Hi! I’m getting married in February and so far have literally NOTHING done (besides gazing at my wedding ring and stumbling upon the weddingsonline forums!). I have a thing for fabulous stationery and love nothing more than receiving personal cards and gorgeous wedding invitations, so it’s really important to me to put a lot of thought into this part of my wedding prep. I just don’t know where to start though, or how long invitations take to make or when to be sending them out! Can you advise me on a time scale for getting pretty invitations specially made, or if I’ve already missed the boat when it comes to getting something custom made? I really appreciate the help! Cara
From the Experts
1. Jane from Appleberry Press (picture above)
Hi Cara! First of all, congratulations on your upcoming wedding! With your wedding in eight months, now is the time to send out your Save the Date cards, if you are sending these. These are not essential but are particularly useful if you are having a destination wedding or if you will be inviting a lot of out of town guests. It is also now time to start researching and browsing online and in wedding magazines to find what you would like your wedding invitation style to be. It is a good idea to choose a design that reflects your wedding day, whether it’s a formal black tie event or a garden party, your invitation is your guests first glimpse of what’s to come so it is important to set the tone and reflect your day appropriately. Other couple’s like to inject their personalities into their invitations by going for something personal and unique to them and creating bespoke invitations.
With six months to go to your wedding you should place your stationery order and allow five weeks for your invitations to be ready, between design proofs being prepared, proofing, printing and final assembly. For bespoke stationery or letterpress printing you should allow an extra two to four weeks. With three months to go to your wedding you should send your invitations to your calligrapher or start addressing the envelopes yourself. If you have any finishing or personal touches to add to your invitations you should allow time for this here also.
With two months to go to your wedding you should post all of your invitations and order any on the day stationery you might require, for example mass booklets, menus, place cards, table numbers etc. Three weeks before your wedding you should have received all of your RSVP’s. Any you haven’t received you should follow up on now and determine your final guest list.
The key is to be prepared and start early and with 8 months to go I think you are at the perfect stage to begin your wedding stationery journey! This allows you precious time to make changes and to get your stationery perfect with the least amount of stress. I hope this helps! Thanks, Jane.
2. Louise from Weddings by Legato (picture above)
Hi Cara. You should set up a meeting or phone conversation to talk to a wedding stationery designer about your requirements. After this the designer will take your requests and apply them to your invite. Your stationery should be sent out six to eight weeks prior to your wedding day, however you should strive to send them 10 weeks in advance for guests who are coming from further afield (especially if you aren’t sending save-the-dates!). If your wedding is abroad or on a Bank Holiday you will need to send out invitations much earlier – so make sure to allow for this in your schedule. Most professional stationery suppliers will have your wedding stationery order completed within 20-25 working days. Good luck!
3. Caroline from Caroline Duffy Stationery (picture above)
I recommend starting your invitations at least six months in advance. Since your wedding invitations will set the style and tone for your wedding, you’ll want to allow yourself plenty of time to discover, decide, and design your invitation. Take time to research trends, explore colour schemes, and discover patterns, textures, and designs you like. While exploring, think of ways your invites can be personalised to fit your wedding style or theme. After gathering ideas, sit down with your partner to discuss options for colour, design, layout, and paper. I recommend ordering your invitations three to five months in advance, so that you have plenty of time to assemble and address them before mailing them out (6–8 weeks in advance). It’s also a good idea to order an extra 20 invitations to account for last-minute invites, personal keepsakes, and any mistakes during addressing/assembly. Thanks for your question and enjoy choosing your wedding stationery!
