family members may apprecate a keepsake. Going back for a couple of extras at a latter date can be costly and always stressful.
Ordering Invitations Too Late
Couples often get so wrapped up in planning the smallest details of their wedding, they overlook the major necessities. Ordering your wedding invitations with time to spare is one of those major necessities. We recommend coming to see us at least 12 weeks ahead of the date you are looking to send your invitations out.
Helpful hint:
Mail invitations six to eight weeks before your wedding. This means you will need to order them at least four months prior to your event. Neglecting to do so will limit the time we have to create proofs for you. If you have corrections to these proofs, waiting for the changes to be made will cut into your mailing time.
Guests Already Have Plans
Mailing your invitations six to eight weeks prior to your wedding will give most guests plenty of time to prepare for your wedding. However, six weeks may not be enough time for guests to plan to attend.
They may need to rearrange their schedules, make travel arrangements and find hotel accommodations. By the time your invitation hits their letter box, they will have limited time to make these plans. This is not so much of an issue if you have sent out save the date cards.
Some guests may not be able to attend your wedding , whilst you have numbers to meet for your venue/caterer, so you now need those extra invitations.
Helpful hint:
Avoid this situation by giving guests more notice about your wedding, especially if you are planning a wedding abroad or during a main holiday period , like Christmas. Save the date cards generally sent 6-12 months ahead of your wedding , inform your guest the date of your wedding and let them know a formal invitation will follow.
It is always wise to over order by 10% on your invitation numbers, this way you will always have spares immediately available for mistakes and replacing guests who are not able to come.
Part two will be posted soon!
A question we are frequently asked for advice on is a theme/ideas for table names.
It has to be a difficult choice as a list of inspirational suggestions is endless.
Cities
Ibiza Clubs
Road names of all the houses that you had lived in
Places of interest, towns etc in country/ place where you were engaged
Underground stations
Mountain names / Ski resorts
Flowers
Trees
Hotels you have stayed in or will stay on honeymoon
The ideas can come from the couples interests, places they have been together, experiences you have enjoyed together, here are just a few ideas.
Places close to the wedding venue i.e. The Lake District and Lake names
Soap Operas
Favorite Film Titles
Favorite TV shows
“Love” in different languages
words from the first dance, your favourite song
This list could be endless but hopefully gives some starting points
One of my personal favorites is a recent couple who chose their most liked comedy shows with a line from the show.
You may be having a military wedding and so regiments,famous battles, ships, aircraft etc
A quick quiz in our shop is to ask customers to identify the theme on one table plan
and the answer is cuts of diamond. You could choose precious stones or birthstones.
Football (rugby, cricket golf ,tennis etc) teams, clubs,grounds, legends
Animals (birds,fish,cats, dogs, butterflies etc)
Cars,trains,ships,etc
Songs,music, instruments
Your wedding will be taking place during one of the four seasons or maybe at a notable date like Christmas when carols could be your theme,
or if your table number count is low the 7 dwarves to the 12 days of christmas.
This is one area not short of inspirational ideas,however, if in the face of such huge choice there is an alternative
but with some creativity even numbers can be made to look good !!!!!!!
Now, you have many ideas to start you off
Which will you choose?
Or do you have something completely different……………………….
Look out for the first UK advertisement by Envelopments in the May 31st issue of Brides, in which we are participating as one of the 25 UK dealers.
Each issue of BRIDES UK reaches over 70,000 brides from affluent households. BRIDES readers are highly aspirational and acquisitive – they are prepared to pay for what they want and will upgrade for their special day. This the service we offer to give you the invitations you deserve for your wedding day. Bespoke , handmade designs tailored to meet and exceed your aspirations. Lovestationery can produce all aspects of wedding stationery from save the date, invitations, order of service, complete table stationery, table plans and thank you cards.
Our unique service does not finish here we are also able to produce personal , birthday, birth announcements any and all special occasions in your lives you want to celebrate.
We have started to put together our Autumn wedding shows and we will announce these soon.
We are delighted to announce we have been invited to the wedding open day at the inspirational
St John’s Hotel
Warwick Road,
Solihull,
B91 1AT
On Saturday the 4th June 2011 from 11am through to 4pm.
Come and meet us to fully understand just what a fully bespoke service can give your invitations.
Our offer on the day will be if you book your initial consultation on 4th June for anytime over the follwing 3 months,
and confirm your order, then you will receive a 10% discount across your total stationery order regardless of your
wedding date.
Craving the perfect wedding venue for the most important day of your life? St John’s can help, whatever style
of wedding you desire they help you deliver it. Their dedicated
wedding co-ordinators work closely with you at every stage to
ensure your wedding is immaculate in every respect.
We once again returned to exhibit at the National Wedding Show at the NEC in October 2010.
The show allows us to present our designs using the Envelopments range of pocketfolds and how we can give you unique , bespoke wedding invitations.
At the show we also showcase our designs for wedding anniversaries, baby birth announcements / christenings, birthdays and corporate work.
We speak to so many brides and grooms to be, that we go away inspired with many new design ideas.
It was a really busy 3 days and we would like to thank all our visitor’s for giving their time. We enjoyed an excellent show and went away with our best ever response to date, we are going to be very busy over the coming months.
For a unique service, let us design the perfect invite for your event. We can also design your save the date cards, thank you cards, table plans, place cards, orders of service, and anything else you need. We design each stationery set individually, incorporating your personalities and choices.
Email enquiries@lovestationery.co.uk to make an appointment to discuss your requirements.
Bespoke Stationery takes time to design and create. On average it can take from 8 weeks to complete so please make an appointment to see us in plenty of time.