Where Do We Start?
For some of you the planning of your day is the fun bit and for others it is one of the most stressful tasks you will ever undertake. Whatever your experience we hope we can take some of the strain by helping to make it easier for you and, remember, we don’t mind whether you have 20 guests or 200 – your day is important to us and we want to help make it special. We have no minimum ordering level so you can order as few or as many as you like – just be mindful that you might want to order a few extra to keep as standbys.
The following gives you an idea of the basic range of stationery items we provide from which you can choose. You may just want invitations and thank you cards or you may wish to opt for a whole range of matching stationery – it’s your day and you choose just what you want. For simplicity we have listed here the most popular items, however, there are a number of other items which you may require, such as gift cards, wedding folders, directions and accommodation information, day two invitations, seat reservations, etc., and you will find these in our accessories section.
Begin by determining whether you both want a formal, traditional or more contemporary style ceremony and make your stationery selection accordingly. You may prefer your stationery to be simple and sophisticated or dramatic and bold. Decide how much do you want the design to be a feature and, if you have a theme or colour scheme in mind look for designs that reflect this, or can be adapted, or ask us to work with you to design something especially for you. We can then build on your choice and expand it to cover the whole day.
It all starts with the invitations - not only do you have to decide how many you want but also what style and what extras you may need. Will you want just a simple Wedding Invitation for your Civil Partnership or other stationery items such as Order of Ceremony/Order of The Day Cards; Menu Cards; Place Names; Table Names/Numbers; Favours; Table Plans… the list goes on and on so you need to know where to start and, more importantly, where to stop.
Last, but not least, determine your budget. Remember to include all those little extras, such as, maps, gift cards, place cards, favours and so on. Prices for bespoke invitations will naturally be higher than for mass produced stationery but by how much will depend on the amount of work involved, the quality of the paper/card used and the number of items ordered.
How Many Invitations Will We Need?
So, f irst things first - once you have decided on what kind of a celebration you will be having you then need to decide who will be coming. Will you opt for a small gathering for the signing of the register and then throw a big party or will you decide on a ceremony on the day, followed by a reception? How many will you invite to the Ceremony – the Wedding Breakfast - the Evening Reception? It’s mind boggling just how many things there are to think about.
The best way to start is to draw up a guest list – do you really want to invite Great Aunt Martha’s next door neighbour who you haven’t seen for years or not? Remember it’s your day and irrespective of who family and friends think you should invite – make sure your list includes those closest to you not everyone else. It will be impossible to please everybody so please yourselves. Once you have decided on the type of day you are having and drawn up your guest list you can start to concentrate on choosing your invitations. We don’t have a minimum ordering level so you can order as few as you like but do remember it is worth adding a couple of extras as standbys.
The first thing you need to decide on is just what you want - and this is the interesting bit - as there are so many different designs and ranges out there it's hard to decide which is right for you. To help you make the right choice we have a complete range of designs and styles in various price categories. We have listed below the various items you might require with a guide to quantities.
Save the Date Cards
These days, with big celebrations being booked up to two years in advance, the Save the date Card has become invaluable in letting people know that an invitation will be winging its way to them nearer the date. Normally the invitation is sent out anytime between 6 and 18 weeks prior to the big day. So, to ensure people have plenty of notice, the save the date card can be sent as soon as you have booked your date and up to a year or even 18 months in advance. This will make sure people are aware of the date well in advance and can make any necessary arrangements, particularly for those travelling long distances. You would normally send one to each household in the case of family members and then one to each guest or couple outside of family.
These come in a range of different styles and sizes. You may like a postcard style which simply gives the details or alternatively a fridge magnet so that people can keep it as a handy reminder on their refrigerator. Other alternatives are simple luggage type labels with a ribbon through the end or a simple folded card detailing basic information. Whatever you decide this little card ensures your friends and family don’t forget the date whilst waiting for the official invitation to arrive. It also helps make them feel important as you have taken the time and trouble to let them know as soon as you do.
Invitations
Order your invitations as soon as your date, time and place have been confirmed. Three to six months before the ceremony is what most expert planners suggest but invariably t hese are sent to guests at around six weeks beforehand, although we do feel six week is cutting it a bit fine, particularly if you then have to wait for those replies before send out the evening invitations. We would suggest that in order to allow plenty of time for replies to arrive and the number of guests to be finalised you might like to send them out about 12 to 18 weeks in advance. The more time you give yourself, the less stressed you'll feel and the more carefully you'll make decisions. If you plan to hand write the guests names and address the envelopes you should give yourself at least a month before your cut off date to do this to make sure you don’t rush them.
You would normally send one to each family (where children are under 18 – for over 18’s you would normally send an individual invitation) and one to each guest/couple outside of family.
After you have calculated the number of invitations as you need don't forget to order a few extra to allow for mistakes when writing them (if we are not printing the guest names for you) and for any extra guests you may decide to ask at a later date (and there will be some extras), or for keepsakes. Also, again if you are handwriting the envelopes, add a few extra in case of mistakes in addressing.
The invitation will detail when, where and at what time and can also include details of the events, i.e. the ceremony followed by a reception and a party in the evening – we have lots of typical wordings which you can mix and match to tailor to your own specific celebration or you may like to use your own wordings – we aim to please so the choice is yours. You may like to send out details of your gift list and accommodation at the same time – see below for further information on these.
Invitations come in a variety of sizes – please see our individual sections for further details. All invitations are provided with envelopes which can be addressed if required.
