A wedding day… well we don’t have to tell you how important it is and how big the decisions are that lead up to the big day. Every little detail is important and the wedding invitation is one of the top priorities. Like finding the perfect dress, the invitation can be fun to put together but can also be very stressful.
Here are some items to consider when you are planning:
- Details like correct location, times, and addresses of the wedding and the reception areas.
- An RSVP if you need to get a response back on food or attendance.
- Write out what you want and have at least two other people proofread it. It’s too easy to overlook your own spelling and grammar mistakes.
- How long it will take to get them printed.
- Fonts, colors, and style – When selecting a font take into account both the appearance and legibility. If you want a frilly style font you probably want to use it decoratively and for text that will be printed large. For the smaller text, you will want a complimentary font that is less flamboyant and easier to read. This will provide a good balance between elegance and legibility. The colors will normally be related to the decorative colors of the wedding. Paper selection is best done with the printer as there are many styles relating to the texture, finish, weight and color. We can help you bring together a combination that will best suit your style and needs.
- Don’t forget the “Thank You” cards. If you don’t get them when you pick up your invitations, you may be less likely to do so after the wedding.
Top 10 Wedding Invitations Websites
We searched high and low to find our favorite online wedding invitation websites. Wedding invitations are completely personal so make sure you look at a bunch of suppliers to see which one matches your style and wedding theme. Some offer very elegant and tasteful wedding invitations that are 100% customizable, while others provide DIY wedding invitations or invitation templates so you can customize as you see fit. Whether you’re in search of rustic invitations for your country inspired wedding or classy wedding invitations for your traditional ceremony – these top online wedding invitations sites have you covered.
See The Top 10 Wedding Invitations Websites
Wedding Invitation Wording
How to word wedding invitations is often one of the most stressful parts of planning a wedding. It doesn’t have to be, however! Your invites are communicating the necessary info to your friends and loved ones, so keep this in mind and read on for a few tips and tricks!
The invitation must include the names of the hosts at the top of the invite, and feature the name of the bride and groom, names of the hosts (usually the bride’s parents), ceremony date, day of week, time and location. The word “and” between two names generally indicates two people are married (like the aforementioned parents) while the names of unmarried individuals, such as you and your groom, are stacked.
The wording on your invitation should correspond with the formality and style of your wedding. From formal to casual, the wording should reflect the formality and tone you’d like to set. Every wedding invitation should include these elements: host{s}, couple getting married, time, date and location. Be inspired! Choose wording that complements your situation, style and spirit of your wedding.
Check with your officiant for style specifics but traditionally— if a couple marries in a house of worship, the request line wording reads “request the honor”. Words, dates and numbers are typically spelled out, and the only abbreviations are Mr. and Mrs. Punctuation is typically found only in the time, date or in the location. If the bride’s parents are hosting and the daughter shares their last name, it can be omitted from the invitation.
MORE: Example Invitation Wording for Every Situation
DIY Wedding Invitations
If you decide to design your own wedding invitations, there are lots of options. Contrary to popular belief you don’t need to be a graphic designer to create DIY wedding invitations that are amazing. In saying that we know that it can be overwhelming. With that in mind we thought we should give you our favorite tips for creating gorgeous DIY wedding invitations.
1. Give Yourself Enough Time.
Designing, printing, assembling, addressing, wording and mailing your invitations will take a long time. However long you think it will take, multiply it by four times. It may be one of the most time-consuming tasks you will encounter while wedding planning. A good rule of thumb is to mail your invitations 6-8 weeks before your wedding date, leaving your guests at least a month to reply before your response date, so try to plan things out so everything is completed several weeks ahead of this timeline. We recommend giving yourself two months to create your DIY wedding invitations.
2. Start With Your Envelopes
This one sounds counterintuitive until you’re in a situation where you have beautifully designed and printed invitations but cannot find envelopes that are the right size and in the color. That’s a nervous breakdown situation in the making. Make sure you have the envelopes before you move ahead with invitations. Know all of the materials that you’re working with before you get too far into the process.
