Wedding Invitations: What to Include?

I'm back to my regular schedule of updating on Wednesdays... Last week got to be so hectic, I pushed it til' Sunday. This time of year can be full of pressure as an unending stream of creative ideas needs to be churned out. I have secured about 50 new fonts, as well a new army of scrolling, flourishing elements, so I am armed and ready for battle.

The last two weeks were dominated with notes and tips about printing your invitations. I admittedly work full time as a print production manager and have been in the printing industry for 13 years now. I CAN get a little technical when discussing inks and so forth, so bear with me.

This week, I wanted to back away from the technical and start talking about some fun stuff, like what to include in your invitation suite! Different weddings have different stationery needs. A wedding being held in the same location as the reception is treated differently than a destination wedding. The key question to ask yourself here is: "What do my guests need to know?"

Invitation Panel - But of course... The "meat and potatoes" of your invitation. ALL of your main wording goes here:







ENCLOSURE CARDS - These can be tricky... While almost all invitations will need the main invitation panel, the cards you enclose will vary depending on the event. The following is a brief description of each card's function/purpose:

Reception Card - Contains all of the information pertinent to your reception. Location and start time of the cocktail hour (if applicable) and the time when dinner will be served.

Hotel Accommodation Card - Lodging for out-of-town guests. Details on where you have blocked out rooms, the rate(s) and the deadline(s) to book.

Directions Card - Turn-by-turn directions or a small illustration of a map, depending on how difficult it is to find your venues. To save money, you can make the accommodation/direction card two-sided vs. having two separate cards.

Rehearsal Dinner Card - Will only go to those closely related to the wedding; your close family and members of the wedding party. Not absolutely necessary, but a nice way to start coming up with a count early.

Pre or Farewell Brunch (or special event/activity) Insert - Many times, there is an "after-wedding" or "pre-wedding" event that you may want to invite guests to. I once had a bride get married in St. Louis, and she included a card inviting everyone to the Cardinals game the next day! Fun!

R.S.V.P. Card - "Répondez s'il vous plaît" is a French phrase that means "Please, answer". This card can either be accompanied by an envelope with a postage stamp, or it can just indicate a phone number for guests to call (this is becoming more and more popular as couples are "value engineering" their invitations).









Hope you enjoyed the overview! Now start making some decisions based on the uniqueness of your own event!

Next week, I'll share some of the cool stuff I've been working on. I can't wait to show you! 2010 is shaping up to me my most creative season yet!