There are so many options for wedding stationery and invitation styles available these days; it’s hard not to become influenced by what other people have had. But it’s your big day, so only you and your other half know the perfect invitation for you. Make sure that once you’ve chosen your favourite designs, you ask for samples to be sent to you so that you can check the quality. This is supposed to be fun, so take a deep breath and consider the following invitation details before deciding on your final design.
Define your wedding stationery & style
Along with listing the location and time of day, the invitation – and, more specifically, its style – hints at the formality of your wedding. Before you start shopping for stationery, you should know the type of event you’re throwing – classic and elegant, casual and relaxed, or glam and modern – so you can choose an invitation style that hits the same note. Then browse stationers’ websites and other couples’ wedding invitations to gather inspiration so you can give your stationer an idea of what you like.
These styles can easily be applied to most wedding stationary from simple floral elements to elegant vintage designs.
- Rustic/Country: Elements include wooden patterns and burlap or barn accents.
- Vintage: Vintage styles play on design elements of an older era, such as an art deco style.
- Nautical: Nautical invitations often include elements from the sea or sailboat patterns.
- Elegant: There are many different types of elegant invitations. However, these styles typically focus on simplicity with a few unique design elements.
- Simple: Simple invitations focus less on design elements and more on the clarity of the message. They may also be called minimalistic.
- Traditional/Classic/Formal: Traditional wedding invitations focus more on the wording and a simple yet thematic design.
- Floral: Floral invitations feature plenty of flowers and other nature-inspired design elements.
- Modern: Couples who choose modern wedding invitations can expect straightforward style typography and unique artistic elements.
- Tropical: These elements include flowers from the tropics and palm trees. Tropical invitations are especially perfect for destination weddings.
- Seasonal: Couples can also choose invitations stylized for fall, winter, spring, or summer based on colour schemes and other natural elements.
Know your colours
Think about your wedding colours too. You may want to incorporate your hues and a motif (if you have one) into your wedding invitations—and then carry them throughout the rest of your wedding paper (like the escort cards, menus and ceremony programs) for a cohesive look. While ivory, cream, or white card stock paired with a black or gold font is the classic choice for formal wedding invitations, you can also brighten your invites with colourful or metallic fonts, paper stock, envelopes and liners. Keep readability in mind when choosing your colours (more on that later).
Wedding Invitation Shapes & Sizes
A 115mm by 160mm rectangular card is the standard size and shape for wedding invitations. But couples are channelling more playful or modern vibes with circular, scalloped and square invitations. Don’t forget that veering away from the standard envelope size can increase the postage—bulky or extra-large invites may cost more to send.
We’ve broken down the different invite shapes and sizes below to help.
- Tri-Fold: invitations fold into thirds, accordion-style. These styles often cost more than the standard invitation.
- Gate Fold: The two front folded halves open up to reveal the inside message in a gatefold. This style also often costs more than the standard invitation.
- Flat: A flat invitation is a standard, traditional style. There are no folds on the card, and therefore no additional costs.
- Square: Square invitations have the basic ninety-degree angles for corners, making them the standard shape for invitations.
- Bracket: As the name sounds, brackets have bracketed sides along all four edges.
- Round: These cards are similar to the square shape but with rounded corners.
- Ticket: A ticket-style invitation has inverted rounded corners, similar to an old-fashioned ticket.
- Scalloped edges appear like a series of repeating curves across every edge of an invitation.
- Landscape vs. Portrait Orientation: Landscape orientation refers to the card printed with the top and bottom edges as the longest sides and the right and left edges as the shorter sides. Portrait orientation is the opposite.
Wedding invitation fonts
As you consider colours and patterns, don’t forget about the text—the information you put on the invitation is the whole point of sending it out in the first place. Your stationery can help, but, in general, avoid light ink on light backgrounds and dark ink on dark backgrounds. Yellow and pastels are tricky to read, so if you’re going with those, make sure the background contrasts enough for the words to pop, or work those colours into the design rather than the text. Also, be wary of hard-to-read fonts like an overly scripted typeface—you don’t want to sacrifice readability for pretty letters.