Evening Invitations
These can be sent to additional guests, who have not been invited to the ceremony, to invite them to the evening reception. It is a good idea to leave the sending of these to a little nearer the time, say 6 to 10 weeks, as you may find that you have some ‘spare’ daytime space available as not all of the original guests invited may be able to attend. So, rather than invite people to the evening reception straight away and then subsequently change their invite to the daytime celebration and have to admit they weren’t first choice for the daytime, you could leave some as ‘stand bys’ so they don’t realise they weren’t on the original guest list for the daytime reception.
These would be a similar format to the daytime invitation with just a little less information on them. They come in all the same sizes as general invitations and more detail is listed in the individual sections.
Response/RSVP Cards
How many times have you had an invitation and then kept forgetting to get an acceptance or regret card in order to respond? One way of making sure you get your RSVP’s as quickly as possible is to enclose a reply card, together with an addressed envelope. This makes it easy for your guests to respond speedily as they have no excuses for not doing so and, in turn, you can finalise your guest list more easily. It's also a good idea to add a date by which you would like to receive the replies. You need one of these for each invitation sent – whether it is a day or evening invitation. The wording would vary slightly in both cases.
You would normally send one to each family or couple – so a similar number to the actual invitation quantity would be required.
All response cards come in various formats and sizes and are supplied with envelopes pre-addressed to yourselves.
Order of Ceremony/Order of the Day
It is nice to provide guests with a short resumé of what is going to happen during the ceremony and provide a memento of the day. It guides guests through the ceremony and can be as long or as short as you wish and can include wordings and readings if you decide on those. These would be placed on each seat or handed to your guests as they arrive at the venue and can include tributes to absent friends and relatives and thanks to those who have helped in the planning of your day. Some couples like to list the whole day’s schedule – depending on what you have planned for the day. Naturally these would be discussed with you in detail.
You would normally require one for each guest although you may prefer one per couple.
Generally sizes are A5, DL or square in size, particularly if you want to include quite a lot of information but you can have any size you wish.
Menu
If you have not already advised guests of what your wedding breakfast menu will be, this is a nice way of letting them see what to expect. If you have already given guests a choice this serves as a reminder of what they have selected. You can opt to have a menu card laid across each place setting or perhaps have one menu per couple which would stand between settings – the choice is yours.
These come in all shapes and sizes – see individual ranges for more information.
Table/Seating Plan
Ever walked into a huge room with lots of tables and wondered where on earth to start looking for your seat. A simply laid out table plan listing all your guests, either alphabetically against their table name or numbers, or individually on each table, will make life so much easier for your guests. It’s also a good way for you to remind yourselves of who is sitting where – particularly if you need to keep guests apart for one reason or another – you can see at a glance where they will be located on the seating plan.
Seating Plans are provided on heavy mountboard in A2 or A3 sizes and co-ordinated to match your design. You would require one plan which would be located just outside or at the entrance of the reception area. See individual ranges for styles.
Table Names/Numbers
Life is so much easier when people can see where they are heading. The easiest way for guests to see where they are placed is by a table number or name. These would be laminated and printed on both sides and come in any size required.
Place Cards
These are a welcoming touch and useful for guests to find their places at the reception. Many guests will keep them a mementoes of your day as they can be themed to match your stationery range.
They are usually a standard size of 70cm x 25cm when folded and we like to show the guest names on both sides so your guests don’t have the embarrassment of trying to remember who it is sitting opposite them as they can clearly see from the place card – there’s nothing worse than trying to put names to faces and getting it wrong!
You may not want standard place cards so why not try something a little different. We can supply name cards for Wine Glasses which make a change. Each card includes your names and the place and date of your celebration together with the guest’s name. They are simply tied around the stem of each wine glass so they serve a double purpose as no-one gets their drink mixed up. They come in arrange of cream or white cards with many choices of ribbon type and colour.
We also supply plain straight cards for including into holders – again see our range for more details. You would need one for each guest to stand by their place setting.
Favours
Where do we start with these – there are so many to choose from and all can be co-ordinated to your design. They are particularly popular with guests as they can be kept as mementoes of the day and they are a nice way of saying thank you to everybody for coming.
You might like little boxes or pretty bags – all of the styles can be adapted for any of our ranges and colour schemes and we can provide them filled or otherwise. Each favour will show your names, the venue and the date on the front – unless you prefer not too – and if you select chocolates, which are everybody’s favourites, we like to use Thorntons chocolates inside to be guaranteed of quality. All contents are individually wrapped, either in foil or cellophane and each favour includes details of what is inside each chocolate.
You would need one favour for each guest plus a few extras, particularly if you invite couples who may like to take one home for their child(ren).
Thank You Cards
Hopefully you have now taken care of all the day’s acitivities so, last but not least are the thank you cards – these really are an essential item as, by the end of your day you should have a table with a number of presents on it. 'Thank you' cards are a little more personal than just a 'thank you' letter and there are a number of wordings from which you can choose. We will continue your original design and colour theme right through to your 'Thank you' cards and again, they come in various styles and sizes, depending on your choice.
Hopefully this has given you an insight into the wedding stationery side of your special day. If you have any questions, we will be delighted to answer them for you. Call us on 01279 654860 or 07970 850209 or, alternatively, please complete the enquiry form on the Contact Us page and we will deal with your request by return. We also welcome any visitors please call us to arrange this.
Other Items
In addition to the foregoing we also supply a number of other items – keepsake boxes – guest books – wedding albums – gift cards and wrap. You will find a selection of these under our accessories range.