According to the infamous shampoo advert, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Whilst you have been living and breathing all things to do with your wedding, the first time your guests may have any idea about your big day is when your wedding invitation or save the date card lands on their doormat.
Here’s my guide to planning and sending your wedding stationery to make sure that first impression counts:
why
There are many reasons why it is important to send invitations. Firstly, you want to share your good news with people and to invite them to celebrate your special day with you. Knowing how many guests are going to be at your wedding will also give you a clearer idea of the number of people to cater for and the venue size required.
But this is about more than just logistics, this important piece of mail will set the scene, the tone, the theme and your guests’ expectations of your special occasion. It also acts as way to educate and organise your guests so that they know what is expected of them too.
What you say, when you send it, to whom you address it and what it looks like all provide the first experience your guests have of your wedding. So it’s really important that you plan your stationery wisely to make the best first impression.
how
There are three different routes you could go down with your invitations – the traditional way of sending out paper stationery, the more technological (and environmentally friendly) path, or a combination of the old and new which might involve paper invites but collating the RSVPs electronically.
Whichever route you take, it’s great to
coordinate the stationery with the theme of your wedding
coordinate all the stationery as a whole
ensure that you have a consistent look and feel with everything that you do online and offline
order all your paper stationery at the same time to save on costs
don’t forget to factor in the cost of envelopes and stamps to your budget
Bear in mind that the more people you invite, the more postage you’ll have to spend and then multiple this by how many times you send different stationery from the suite (ie save the date cards, invites, added info etc).
what
Think of your wedding as a big marketing campaign – you need to consider promotion of it before, during and follow up afterwards to get the best results (and response) from your audience! A well informed guest is a happy one and communication is key so your guests don’t encounter too many unforeseen surprises that they haven’t accounted for.
Here is the full suite of paper stationery to consider. I’ve included some US trends that we are starting to see more of in the UK especially in more formal weddings (of course this list covers all types and styles of wedding day, so omit the elements that do not suit your big day):
Pre-wedding day
Engagement announcements
Engagement party invitations
Be my bridesmaid / best man cards
Hen party / stag do invitations
Save the date cards
Wedding invitations
Day
Evening
Information sheets
Schedule of the Day
Accommodation
Gift list
Map / directions
Special requests (ie diet / high chair etc)
Song requests
RSVP cards
Rehearsal dinner invitations
On the wedding day
Order of service / Programme
Table plan / Escort cards
Table numbers
Place name cards
Menus
Signage / labels
Pew cards / reserved seating
Favours
Buffet food
Post box
Guest book
Post wedding day
Thank you cards
Cake boxes
when
Pre-wedding day
10-12 months before the wedding day – send your save the date cards (or add a note in Christmas cards to save on additional postage).
4-6 months before the wedding day – send out the invitations (consider sending them out in waves if you want to see how many people reply positively and then decide whether you could ‘bump up’ any evening guests to be all day guests if you have some people that can’t make it). Include extra information documents to provide details of the day and give the guests details of how to contact you to confirm their attendance. Put a date on the invites to tell guests when you need to have their RSVP back to you.
6-8 weeks before the wedding day – check any last minute changes to your guest list and chase any outstanding RSVPs so that the table plan and place cards can be produced and you have a final number for order of services and menus for the day.
Post wedding day
asap after the wedding day – send out wedding cake in boxes to any friends or relatives that couldn’t make the big day.
2 weeks-3 months after the wedding day – etiquette dictates that a you should respond to people in a polite time frame as soon as you receive their gift (or as soon as possible after your return from honeymoon) to thank people for their gifts and attendance.
who
Once you’ve decided on what you’re going to send and when you are going to send it, you need to consider who the invite is going to and who it is coming from.
If your wedding day is going to be quite casual then your invitations should reflect this, whereas if it’s formal then the style and wording of the invites will be different to fit with this theme. The look and feel should mirror the content too.
