Wedding Announcements

There are lots of reasons you probably won’t be able to invite all of your friends and family to your wedding! Some of the reasons include: yours is a destination wedding, budget constraints, the venue can only accommodate so many, or… you simply desire a “small and intimate” affair.

Even such, you can still include long-lost family and friends with a fun Wedding Announcement, customized in the spirit of your wedding! Without implication of gift, the purpose of a Wedding Announcement is to declare your nuptials and let those family and friends in on the happy news! And, although they are typically mailed the day of your wedding or the day after, Announcements can be sent for months after your big day.

What to include on your Wedding Announcement

Include your wedding date, a photo, new contact info… whatever you’d like. If yours is a destination wedding and you’re planning an “at home reception” then perhaps a Wedding Announcement would be the perfect way to announce the details of the party.

The design is up to you! Coordinate your Announcement with your Invitations or wedding theme or choose a design that is altogether different. I borrowed a Save the Date magnet design from MagnetStreet Weddings and used the Design Studio to customize the wording to create a unique wedding keepsake. What do you think?

Cheers and Happy Planning!

Heidi

From theme and personalization ideas to attire and décor, the wedding world is full of inspiration loveliness! So many incredible ideas… it almost makes me want to get married all over again! *sigh*

Newly engaged? If so, are you swimming in a sea of wedding magazines? Is your Google Reader overflowing with amazing wedding blogs? Are you feeling joyous yet overwhelmed with all the possibilities? Perhaps it’s a good time to get down to basics {I’ll explain soon}.

Your wedding invitations are the most important communication tool for your guests- reflecting the tone of your wedding as well as your colors, theme and style.  With all of today’s wedding inspiration goodness, a challenge lies in staying focused and keeping a cohesive look. Of course, it can be done~ hopefully, by the time you order your invites. 

Back to wedding planning basics. This simply involves deciphering your style and knowing what you want for your wedding day. If you stay true to your personalities and style, wedding planning will be a joy {as it should be}! You’ll have a much easier time making decisions while staying focused, consistent and true to yourselves.

Talk Amongst Yourselves

• Dream over your vision. How do you see your wedding day?
• What’s your style? Are you modern, traditional, destination, non-traditional…
• Which colors and season are you naturally drawn to?
• Is there a theme that effortlessly captures your personality and style?
• Where do you lean… rustic or metropolitan? Somewhere in between?
• What are the most important elements? {Great food. Great music. Dream dress…}
• What is your budget?

Thoughts? What other questions are worth asking?

 I’d love to hear from you,

Heidi

Save the Date image via MagnetStreet Weddings

There are 3 Main Font Types

• Script fonts- either formal or informal. These fonts look handwritten and are often used in the names of the couples. Scripts fonts have personality and are perfect for calling out your names. 
• Serif fonts- more formal. You can tell a serif font by the tail on the end of the first letter.    
• Sans Serif fonts- less formal {without the tail}. These look more like block letters.

Play with the fonts giving lots of importance to how your names appear. Choose the font style that best reflects your personality. For instance… for a fun, casual look to your Save the Dates, look to the Sans Serif fonts. If a formal tone is what you’re after, then pair a script style with a Serif.

A few more suggestions:

• For readability, limit the number of fonts to two and avoid using all CAPS {tough to read.}
• Contrast your two fonts: i.e. a script font with a Sans Serif font.
• Be consistent with your fonts… if you change a script font in your name and that same script font was found in your wedding date~ change it there too.
• Do not use 2 different script fonts.

Which fonts are you considering for your wedding stationery?

Happy Planning!

To enter for your chance to win the wedding invitation suite of your dreams, simply go to the Minted Blog and leave a comment with the name of your favorite wedding suite invitation.

PARISIAN GRAMMAR SCHOOL WEDDING SUITE

Hurry!  The contest ends Friday May 21st.  Good luck to all of our readers!

