Your wedding invitation is a sneak-peak into your wedding ceremony so do well to make it outstanding. Unsure of where to begin? It is okay, the following tips would help a great deal:
1. Define your wedding style
Your wedding invitation indicates the nature of your wedding. Is it classic and elegant? Or casual and relaxed? Or glam and modern? Your wedding invitation style should carry a theme. You can browse on the internet to gather inspiration from other couples’ wedding invitation to get ideas of how you want yours.
2. Know your colours
Your wedding invitation should portray your wedding colours. Ivory, cream or white card stock paired with a black or gold font is the classic choice for formal wedding invitations. You can also brighten your invites with colourful or metallic fonts, paper stock, envelopes and liners. Ensure that the colours you choose makes the invitation readable.
3. Work with shapes and sizes
A 4.5-inch-by-6.25-inch rectangular card is the standard traditional size and shape for wedding invitations. Nowadays couples are being more creative with modern vibes with circular, scalloped and square invitations.
4. Make sure your invitation is legible
When you consider colors and patterns, pair attention to the text—the information you put on the invitation. You should avoid light ink on light backgrounds and dark ink on dark backgrounds. Yellow and pastels are not so legible. If you are going with these, ensure the background contrasts enough for the words to appear clearly. Also, avoid hard-to-read fonts like an overly scripted typeface. The last thing you want to do is sacrifice readability for pretty letters.
5. Choose your words wisely
Traditionally, the host is listed first on the invitation. You should spell everything out, including the time of the ceremony. On classic wedding invitations, there is always a request line after the host’s name—something like “so and so request the honor of your presence.” Ensure you double-check that the necessary information is included.
6. Keep it simple
Do well to include the key points on your invitation: ceremony time and location, the hosts, your and your fiancé’s names, the dress code (optional) and RSVP information. Don’t try to squeeze too much onto the invitation card. You may leave things like directions to your wedding venue and details about postwedding activities for your wedding website.
7. Send invitation cards early
Your save-the-dates should go out 8 to 10 months before the wedding. Aim to order your invitations about four to five months out so they are ready to mail 8 to 10 weeks before the wedding. If you are having a destination wedding or marrying over the holidays, send out your invites even earlier (probably 12 weeks before the wedding).
8. Get your dates straight
Ensure you include your RSVP information on the bottom right corner of your invitation or on a separate enclosure making the deadline no more than three or four weeks after guests receive the invitations. Remember: The more time you give guests to reply, the more likely they are to forget—but you will need time to put together the seating arrangement. Your final count may affect the planning because your vendors will need to finalize a few weeks before the wedding.
9. Consider costs
The price per invite varies widely. It all depends on the design, ink, typeface, printing process, paper and quantity. Top-of-the-line papers, color ink, formal printing techniques (like letterpress and engraving) and custom design will add to your costs, as will decorative extras like envelope liners and multiple enclosures. So it is important to research your options ahead of time, so you can pick your priorities from the options.
10. Have a budget
Don’t go overboard. Do what you want within your financial capacity. As you print invitations for your guest list , order for extra in case you need to resend an invitation, want to put some aside as keepsakes.