Hand-Crafted, Artistic Wedding Invitations Ensure Unforgettable Wedding Memories

A wedding is a thrilling event. It makes everyone feel elated, enchanted, and young at heart and the first item to symbolize this blissful spirit is the wedding invitation.

After so many years of marriage and so many memories, most of them blurred by time and an aging brain, my wedding day still shines as one prominent remembrance with most of its details intact.

It was a happy day; a Friday I'll never forgot. I still keep the white stiletto shoes I wore, although they are now curved in an infantile position on top of an off-the-way closet shelf with some of the other memorabilia, like one little box of sugared almonds that was given to each guest as a wedding favor.

In those days being the practical me, I had refused to have a wedding. Eloping would be so romantic, I had thought. How wrong I was! Luckily, my mother put her foot down and made me agree to a halfway decent wedding.

Looking through my memorabilia, I see that our wedding invitation is the only one that stands below par; however, in those olden days that was probably the best that could be done. A printer printed the words on heavy sand-colored paper in raised block letters with matching envelopes.

Today's sophisticated varieties and personalized choices were non-existent then. Such a pity it was, because after the marriage license, the invitations are the most important historical documents to recapture a couple's special day. Besides being an announcement of their future, the invitation enlightens and informs, stating who's who in the wedding party, when and where the wedding will take place and the dress code required.

Thanks to more aesthetic expectations of today, if you want to spend the money, and believe me you should, you can send out spectacular invitations highlighting your wedding theme. They are definitely the most indispensable element of your wedding.

Wedding invitations glimmer like colorful dreams to divine the way to what is to come, and after the bouquet is thrown and the last dance is danced, these distinguished items will be the ones chosen to be preserved. Beyond any doubt, you should indulge yourself where your wedding invitations are concerned, so when you look back, say in fifteen or twenty years, you will not regret having skimped, even if it meant you ate less or rented a smaller apartment for your first few years of marriage.

If I were to do it all over again, I would insist on artistic, spectacular invitations. I would choose handcrafted and custom-designed aesthetic creations that would echo my vision of the specific, poignant theme for my wedding. For a formal or even an informal wedding, a very talented artist I know, Sarah Prye from http://www.prye.com/ customizes and handcrafts colors, themes, and contents to fit any couple's needs. She also designs, if asked, monograms for couples based on their first and last names, and the keepsake boxes. This makes any wedding elegant, exclusive, tasteful, and so unforgettable.

If you are a bride to be, can you dare think how fortunate it would be if the same unique and memorable design on the invitations could greet your guests with table numbers, reception menus, wedding favors, escort cards, and place cards with matching thank-you notes to be sent later? Designed by a true artist, your wedding invitation is unquestionably the forerunning ambassador of your special day.

After its message is received, your wedding invitation will be framed for you as a keepsake to represent your happiness, and your family and friends, too, will cherish it inside their albums forever.

Joy Cagil

wedding invitation

Wedding Invitations’ Today’s Etiquette and Wording

The look of the wedding invitations you send will not only says a lot about you and your husband-to-be they will also convey a fair amount of information about your upcoming ceremony. So it is important to plan the type of wedding you will have before you make any decisions about your invitations.
Based upon the quality of the paper stock, lettering, color and design you select, recipients are likely to make a determination about the formality or informality of the event, thus how they should dress. The color of your invitations may suggest the color scheme of your wedding. The quality of the paper may indicate how elaborate or simple you wedding will be.

Choosing Invitations

Stationery Stores’
Most brides still go to a stationery store to select invitations. Once there, you can look at brochures and browse through manufacturers’ catalogs. The catalogs include samples invitations so that you can feel the paper stock, see the true color of the paper, and compare different print options. Knowledgeable clerks will be on hand to help you pick out the desired color and weight of the paper as well as the ink, style of script, and wording for your invitations. The only thing remaining for you to do will be to provide the particulars.
There are only a few large manufacturers and they dominate the wedding invitation industry. As a result, whichever stationery house you go to you are likely to see the exact same catalogs. Unlike private print shops, because these companies mass-produce their products they are able to offer you greater variety at a lower price.

Online Shopping’
There is virtually nothing you can’t buy on the Internet, including your gown (although I would not recommend an online purchase for your wedding dress, which must be properly sized and fitted).
The Internet offers a huge number of sites selling both traditional and unique invitations. If you are bargain shopping for invitations, the Internet is definitely the place to go.
Keep in mind that you are always taking a chance when you choose this method. There is nothing like being able to feel the quality of the paper or the raised lettering to ensure that you will get exactly what you want. However, knowing how different weights of papers feel and about the different methods of printing can help.

