Are we seriously at the 3 month mark??!! What the heck is happening. It’s getting insane. Let’s just take a deep breath and talk about invitations.
Most brides hear the word “invitations” and probably start exhibit flu-like symptoms. (Stomach pains, sweaty palms, shaking, etc.) Or some brides might think “this is going to be super easy!” And maybe it is. But if you’re like me and you’re having an enormous wedding, invitations probably make you tremble just a tiny bit.
I began working on invitations from the first week I got engaged. I started, of course, with the guest list. (See previous blog post for tips on creating your guest list). That took me several months just to create and solidify before sending out save-the dates (which is basically training for invitation time). And at that point you are so proud of yourself for having everyone’s name and address and feeling so prepared. And then you think about all that has to happen to get those invitations out.
This is you freaking out when you look at your guest list of over 250 people that you only had about 60% control over.
Here are the phases of what I like to refer to as “Invitation Madness“:
1. You realize you must create an invitation. You must take the entire theme of your wedding and create a physical, paper representation of that…..in bulk. We will get more into that in a bit.
2. You must receive and then assemble these beautiful masterpieces. If you’re like me, one invitation = 5 different pieces of paper, one piece of tape, two envelopes, and a whole lot of time.
3. You must ADDRESS these freaking envelopes stacked all over your house. Keeping in mind the rules of etiquette when addressing invitations, the amount of time you’re willing to dedicate to learning calligraphy (unless you want to hire a calligrapher), how many kids Uncle Joe currently has, if your cousin’s actual name is Robert instead of Bob or if he was born Bob, and if your friends from college are still living in the same place they were a year ago. It’s A LOT OF RESEARCH.
4. You have to go spend a paycheck on stamps…and then spend time putting all of these stamps on the envelopes. And yes, you should put a stamp on the RSVP envelope!
5. You place over a hundred envelopes in the mailbox and say a little prayer that they all reach their destinations…and that the people you mailed these to will actually respond, for the love of God.
So let’s revisit that whole “creating an invitation” thing. There are a fews ways you can go about this. The first is you can go 1980s and go pick an invitation out of a giant book of invitations that are often classic and floral. You could also make your own invitations. With Pinterest and all of the resources that are out there these days, it’s quite possible for you to make totally legit invites of your own. This is probably a good option for those having smaller weddings, unless you have oodles of free time. The final option is creating an invitation through a website and ordering them online. Minted.com and WeddingPaperDivas.com are becoming increasingly popular for the typical bride. They have an array of options for any style and color scheme and are not outrageously unaffordable.
My stationery vendor was a site called beautifulweddingannouncements.com, and they were fantastic! I found them by attending a bridal expo and ended up winning 200 free thank you cards from them! (Note: attend at least one bridal expo. See previous blog posts.) Not only was I able to design my invitations from scratch so that they would be unlike anyone else’s, but I had an entire team of design professionals helping me until they were perfect. I ended up designing an invitation that represented my wedding color scheme, complemented my save-the-dates, and adhered to my level of formality for the wedding. They were also ridiculously affordable. BONUS. And it only took me three months to get them exactly how I wanted them! (I have high standards.)
My final tip is to give yourself a decent timeline for completing the task that is “Invitation Madness”. Whether you have 20 invitations or 200 invitations, it’s going to take you longer than you think. Enlisting the help of fiances, family, and your bridesmaids always makes it more enjoyable and speeds it up! Follow up this entire process with a glass of wine.
❤
500 Days of Wedding 