Wedding Invitation Primer

Invitation or Announcement?

An invitation asks someone to come to your celebration; an announcement tells them about what you have done (gotten married) or plan to do (as with a Save the Date card). Invitations often have additional components of the set, such as a response card, a reception card, directions, etc. Announcements are almost always just one card with your information on it, with an outer envelope and sometimes an inner envelope.

Save the Date Cards

It has become very popular to send out Save the Date cards as soon as your wedding date and location is finalized, particularly if many of your guests will have to travel to the wedding, your wedding is near a holiday or popular vacation time, or you just can't wait to share the news! It is completely optional to do this, but it does help ensure that your guests will be able to celebrate with you.

A Save the Date card can be printed on any invitation stock, or on special Save the Date design. Magnets and/or photo Save the Dates are a popular choice.

Parts of an Invitation: What Do I Need?

A wedding invitation set consists of a printed invitation, a reception card, a response card and envelope, sometimes a tissue, an outer envelope to address and stamp, and sometimes an inner envelope as well. Everyone needs the invitation, that is where you state you are getting married and the time and place. Everyone also needs the response card, although some invitation sets have that as a postcard instead of a traditional card and envelope. Our Seal and Send invitations have a postcard that is attached to the main invitation; your guest detaches it and mails it.

The reception card is optional. Depending on how much text you have and how formal you want to be, your reception information can go on the lower left of your invitation, the bottom of your invitation, or on a separate reception card. The reception card is usually identical to the response card (before printing) except it does not come with envelopes. Please note, if some people will be invited to the wedding but not to the reception, you have to use separate reception cards.

Map cards are also optional, but in some situations it is helpful to have a printed or photocopied map or instructions to help your guests get to your service and reception. Out of town guests are also often sent information on hotels in the area, whether you have a block of rooms reserved, and so on.

More traditional invitations also come with a tissue, which is a relic of the days when the ink on invitations smeared if it was touched. Nowadays they serve no real purpose but many brides want to use them, so printers ship them.

The last part of your invitation set is the outer and possible inner envelopes. Traditional sets come with an inner envelope on which you write just the names of the invited, and an outer envelope for postal mailing information. Many modern styles come with only one envelope.

How Are Invitation Printed?

Traditionally invitations were engraved, with a metal plate being cut with the text and pressed into the paper. The most expensive invitations are still printed this way, but the vast majority of wedding invitations now are printed with thermography. Thermography has the raised printing look of engraving, but can be done in a wide range of colors at a much more affordable price. (How can you tell if an invitation was engraved or thermographed? Check the back: engraved invitations are indented on the back where the type is, while thermographed ones are not.) Photo invitations and ones printed on very dark stock, such as black or navy, are generally printed with flat ink instead of thermography. Envelopes are printed with flat ink as well.

Invitation Designs and Styles

The traditional wedding invitation is a flat rectangular card in white or ecru, often with an embossed (panel) border. Howevever, you can get invitations in just about any format you can think of, from the traditional panel to pop-up flip-flops and everything in between. Square invitations and the use of intense color signals a contemporary look. Stacked invitations and the use of vellum layers is also very popular. Browse the selection and you will get an idea of the range of styles available. When you are ready to narrow down your choices, you can click on Refine Your Search and search by color, style or price range.

When to Buy and Mail Invitations

Most brides order their invitations 3-4 months before their wedding date, but you can do that as soon as your details are final. Our invitations generally ship within 2 business days, so you get them very quickly after you order. Decide when you need your final guest count and work backwards from that. Several weeks before you need your final count should be your RSVP by date. You want to give your guests time to check their calendars and make plans so send the invitations about 2 weeks before your RSVP by date, 6-8 weeks before your wedding date.

When ordering, always order a few extras if there is any doubt. If you need to print more later, you will be charged just like it is a new order, as the press doesn't keep your artwork on file. It is much cheaper to get 25 extra up front. Extra envelopes are another wise choice you can make when you are ordering. Some envelopes will probably be spoiled during the addressing process, so getting 25 extra is a good idea at very low cost.

