EverAfter-Bridal Blog

Ordering invitations for an event can be a tedious task.  You may not be sure how your invitations will look once they are printed.  It may be that your budget cannot accommodate all the cards and printing costs.  If you have the time, and don’t mind the effort, then printing your invitations is the direction you may want to go.

First off, printing your own invitations does not necessarily save a ton of cost compared to ordering them out, but it does cut alot of the labor and printing costs.  First you will need to decide on which paper to print your invitations on.  Specialty papers can often be ordered and the prices can vary from cheap to expensive.  Alot of vendors and stores are carrying wedding invitation kits.  These kits come in sets of 10, 25 or 50 blank invitations, response folders and envelopes in choice of designs.  It makes sense to purchase more than needed in case of printing errors.

Another advantage to creating your own invitations is that you can proof them right after printing and be able to make any corrections if needed.  You might want to show them to your family members or friends to get their imput.

How important are having separate direction cards to go with your invitations? Well, it is always a good idea to be able to show guests how to get to your wedding and/or reception. Direction cards are small cards with directions on the front that you slip inside your wedding invitations.

Direction cards can be created a few different ways. The less time consuming way would be to have them professionally printed with font and color style of choice. You can either draw out a map or simply type out the directions and submit them to your printer. You can save some cost by printing these yourself on your paper of choice. You only need to send out one direction card per invitation.

On your direction cards, you might want to include a list of local accommodations where your guests can stay. This can be printed on the opposite site of the direction card.

What are wedding accessories? Wedding accessories are the essential items you will need for your wedding such as guest books, cake servers, toasting flutes and favors. Let us not also forget bridal accessories like garters, purses, bridal jewelry and more.

So why should you order these accessories with your wedding invitations? The reason may be obvious - you save money and time. Alot of wedding invitation companies provide wedding accessories as an added feature so you can order everything at one time for your convenience. This saves additional shipping and tax (if applied) costs. Some online vendors offer discounts on invitations as well as accessory items so that is an additional bonus.

Some invitations, especially theme-based, have matching wedding accessories that you can purchase so you will want to look for those. They are often featured on the same page as the invite.

This is a question people frequently ask. Wedding invitations should be ordered about 3-4 months before the wedding. Why so soon? Because you want to allow enough time to make your selection, order samples (if purchasing online), and processing time. Mail in orders can sometimes take up to a few weeks to process and ship. Online orders typically take around 4-5 business days to print.

You need to take the time to and send out all your invitations to all your friends/family and give them time to respond with how many persons in their party will be attending. This is why invitations should ideally be sent out 4-8 weeks before the date of the wedding. Thank you notes for wedding and bridal shower gifts should be sent out as soon as possible after you receive your gifts.

You might be asking, “should I order my invitations over the internet?” The answer would depend on many factors, some of which will be discussed. There are, however, many advantages to ordering your wedding invitations online.

Ordering your invitations online usually has faster turnaround time. The reason for this is you are placing your order directly on the website so orders get processed sooner than mail in orders. Orders placed online generally take around a few days in house to process and print and then are shipped out right away. Mail in orders take up to a few weeks. Depending on what shipping option you choose, you should receive them anywhere from 1-3 business days from ship date.

Another reason for ordering online is most websites offer wording and verse selections that you can use or can help you in customizing your invitations. Also, you are able to receive a proof prior to printing to make sure your invitations are the way you expect them to look. This also allows you to have the option to make any changes you wish before printing.

You might be asking how you will be able to see what your invitation card looks like before ordering. Many online vendors allow you to order samples of as many invitations as you wish to be able to see them up front before making your selection.

There is also the concern most people have about their credit card information being secure while ordering online. Actually, your credit card information is always placed online at a secure server site where all your credit card and personal information remains encrypted.

You are ready to order your wedding invitations and maybe curious what informal notes are. Informal notes are simply thank you notes to send out to your guests for appreciation in attending your wedding. What’s more important is your guests will love them as they know you took the time to personally thank them for being there to share your special day.

Most informal notes are small cards that are sent out as a thank you for wedding or bridal shower gifts. They often fold over like any other thank you card, but can be printed with your monogrammed initials on the front of them. Inside you can word them however you want and later go through to personalize each one. Thank you notes on the other hand come already printed with a “Thank You” on the front of them. They can be custom printed or come blank.

Most wedding invitations come with matching informal notes that you can purchase in addition.

Wedding reception cards are typically used when receptions are held in a separate location then the ceremony site. When the ceremony and reception are held at the same venue, the reception location can be stated at the bottom of your invitation. This does not require an additional address to be placed since it was already stated in the ceremony location. However, when your reception site is at a different address you can slip this card in with your invitations with address and direction cards.

Some people like to state on their reception cards what guests should expect. You may want to word something like “Cocktails, dinner and dancing to follow at (address)”. If you do not wish for children to be present you may want to state “Adult reception following at (address)”. It is not necessary to state what will be on the reception menu as that is where menu cards come in handy.

Direction cards can be custom printed or you may wish to print them out yourselves. They can be placed inside both your invitations and reception cards.

If your planning a small or large wedding and are ready to order your invitations, you will need to know how many people will be attending your event. This is where respond folders or cards come in handy. You can send them out in addition to your invitations per each family to allow them to respond with how many will be attending in their party.

The proper etiquette for wording on respond folders is to have them state on the first line “Respond on or before (date you choose). You will want to choose a date at least two weeks before the wedding date to be able to give your caterer an accurate head count. The second line should say something like “____ guests or persons will attending”. They can fill in the blank with how many. You may also want to put a menu selection such as “___ beef or ___ chicken if you are having several choices.

Your respond folder envelopes usually come with printed outer envelopes with address provided. This should be the address of the person who will be taking head count - usually yourself or parents of the bride.