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Wedding invitations are very important. Yes, they have all of the logistical information needed for guests to attend your wedding and have a wonderful time, but they are also your guests’ first impressions of your wedding and what to expect. With this in mind, it is important to put some careful thought into your invitations. From color scheme to design to delivery, every piece of your invitation should come together seamlessly. Here, we have gathered the best ways to ensure that your wedding invitations make the perfect first impression.
Are you envisioning classic and elegant? Casual and chic? Rustic and romantic? Knowing your style, and deciding to adhere to that style throughout your wedding, is a great first step to creating the best wedding invitations. Remember, when that envelope arrives at your guests’ mailbox, it holds inside of it the first impression of your wedding. Make sure to take the time to think through all your options so that you can start off on the best foot possible.
When you have landed on your perfect wedding style and theme, it is time to select the colors. Your invitation colors should not only represent the theme of the wedding, but also should reflect you and your relationship. Incorporate your theme colors into the invitations, and add your motif, if you have one. If you do not have one, considering designing one, as it can add another layer of elegance to your invites. The color theme of your invitations also feeds into the theme of your wedding in that it can reflect your elegant or rustic or casual theme in a simple yet effective way. For example, crisp white invitations with black or gold lettering represents a very classic, elegant wedding. On the other side, bright, colorful invitations with metallic lettering can symbolize a more casual or rustic theme.
Most importantly, you want your guests to be able to easily read the information on the invitation, so take that into consideration when you are deciding which colors to choose. It is best to avoid light colored ink on a light colored background. This, understandably, would be very difficult to read. Similarly, dark lettering on a dark background would be nearly impossible to read. Your invitations contain all of the information your guests will need in order to attend your wedding, so you want to do your best in making it easy for them to understand. Beyond the colors you choose, you should also consider the font you choose as well. Fonts that are particularly curly or have a lot of flourishes can be hard to read if not done properly, and you risk your guests confusing letters and numbers, which could ultimately lead to them not knowing the date of your wedding or the address of the reception. There are a number of font and lettering styles you can choose from, including letterpress, foil stamping and embossing.
While your invitation will contain all the necessary information for your guests, it should not hold all of the information about your wedding. Traditionally, wedding invitations will have space for the name of the hosts of the wedding, you and your fiancé’s names, followed by the ceremony date, time and location and the dress code. Generally, every word is spelled out including the time of the ceremony and reception. More complicated information that can take away from the elegance of your invitation should be placed on your wedding website. This information could include directions to the ceremony and reception venues, gift registry links, hotel accommodations, and post-wedding activities. It is best to keep your invitations simple and to the point, and direct your guests online for further information.
There are some tried and true timing tricks for sending out invitations to your wedding, and it all starts with the save-the-date. Save-the-dates should typically be sent out eight to 10 months before the wedding. Your save-the-dates do not necessarily have to match your invitations, but it will make your life a lot easier by ordering them all together with the same theme. Plus, then you get another chance at a great first impression! Additionally, invitations should be in the mail eight to 10 weeks before the wedding day. Include RSVP information on your invitation and with it mark the deadline to RSVP. The deadline should be no more than a month after the invitations were sent out, because the longer people have to reply the more likely it is that they will forget.
The last thing you want to happen is to have a spelling error or incorrect date on your invitation. While it is certainly not the end of the world, an error can take away from the elegance of your invitation and may not make as good of an impression as you would like. Taking the extra time to carefully read through for spelling errors, dates and time will save you major headaches down the road. Once your proof has been approved, take a moment to look at your guest list and make a note of who lives in the same house. Sending one invitation to everyone in the household will save you time and money and will make it easier for them to RSVP all at once.
While you are ordering your invitations, you should also place your orders for menus, programs and thank you notes with the same theme and color scheme. This will save you time and money, and will also ensure that all of your paper items will match. If you would like to avoid a monotonous set of invitations and extra items, consider alternating background or font colors, all while still adhering to your theme. Your print shop should be able to help you organize this, and will have great suggestions for saving you time and money.
To ensure that your invitations actually make it to your guests, you need to plan ahead. Be sure to triple check all of your addresses and make sure they are printed properly on the outside of your invitations. It is just as important to double check the return addresses on your envelopes, so that you will receive all of your RSVPs. In order to get a sense of how much it may cost to send out all of your invitations, bring a sample to the post office and weigh it. This will give you a general sense of how much you should be budgeting. When everything is packaged together and ready to go, send them out! This is one of the most exciting times, and it is just the beginning.
Planning for a wedding is understandably overwhelming, but choosing your invitations doesn’t have to be! Here at Public Print in Kansas City, we are happy to help you navigate the themes, colors and fonts to help you choose what best represents you and will make the best first impression on your guests. We can’t wait to help you design your dream invitations and help you on your way to your dream wedding.
If you're getting married and would like to talk with us about your wedding invitations, feel free to reach out here - Contact
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