An important thing to consider when planning your wedding is the stationery – the card stock – including invitations, ceremony programs, and seating arrangements. You want them to be elegant, but at what cost?! There are many options to choose from when printing your stationery. You can hire a professional calligrapher to hand-write everything, which can be very expensive. On the other end of the spectrum, you may decide to save money and print them at home. Whatever you choose, there should be a theme to the stationery, and this theme should match that of your wedding. So what do you need to send out and when? Let’s take a look:
- Save the date – While these are not official invitations to your guests, they’re important for people to mark in their calendars. As unofficial as they are, they should include the location of the wedding, the date, and the names of both the bride and groom. For a destination wedding, send out these cards 8-12 months in advance of the anticipated wedding date. For a local wedding, 4 months notice should be good.
- Wedding invitations – There’s so much that can go into the official wedding invitation. This includes: finalized dates and times, directions, and even a wedding day itinerary if it’s a rather lengthy affair. Included in the wedding invitation suite should be RSVPs, where guests can inform the couple-to-be of dietary restrictions, transportation requirements, preferences for accommodation, and even a song they’d love to hear at the reception. RSVPs also serve as a headcount, so the wedding party knows how many people to plan for. Mail these invitations 3 months ahead for a destination wedding, or 6-8 weeks ahead for a local one.
- Wedding ceremony programs – On the day of the wedding, ceremony programs are a great way to keep guests attentive and even give them a proper timeline of what to expect. You can include the names of speakers, the lyrics to hymns (if it’s at a church), and even honor loved ones gone too soon. Lastly, you can thank your guests for attending in a written message and invite them to the reception afterward for cocktail hour, dinner, and dancing.
- Thank you cards – Finally, you should send out formal thank yous to your guests for having attended. Understand that, as much as you scraped and reached in order to provide such a beautiful and memorable experience for your guests, they too also sacrificed their time and money to see you on your big day. Thank you cards are a great way to wrap up the wedding and recognize family, friends, and loved ones for their continued support.
The wedding stationery is essential. The design and theme gives your guests a sneak peek as to what they can expect. In addition, everybody loves a good wedding, so receiving these letters in the mail will get people excited and give them something to look forward to in the coming months. We at Danversport Yacht Club know that weddings are a time for celebration of the love shared between two people throughout the years. We’d love to host your wedding and reception, as we are the premier venue on the north shore. For more information, Visit our weddings page.