Craft your invitation with care. Wording can get a little sticky when trying to convey who is hosting~ when the hosts are divorced. Aside from communicating style and formality, the invite has the huge responsibility of communicating: who{the hosts}, what {wedding of b&g}, when, where, and time. Big responsibility!

Weddings are all about personalization. Below are four examples of invitation wording for four possible scenarios for divorced hosts. Choose wording that best reflects the formality of your wedding and pays the proper respect to the hosts.

When the Bride’s Mother is divorced and hosting:
Mrs. Barbara Johnson
requests the honor of your presence
at the marriage of her daughter

Both sets of divorced Parents AND Bride and Groom are hosting:
Together with their families
Ally Johnson
and
Paul Bernard

Divorced Parents of Bride are hosting:
Mrs. Barbara Johnson
and
Mr. James Johnson

Divorced Parent and Stepparent of Bride are hosting:
Mr. and Mrs. James Korman
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage
of Mrs. Korman’s daughter

Happy Planning!

Photo Below – Flat Rectangle Invitation INVC-11750: MagnetStreet Weddings

And, to add another level of WOW and polish to your theme, consider using a signature motif or a special design element that resonates with your theme and provides a focal point within your overall wedding look. Sort of like~ icing on the cake.

If threading a motif or design element throughout your wedding look sounds appealing to you {whether it’s your logo, monogram or charming lovebirds for a spring wedding theme} incorporate it into your invitation design and from there, add it into your attire and decorations.  From address labels and seals, seating cards and favors, to cake toppers and ring-bearer bowls, sprinkle your motif in surprising ways to delight your guests and put smiles on their faces.

Are you using a special motif in your wedding? Do tell…

Happy Planning!

Images:  “Covenant Love” Square Invitation inside a Petal Fold Holder via MagnetStreet Weddings and  Ring Bearer dish via Etsy

From a foodie perspective~ if you’re making a grilled cheese sandwich, the basic ingredients should include cheese and bread. And from there, you add the personal touches that take your grilled cheese sandwich to a whole new level. For me, that means adding cilantro, onions and ranch dressing!

It’s the same idea with wording your wedding invitations. Once you know the basic guidelines, then you have the freedom to personalize according to your wedding style and formality.

Your wedding invitation is responsible for a great deal and will set the tone for your entire event! Not only must it be stylish and all that… it also needs to communicate very important wedding day information: who, when and where. Whether your style is classic, modern, or non-traditional, a less formal wedding will allow for more creativity and less formality. While there are no longer hard and fast rules, use this basic etiquette as a guide.

Basic Etiquette:

• All verbiage is in the third person
• Be consistent with spelling: honour/favour or honor/favor
• Dr. and military titles need to be spelled out: i.e. Doctor Marie Johnson
• Use Roman numerals in names instead of second or 2nd
• Punctuation is used to separate city, state or day, date or Mr. Mrs.
• All days, dates and times are typically spelled out: Saturday, the twenty-third of July, Two thousand and seven at two o’clock
• Avoid abbreviations: spell out Street, Boulevard, Avenue…

Mr. and Mrs. William Iverson

Request the honor

of your presence

at the marriage of

their daughter

Holly Iverson

&

Ben Johnson

on Saturday, the twenty-third of July

at two o’clock

Grace Fellowship

Lake City, Minnesota

Gate-fold wedding invitation via: MagnetStreet Weddings

Happy Planning!

Weddings are all about personalization! And, since the wedding invitation sets the tone for the event, let’s talk about unique wording that adds flair and personalization to the RSVP Cards!

There are 4 essential ingredients to every RSVP  

1. Name{s}
2. Accept Line
3. Decline Line
4. RSVP date {usually 2 weeks prior to the wedding}

Name{s} _________________  {or} M _____________

____Accepts

____Declines

Please respond by {date}

Now that we’ve got the logistics down, let’s concentrate on adding the flair. Think about where you can introduce your style and theme of your wedding into the wording. Enter… your creativity. Let your wording style match your formality. For instance…

For a less-than formal Spring or outdoor wedding, your wording might read:

Name{s}________

______ Rain or Shine, we’ll be there!

______ Unfortunately, conflicting forecasts keep us from attending.

Kindly respond by {date}

In other words, consider all that makes your wedding special: the venue, the time of year, a cultural aspect, the color theme or an overriding theme, the formality… and incorporate that into your wording.

