Wedding Stationery 101: The Complete Guide

Don't know where to start with your wedding stationery? Today on the blog we have the super talented Dimitria, from Dimitria Jordan Stationery, to walk us through what you'll need, why you need to do it and when it needs to happen. Over to you, Dimitria...

Your wedding stationery reflects you as a couple, your wedding theme and style. There is a lot to consider when beginning your wedding stationery; which items you will require, when to order, your budget, and most importantly, the design. The design will be carried across all your items – from your save the dates right through to your thank you cards. It’s really important you choose something that you adore everytime you look at them!

Todays post covers various information about your wedding stationery, as well as a handy stationery checklist. I hope you find it useful! Let’s begin...

Design

The first decision to make is the style of your stationery, which will depend on the theme of your wedding. A few examples could be rustic, modern, vintage, or florals. The design will also reflect your colour theme, which is important to set the tone of your special day. 

Print finishes and card stocks

This will again depend on your theme. A rustic wedding, for example, will complement well with kraft card. A modern design would best suit a smooth card stock, and pearlised card is a subtle but elegant way of adding a sense of luxe and sparkle to any design. Pearlised card suits many styles.

Gold foil is a specialised print finish that adds a luxurious and chic feel to your invitations.   

Timelines

Knowing when is best to send each item of stationery will help you plan in advance. Below is a general guideline.

For weddings in the UK

Save the Dates: 6-8 months before 

Invitations: 6-8 weeks before.

For destination weddings

Save the Dates: Up to 12 months before

Invitations: 12 weeks before

What to include in your invitation set

The amount of information you include with your stationery is personal preference. Your stationery suite can be just an invitation with rsvp details on, an invitation and separate rsvp, or a whole bundle of paper pretty! Below are suggestions of other items to include in your wedding suite for your guests.

These could be as a separate card(s) or on the reverse of your main invitation.

• Accommodation. Nearby hotels and any special discount you have secured.

• Local taxi numbers for guests to arrange pick up / drop off in advance

• Directions to the venue, which could include a map.

• Public transport links

• A rough itinerary of your day.

• Gift information – if you have a gift list, the number can be listed here. 

• Website – if you wanted to provide your guests with lots of information or simply preferred the additional information online, you can provide a website address to direct your guests to.

• Transport information if you are providing any transport for guests e.g. from the Church to the venue

On the day stationery 

Once your invitation sets have been sent out and your wedding day becomes closer, you will start thinking about how everything will look on our wedding day. The flowers, venue styling, catering and wedding cake will all seamlessly showcase the theme of your wedding, and your on-the-day stationery will also play a major part in the overall look. Below is a list of items you may want to consider:

• Table plan – the classic style is a large mounted sign. They can be displayed in various ways, such as within a frame or on a stand. 

• Menu – these can be placed on each guests place setting, or you could have one per table. Menus can also be personalised with the guests name if desired, so your place card and menu are together.

• Order of service booklets – for Church services

• Place cards – these can be personalised with each guests name printed.

• Table name signs for each table

• Signs within the venue e.g. welcome sign, cake signs for a dessert table.

Guestbook ideas

If you are looking for a stylish alternative to a guestbook, wedding advice cards are fun and interactive for your guests. They can be placed on each place setting, or on a dedicated table within your venue for guests to write their messages. Below are a few examples of personalised wedding advice cards, which we offer within all of our studio collections. We also have generic designs with the option to personalise with your names and wedding colours. 

Thank you cards

Your wedding begins and ends with your stationery. After your special day, thank you cards are a lovely way of thanking your guests personally for being a part of your wedding. Thank you cards can be in various formats and sizes, but generally are as a postcard size with a design on the front with space for writing on the back, or in a greeting card style. 

It is advisable to send out your thank you cards as soon after the wedding as possible.

If you have any questions I would love to hear from you.

Dimitria x