Books have been written about choosing your wedding stationery. There are so many different styles, paper stocks, ink colors, lettering styles and sizes of cards and envelopes to choose from that it can leave the bride-to-be flummoxed. But it needn't be that way.
Take Time
When the decision to have a wedding has been made the person responsible for the stationery, be it the bride, the bride and groom, or the bride's mother, should consult a professional who has experience in wedding invitations. This can be a wedding planner, a bridal shop, a stationery or jewellery store, or another reliable source.
The stationery should be chosen when the date of the ceremony is decided on and the guest list is complete. The wedding party that finds itself short because they remembered to invite a few more distant cousins at the last minute will no doubt be charged extra by the stationer. The stationery should be chosen from three to six months before the ceremony, so the wedding party can have time to proofread it and address the envelopes.
Simple or Elaborate?
Invitations can be as simple or elaborate as the bridal party wants and can afford. Stationery can be square, round, rectangular, decorated with lace and bows, laser cut, and even decorated with tiny gemstones. Its colors can be coordinated with the bridesmaid's gowns, or created around a theme such as a beach wedding or ethnic wedding.
Simple invitations can be handwritten if the wedding is going to be small or informal. But a large and formal wedding needs formal stationery. The traditional formal invitation has a fold on the left side, with letters written in black ink. The stationery is printed on heavy cream, ivory colored or ecru paper, and the invitation is sent in a sturdy double envelope. The type is engraved or set in a process called thermography. In engraving, the paper is pressed on an etched metal plate and the letters are in bas relief, which is elegant and feels good to the touch. However, engraving is expensive. In the less expensive thermography, ink and powder are fused together to create an effect like engraving. Most people can't tell the difference.
Other procedures for printing the stationery are laser printing, which is for informal weddings, stationery printed out on a home computer, or calligraphy. Calligraphy is quite elegant and can be done on computer or by hand. A calligrapher makes a master of the wedding invitation, which is then replicated through engraving or thermography.
The Paper
Formal invitations have an outer envelope, an inner envelope and tissue paper. A cheap wedding invitation, printed on good, heavy card stock, is inserted fold side down in the unsealed inner envelope along with a response card, reception card, ceremony card and perhaps even directions to the venue. Then, the inside envelope is place in the larger outside envelope. The bride might also want to order thank you notes and change of address cards. After all this, she can turn her attention to the many, many other things that will make her big day memorable.
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