Wedding Invitations - Connecting People

Wedding invitations are an important part of planning any wedding day celebration, as they invite those people closest to the happy couple to come be part of one of the most important days in their lives. Invitations signify to the people being invited how important it is they bear witness to the couple uniting in holy matrimony.

Whether it be for five people or five hundred people, wedding invitations should reflect on the creativity and personal style of the couple being wed. They can be very expensive, or inexpensively made; the real point of the wedding invitation is not how cute the card can be, but whether the wedding information is properly conveyed to direct guests to the right location at the right time on the right day.

The invitations can be as simple as an email with a nice background, or homemade on card stock. They can include glitter and paint, or be printed professionally on elegant paper with script and decoration. Invitations can be delivered in person, as well; as long as guests know how to RSVP to the invite, the choices are infinite.

With the information included on the invite should be how to respond to the invitation, what time and date the wedding will be taking place, and if there are any gift requests or clothing preferences. The wedding invitation might also specify any other personal information the couple might choose, like where the reception will be, or the honeymoon.

As with a lot of decisions made in a new marriage, reflecting on personal choices as a couple is an important step in the right direction, and there's no better place to try out joint decisions and creativity than with a wedding invitation. The sentiment will be one to treasure for years to come, and will be a beautiful reminder of the day that two people joined their individual lives into one.

Discount Wedding Invitations

For sticking to a wedding budget, it is very important to cover all aspects of expenses you feel you may incur during the wedding planning stage and finding out about places you can get discounted décor and wedding paraphernalia is simply the best way to begin organizing the celebrations! With discount wedding invitations, there is a lot of variety made available to the happy couple tying the knot, but at lower prices than they could hope to get at regular card stores, which make great first impressions on guests when they take a look at these glitzy, classic, fun or ornate invites - for the choice is endless, if you just care to look around a bit!

The wedding invite you choose for inviting your near and dear ones should give the best impression about the kind of people you are and be in keeping with the general décor at the wedding venue or theme, if you're planning on having one.

Some people who are sentimental about wedding invitations from friends or family or simply love collecting great-looking wedding invites end up keeping these as keepsakes in memory of the event, which is also a delightful thought, don't you think?

With the advent of discounted wedding invitation stockists emerging in every possible American market - and even online - there is no dearth of styles and prices for discounted wedding invitation. It is just as easy to get confused over which one to pick as you are bound to have loads of choice with colors, effects, embossing and even precious stone embedded ones that make superb style statements for your taste.

Do start off with keeping an approximate wedding invitation budget in your mind when you visit the discount store stocking wedding invites as you don't want to end up going overboard when you see the variety and styles on display and end up exceeding the budget for these - and in turn, upsetting the rest of the wedding budget.

Depending on the kind of wedding you are planning - simple and elegant or grand and sophisticated or any other style you can think of - you can go about searching the perfect discounted wedding invite, while always keeping a tract of the budget. Alternately, you can approach the store with cards and design that you may have liked particularly and collected in the past.

Another great way to give a personal stamp to the wedding invites and also to keep the costs down is to buy the easily available printing kits from the local stationery or wedding materials store (also check out stores on the Internet) and begin on a DIY (do it yourself job) - it surely will be one-of-a-kind and have your unmistakable stamp of individuality on it! This is more than likely to be kept by many loved ones as a creative effort on your part and thus, serve as a sweet reminder of your happy occasion.

Most traditional wedding invitations contain only text, not graphics and are typically upright and folded straight with the text engraved on the right. These type of cards are usually in white or cream with the text in silver or black; however, gold embossing is also very popular.

Choosing Your Wedding Invitations

Often your wedding stationery is the last thing that you look for before your big day. However don't leave it too long as you need to ensure there is enough time for your wedding invitations to be printed, delivered to your guests and for the RSVP to be received.