Private Printers’
Because of the availability of mass producers and the tendency of many people to shop for bargains on the Internet, private shops are now hard to find. If you have your heart set on truly personalized invitations, look around. You are almost sure to find one somewhere.

Different Printing Methods

There are essentially four common methods of invitation printing, each with its own benefits.

Handwritten’
If you are planning a small wedding (meaning 50 people or fewer), it is perfectly acceptable to hand write your invitations. Of course, this will be hard work, but you will save a lot of money.

Engraved’
This is the ultimate in invitation printing. With engraving, the printer stamps the back of the paper using metal plates. This raises the print up off of the paper so that you can actually feel the lettering. For most brides, engraved invitations are much too costly.

Thermography’
This is the most common form of invitation printing. With this method, the ink is heated to create a raised-letter effect that is nearly indistinguishable from engraving.

Calligraphy’
We all recognize this as another name for fancy formal script. This method is becoming more popular every year. Many of the printing houses are now able to offer this print option as well, but it is not done by hand.

Saying It with Words

Today, there are so many different kinds of families’ traditional, blended, divorced, etc. That it’s no wonder brides are often concerned about how to word their invitations without breaching any rules of etiquette. The stationer you will likely be visiting soon will have more samples of wording than you will want to see. For now though, I’ll let you glance at a few of the more commonly used forms. These all fall under the category "traditional."

(Bride’s parents are hosting)
Mr. and Mrs. David Hennesse
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Miss Ellen Marie Hennesse
to
Mr. Mark Peter Bruster
on Saturday, the ninth of June Two thousand and five
at three o’clock in the afternoon
St. Mary’s Church Duluth, Minnesota

(Both bride’s and groom’s parents are hosting)
Mr. And Mrs. David Hennesse
and
Mr. And Mrs. Clark Bruster
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their children
Ellen Marie Hennesse
and
Mark Peter Bruster
on Saturday, the ninth of June Two thousand and five
at three o’clock in the afternoon
St. Mary’s Church Duluth, Minnesota

(When the bride and groom host the wedding)
Miss Ellen Marie Hennesse
and
Mr. Mark Peter Bruster
request the honor of your presence
at their marriage
on Saturday, the ninth of June Two thousand and five
at three o’clock in the afternoon
St. Mary’s Church Duluth, Minnesota

The old rule was that the word "honor" should always be spelled "honour." This rule is no longer firmly held. However, you should always spell everything out’ names, the date, the time and the location.

There are definite rules regarding the use of initials. "Doctor" (medical only, otherwise the professional title is not used) is written in full, unless the name to follow is long. "Mr." is never written "Mister," but "Jr." may also be written as "junior," although the first is preferred.

It is acceptable to use numbers when writing the address of the church or synagogue, but avoid doing so. Generally, the address (including the street name) of the location where the wedding will be held is omitted. You may want to include it if not doing so would be likely to cause your guest frustration’ when, for example, you are getting married in a large city and guests would have to guess which of the several churches with the same name you mean.

If you do include the address and you are using a formal style of wording, spell out numbers under 100. Never abbreviate words such as "Street," "Avenue," and "Road," and do not include the zip code.

Saving Time and Money

If you are pressed for time, ask the stationer if you can have the envelopes early. This way, while you are waiting for your invitations to be printed you can address the envelopes.

When it comes to deciding how many invitations to order, you should definitely order slightly more than you think you will need. Chances are you are going to need more than you thought. It’s a lot more expensive to place a second order than it is to order extras.

About the Author
Jean Bachcroft is a former public relations director, founder of Bachcroft and Aloha Labels, and the publisher and editor-in-chief of Town and Country Shopping Bargains Magazine. For designer wedding, holiday, and year-round mailing and return address labels, visit Bachcroft Mailing and Return Address Labels and Aloha Return Address Labels.
For bargains and bargain shopping articles, visit Town and Country Shopping Bargains.

