Posts from — April 2010

Welcome to Simon from become.co.uk (Our First Guest Writer)

You are months away from your wedding and you’re already extremely excited about this special event in your life. Of course you want to communicate your enthusiasm in your wedding invitation. An invitation is a great way to not only tell your guests about the basic information of when and where the event will take place. It also provides a glimpse of how great your wedding is going to be. Your wedding invitation should therefore look very special:

1. The best way to start the process of choosing your wedding stationery is to be very creative as early as possible. Around 8 months before the wedding, brain storm about your dream design. Then collect and keep all ideas, regularly look back on them and change things that you want to done differently.
2. When you order the invites, don’t just order the exact number. Order ten to twenty more. It is better to have extra invitations left over than running out of invitations in the event that you choose to invite more guests or if there is a misprint or typo on the card. Usually, you will only send one invitation per household unless the child living there is over eighteen years old. Then he or she should also receive an invitation.
3. Whether you are hiring a calligrapher or doing the writing on your own, a handwritten invitation looks always better. A great way to achieve beautiful results is by using a Parker fountain pen . Fountain pens have a huge advantage in that you can write more artistically with them than with other pens.
4. The invitation should also serve as a comprehensive guide to the wedding. Therefore, it should state the names of the wedding hosts, their parents, the names of the bride and groom, the day of the week and time of wedding, address of venues and RSVP information or response cards. It is common in wedding invitations to spell out everything, so don’t abbreviate anything.
5. Print out a list of the guests including their addresses and check it at least twice, if not even more. Make sure there are no typos before getting ready to write or print the address labels. Check it often—it’s better to be safe than sorry and making sure that everyone’s information is correct will save you money and will ensure a great beginning to a wonderful wedding.

Check out Become’s Wedding Etiquette & Gift Ideas page  which offers great Thank You gifts ideas for bridesmaids, flower girls, pageboys, ushers, best men or parents of the newlyweds!

Simon from Shopaholic.become.co.uk

Save The date

There are several factors to consider when you decide to create Save the Date cards:

Cost: Essentially, when you send out cards to announce your wedding date to all of your guests, you have to pay not only for the cards themselves, but postage. Add to that the fact that you have to still send out your formal wedding invitations, which could require extra postage themselves, you’re looking at double or triple the original cost than just your formal invitations. This doesn’t even include a calligraphist if you intend to hire one.

Time: Unless you’ve distributed duties among your wedding party, you probably don’t have time to sit down and order the extra frill of a Save the Date card, wait for it to arrive, gather addresses, stuff envelopes, address and mail them. Your time is probably better spent on other things such as finding your dress, choosing your catering menu or ordering wedding bands.

Don’t let this mislead you, Save the Date cards aren’t a bad thing and do serve a purpose. For some engaged couples, this is the first exciting step to marriage. Some want to showcase their engagement photographs or give out-of-town guests a chance to mark their calendar and make travel arrangements.

So why not just mail your wedding invitation early? Again, there are a few things to consider.

Memory: If you send out invitations to your big day before the typical eight to twelve week timeframe, you risk people forgetting or losing your invitation. Some might RSVP affirmative, forget all about the wedding, and not show up. Yet you paid for them with the caterer and now you’re stuck with a big bill and extra food.

Change of Plans: Unforeseen circumstances might prohibit your guests from coming if they say too soon that they will be attending. Some people have last minute business trips to take or vacations without keeping your wedding date in mind. They will either let you know ahead of time, causing you to have to change your head count to your vendors, or not tell you at all.

Sending wedding invitations early versus Save the Date cards isn’t necessarily the answer, but only you know your friends and family. Save the Date cards will add postage but also serve the same benefit of informing your guests early with the wedding invitation as a follow up reminder. Either way, it’s your wedding!

We are happy to offer samples of our Wedding Invitations or Christening Invitations to help you choose the right design for you. Samples are provided with presentation boxes, Tissue paper wraps and in some cases hand tied bows to show you the optional extras available. Samples are priced at £3.62 each but this does not reflect the actual prices which are design dependant.

 Samples are limited to a maximum of three designs. Should you choose to order your stationery with us the cost of your chosen sample is, of course, refunded against your future order over £70.00. To order your samples please see below and add them to your basket – should you have any difficulties then please contact us and we’ll do all we can to help.

Should you go on to place an order with us from this sample then we do ask for it to be returned as we don’t keep copies and this enables us to get an exact colour match. Any amendments (for example the colour) then please send a colour swatch (a small piece of fabric, ribbon or pantone colour) along with the original sample. From this and our lengthy discussions about your requirements and your wedding invitation insert text we will issue an email proof.

We do not charge for proofs or the colour changes you may require to coordinate the wedding stationery with your wedding theme or colours.
As all wedding stationery samples are handmade to order please allow up to 10 working days for delivery

Please note that wedding stationery samples are boxed and sent first class with Royal Mail.