Most large department stores carry a range of wedding stationery, often by the big suppliers such as Collisons, CCA Occassions, Letterpress of Cirencester and Belarto. They will usually have wedding stationery albums on display. These books show the many styles of stationery they supply, ordering information and a price list. You may find these useful as you can see your chosen wedding invite in the flesh. However, these department stores are not always the best value for money. Instead try looking at online retailers as most of these offer a discount off the RRP. The majority of the wedding invitations you see in department stores will be available online, however, some retailers offer exclusive designs. However what you may not know is that some of this exclusive wedding stationery is not all that exclusive. Often these designs are printed by one of the major suppliers and has been adapted from a previous design. The original wedding invitation design is probably still available to purchase and at a lower price.

If you would prefer a handmade look to your wedding invitations you may want to try a smaller wedding stationer. Looking in the Yellow pages and visiting local wedding fayres is a good place to start. Handmade invites can add a more personal touch to your wedding but you may need to add extra time for your stationery to be made. Most handmade stationers will also provide a bespoke service, however, there may be an extra charge for this.

Some Graphic Designers will also design bespoke wedding stationery for you. This is more pricey than handmade stationery and therefore is not for everyone. But if you are looking for bespoke stationery professionally designed then this is the best way to go. These designers will often use printing techniques that are not available to most handmade stationers.

Most wedding invitation stationers, large and small, will have a website. Some smaller websites will not have the facility to buy online but will usually have some sort of picture gallery. Take a look at these, even if you do not find what you want it will give you some inspiration. Some retailers provide free wedding invitation samples and brochures, request as many of these as you can before making your final order.

You may also want to contact local printing companies. Many of these are also Collisons, CCA Occasions and Belarto agents. They will usually have wedding stationery albums for you to look through and may provide a discount. Some companies may even bring the albums out to your own home.

Informal Wedding Invitations

Writing invitations for informal weddings is a bit different than invitations for more formal ones. Since we have encountered many that have struggled to piece their invite together, we have provided some tips on writing an informal wedding invite below.

Does "keep it simple stupid" ring a bell? Well, KISS couldn't be more applicable to Informal Wedding Invites. Most people forget that they have to include a significant amount of information in their invites and thus proceed to cram it with useless junk. Overcrowding your invite is one of the worst things you can do. Not only may you confuse guests, but you may also encourage them to gloss over important information. Find a special quote or an excerpt from a poem, select a place for it in your invite and wrap up the process. There's no need to add additional reading material.

While addressing your potential guest in the invite, feel free to use lower diction wording - just don't exaggerate. You want to avoid using slang words or any other words that could be considered inappropriate.

Finally, don't focus too much attention on the small details. Many people spend days trying to decide whether a particular part of their informal invite needs to be capitalized or italicized. These types of things aren't important to us. If we were writing a more formal invite, we would dedicate much more attention to these smaller details.

As a final reminder, be sure to mail out your invitations several weeks prior to your wedding. You don't want to procrastinate on the wedding invitation process and have the invites mailed out a mere week before the wedding. You need to give your guests plenty of notice before you hold your wedding. Otherwise, you may find that attendance is minimal. Get working on your invites as quickly as possible to ensure that everyone on your guest list makes it to your wedding.

Use Your Wedding Invitation to Solicit

Marriages that are rooted in their community survive and thrive better than marriages that are isolated whether by choice or circumstance. The beginning of romance is somewhat isolating as it's so heady and wonderful. It's hard to believe that anyone else can understand the magic. And so you spend a lot of time getting to know one another and figuring out how this relationship might work for you.

And you should do that.

But there comes a time when you step back into your community. You start doing things with friends in addition to your solo dates. You want to introduce your beloved to your family and closest friends so that they can understand the love that is transforming your life. You want them to come to know your beloved. Eventually you decide that you want to marry and you consider whom you want to invite to the wedding.

Remember that the focus of your wedding should be your wedding ceremony and the wedding vows that will be the foundation for your marriage. You can begin to build support for your marriage by creating an Invitation that explains to your guests

1. that they are your beloved friends.
2. that you want them to witness and celebrate your wedding vows.
3. that you will want them to support you and your marriage in the future.

