Preparing for your wedding day is incredibly exciting, but we know that you might not know where to start when it comes to your stationery. With that in mind, we have prepared a list of frequently asked questions which we hope assist you in some way. If you have any other questions, please feel free to pop us an email.
SAVE THE DATES
What is the purpose of a Save the Date?
The save the date serves as a heads up so that guests can circle your wedding date in their diaries. Formal invitations should follow and will contain more detailed information such as the ceremony time, dress code, R.S.V.P. details etc. which you may not have had ready so far in advance.
Tip: Be sure of whom you want to invite and how many guests your budget allows for. Not sending an invitation to a guest after sending them a save the date might be awkward.
When should our Save the Date be sent out?
You can send these out approximately 6 months before the wedding. We recommend sending out emailer save the dates as these are much more cost effective and less admin.
WEDDING INVITATIONS
When should we shop for wedding invitations?
To allow enough time to design, proof and print final invitations, you should be shopping for invitations about 5-6 months prior to your wedding date.
When should our invitations be sent out?
Start handing out your wedding invitations 2-3 months prior to the wedding date for local weddings and approximately 5-6 months in advance for destination weddings (depending on how far they need to travel). This will allow enough time for guests to make travel arrangements and R.S.V.P. allowing you with enough time to confirm numbers with other suppliers for your wedding.
How many invitations should we print?
You can plan around 1 invitation per couple and/or 1 invitation per household. Single guests should receive their own invitation (remember to indicate whether or not they are allowed a plus one). We recommend making a list to determine the number of households, couples and singles. Remember to add your parents and bridal party to the list. Once this has been determined, add about 10 extra invitations for any mistakes or other guests you would like to invite should someone not be able to attend.
What information is included in wedding invitations?
Pretty in Stains will send you an information form to be completed to obtain information for your wedding invitations. These include (but are not limited to) the couple’s names, wedding date, wedding venue(s), arrival time, R.S.V.P details, dress code.
Do we need to meet with you before starting with the design?
No, we do not need to meet up before. In fact, we mostly liaise with clients via email communication. It makes it a lot easier when there is a paper trail and we have emails to refer back to.
How will you know what to design?
You will need to send us pictures of designs that you like as well as a small brief in terms of colours, design elements etc. These can be from our range available on our website or from Pinterest. We will use these images as inspiration for designing your custom invitation. The images you send are very important as we use these to determine what your overall aesthetic is and to make sure we are on the same page as to how we interpret different styles, visually. I.e. what you think is vintage might be different to what we think is vintage.
Do you have any advice you would like to share in terms of invitations?
An invitation is the first tangible thing you get to give to your guests; everything else will have to wait until the big day. With that being said, it is so easy to get swept up and overspend because you are (understandably) so excited for your wedding day.
Our advice, have an epic design and keep the print method simple. Let the design do the talking and rather spend more on your on-the-day stationery which will (and should really,) be seen as an extension of your wedding décor. These stationery items will be part of your décor and will be in your wedding photographs and really rounds everything off so beautifully.
ON-THE-DAY STATIONERY
What is on-the-day stationery?
On-the-day stationery is the printed goodies that you will need on the day of your wedding. This generally includes a seating plan, table numbers, place cards, menus, programmes / order of service, thank you cards / tags.
When do we need to contact you to start with the on-the-day stationery?
Approximately 2-3 months before the wedding. Pretty in Stains requires all final content and information such as guest names, seating plans, menus etc. to reach us 4 weeks prior to the wedding date to allow time for approval, printing and production. Try not to leave this for last minute as it gets super busy during season and we would hate to not be able to assist you.
Will the on-the-day stationery match our wedding invitation?
Pretty in Stains will always create a coherent suite if we designed your wedding invitations. If we did not design your invitations, you are welcome to send us a brief and images to get an idea as to what designs you are drawn to and we will create a new design or something similar to your wedding invitation. Alternatively, we have a lovely range of pre-designed stationery to choose from.