10 Things You Need To Consider When Creating Your Wedding Invitations

With the nuptial season in full flow, what’s certain is that there is a whole new crop of love-addled couples ready to pull the trigger on the large gauge cannon that is your wedding day and believe us you’re going to need help. So, grab your confetti box, pop the Prosecco and strap on your white garter, here’s ten tips to keep in mind whilst creating your wedding invitation:

It’s the introduction to your ‘Big Day’

In most cases, the invitation is the grand opening number to the fantastical theatrical production that is a wedding and, as is the case with all big openers, this is your chance to make an impact and set the tone for the rest of the proceedings. Think about who you are, the message you want to convey, the theme of your wedding and the colours that will be present in the venue. All of this can be tied together and referenced in one small envelope.

Say What?

No matter whether your personal style is sensational swinging sixties or exquisite, effortless elegance, clarity is the absolute key. Keep font sizes as large as you can and type face choice should always be something that can be easily read by anyone. It could mean the difference between a full turn-out and half of your guests turning up to the wrong town on the wrong day.

Also, we’re not one’s to stifle your creative process, but the communication of information is key to a successful invitation, so don’t let looks hinder or obscure the content.

Say Who?

The first of many issues of confusion that can come from non-specific wedding invitations – let people know clearly who you mean to invite. Is there a non-specified ‘plus one’ for single guests? With families, do you mean for children to be invited? Is a relative overly attached to a family pet and need reminding to leave the unwanted animal at home? What ever the specification people need to know, so tell them, (and don’t be afraid to mildly offend people, this is your big day after all!)

Say Where? Say When?

As simple as these issues sound, nothing is more important than telling people where they need to be and when. This means including full addresses and postcodes for wedding and party venues. You will be surprised how many cities, towns and even villages have several churches and event spaces with almost identical names.

When informing people of important times, one of the stumbling blocks can be confusion as to when guests should arrive. If you plan to be in front of the vicar or registrar at 12:30 then you need people to arrive before that time, so it’s important that this information is included. The last thing anyone wants is a continuous arrival of guests as the groom stumbles through the vows.

The pen is messier than the sword.

In the modern era of PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones it’s fair to say that most folk’s handwriting is not as elegant as perhaps it used to be, and it’s also perhaps inevitable that someone is going to have to write the names/addresses on the invitations and envelopes. So consider who that might be – perhaps a Granny still possesses the dark arts of fair handwriting in Indian ink, or maybe employ the services of a professional calligrapher. Whatever you do, keep in mind that an invitation’s first impression is the writing on the front of the envelope.

Check again and again. Or write another cheque.

As anyone in the print industry will tell you, the frustrating truth is that any printed document always needs one more proof read, no matter how many it may have already received. Joiners and carpenters also re-enforce this metaphorical mindset with the wonderful working attitude of ‘measure twice, thrice, four times and cut once’. So, as the title states, check the invite, then check it again, have someone else check it, leave it a couple of days and then give it the final check. Then perhaps once more for safety – and again just before you send the email to approve the invitation.

Give the people time.

The one thing that you absolutely want on your wedding day is to have all of your most cared for friends and family in a room, in the same place and at the same time to share in the happiest day of your lives. Now, as simple as this may sound go and try and arrange a simple dinner with even a small set of friends and family, at short notice and see how that works out? Exactly. People are difficult no matter how important your happiness is to them, and the best way to make sure everything goes to plan is to give people as much notice as you possibly can. How much time is your personal choice, but the amount of time should at least be best described in the unit of months, not weeks!

Spares and Repairs

What is an absolute given with the game of chess that is choosing who and how many to invite to your wedding, is that you’re going to need spare invitations. Whether they ‘go missing in the post’, or the likely ‘second round’ of invites to people who didn’t make the first cut, but are now bumped up due to a couple of selfish aunties and uncles being on an ‘un-movable’ cruise of the Caribbean (can you sense the personal experience with that one?) Or, perhaps you might want to keep a few in your memory box. In any event, printing only the numbers that your initial guest lists tells you that you will need is never enough.

To gift, or not to gift? That IS the question.

The final potential footfall in this list is with regards to how you may want to deal with the sensitive matter of wedding gifts. As is the case with the ‘who to invite’ conundrum, this is your big day and you should not be ashamed, or afraid, to set out exactly how you would like this aspect of your wedding to transpire. NOBODY wants three toasters, especially in this day in age of couples living together long before they get married and likely investing in their own much loved toasting device. But, as with the big ‘who’ question, you need to be clear in your instructions and remember, people really do want to know what they should do to contribute and make you happy on your big day.

‘Retournez S’il Vous Plait’?

Finally, make sure it’s clear how your intended guests can inform you of their wish to be part of your wedding. In this digital age this can take many forms; Facebook pages, text message groups, emails and even, believe it or not, hand written letters. So, make sure all of the relevant addresses, weblinks and telephone numbers printed are accurate and obvious. Family wars have been started over less than an un-received wedding RSVP and the resulting chaos.

There you have it, our take on what to look out for when creating the always important wedding invitation. We’d love to be a part of the process and help you even more by achieving the best quality print for your invites and we can also be on hand to help guide you through a couple of the points we’ve mentioned above. (Not your relatives though, you’re on your own with them.)