There are so many variations on what you write inside the invite, as there are many factors that will influence the wording of stationery. For example, every family has different circumstances, it depends who is ‘hosting’ the wedding and often who is paying for the wedding. Here’s my advice on the elements to include which can be adjusted for all the different scenarios:
Start the invite with who is hosting the wedding (whether this be the couple, the bride’s parent/s, groom’s parent/s, both sets of parents, or a mix of all of the above)
Use ‘request the pleasure of your company’ (or can be more casually put like ‘please join us’)
Write in the passive 3rd person for a more formal style
List the bride before the groom (use bride’s first and middle names only for formal invites, plus groom’s full title)
Include the time, date, month, year
Indicate the venue with full address
Note if there is a reception or meal afterwards (including when and where this will be held)
Provide RSVP date and return address
To avoid confusion, it is often better to be really specific about who you are inviting and to which parts of the day they are invited to, so that they are not left in any doubt. Other things to note (so that all guests are on the same page) is whether there will be:
a dress code
children invited
plus ones for single guests
Above all else, ensure that your invitations (and other stationery) reflect your personality and the look and feel of your special day. As long as you’ve got the important information on them (who, when, what, where) you can then add your own personal touches so that it fits your wedding day.
[Photography credits – Paper Tree Design]
It’s almost ironic that as soon as the weather is taking a more autumnal direction that I should start to think about next year’s springtime! Yes, the leaves might be changing colour, there may be conkers on the ground and I have even spotted mince pies in the shops today! But this is the exciting time of year when those lovely folks at Pantone® compile their top ten colours for the following spring.
We are in the throes of London Fashion Week at the moment in the UK, which is hot on the heels of New York Fashion Week (NYFW). The experts at Pantone® watched the colour trends as they happened at NYFW, with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), and compiled their top 10 colour fashion report as a result of what they saw on the catwalks. There were about 119 different shows to watch at NYFW so it’s no mean feat for them to record how many people are using variants of colours. Interestingly there were a number of collections that grouped lots of colours together and gave some amazing combinations.
So, after I was left quite disappointed with the Fall 2016 report, I needed something to regain my faith and the Spring 2017 colours have done this in abundance!
Don’t get me wrong they haven’t reinvented the wheel – its a happy evolution from the 2016 Spring colour palette. What is really striking though is the dominance and prevalence of one colour in particular. Blue appears in varying shades, such as Niagara (a denim blue), Lapis Blue (a great navy colour named after a stunning semi precious gemstone) and Island Paradise (a cooling turquoise). These take the 1st, 3rd and 5th spots respectfully on the list and are beautifully relaxing, calming and proving that, according to Pantone®, these colours ‘offer options that are not just typical of seasons’ but a great transition between the seasons.
Plus it’s great to see that the supporting, accent colours are not subtle and withdrawn – its out with pastel and in with party pops of vibrant citrus colours in the form of Primrose Yellow, Flame, Greenery and Pink Yarrow. You’d be forgiven to picture slices of lemon, orange, lime or watermelon adorning glasses of long, cool summer cocktails, enjoyed whilst laying in a hammock on a tropical island paradise.
This palette of ten fresh and vibrant colours brings bright, light and sunny colours to help us get through the next few darker months! The names of the colours also add to the vision of spring flowers popping up with primroses, yarrow, dogtooth and luscious foliage (in the form of Kale). Teamed up nicely with a lovely neutral (Hazelnut) for a real flavour of nature.
There’s still some influence of the 2016 colours of the year and Pale Dogtooth is certainly reminiscent of Rose Quartz.
The top ten colours for Spring 2017 are:
PANTONE 17-4123 Niagara
PANTONE 13-0755 Primrose Yellow
PANTONE 19-4045 Lapis Blue
PANTONE 17-1462 Flame
PANTONE 14-4620A Island Paradise
PANTONE 13-1404 Pale Dogwood
PANTONE 15-0343 Greenery
PANTONE 17-2034 Pink Yarrow
PANTONE 18-0107 Kale
PANTONE 14-1315 Hazelnut
It’ll be great to see how couples incorporate these colours in to their weddings next spring. If some of the unusual colour combinations from NYFW are anything to go by then we are in for some vibrant and tropical colour partnerships plus perhaps some beautiful blue gemstone décor.
Pantone® is the world-renowned authority on colour and the Pantone® Color of the Year is always really influential in any popular colour themes in fashion, interior design and weddings.