3. Work Backwards With Dimensions.
If your envelope is an A7 (which measures 5.25 x 7.25), it is best to make your invitation 5″ x 7″ so there is a little wiggle room to get your invitation in and out of the envelope. If you have a lot of inserts, make sure you test everything out in the envelope together as you may need to make the invitation a smidge smaller for it to get in and out of the envelope smoothly.
4. It’s “Two thousand fourteen”, not “Two thousand AND fourteen”.
Get the grammar right. When writing the year it is “Two thousand fourteen”. This is a pretty common mistake, thus most of your guests think it is written with an “and” too, so ultimately it’s not a big deal if you already included it on your invitations.
5. Make Your Words Look Pretty.
Although the main purpose of the invitation is to be informative, it’s also a keepsake of your day. Why not make it as beautiful as possible? That can include the words you choose and how you write them. Write out “North Seventh Avenue” instead of “N. 7th Ave”. Also, spend some time focused on the wording of the invitation, pay special attention to make it sound spectacular.
6. Print Out Drafts Of Your Design
Seeing an invitation on paper, at actual size, in proper color is different than looking at it on your computer monitor. The type may be larger or smaller than you intended, or the script font you chose may be more difficult to read than you expected. Seeing it all on paper is a great way to make sure everything is easily readable and for you to be able to see what tweaks you may need to make.
7. Check, Check and Re-Check.
Have several people proofread your invitations before you print everything out. Especially people who have never seen it before ”” a fresh set of eyes is an invaluable resource (and more likely to catch a mistake than you, who has seen it a million times). Read every. single. last. word. Spell-check is not always dependable when it comes to something like an invitation, where you use locations and names of places that wont be caught whether it’s spelled correctly or incorrectly.
9. Get On A Scale.
When you have an accurate mock-up of your invitation together, take your invitation to the post office and have it weighed to find out what your postage will cost. Just make sure you are 100% sure of how much postage you need before purchasing it. Also, remember that square envelopes require higher postage than rectangular envelopes ”” an unexpected cost that can really add up if you aren’t expecting it.
10. Send An Invitation To Yourself Before Sending To Your Guests.
If you are at all worried about your invitation being bulky or your envelopes not staying sealed send a full invitation to yourself before mailing them out to your guests. It will give you the peace of mind that yes, it will arrive to your guests in one piece.
11. Take A Deep Breath & Send
You’ve stressed over them enough… just send ‘em!
MORE:
- Rustic Yet Modern DIY Wedding Invitation Template + Directions
- DIY Banded Invitations with Template, Instructions and Material List
- Create Your Own Wedding Invitations | DIY Wedding Invitation Guide
- Decided on DIY Wedding Invitations? What You Need To Know
Wedding Invitation Template Resources
Ok, so you’ve decided on DIY Wedding Invitations but you’re a little lazy and don’t want to manage the graphic design part. Don’t worry, there are plenty of free template resources online. We have a short list for you here:
- Wedding invitations and save the date cards are not the only pieces of paper that you need to be printed for a wedding. Minted.com highlights template sets that includes not only invitations and save the date cards, but also reply and accommodation cards.
- Pinterest invitation inspiration can make finding amazing invitations easy. Get inspired and spend time looking at some of the best designs and ideas for your wedding invitations. Search “wedding invitation templates” to make short work of your research.
- Find free, printable invitation templates list of templates at Paper Source has several solid, classy downloadable invitation templates.
- Want real customization from predesigned templates, then get some help by checking out customizable save the date card from Wedding Paper Divas. Choose your own colors for the different text fields, and customize the text right on the website.
- There are invitation templates and elements to craft your own in this generous list of wedding printables from Bespoke Bride. There are also free, printable guest books templates, chair signs, “Just Married” banners, favor boxes, table numbers, bottle labels, monograms, place mats, guest postcards, cocktail umbrellas, and much more.
- In case you did not find the right template elsewhere, this site has a lengthy list of additional resources for invitation templates, save the date templates, and more.
