Choosing the Right Invitations for Your Wedding

Choosing your wedding invitations can be an overwhelming process. If you aren't certain about the style you want, you should first take an afternoon with your would-be partner and spend some time at a local stationer's looking through the books of invitations. As you go through the books, you will be able to pick out things you like about certain invitations as well as things you don't. For example, you may find that you both like very ornate scripts or vellum overlay, but dislike green ink for the text.

You also may want to jump online to do some more research or you may even join an online community where there are bulletin boards devoted exclusively to invitations. These communities foster a creative spirit, with many members providing photos of their creations as well as instructions/templates so others may create the same or similar pieces.

When conducting your search, you will find that there are many different types of invitations and terminology used to describe these invitations. Understanding these terms will go a long way toward helping you select the ones that are right for you.

Seal and Send Invitations

Seal and send invitations are mailed to guests as a single-folded piece without an envelope. These invitations have the respond postcard attached to the invitation by a perforation for easy removal. Since the respond piece is a postcard, you will save on postage for the return mailing. Prices for this type of care normally includes seals along with a printed return address on both the back flap.

Wedding Reception Cards

If there is not enough room on your invitation for listing the details of your reception or if not all guests will be invited to attend the reception, reception cards can be ordered to match your invitations These can then be included as a separate insert. Please keep in mind that this card could possibly add to your mailing cost since postage is based on weight.

Wedding Respond Cards

Wedding response cards are important to planning for your dinner/reception since a precise guest attendance count will be needed for food and seating preparation. The response card along with its mailing envelope will be inserted with your invitation. Remember to include a postage stamp on this small envelope, which will also have a mailing address already printed on it so all your guests have to do is fill out the card and mail it back by the date you have printed on it.

Map Cards

Map cards are direction cards that are included as a convenience for any guests who might not be familiar with the location of the church and/or reception.

In reality, wedding cards are very difficult to select. To begin with, there are many different designs to select from. Next, you have to consider the color and wordings as well as details such as the font. To make the process easier, it is a good idea to decide upfront whether you want your card to look formal or to have a modern laid back appearance. Do you want your invitation to be extravagant or to just have a simple design?

Even though you have lots of confusion on the design and color, it is always better to take time to select your wedding cards. You might spend a whole day selecting the right invitations, but it is time well spent.

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