I’ve been desperate for a yellow or an orange colour to get top billing for a couple of years and I cross everything that Primrose Yellow (or even Flame) could even be the Colour of the Year in 2017 (or will it be two colours again?!) I can’t wait for the release of the news in December to find out!
If you’re planning your wedding in the Cotswolds then make sure to get your copy of the 2016/17 edition of Cotswold Bride which is out now for the year.
A beautiful sunny late August bank holiday saw the wedding of Vikki and Dan at Cogges Manor Farm in 2015.
close up of dusty pink roses and wheat in bridal bouquet held by bride with groom
White wedding cake with filigree and dusty pink roses by Pretty Cake Company
Photography by Neil Hanson straw bales covered in pink and cream covers set for wedding ceremony complete with aisle, bunting and fairy lights in rustic barn
close up of flowers on top table of rustic rose barn wedding
pink potted plants, lavender and roses in wooden crates for floral seating plan
chalk board itinerary outside rustic barn wedding venue
Cogges Manor Farm is nestled in the lovely market town of Witney and offers two stunning seventeenth century barns for weddings. This is a special location for the happy couple who are regular visitors to this local venue. Plus it was a perfect blank canvas for them to add loads of personalised details to the day with hessian, white lace, dusky pink ribbons and roses. This wonderful rustic rose pink barn wedding was captured by Neil Hanson Photography.
The bride and her attendants arrived in style in a white carriage pulled by two pristine white horses courtesy of Fabulous Occasions – what a way to make an entrance! The bride wore an exquisite low back white wedding dress which consisted of a figure hugging satin underdress with a lace overlay which had a beautiful V-neck as well as a breath taking deep V-back. This was purchased from Proposals in Witney and is by Essence of Australia. The bride searched for a long time to perfectly colour match the ribbon sash herself, in order to coordinate it with the colour scheme of the day, and then attached a lace appliqué to the new ribbon.
She carried a magnificent bouquet by Distinctive Petals which included peonies, David Austin roses, wheat, gypsophila (baby’s breath), astilbe (false goat’s beard) and amnesia roses. The wheat echoed the venue’s wheat barn heritage and featured in several of the displays during the day. The peonies were also a pleasant surprise for the bride – these are her favourite flower but she wasn’t sure if she would be able to get them out of season but the wonderful florist pulled it out of the bag on the day!
The wedding continued to wow as the bride entered the picturesque barns adorned with hand-made bunting in vintage floral material, fairy lights strewn over the beams from UBE Lighting and she walked down an aisle made of straw bales covered in the same coordinating pink and white fabric. Once the ceremony was over, the guests mingled around the courtyard of the farm and enjoyed the glorious sunshine. They were able to find their names on an ingenious floral seating plan with potted plants of hydrangeas, lavender and roses stood in a wooden crate pyramid.
The table names were named after the bride and groom’s favourite local walks (their own pet names for the walks rather than their official names). For example, Fields of Love was the name of the top table which is the name they gave to the field where they were walking their dogs when they said they loved each other for the first time! The guests all sat down to enjoy a picnic courtesy of local caterer, Abigail’s Kitchen. Tables had a rustic feel and flowers were displayed in clear glass jam jars and milk bottles decorated with twine and fabric and stood on wooden slices (all supplied by the florist).
All the stationery was put together by the bride using recycled card, tags and twine bought from Razzle Dazzle Rose (who also printed their invite cards). Another wonderful personal touch was the carrot seed favours which were a nod to their romantic proposal of carrots spelling out ‘Will you marry me’ in an allotment. Read more about how the groom spelt it out in this real life romantic proposal stories blog post.
Before their first dance, the happy couple cut the charming ivory four tier wedding cake, with hand piped filigree highlighted with pearl lustre and decorated with a selection of varying shades of dusty pink sugar roses, beautifully made by The Pretty Cake Company.
