- Erin Neilson
FIVE questions you NEED to ask yourself before picking out your wedding invitations! (and why!)
So, what makes me think I know how to help you? Well, as some of you reading may know, I used to be the Custom Printing Specialist for Papyrus in Montreal. I would work with vendors such as Crane, Vera Wang, William Arthur, and Carlson Craft.
Because of this, I've been able to work with a ton of brides (and grooms!) helping them craft the perfect paper touches for their special day. I would sit with these clients, for sometimes hours, getting to know them and trying to understand their vision for their perfect day.
These are some questions I would ask my clients:
- Have you picked a date yet?
- Where is the ceremony? Where is the reception?
- How many guests are you inviting?
- Have you worked out a budget yet?
- Are you planning a traditional wedding or is there a theme?
Why are these questions important?
1. Invitations sets the stage for what guests are to expect at your wedding!
2. Depending on how they answered I would be able to get an idea what brand and I should show them and how many pieces of stationary they would potentially need before, during, and after the wedding day.
Have you picked a date yet?
This lets me know what kind of timeline we're looking at, and can give me a hint to a potential color theme depending on the month they're getting married.
Where is the ceremony? Where is the reception?
I would ask this because if the ceremony and reception were at the same location, usually you can get away with have all of the information on the same card. If the were at different locations, I would always suggest getting a separate reception card to go with the invitation because I wouldn't want to invitation card to feel cramped.
How many guests are you inviting?
This is to clarify how many invitations you'll be needing. Just because you think you'll have 100 guests, doesn't mean you send 100 invitations. It's only 1 invitation per household/couple. Generally speaking you send 50%-60% the amount of invitations as you have guests. (100 guests = 50-60 invitations). This can be a huge cost saver!
Have you worked out a budget yet?
This questions is pretty obvious why I would ask it! I wouldn't want my engaged couple to get sticker shock, so I always tried to be reasonable with what models I would show, and this was a great way to really focus my energy on them and not waste their time on models that wouldn't fit their price point.
Are you planning a traditional wedding, or is there a theme?
This is to help narrow down binder/brand choices again.
For examples:
Traditional wedding invitation suites are on crisp, white paper or on a creamy ecru. White is clean and classic, and ecru is romantic and soft.
(These are from Crane and I can 100% confirm they are so gorgeous and beautiful. I love 100% cotton paper!)
Modern and themed weddings usually have a lot more personality and they tend to be at a lower price point.
(These are from Carlson Craft and are just so fun and modern!)
WITH ALL OF THAT SAID...
these are the FIVE questions YOU should be asking YOURSELF while looking for that perfect invitation suite:
1. Is our wedding formal, or casual?
2. Do we have a theme?
3. What is the message we want to send?
4. What colours do we absolutely want to have?
5. How many invitations do we actually need?
Being able to answer these questions for yourself will make your life SO MUCH EASIER when you are shopping. You'll be able to cut through the noise and distractions of those invitation suites that are probably gorgeous, but just don't speak to who you are. I believe you need to LOVE it.
Invitations are a small but crucial part of a wedding. They set the stage for your guests on what to expect, including the MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION: where and when your guests should show up!
And with that, I'll end my post here. There are still a ton of other paper products that are available surrounding a wedding date, but I have to leave some content ideas for my next post ;)
Have a beautiful rest of your day!
Best,
Erin
