Personalised Wedding Stationery You Will Need!
Planning a wedding is no easy task with every aspect being extremely time consuming and becoming increasingly more expensive year on year with the average wedding costing £20,493 in 2021 and 2022. It is understandable why most couples want everything on their special day to look & run perfectly. Your wedding is meant to be a moment you cherish for life so why not work on every single little detail?
With the price of living increasing rapidly it is even
harder for you and your spouse to not only set a but to stay within a
reasonable budget. At the Card Zoo we have been working hard to provide our
customers with affordable yet high quality wedding stationery that will complement
their desired theme. You are also able to personalise the stationery to suit
your wedding plans & guests!
Following our guide to wedding stationery below and we will help you find what
you need for a reasonable price & when you should send them out!
Before The Wedding
Before you even start planning the big day there is several moments you need to consider and plan. For example, you will need to invite friends and family to the engagement party, send out a number of save-the-date cards, bridal showers, hen parties/stag dos plus extra optional bits like rehearsal dinners.
Some of the stationery must haves are:
Depending on the type of party you plan to have will heavily dictate the type of invite you need & when it will be sent. Formal engagement parties tend to be sent out much earlier than casual affairs. The reason for this comes down to the required effort the guests will have to make i.e., smarter clothing, planning their calendars to suit the event. Typically, you want to send formal engagement invitations out two or three months before the party date. The other aspect you need to consider is who will be sent an engagement invite. If you are just inviting close friends and family a more casual design & wording can be used but if the invites extend to the wider family, you will want to try a more traditional invitation.
Engagement invites should include the location, date, time & if there is any dress code needed.
This is the very first thing your friends and family should receive. Save-the-date cards are not mandatory by any means but if you are looking to send one try to aim to deliver them around 6 months to a year before the date. This gives all your guests plenty of time to make sure they are free and can lead to higher acceptance rates. Cards like these should include information like the date, time, location and that you will send a formal invitation soon. It also allows the guests who cannot make it chance to tell you which helps reduce costs or inviting new people.
A bridal shower is a chance for bride’s closest friends and family to gather in honour of the bride, bring traditional gifts to help prepare for married life and goods or financial aid to ensure the wedding can not only take place but to run as smoothly as possible. These types of events are normally organised by the bridal party and invites should be sent out two to three months before the big day.
There are lots of important roles at your wedding that need to be covered by your closest friends & family. A great way to ask them is to send them a cute will you be card. These cards are perfect as they will be able to keep and cherish them forever! There is not a dedicated time frame these cards need to be sent out but, in our opinion, earlier the better. This will help you keep track and plan around certain people.
A hen do & stag do is your last chance to enjoy the single life. A party you throw with your nearest and dearest to celebrate the upcoming marriage. Traditionally only women attend hen dos & only men attend stag dos but as you can imagine this is no longer the case!
The Wedding Invitations
Now this is the big one, the first thing that really sets
the wedding theme & mood. There are three core parts to wedding invitations
you should consider.
1. The Formal Wedding Invitation
2. RSVP cards
3. Guest Information cards
Money cards are not essential but can be included in the invitations and potentially a fourth element you should use!
This should be the biggest and the most substantial card of the three. It should include the core details of the wedding such as who is hosting the wedding, who is getting married, the date & time and the deadline guests should RSVP by. (Extra information will be included on the Guest Information card) Other things you can include is the specific part of the wedding to which they are invited. For example, if they are invited to the ceremony, reception & evening do make sure you clearly say this. The same applies to guests who are only invited to the meal or evening do.
These cards are essential. When planning the wedding you need to know exactly how many people will attend so various of aspects can cover the correct number of people such as the meal for example. A simple yet effective card that can save some much time and hassle.
These are not as essential as the other two but can be extremely helpful when it comes to supplying large information such as local accommodations, specific directions to the venue, local taxi numbers and so on.
The invitation, RSVP & guest information cards should be sent out 2 to 3 months before the big day. Thanks to your save the date cards these invites will not come as a surprise and chances are you should already have an idea who can and cannot attend prior to the invites.
These are not essential but are a great & polite way to inform your guests what gifts you would like and would work best for you. A lot of the time gifts can be hard to find so asking for money means you can find something that is right for you and avoid receiving multiple items! Money Poem Cards can be sent out with the invitations.
Top Tip
RSVP stands for ‘répondez s'il vous plaît,’
in French which translates into
“Please Respond” (not as romantic in English!) so do not worry about putting
‘Please’ on the RSVP card!
The Wedding Day
On the big day there are loads of other touches you can add to your wedding to really finish off the aesthetic such as Drink Tokens, Signs & Menus. These may be considered small items of stationery but adding them to you wedding can supply a unique touch.
Tokens like these are a fantastic way to thank your guests for attending your wedding & celebrate the big day. It is up to you how many drinks you want to give away but nevertheless it is still a cute gesture we are sure your friends and family will love!
These are essential when trying to organise lots of people attending the wedding meal. They appoint where a guest should be sitting & help the venue figure out what meal each guest should have. Name place cards will help turn a hectic situation into a calm affair.
This is an important piece of stationery especially for couples having large weddings with many guests. Helping with organisation these cards simply sit on the table and show the guests from a far which table is which.
An order of service card helps break down the day and dictate when and where guests should be. These are not essential but having them in place takes a stressful job off you, your partner & the bridal party/best men. These cards are like the order of the day signs but unlike the order of the day signs you tend to print enough cards for each guest to have.
On top of the name place cards having a table plan is necessary for every wedding. Table plans clearly dictate who is sitting on each table & who is sitting on the top table. Using the table plan guests can find which table they are sitting at; the table numbers then show where in the room they are sitting & the name place cards show exactly what seat they should be in.
Having a wedding sign at your wedding is ideal for welcoming guests, spreading messages, supplying instructions & adding cute décor to your day. For example, signs can include messages like “Cards & Gifts Go Here,” “Love Is Sweet Please Take a Treat” or “If You Instagram Please Use #JohnandLucysWedding.” Of course, you can add any text you like!
Menu Cards give your guests a good overview of the food on offer. Some menus can include options for the guests to choose from such as starters, sides or deserts and other menus can simply highlight the food that is available which works perfectly for buffets.
These are very similar to the order of service cards and help dictate what is happening throughout the day. The only difference is order of the day tend to be much larger (between A5 & A1) which is put on display for multiple people to read where order of service cards tend to be printed multiple times and handed out.
After The Wedding
Once the big day has come and gone and your home from the honeymoon it is time to sit down, reflect on the wedding & thank your guests for attending & bringing gifts. You should typically include the guests name, what they brought & a note of appreciation. Try to send these out within 3 weeks of receiving the gifts if possible!
At The Card Zoo we supply all the above plus cards & gifts! Everything can be personalised to suit your needs. Available in a wide range of designs you will be able to find something to suit your wedding’s theme. If you are looking for a gift and card for your partner, friends, or family we have you covered! The wedding collection includes a range of personalised gifts and cards you can send the happy couple. Explore our Acrylic Blocks here & personalised wedding cards here.
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