Determine Your Budget Invitations can be a huge expense, but they don't have to be. Think about it: As beautiful and personalized your wedding invitations are, they will most likely be eventually discarded by many of the recipients. Why invest an exorbitant amount of money when you may be able to find discount wedding invitations that suits your needs just as well? It all comes down to personal taste and budget.
You have several options for printing your wedding invitations. The most expensive, formal, and elegant option is to choose an engraved invitation, wherein the wording is etched onto a steel plate, and then transferred onto cotton paper, leaving the lettering slightly raised. Less expensive is thermography, which uses special ink to produce a similar, raised quality in the lettering. Another popular option is lithography, a less expensive and faster printing option. If you are on a strict budget, it may make sense to reproduce your own wedding invitations on a laser printer.
Coordinate With Your Style Your wedding invitations should be a personal reflection of you as a couple. If you feel that elaborate, engraved invitations aren't exactly "you," feel free to experiment with different types of paper, fonts, colors, and designs. Of course, if you've been dreaming of a white wedding ever since you were a child, you may want to go with a more traditional design.
Unique Invitations This is your wedding and your invitations should be as unique as you and your fiancé. You may want to consider mixing and matching for unique wedding invitations. Use a white envelope with an ivory invitation or an ivory envelope with a white invitation for a different look. Or try framing your wedding invitations with photo corners, available in any local craft supply store. These are available in gold, silver, multicolored, etc. Pick a color that compliments your wedding theme. Other finishing touches include adding a ribbon, pressed flowers, lacy materials, stenciling, rubber stamping, craft punches, etc. to your invitations. All these are available in your local craft supply store.
Wording is Important Choosing wedding invitations takes a little bit of time and with such an abundance of options, the decision can be confusing. It is important to remember that the wording needs to be appropriate or someone will be offended or hurt. For instance, weddings of today are often hosted by both the bride and groom's parents. For this reason, it is important to include the invitation from both. For the wedding invitations, the wording would be the same if one parent were remarried. You want to make sure you use the appropriate style or toes could be stepped on.
Wedding invitations can be tricky in that many different combinations are possible. Therefore, when selecting the style of invitations for your wedding, you should talk to a stationer to walk you through the process, ensuring that you choose the right wording. Samples will be available for you to look at, and often you will find several options for the same situation. Some options are formal and therefore, require formal wording while others are informal and should be focused differently. Another option to consider is that you can write your own wedding invitations but again, you still need to follow the traditional guideline to ensure what you write is politically correct.
So as to provide you with a few examples we have taken the fictitious bride and bridegroom Sally Brown and Mike Green and imagined the following scenarios in order to help you with your invitations. If the wedding is to be a religious one hosted by Sally's parents they would state: Mr. and Mrs. John Edward Brown
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Sally Caroline
to
Mr. Mike Anthony Green
If in fact it was a civil ceremony the invitation would be changed to read "the pleasure of your company is requested". As stated earlier often both sets of parents host the wedding and in this case the invitation would read as follows:
Mr. and Mrs. John Edward Brown
and
Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Jeremy Green
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their children
Sally Caroline Brown
and
Mr. Mike Anthony Green
In the situation where Sally and Mike decide to host the wedding themselves
the invitation should read as follows:
The honour of your presence
is requested at the marriage of
Miss Sally Caroline Brown
to
Mr. Mike Anthony Green
This may be reversed to read:
Miss Sally Caroline Brown
and
Mr. Mike Anthony Green
request the honour of your presence
at their marriage
For the wedding invitation wording, consider both style and wording to ensure the invitations are proper. In fact, when reviewing samples, you might keep the style for your wedding invitations the same as what you used for your shower or reception invitations. At one time, choosing the wedding invitation wording was simple. However, the samples available today are almost overwhelming.
Styles to consider for your wedding invitation wording include calligraphy, taken from the Greek language or foil imprints, which is also called "blocking" and is beautiful colored foil that is heated and then etched. These styles are just a few of the more popular choices but you can be sure numerous other options are available.
Choosing the proper shower or reception invitation is also important but when it comes to the wedding invitation wording, a new level of importance is felt. In addition to style, the actual wording needs to be correct. If you and your soon-to-be spouse are paying for the wedding, the invitations could begin with the two of you doing the inviting. If this is a first-time wedding, often the invitations are from them. However, more and more, couples are creating their invitations as invites from both the bride and groom's parents, which many consider to be proper.
Another consideration for wedding invitation wording is second marriages or older couples. Generally, the wording would be more casual, more intimate.
