When it comes to wedding stationery it serves a dual purpose. Of course, it is informational for your wedding guests but it is also one of the key factors in bringing your wedding design together. However, wedding stationery can easily get overwhelming when you think about all the items that are needed from the time you get engaged to the time you send out your gift thank you cards after the wedding. Here is your complete wedding stationery guide so you can create a checklist for all of the items you will need before, during, and after your wedding.
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Pre-Wedding Stationery
Engagement Party
Some couples decide to have an engagement party after getting engaged. If you decide to celebrate saying YES!, send out an invite for your engagement party to those you’d like to celebrate with. If the engagement party is more formal, physical invitations would be more appropriate. However, if you are doing a more casual celebration, a digital invitation is acceptable.
Bridesmaid Proposals
Getting creative with asking your besties to be your bridesmaids has become just as fun as the asking itself. If you’re looking to do a bridesmaid proposal gift including a personalized card is a must. It gives you an opportunity to tell your best gals why you love them to be by your side on your wedding day.
Save-the-Date Cards
Send 6-12 Months Prior to Wedding
Unless you are deciding to have a wedding within a few months, a Save-the-Date card is important to send out to your wedding guests. Most couples spend 12 to 18 months planning their wedding. Since booking your wedding venue is one of the first things that you do in your wedding planning process, you will know your wedding date, in many cases, at least a year prior to the wedding. If you are having a lot of guests coming from out of town or you are doing a destination wedding in a location that needs ample planning time, the sooner you send out your save-the-dates the better. This gives your wedding guests that are planning to attend, enough time to make those plans. With consideration of the location you are holding your wedding celebration in, we recommend sending Save-the-Dates out at least 6 to 12 months prior to your wedding.
Bridal Shower Invitations
Send 3-4 Weeks Prior to Shower
In most cases, your bridesmaids and or family will put together your bridal/wedding shower. Due to this, you will most likely not be ordering your bridal shower invitations. However, if you have a theme that you would love to have, you can let the planners know. Your wedding or bridal shower theme does not have to coordinate with your wedding. It is more common for the theme to be fun, such as a champagne brunch, travel, or Parisian theme. Don’t forget to ask the shower planners for a copy of the invitation as a keepsake.
Bridal Shower Thank Yous
Send Within 2 Weeks After Shower
After your bridal/wedding shower, you will need to send thank yous for the gifts that you received. These thank you cards can include the theme of the shower but it is not necessary. A beautiful, more generic thank you card works as well. Since you will most likely not be sending out the shower invitations, be sure to ask those planning your shower to keep the addresses of all the guests. Also, as you are opening up your gifts designate one of your shower planners to write down who gifted what. This will make it easier for you to properly thank those you receive gifts from.
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party Invites
Send 3 to 4 Months Prior if Having at a Destination Location, 3 to 4 Weeks Prior for Local
Whether you are looking to do something locally or go on a trip with your besties, bachelorette/bachelor parties are always a fun idea. Although invites are not a must, they are a great way to share details with those you’d like to celebrate with. It can definitely enhance the experience, especially if you are doing a themed bachelorette party or trip. These invites can be digital.
Rehearsal Dinner Invites/Menus/Signage
When it comes to a rehearsal dinner, there are no requirements when it comes on to formality. Some couples opted to have a very casual laid-back event, While others prefer a more formal dinner. Traditionally, anyone in the wedding party and out-of-town guests would attend your rehearsal dinner and it would be hosted by the groom’s parents.
If your rehearsal dinner is being hosted by someone else other than you and your future spouse, they would most likely decide if they would like to do invites. If you are hosting or you would like to include invites maybe to match your wedding theme, you definitely can. Also, depending on the formality of the dinner you may also want to include menu cards or welcome/bar signage for dinner.
Wedding Invitations
Send 8-10 Weeks Prior to Wedding
Main Invitation
Depending on the details of your wedding you will have different pieces in your wedding invitation suite that will be sent to guests. However, the main invitation will be included regardless of any other extras that you send with it. Your invitation will state all the details that your wedding guests need to know for the wedding and will be the largest card in your invitation suite.
On your invitation, you should include who is hosting the wedding, who’s getting married, the date/time, name of the venue, location, and attire preference. If by chance you were holding your reception at a different location than your ceremony, you would want to include that as well. However, if you are having the ceremony and reception at the same location, you would put an identification that the reception will be held after the ceremony.