Use your invitation to inform your Wedding Guests they have a vital role to play in your life going forward. You want them to come to your wedding with realistic and heightened expectations of what they will see and what role they will play in your life and marriage.

A typical wedding invitation craves the pleasure of your presence at the nuptials of the beloved couple. You want an invitation that does more. You want to let your wedding guests know that you are excited to have them at your wedding ceremony to witness your wedding vows. You might explain that you know you will need their loving support and celebration to thrive in your marriage, from your wedding day forward.

Everyone worries about the style of the invitation and compares this year's wedding colors against last year's. If people worry about the wording, it's about the poetry rather than the meaning. Unlike a poem, wedding invitations must mean as well as be. If your wedding invitation conveys what you want, you're going to have a group of people who gather to see you exchange your wedding vows who will be excited to support you throughout your life together. That's a wedding ceremony! That's a celebration! And that'll be a great marriage!

Printable Layered Invitations

Tired of looking at the same old wedding invitation choices? Try something different, create your own gorgeous, layered invitations using unique and bold holiday colors.

One of the most delightful aspects of using printable layered invitations for your holiday wedding and wedding events is the color palate to choose from. Here are three of the most popular color palates for holiday celebrations:

1. Vibrant Earth Tones: Bring on the bronzes, browns and flame oranges! For your layered look choose a backer card in one of these earth tones and then layer on a cream invitation card. Then experiment with bold colored ribbon or ribbon edged in silver or gold. So for example, use a bronze backer, a cream invitation printed with brown ink and then accent it with a burnt sienna ribbon. Or try a flame orange backer, a cream invitation card printed with dark orange ink and then an ivory ribbon edged with gold.

2. Bold Holiday Colors: Think red, green, and silver! So for your layered holiday look, choose a red backer card, a white invite card with red ink and accent it with a silver ribbon-- or for a dramatic look, choose a black ribbon that has silver edging. For the truly unique, you can use an emerald green shimmer backer, a white card printed with black ink and accented with a black ribbon edged in silver.

3. Formal Elegance: For a variation on the traditional, use silver, black, or pearl layered invitations. So for example, use a silver shimmer backer card with a white invite card printed with black ink and a silver ribbon. Black can be dressed up in bold colors or in understated elegance. You may use a black backer card, a white invite card and a bold red ribbon for a formal holiday feel. Or use a black backer card, a cream invite card and an ivory ribbon for a sophisticated look. Pearl backer cards can be accented with colored ribbon of your choice or matched with ivory or cream for a lovely, refined feel.

So be creative and unique with the invitations for your wedding, rehearsal dinners and any other events. Make a statement that suits you as a couple and will surprise and delight your guests!

Logistics of Wedding Invite Wording

Most people fail to understand that their wedding invite content needs to embody the caliber of the wedding they will be hosting. There currently exists no type of invite that is universally fit for all sorts of weddings. This leaves you and your future spouse with the chore of deciding what type of wording to use. As if wording isn't a big enough issue on its own, you also have to decide what names go on the invite and in what order. There are many things to consider in this dilemma, including what side of the family is responsible for the heftiest financial contributions.

Many people somehow fall under the impression that wedding invite wording always has to be formal. It really doesn't. You can keep the invite very simplistic and include you and your spouse's name and a request to the particular recipient to make him or herself present and your wedding.

Naming parents in your invite can be quite a complicated process. It's common for a typical invite to first mention the bride's parents, followed by the actual invite, than the name of the groom and his family. While this is not very complex in itself, problems can get quite apparent when divorced or step-parents come into the picture. You want to limit the number of people you name in the invite as you may end up confusing guests. You also want to remember to take your parent's feelings into consideration. Omitting people without first consulting them can result in problems. Thus, be very careful before you strike someone from the wedding invite.

When it comes down to it, you and your soon to be spouse have a lot of control over how your wedding invite is both worded and organized. You need to maintain a certain degree of flow in the invite, but aside from that you are essentially given a lot of flexibility.