Wording for a Home Wedding :
For the home wedding, invitations are engraved as for the church wedding, but for the phrase "request the honor of your presence" the phrase "request the pleasure of your company" is substituted, though "honor" may be used in place of "pleasure" if one prefers. As in the case of the church wedding, a space may be left for the name of the guest to be filled in, or the form that follows may be used:
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Guy Brown
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughter
Helen Rose
and
Mr. Henry Van Buren
On Tuesday afternoon, June the first
at four o'clock
Twenty-two West End Avenue Wording for Church Weddings :
The invitation to a church wedding is worded with a bit more formality than the invitation to the home ceremony. It is sent out six to eight weeks before the day set for the wedding. The church wedding invitation requires no written acknowledgement, except in those rare cases when there is a request for it. Instead of the initials, R.S.V.P., it is better form to say simply, "Please reply." Invitations for the home wedding, of course, require prompt acknowledgment.
Following are two forms of church wedding invitation
wording which may be used:
Mr. and Mrs. John Grey Taylor
request the honor of
.......................
presence at the marriage of their daughter
Helen Marie
with
Mr. Raymond Mitchell
Thursday, the ninth of May
Two thousand and two
at four o'clock in the afternoon
St. Thomas's Church
New York
Mr. and Mrs. John Grey Taylor
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Helen Marie
and
Mr. Raymond Mitchell
Friday, the fourth of June
Two thousand and two
at six o'clock in the evening
Presbyterian Church
Boston
In the first invitation, the name of the guest is written by hand in the space left for that purpose. The use of "marriage" and "marriage with" is now customary in preference to "marriage to." All three words are in good form, however, and any one of them may be used. Wording for Second Marriages :
The second wedding invitation of a widow should be issued in the name of her parents or nearest living relatives. She uses her own first name with the surname of the deceased husband. Here is the correct form:
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Manning
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Mrs. May Ellis Bruce
to
Mr. Stanley Kenworth
on Monday, September the fifth
at six o'clock
St. Paul Chapel
It may be that the woman who is to be married for the second time has no near relatives to serve as hosts for her. Her invitations may be like this:
The honor of your presence is requested
at the marriage of
Mrs. Helen Roy Chadwick
and
Mr. Bruce Kenneth
on Wednesday, August the tenth
at four o'clock
on Monday, the fifth of June
at twelve o'clock
at the residence of
Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Smith Hopkins
Eighteen Johns Street
Again, start by looking at various samples when you choose your shower or reception invitations and then when it comes time to order the invitations for your wedding, you will have a good idea of what you want and what is proper. Just remember that this is your special day so choose what pleases you.
HAND MAKING YOUR OWN INVITATIONS?
To add A "WOW" factor to them, make them well in advance and then put them in an air tight box with several rose-scented candles. This gives them a gorgeous scent and when guests take them out of the envelopes, they will love it.
AVOID SURPRISES AT THE POST OFFICE
Some invitations weigh more than the post office allows for regular postage. Ask your invitation provider if extra postage is required.
Also, large invitations often have to be bent or folded to fit into certain mailboxes. Give this consideration when chosing your style.
Always ask your invitation provider what exactly are the extra charges and ensure everything is written clearly on the order form. Always give your invitation provider a hand written or typed version of what you wish your invitations to say.
HOW TO GRACIOUSLY ASK FOR MONEY INSTEAD OF A GIFT
It is the personal opinion of Miracles etc. that is is rather "gauche"
But if you think you can pull it off with your families then this is how to word it
Gift Tip Verse 1
Next to your presence at our wedding,
a donation made to the charity of your choice
in honor of our marriage would be
the most meaningful gift you could give us!
Thank you.
Gift Tip Verse 2
Your presence at our wedding is present enough!
But if we're honored with a gift from you,
may we respectfully request a gift of money
to help the dream of our new home come true!
Gift Tip Verse 2
Your presence at our wedding is present enough!
But if we're honored with a gift from you,
may we respectfully request a gift of money
to help the dream of our new home come true!
Gift Tip Verse 3
We're dreaming of a honeymoon
and we hope our dreams come true...
if you helped us fund our trip
we'd be so grateful to you!
Gift Tip Verse 4
We have two of EVERYTHING because
joining lives means joining households, too!
So please don't give us another toaster --
a gift of money is what we'd appreciate from you!
Gift Tip Verse 5
We didn't register
We don't need more stuff
But when it comes to financial help
You can never have enough!
Gift Tip Verse 5
We didn't register
We don't need more stuff
But when it comes to financial help
You can never have enough!
Gift Tip Verse 6
We have our hearts set on a trip to Hawaii,
We're saving every nickel and dime.
So if you aren't sure what to get for a wedding present
A gift of cash would be just divine!
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