{"id":218,"date":"2022-01-11T09:30:04","date_gmt":"2022-01-11T09:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dodelinedesign.com\/blog\/?p=218"},"modified":"2022-01-18T14:34:34","modified_gmt":"2022-01-18T14:34:34","slug":"the-complete-guide-to-wedding-stationery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dodelinedesign.com\/blog\/the-complete-guide-to-wedding-stationery\/","title":{"rendered":"The Complete Guide to Wedding Stationery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Feeling overwhelmed by wedding stationery? You are absolutely not alone! We\u2019ve been in the wedding invitation design<\/a> business for over 10 years in one of the busiest wedding markets in the country – Charleston, South Carolina \u2013 and we are here to help you navigate it all. When new brides and grooms reach out to us, we usually like to hop on a call to explain and discuss options so it doesn\u2019t look so intense; however, we think having all the information in one place is a great idea too so it can be perused at your leisure. Are you ready? Here goes!<\/p>\n

\n

Table of Contents<\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. Where to Start<\/strong>\n
      \n
    1. Guest List<\/li>\n
    2. Venue & Major Vendors<\/li>\n
    3. Colors & Style<\/li>\n
    4. Interested Parties<\/li>\n
    5. Budget<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
    6. Save the Dates<\/strong>\n
        \n
      1. Design Options<\/li>\n
      2. When to Send<\/li>\n
      3. What to Include<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
      4. Wedding Invitations<\/strong>\n
          \n
        1. What to Include\n
            \n
          1. Invitation<\/li>\n
          2. RSVP Cards (mail or online)<\/li>\n
          3. Details Cards<\/li>\n
          4. Additional Events and Parties<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
          5. Printing Types & Styles\n
              \n
            1. Flat Printing<\/li>\n
            2. Thermography<\/li>\n
            3. Engraving<\/li>\n
            4. Letterpress<\/li>\n
            5. Foil<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
            6. Specialty Options<\/li>\n
            7. Etiquette & Wording<\/li>\n
            8. When to Send<\/li>\n
            9. Addressing Options<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
            10. Wedding Day Paper<\/strong><\/li>\n
            11. Thank You Notes<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n

              Where to Start<\/strong><\/h2>\n

              Guest List<\/h3>\n

              Before you start booking your dream venue, it\u2019s very important that you first get a handle on your guest count. You don\u2019t want to find yourself in a situation where you\u2019ve booked a venue that you love but your guest list is off in either direction \u2013 a huge venue for a small group or, worse, a venue that won\u2019t hold everyone you wanted to include.<\/p>\n

              Once you\u2019ve consulted the family and developed a rough number, start a spreadsheet. For stationery purposes, you\u2019ll need to track HOUSEHOLDS as opposed to guest number. i.e. a family of four only receives one invitation. So sometimes you can just start a separate tab where you collect addresses and put in the names as they will go on envelopes \u2013 \u201cMr. and Mrs. John Smith\u201d etc.<\/p>\n

              \"\"
              Reception design and decor at the Cedar Room in Charleston, SC, a large reception space.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

              Venue and Major Vendors<\/h3>\n

              One you\u2019ve gotten a handle on the guest number, start working on locking in your date, venue, and the major vendors (caterers, bands, wedding planner, etc.). At Dodeline we are of course huge proponents of having a wedding planner in your corner as soon as possible in the process \u2013 the expertise a planner can share with you will save you from making any major mistakes with booking vendors and venues. For example, often people aren\u2019t thinking about things like needing to bring in chairs and tables to one venue and not at another.<\/p>\n

              Once the major players are in place, look at stationers. We love to talk to clients early in the process, of course, but as we are more able to take multiple weddings per weekend than, say, a band, it\u2019s not usually as urgent to get the stationer locked in as some of the others.<\/p>\n

              Colors and Style<\/h3>\n

              What\u2019s your vision? People will be asking you that constantly! That said, the custom wedding invitations<\/a> vision is very much an evolving picture for most clients. Throughout the process you\u2019ll fall in love with different ideas and pieces and eventually they all come together to form the perfect day. We do usually try to incorporate the look and feel into the wedding stationery, so it\u2019s good to have a basic idea to share with your wedding invitation designers<\/a>. Don\u2019t sweat it if your vision changes slightly from the save the date to the invitations to the wedding day paper though \u2013 that is totally okay!<\/p>\n

              \"\"<\/p>\n

              Interested Parties<\/h3>\n

              Who gets a say? This question applies to all facets of the wedding, but it is a good idea to establish that relative to wedding stationery for sure. Remember that on a wedding invitation it is customarily the parents of the bride inviting the guests. While you don\u2019t have to figure that out immediately after getting engaged, just keep in mind that the groom\u2019s parents may expect to be on the invitation (whether that\u2019s correct or not), step parents may be involved, etc. It\u2019s a good idea to know who will be going on the invitation (if anyone other than the bride or groom) and who gets to have input on the design and format. Wording is covered in more detail below.<\/p>\n

              Budget<\/h3>\n

              The least fun part of the process! Wedding stationery is usually about 5% of a wedding\u2019s overall budget. However, it depends on your priorities. For some people, stationery is one of their all time favorite things, so they may prefer to save a little somewhere else to go all out on invitations. For others, it\u2019s not as big a priority.
              \n\"\"
              \nAnother important note is that, if you choose to do a seated dinner, you\u2019ll be spending a little more on stationery than those who don\u2019t most likely. You\u2019ll need to assign tables and probably seats and that will involve stationery of some kind.<\/p>\n

              Save the Dates<\/strong><\/h2>\n

              Design Options<\/h3>\n

              More often than not, we keep it simple with the save the dates. For awhile, it was quite popular to send save the dates as a postcard. While we love the idea in theory, we always want to make sure you realize that the cards will likely be a bit beat up when they get to your guests and that is sometimes disappointing. Postcard do have the advantage of costing less to mail, but it\u2019s not a huge savings.<\/p>\n

              Photo save the dates are also very popular. When you take beautiful engagement photos, you want to show them off! At Dodeline we work with photo save the dates all the time, but we also do lots of other things like watercolor wedding maps<\/a>, scenery inspired designs, and more. The sky\u2019s the limit!<\/p>\n

              It\u2019s nice to start establishing the look and feel of your wedding with the save the date card, so we try to select fonts that you think you would be happy to continue using and\/or introduce the colors of the wedding. A fun colorful envelope is always a nice touch and fun for guests to receive in the mail.<\/p>\n

              When to Send<\/h3>\n

              We recommend sending save the dates any time between 6 months to 1 year before the wedding. A lot of times people think more notice is better and send even further out. While that is somewhat true, it\u2019s important to remember that your guests have busy lives and lots of things happening, so sending them an invitation to something 18 months in the future is probably hard for them to remember or keep up with. Sending inside a year is perfect because they can make actual plans, book hotels, know their own schedules a bit better, etc.<\/p>\n

              The one exception to this timing is if you\u2019re inviting guests to an international destination and you know that many of them would need to acquire passports. In that case, we would bump the timeline up to inside 15 months.<\/em><\/p>\n

              What to Include<\/h3>\n

              The save the date is just that \u2013 minimal information to save the date for your wedding. Typical wording looks something like this:<\/p>\n

              Save the Date
              \nfor the wedding of
              \nCouple\u2019s Names
              \nDate
              \nCity, State
              \nFor more details, please visit               www.dodelinedesign.com<\/a>
              \nFormal invitation to follow<\/p>\n

              Variations include:<\/p>\n