Today, we have a special treat for you! We have invited Heather from Simply Designed Invitations to share with us lots of great tips as the kickoff to our new stationery series! Let’s get started!
{From Heather} We are so excited to be working with Heart Love Weddings on a stationery series. It is always a blast working with them and we are really looking forward to this! We wanted to start this off with a brief overview of wedding stationery and what to expect or what you might need.
There are many things to stress about when planning your wedding, why should your invitations be one of them? This should be a way to have a little fun and allow you and your honey to be a little bit or a lot creative!
A few questions you should first think about: What is your budget? Everything in your wedding has a budget, so should your invitation package. When should you order your invites and what date should you send them out? Do you have an idea of a guest list or at least how many guests you would like to invite? And last but not least, what should you do if guests don’t RSVP?
First let’s talk about cost. As with all of your wedding essentials, you should know how much you have budgeted to spend on bridal invitations. But your budget shouldn’t just include your invitations, but your programs, menus and any other stationery items you would like to include. The amount you actually spend will depend on the type of wedding you are having and the style of invitation you want, with wedding invitations costing anywhere from $250 to $1,000 per 100 invitations. There are many different printing methods that are out there, and there are many creative ways to present your invitations, so have a general idea and a back-up plan of what you would like as your invitations. Think about all the pieces that you will want – from save the date cards, invitation, response cards, map cards, accommodation cards, reception card to thank you cards. And keep in mind your postage. I know that this is a surprise for many brides. Standard first class for the first ounce is $0.45. For two ounces (which is where most wedding invitations fall) it is $0.65. So let’s say you are sending out all 120 invitations, that is an additional $78.00, plus the stamps for the RSVP envelope which come to $54.00, totaling $132.00 of additional costs for your wedding invitations. As a side note, there has been discussion about hand cancellation of wedding invitations, this does not cost more, this is just a human canceling out the postage vs. a machine, which will protect your wax seal or bulky invite from becoming dinner to the cancellation machines.
Next, remember to start early, this will be the best way to avoid stress. We suggest starting about 6 to 9 months before your wedding. By starting this early it will give you ample time to consider all of your choices, have samples sent to you, and work on design, color and wording. Many of today’s couples are doing all of their research and ordering from online stationery boutiques, but working with a custom designer will allow you one-on-one attention, a personal touch and the expertise of someone who has been doing this for a while. A custom designer will be able to help you navigate through all the pieces, suggest wording, and help keep you on schedule. Keep in mind that all of your invitations need to be ordered no less than 12 weeks before the wedding. You should mail them out six weeks before the event date. Your RSVP date should be anywhere between 3-2 weeks before your wedding, which gives you adequate time to provide the caterers with a head count and the seating arrangement. If working with a custom stationery designer you will want to think about contacting them about 6 months before your wedding for plenty of time for custom design.
So now that your invitations have been sent, what happens if you still have not heard from your guests? We recommend you give the invitees a phone call and give them a gentle reminder about two weeks before the wedding.
With a little planning, and the help of some professional stationery designers, wedding invitation planning can be stress free and fun! Go get creative and enjoy this part of the planning process.
Thank you so much Heather for sharing your knowledge and expertise today! If you would like to learn more about Heather and Simply Designed Invitations, please check out her vendor listing in our exclusive Vendor Boutique and find out what her clients love most about her!
Stationery designs, photos, and graphic courtesy of Simply Designed Invitations
[...] posted here: Stress Free Wedding Stationery | Heart Love Weddings I Love Social BookmarkingSubscribeDiggdel.icio.usStumbleUpon Posted by admin on Aug 21, 2012 in [...]
[...] a personal touch and the expertise of someone who has been doing this for a while. … Link: Stress Free Wedding Stationery | Heart Love Weddings ← Whimsical Wedding Invitations | Wedding Invitations [...]
That checklist is a great idea!
We think so too! :) Thanks so much for reading!
Thank you so much for having us on the blog this morning! We are so excited to be here and share advice, helping brides have a stress free experience when working on their wedding stationery :) xoxo
We are THRILLED to have you, Heather! Cannot wait to see where this series takes us and our readers! Thank you so much for sharing your expertise with all of us! xoxoxo
This is essential and really good stuff! XO Hope you are doing wonderfully!:-) Always think of your kind words!
You are so sweet, Naomi! Thank you!! xoxo
Your checklist is wonderful, and thank you for including using the services of a calligrapher! As a calligrapher, it is nice to have the place cards/escort cards ahead of time, but I personally don’t “put ink down” on the cards until about 7-10 days before the actual wedding, when the seating list will be the most accurate. If I have the cards in advance, it is nice because the client can just email the seating list over, saving a meeting date, and my personal goal is always to have the cards done and back in their hands about 3-4 days before the wedding, giving them plenty of time to alphabetize (if needed) or deliver to reception. That has worked best for my clients and I the past 8 years I have had my studio!
Thank you Jennifer, and you are absolutely right about timing. The place cards and escort cards are always the very last item. I love working with calligraphers for these items, and always stress to my brides that they need to have their information to the calligrapher as soon as possible and as organized as possible! And I’m always on the look out for great calligraphers! Would love to chat off-line :)
Thank you so much for the fabulous input, Jennifer! xo
[...] Simply Designed - added custom stamps to her line that can be purchased from her Etsy shop. Check out our new Stationery Series with Heather! [...]
[...] with us some great tips for your day-of stationery. Be sure to refer back to her first post about Stress Free Stationery as [...]
[...] Letterpress Wedding Stationery posted by Karin | in Expert Advice, Wedding Planning Tips var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true}; We are so excited to have Heather from Simply Designed back for another installment in our Stationery Series. Today she’s going to discuss letterpress which is personally one of my favorite choices for wedding invitations. Be sure to also refer back to Heather’s posts on Day-of Wedding Stationery as well as Stress Free Wedding Stationery. [...]