RSVP Card
Request Return 3 Weeks Prior to Wedding
Your response cards are a way for you to get an accurate count of those who are attending your wedding. Even if you are opting to do online RSVPs, it is still important to send physical RSVPs with your invitation suite to your wedding guests. Along with your RSVPs, you will include a stamped envelope so your guests can easily return their responses. Also, do not forget to include a “reply by date”. This will allow you to have enough time to get your final count to the vendors that will need it such as your caterer and baker.
Accommodation Card
If you have prepared a room block or transportation accommodations for your wedding guests, provide a small card with this information inside of your invitation suite This will be very helpful when guests make decisions for their travel plans.
Registry Card
When it comes to your wedding registry information, this is best to be left out of your invitation suite. Instead, include any gift registry details that you may have on your wedding website instead.
Wedding Website Card
If you are creating a wedding website, which we strongly suggest, include a small card with your wedding website’s URL. This will give your wedding guests their go-to location for any wedding details they may need. You can also make a note on this card if you have online RSVPs.
Wedding Day
Welcome Bags Notes/Tags/Information
Some couples decide to create a whole experience for their guests especially if they are opting for a destination wedding or wedding weekend. Wedding welcome bags are a great way to enhance your guest experience. If you are opting for welcome bags, along with the goodies included you will want to include any special information, along with tags or personalized notes.
Ceremony Signs
Regardless of where you are getting married, a welcome sign at the ceremony space is always a nice touch. You can also repurpose this sign for the reception space later in the day.
Along with a standard welcome sign, some couples opt for a sign indicating that they are having an unplugged wedding ceremony. This is an easy way to tell your wedding guests that you would like them to fully enjoy your wedding ceremony without looking at their phone or camera to take pictures or videos.
Ceremony Program
In many cases, your wedding guests will not know all of those that are in your wedding party. Creating a ceremony program, although not required, is a great way to let all your guests know who is standing by your side on your wedding day and how they are related to you. A ceremony program will also include any readings or music so guests can get an idea of how the ceremony will go.
Although you could create a simple cardstock ceremony program, we have seen couples get creative with their ceremony program presentations. If you are having a ceremony outdoors, a fan-style program is a nice touch.
Escort Card/Seating Chart
If you are having a larger wedding, a seating chart is a must. However, we recommend couples consider doing a seating chart regardless of the size of their wedding. This makes sure that the transition from cocktail hour to your reception flows smoothly and guests can easily find where they will be seated at the reception.
You can either opt to do escort cards, in which guests will take the card with their name and table number with them, or you can do a nice wedding seating chart display that provides their name and table number as well.
Place Card
If you are looking to do a more formal wedding with a plated meal, you may want to provide place cards with each guest’s name at the table. This will help your catering deliver the proper meals to the proper guest. It is especially helpful when you have guests with food allergies/ accommodations.
Table Numbers
After you’ve assigned your guests to a reception table, you will need to identify that table so that your guests can find where they are supposed to be. Create table numbers that compliment your wedding design and are large enough for your guests to see.
Menu Cards
Menu cards could be for any style of service that you are using for your reception meal, but are not necessarily essential for a buffet or passed appetizers. These cards help indicate to your wedding guests the meal that is coming and are another nice touch to your wedding reception table design.
Signage
There are various spots throughout your wedding reception where you can include different signage. If you are opting to do signature cocktails along with your wedding bar, create a sign indicating what these are and what they include to be placed at the bar. It is a nice touch and helps the flow of guests getting drinks to move quicker.
You can also create signs for your guest book table and gift table along with any other special areas that you may have at your wedding reception, such as a sweets table.
Wedding Favor Tags
If you are opting to do wedding guest favors, creating a custom tag thanking your wedding guests for coming is a nice personal touch. It doesn’t have to be detailed but could have a little phrase and a thank you for coming note.
After the Wedding
Thank-You Cards
Send within 3 Months After Wedding
Shortly after the wedding, you will want to send out thank-you cards to all those that gave you a wedding gift. Your friends and family took the time to celebrate with you and get you a nice gift so it’s important that these notes are handwritten and personalized. We wouldn’t recommend doing a generic thank you for your gift for all of your thank-yous.
Along with your gift thank yous, we would recommend that you send out thank-you cards to all those in your wedding party. This gives you an opportunity after the craziness of wedding planning to let them know how much it meant to you that they were part of your wedding day.