Jean Bachcroft

wedding invitation

Wedding Invitation Tips and Advice

You're well into planning your wedding and have finally decided on the design of your wedding invitation. The wording has been chosen and the guest list is well on its way to completion. Here are some additional wedding invitation tips and advice that you should also be aware of.
* If children will also be included as guests, you can choose to write out their individual names on the addressed envelopes or put ‘and family’. For example:
Mr. and Mrs. Bob Simpson, Cathy and John
or
Mr. and Mrs. Bob Simpson and Family
* If the children are older teenagers (say 16 years of age or older), you may wish to send them an individual invitation, just like you would an adult.
* If you don’t wish to include children at the ceremony, do not include their names or ‘and family’ on the outside of the envelope. It’s suggested you add ‘Sorry, but children are not invited’, ‘adults only’ or something similar somewhere on the invitation to make it clear. If you wish to include them at the reception, but not at the ceremony, you could note this information on the response card’ or on the invitation itself at the bottom in some fashion.
* When issuing invitations to a guest who is single, it is polite to put ‘and Guest’ on the outside of the envelope so that they have the option to bring along a companion. For example:
Mr. Ralph Jones and Guest
or
Miss Sarah Campbell and Guest
* Be forewarned. Usually 7% to 10% of the guests who respond with a yes will not actually attend the wedding. In addition, 20% to 30% won’t make it to the reception. This can wreak havoc when budgeting for a sit down dinner. You may want to consider a buffet style dinner instead.
* In some cases, you’ll want to invite people to the ceremony, but not the reception or vice versa. If so, then you will need two sets of invitations printed. One that includes reception information and one that doesn’t.
* If you don’t receive a reply from some guests by your reply date, do not hesitate to call them. It is important that you know how many are attending so you budget accordingly.
* If you decide to order invitations, be sure to do so at least 4 to 6 weeks before they are scheduled to be mailed. If you plan on mailing your invitations around the 15th of March, order them between February 1st and 15th.
* Double, even triple check everything before it gets printed. This includes invitations, response cards, envelopes, wedding programs, etc. whether you’re doing them yourself or your having them professionally printed. Check for spelling errors especially.
* Always order extra invitation envelopes and response card envelopes. There will inevitably be a few mistakes when addressing these and you’ll want to have a few extras on hand.
* You should mail your invitations at least 6 weeks before the wedding date and indicate that you would like a response at least 3 weeks before the wedding date. So if your wedding date is July 1st, mail your invitations by May 15th and ask that they respond by June 7th. This will give guests time to receive their invitations and reply by mail, which in turn, gives you time to firm up catering plans, seating arrangements, etc.
* If your wedding is going to actually be held on a beach or other outdoor area, be sure that you let your guests know this, so they can dress appropriately.Rose

Smith has been providing helpful information on wedding planning for many years. For wedding theme ideas, articles and resources, visit her website Wedding Themes and More at http://www.wedthemes.com Visit Wedding Planning Guides for a full range of wedding planning books at http://www.wedding-planning-guides.com

Rose Smith

wedding invitation

Home Page : Wedding Invitations

A wedding ceremony is a thrilling event. It makes everyone feel elated, enchanted, and young at heart and the first item to symbolize this blissful spirit is the wedding invitation.

You're well into planning your wedding and have finally decided on the design of your wedding invitation. After the marriage license, the invitations are the most important historical documents to recapture a couple's special day.

Your wedding invitations are meant to provide a fresh perspective of your new life as man and wife. These simple wedding invitations tell family and friends that you want them to join you at the most significant time of your life. If you have a boring wedding invitation, your guests are going to assume that the wedding will be boring.

Wedding invitations are ways of inviting somebody whom you want to be a part of your wonderful moment with your partner. As they say, wedding invitations are not just papers, they are the breath of the couple's desire to tell the whole world how much they love each other, and they want their guests to witness that.
The look of the wedding invitations you send will not only says a lot about you and your husband-to-be they will also convey a fair amount of information about your upcoming wedding ceremony.

So it is important to plan the type of wedding you will have before you make any decisions about your invitations.

Based upon the quality of the paper stock, lettering, color and design you select, recipients are likely to make a determination about the formality or informality of the event, and thus how they should dress. The color of your wedding invitations may suggest the color scheme of your wedding ceremony. The quality of the paper may indicate how elaborate or simple you wedding ceremony will be.

Choosing a wedding invitation is very important because it will give your guests a first impression or glimpse of what your actual wedding ceremony will be like.

A wedding invitation must, first and foremost, reflect your wedding theme and motif. Wedding invitations also often serves the purpose of being delightful keepsakes.

It's much easier to have wedding invitations designed specially for you, as there are many more professionals who are in business to create them. It may take some time, effort, and extra expense, but you've never regretted having wedding invitations personally made for your wedding.
It's definitely worth considering! Choose or make just the right wedding invitations for your special day.
wedding invitations