Addressing the Envelopes

Once you have your invitations, you can start addressing the envelopes. The etiquette rules for this are quite strict. Some brides choose to violate them and use labels or printers to address their envelopes, but be aware that many people will see this in a negative way. You can pay a calligrapher to address your envelopes, use our Addressing Online service, or simply use neat handwriting to do the job.

Having your return address preprinted on the envelopes is a big help here, as address labels for that are also frowned upon. The return address should match who the invitation is coming from. For example, if the invitation is worded so as to be from the bride's parents, the return address should be theirs.

Outer Envelope Wording

• Abbreviations other than Mr., Mrs. and Ms. are avoided, including the words Doctor, street, avenue, one hundred twenty-first, and so on.  The actual numbers of the street address are used:

Mr. Johannson
56 North Maple Street
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55101

• The outer envelopes for wedding invitations are always addressed to both the husband and wife of a married couple living together, without their first names:

Mr. and Mrs. (or Ms.) Jones

• Unmarried couples living together should be listed alphabetically on separate lines:

Ms. Ann Johnson
Mr. Peter Smith

• If you intend to invite an unmarried person and an escort, it is best to send a separate invitation to the escort, if possible.

• You must invite both spouses, fiancées and members of couples who are living together or in a long-term relationship.

• Any children invited who are living at home and over the age of 16-18 should also be listed on the outer envelope or better yet sent their own invitation.

Inner Envelope Wording

• The inner envelope generally lists the first names of the people invited and the names of any other family members invited.  Children, if invited, are generally listed with their first names written out, in order of age from oldest to youngest:

Mr. and Mrs. Wilson
Thomas, John and Stephen

• It is not as formal but still considered acceptable by most people to use "and family."

Doctor and Mrs. Rogers and family

• However, be aware that some guests may loosely interpret this and you may have a stray aunt or cousin coming along as well!

• If a single person is invited to bring an escort and you do not have that person's name, as a last resort most people use "and guest" after the single person's name.

• If the children's names or "and family" does not appear on the inner envelope, children are NOT invited.  However, some guests may not understand this; consider whether you should spread the news of your adult-only event through the grapevine as well.  (It is tacky to put "Adults only" on your invitation.)

• Be aware that it is not socially acceptable and almost guarantees hurt feelings if some guests' children are invited and others are not.  The only exception is children of the wedding party and those kids actually in the wedding.

Invitation Assembly

1) Address response envelopes (or have calligrapher do it) - include return address if not imprinted on envelope.

2) Address outer envelopes (or have calligrapher do it).  DO NOT do this after stuffing the envelopes; the writing can end up bumpy and the pressure may cause ink to transfer to unwanted areas.

3) Put together one invitation set and take it to the post office or weigh it on a scale to determine proper postage.  Don't forget to buy stamps for the response cards as well.  There are usually some lovely stamps from which to choose.  You can also order stamps online from the U.S. Postal Service .

4) Put stamps on the response envelopes and the outer envelopes.

5) Fold invitations and response cards, if needed.

6) Sort into sets, either all at once or individually as you stuff the envelopes.  Here is the proper way to assemble them:

Folded Invitations: The response card is laid face up on the envelope, with the envelope flap hanging over the front of it.  This goes on top of the reception card.  A map/directions card goes on top of that, with church directions on top of reception directions, if appropriate.  Open the invitation and put the tissue over the text.  Then the pile of insertions is placed over the tissue.  This assembly is put fold-side first, with the front of the invitation facing the back (addressed) part of the inner envelope.  The inner envelope, unsealed, is then put with the flap to the back (addressed) part of the outer envelope.  If you do one and keep it handy as a reference, the process gets easier as you go.

Card Invitations: A liner is put over the text of the actual invitation.  Then enclosures are stacked on top of the card invitation, face up, as noted above.  The stack is placed with the left edge going into the envelope first, facing backwards so the text is away from the flap.  The inner envelope is then put inside the outer one, with the flap to the back (addressed) part of the outer envelope.

If this is just too confusing, you have three options: Put them together however you like; go to www.VerseIt.com and look at their illustrated instructions, or contact us and we will walk you through it.

Seals

You can add a personalized or nonpersonalized seal to the flap of the envelope as well, for a special touch.  There are many available seals to match or coordinate with a variety of invitations.

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