WHEN TO ORDER INVITATIONS

About six months ahead of time, begin selecting your invitations. Take time to peruse the huge variety online and in stores, and discuss styles with your fiance and family. We've added our wedding invitation vendor links here (on the left) to make it a little easier!

Narrow down the list of styles to just three, based on your wedding and budget. Then, give yourself a few days before actually ordering. That way, you'll know exactly which one is perfect for you.

Order your invitations at least four months ahead of time. Be prepared to pay for them fully.

 

You should also considering ordering:

Your guests and family will appreciate a Save the Date card. These are so helpful for busy families, and for those who must make travel arrangements to attend your wedding.

 

By sending Save the Date cards (or magnets), people will be able to schedule time off from work far in advance. They are also able to budget for travel costs, wedding attire and gifts.

 

I know I appreciated my daughter's Save the Date magnet. It stayed on our refrigerator for months. It had a cute picture of her and my future son-in-law, along with ceremony and reception locations.

What is your style? What tone do you want to convey for your wedding? One of the ways Wedding Paper Divas groups wedding invitations is by style: modern, minimalist, traditional, destination, ethnic, cultural, romantic and classic monogram. Take some time to click through the pages and note which designs seem like 'You.'

 

Personally, I like to shop by color. The site does organize wedding stationary by a multitude of shades: blue & turquoise, pink, purple & lavender, green, red & orange, brown & neutral. You can then see which shades best suit your overall color scheme.

 

Can't decide? Choose white or ivory, based on the color of your gown. Embossed flowers, textured paper and scrollwork designs can add style.

 

Trends for 2010: global patterns, sophisticated monograms, dramatic color.

 

ADDRESSING INVITATIONS 

This is the time to be organized. Before the actual addressing of invitations, get the addresses of everyone on your list. This might take a few days to track the whereabouts of cousins and friends, so allow plenty of time.

 

Your Maid of Honor, mom, sister, friend or relative may ask to help you with the addresses, and addressing the invitations. Say Yes!

 

Set aside a few afternoons or evenings to accomplish the task of addressing envelopes and checking lists.

 

Click here for more tips on addressing and sending invites.

Set and reserve the time and date for the wedding.

 

Follow this ideal time frame to order and process your invitations prior to your wedding:

6 Months (before your wedding)
Start looking for invitations. Begin compiling your guest lists and collecting addresses.

4 Months
Order invitations. Make sure your spelling is correct. Know to whom your response cards are being returned to, and have the correct return address and zip code as well as the event time. If using a calligrapher or other people to help address your invitations, order an additional 10 to 15% outer envelopes.

3 Months
Start addressing invitations, doing a few at a time. Hire a calligrapher if you are going to do so.

2 Months
Recheck guest list to make sure you have not forgotten anyone.

6 Weeks
Send out all the invitations.

2 Weeks
All responses should be in. (Give Caterer final count.)

So you have your list of invitees. How do you keep track of who has accepted, and who has declined?

 

There are several ways to do this.

 

1. If you use, Microsoft Word, choose the template 'Task planner 2010' to plan out the major tasks of your wedding.

 

2. Choose Microsoft Word 'Party Guest List' which is a quick organizer.

 

 

3. Consider TablePlanner Software from our website, www.weddingdetails.com.  In addition to helping to seat guests at tables, TablePlanner also provides other helpful information:

* the number of guests at the current event
* the number of confirmations received
* the number of guests already seated.

This information, and the appropriate color coding and graphic symbols help maintain clarity and a quick overview even with a large number of guests.
 

4. If you use Microsoft Excel, it is quite easy to create a list of guests in one colum, and adding a column for Attending, Not Attending, and # of Guests. In fact, if you add a column for Address, City, State and Zip, you could actually create mailing labels for both wedding invitations AND thank you notes. (print on clear labels)

Sometimes, in the middle of wedding planning, you need a little levity. We hope you and your fiance enjoy this video we found on Youtube.