Fonts, or typeface, describe the style of letters or characters of an invitation. Wedding invitation fonts often combine a sans serif, serif, script, or other unique typefaces. Choosing what font type works best for your invitations largely depends on your invitation theme and style. To help, we’ve broken down the four main typeface styles for you below:
- Serif: A serif is a small line attached to the end of a letter or symbol within a family of fonts. A typical example of a serif font family is Times New Roman. This font is a popular choice for classic wedding invitations.
- Sans Serif: A sans serif is the opposite of a serif, lacking the more minor strokes attached to the letters. Helvetica is one of the most popular sans-serif fonts available.
- Script: Scripts fonts aim to mimic the fluid strokes in handwriting. Thanks to the elegance of the typeface, many script fonts are standard in wedding invitations. One of the most popular wedding script fonts is the condensed, calligraphic script font called Windsong.
- Unique Fonts: Anything outside the three categories above would be considered a unique font. For example, “Paper Font,” a popular wedding invitation typeface, was created by a designer who cut the letters from the paper before digitizing them.
Choose your words wisely
Learn the rules for wording your invitation. Traditionally, whoever is hosting is listed first on the invitation. Customarily, it would be best if you spelled everything out, including the time of the ceremony. On classic wedding invitations, there’s always a request line after the host’s name—like “so and so request the honour of your presence.” The wording can change as the hosting situation does, so double-check you’ve added everyone who should be included.
Don’t crowd the card
List only the key points on your invitation: ceremony time and location, the hosts, your and your fiancé’s names, the dress code (optional) and RSVP information. Trying to squeeze too much onto the invitation card can make it harder to read, and it won’t look as elegant. Leave things like directions to your wedding venue and details about post-wedding activities for your wedding website and/or print them on separate enclosure cards. One piece of information that doesn’t belong anywhere on your suite is where you’re registered. The only good place to list registry information is on your wedding website.
Start Early
Your save-the-dates should go out 8 to 10 months before the wedding. Printing them can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks—or longer, depending on how fancy you go—to take. While your save-the-dates don’t have to match your invites, ordering everything from one stationer can save you money and make the invitation process more manageable. So start scouting stationers 9 to 11 months before the wedding. Aim to order your invitations about four to five months out so they’re ready to mail 8 to 10 weeks before the wedding. If you’re having a destination wedding or marrying over the holidays, send your invites even earlier (12 weeks before the wedding).
Get Your Dates Straight
Include your RSVP information in the bottom right corner of your invitation or a separate enclosure. Make the deadline no more than three or four weeks after guests receive the invitations. Check with your caterer first to determine when they’ll need the final headcount. Remember, the more time you give guests to reply, the more likely they will forget, but you’ll need time to assemble the seating chart. Your final count may affect the number of centrepieces and other décor elements, which your vendors must finalize a few weeks before the wedding.
What To Include On A Wedding RSVP Card
The most important things to include on a wedding RSVP or response card are as follows:
- A blank line for guests to fill in their names.
- The RSVP reply due date. Use a date three to four weeks before the wedding date.
- The “will attend” line. Short and straightforward, this phrase can say anything like “Yes, I will attend your wedding.”
- The “unable to attend” line.
- A choice of entrées.
Triple-Check the Proof
Before your invitation order is printed, your stationer will send you a proof (either a hard copy or an email attachment of the invite mock-up). Don’t just have your partner and mom read it over. Ask your grammar-savvy bridesmaid to check the proof before you okay it. You’d be surprised at what you may miss (pay special attention to details like date, time, and spelling). Borrow a tip from copy editors and read the proof word for word from right to left, so you don’t accidentally gloss over any mistakes.
Don’t forget the rest of your stationery
Order your menus, programs and thank-you notes with your invitations. That way, your stationery can include all pieces in one order, saving you money and time. It’s also an excellent way to ensure all your stationery has a cohesive look, even if you want to vary the design slightly for each element (switching the dominant colour or alternating between two patterns, for example). Also, don’t forget those small items like favour tags and welcome bag notes.
Remember Your Thank-Yous
Track RSVPs as they come in using a guest list manager tool or spreadsheet. Include a column where you can note what each guest gives you. Then, as the wedding gifts start rolling in, write your thank-you notes so you don’t fall behind. For any presents received before the wedding, you should send a thank-you note within two weeks. Give yourself a month for those given on or after the wedding day.
Whatever you decide to include, it’s usually best to think about all your stationery at once and order ahead to ensure you can create a cohesive vision for your day, starting with the element that carries it through from beginning to end.