The guests enjoyed a succulent hog roast from The Oxfordshire Pig Company, then danced the night away whilst Mark Cortez sang and the sun set on an amazing and truly memorable wedding day!
sign posts in front of rustic wedding barns in Witney, Oxfordshire
chalk board itinerary outside rustic barn wedding venue
Photography by Neil Hanson straw bales covered in pink and cream covers set for wedding ceremony complete with aisle, bunting and fairy lights in rustic barn
baby's breath in glass vases on top table by old cart underneath bunting in a rustic barn for wedding reception
Photography by Neil Hanson pink and cream bunting with fairy lights dressing beautiful rustic wedding barn set for reception
glasses of champagne being poured at wedding reception
bride and groom taking the goat for a walk at a Cogges Manor Farm wedding
dusty pink roses in bouquets, bridesmaid dress and bow on lace wedding dress
dusty pink bow and back detail of lace wedding dress
close up of dusty pink roses and wheat in bridal bouquet held by bride with groom
dusty pink roses, baby's breath and wheat in beautiful bridal bouquet
baby's breath button hole tied with hessian on white table with wooden hearts
pink potted plants, lavender and roses in wooden crates for floral seating plan
pink potted plant seating plan
detail shot of potted plants in vintage floral print material covering glass jars acting as seating plan
white metal bird cage adorned with heart hessian bunting and pink roses for guests to post their wedding cards
engraved wooden hearts for wedding reception
Remember when, a doodle just for you, a wish upon a star icebreaker memory cards for guests to complete at wedding reception
Fields of Love table name wrapped around glass vase for wedding reception
close up of flowers on top table of rustic rose barn wedding
cream and pink roses along with wheat in vase covered with vintage floral print material stood on two wooden stands at wedding reception
baby's breath, pink and cream roses on table table at wedding reception
Astall Pastures table name wrapped around clear glass vases next to pink and cream roses on wooden stands at wedding reception
Baby's breath in glass vases wrapped in string alongside smaller vases containing roses stood on wooden stands on tables at wedding reception
Eat cake and be merry sign in white vintage frame in front of wedding cake with dusty pink sugar roses
White wedding cake with filigree and dusty pink roses by Pretty Cake Company
Dusty pink ribbon tied in a bow around a white wedding cake
close up of filigree and dusty pink sugar rose on wedding cake
detail shot of dusty pink sugar roses and ribbon on wedding cake
close up of top of white wedding cake with dusty pink roses and filigree
fairy lights and bunting decorating beams of rustic wedding barn
bride and groom by a metal gate in a beautiful embrace at sunset
As well as general wedding planning chat, there’s some #toptips as well. This week’s theme is ‘Things to carry in a wedding day survival kit’ #UKWedLunch
TOP TIP 1: Buy cosmetic blotting paper to dab away any sweat or ‘shine’ on your face #UKWedLunch
TOP TIP 2: Use chalk to cover up any scuff marks on a white wedding dress #UKWedLunch
TOP TIP 3: Rescue Remedy is an amazing herbal drop to keep you calm on your big day #UKWedLunch
TOP TIP 4: Use a drinking straw so your lipstick stays in tact (and not on your glass) whilst you sip your drink #UKWedLunch
TOP TIP 5: Keep a small bottle of water on hand to make sure you don’t get dehydrated or a dry mouth when saying your vows #UKWedLunch
Not disguises by the seaside but some lovely models are required for a bohemian styled bridal shoot with a literature theme.
The shoot will take place at a stunning venue by the River Windrush in the beautiful Oxfordshire countryside this October half term.
This project is supporting and showcasing local, independent wedding businesses – everyone provides their services and products for free and in return gets some wonderful lifestyle shots to use at a later date. This is a collaboration of like minded people that create great things together though don’t have the budgets to produce this kind of work if they all worked independently.
The shoot will be approximately 2-3 hours in the afternoon of Tuesday 25th October (weather permitting) and will provide some fantastic lifestyle shots for your portfolio. One fitting prior to the date may be necessary. Own transport is required to Minster Lovell, Witney, OX29 0RN.
We are looking for models fitting the following description:
WAVES – Female with long blonde/brown wavy hair, approximately 20-30 years old, 170 cms tall, size 10-14
BEARDS – Male with dark hair and beard, taller than the bride, approximately 25-35 years old, 40” chest, 32” waist
If you’re available and would like to be involved in this fantastic styled bridal shoot then please email Hanami Dream
how
what
when
who