TURN your RSVP Cards into KEEPSAKES

If you leave extra space on your RSVPs, ask guests to:

• Write out one piece of marital advice on the RSVP. Think of the fun you’ll have getting them back! Guests might even be more inclined to respond sooner than later. Plus, you can share the laughs by reading a few at the reception. Fun!
• Ask guests to include the dance song they would most like to hear the band/DJ play. {This will help you build your playlist too.} And, you’ll have great memories of the special songs played.

It’s all about sharing your style and making lasting memories. Have fun wording your RSVP Cards in the style and spirit of your wedding.

p.s.

Tip:  Number your RSVPs to match your guest list. In the event you cannot read someone’s handwriting, you will at least know who you sent the invite to in the first place.

Happy Planning!

Image source: from the Inspired Devotion Invitation ensemble from MagnetStreetWeddings

Once the Save the Dates are sent begin brainstorming ideas for bringing the flavor of the destination into your wedding invitations. What is it that you love about your destination? Perhaps it’s the beauty of the area, the culture, the weather, the food…  Incorporate that special design or motif that resonates with your style and the locale. Sprinkle it throughout your wedding stationery. From the Invites to the RSVP and Enclosure Cards, to your Favors and Thank Yous, your wedding look will be consistent and you’ll generate incredible excitement with your guests about traveling for your big day!

Enclosure Cards are your Friends! Use them to include pertinent info: currency, airport and shuttle, average temps, reception times, local attractions… What else?

Welcome Baskets help guests feel special and right at home! Have them waiting in the hotel rooms when your guests arrive. Here are a few ideas of what to include:

• welcome note
• a wedding itinerary
• tickets to a local attraction
• toiletries: lotion, cotton swabs, sunscreen, travel sewing kit, mini-mani set, clear nail polish
• for the guys: shavers, shaving lotion, shoe polish
• Mini champagne bottles
• water bottles

What else?

Happy Planning

Destination Wedding Invitation

Image: wedding invitation design by MagnetStreet Weddings

It’s up to you!

I once read an extremely funny blog post whereby the author blamed ‘Save the Dates’ for guilt-ing the guests into attendance… because they’re sent early enough for people to adjust their schedules. So, he expounded on their inherent evils and selfish imposition on people’s time.  

Hilarious post. Ridiculous reason. {I’m quite sure that people still have free wills and attend events because they want to}

I’ve also read that Save the Dates aren’t needed stationery items.

If like we need air to breathe… then no, Save the Dates aren’t needed.  But then I really don’t need mascara or earrings~ yet I’m always wearing them.

It’s up to you!

Save the Dates are Helpful Planning Tools! If your wedding is on or near a holiday… during the busy summer months… OR perhaps if you’re planning a really cool destination wedding in the Bahamas… then your guests may need ample time and info to adjust their schedules and make the necessary travel arrangements.  In this case, Save the Dates are a courtesy that can easily include: your wedding website, travel, hotel and any other info you deem important.

Save the Dates are FUN! There are virtually no rules to follow. Yay! Since they’re sent anywhere from 6-12 months ahead of the wedding date, colors and styles are often times still being explored. So, unless you know your colors and want to start setting the tone with your Save the Date, you have free creative reign! So go ahead, show off that personality of yours! Have fun with it! I always recommend using a Save the Date design that has room for 1-3 photos. That way, you can introduce your fiancé to those out of town guests. 

What are your thoughts on Save the Dates?

I say go for it!

~Heidi

Save The Dates from MagnetStreet Weddings