Know what you should avoid and how to start your journey smoothly
Stress, overwhelm and an occasional “freaked out” moment is part of any wedding planning and bride’s reality. And that is why today I want to explain how you can save time and avoid big disappointments when choosing and ordering your wedding invitations.
In my point of view, your wedding invitation should reflect your wedding’s overall vibe, your personality, and it should give your guests a taste of the big day (in addition to relevant information). So organizing your day, choosing and finding the perfect invitation is a key element for the overall success of your wedding. Ok, I know I am putting a bit of pressure on you here, but I am also going to give you tips on what to do and what to avoid.
Also, make sure to read until the end because there are 2 fantastic bonus tips to make your lives easier.
The first thing I would avoid is buying standard layouts online. Why?
- They aren’t flexible (you can’t customize them to fit your style).
- They sell hundreds daily and your guests may receive one like yours. Not unique at all!
- You don’t have many options to choose from (the layout is usually fixed).
- Bad quality printing (home) vs professional printing.
- Long time to print and requires some practice.
- Unsure about color and best material choices.
- Lack of support from vendor. You won’t feel as supported during the process.
- Avoid not getting or requesting samples. This is also a big mistake because the sample is what will give you a clearer materialistic picture of the end result of your invitations. It’s one step closer to the final batch and a confirmation that it is indeed what you ordered and dreamed of.
Focus on ways to save money on your matching stationery (here’s how):
- Envelopes: Lined envelopes are super pretty, but your guests won’t notice if you go with plain envelopes or without the pretty liner.
- Weight: The more enclosure cards and extras you include, the heavier your invitations will be, and consequently, more expensive to mail them.
- Wedding Website: Inform your guests to visit your website to get more info instead of many enclosure cards, such as accommodations, directions, gifts, transportation, and other events.
- Go simple: The more expensive printing methods, paper, and designs you go with, the more expensive it will be. Choose less expensive printings and skip the letterpress, vellum overlays, and bespoke.
- Get your save the dates, wedding invitations, and thank you cards at once. This will save you money because you’ll get bulk discounts and only 1 shipping cost.
- Go DIY: If you have time and you love DIY projects, dig deeper here. Many online templates can be very common.
And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for.. These 2 bonus tips will ensure that your wedding planning process and experience is less overwhelming and less stressful.
Stay organized while planning your wedding by:
- Using Pinterest to get inspiration and organize your ideas by creating a few boards by topic and sharing it with your vendors.
- Keeping track of contracts, invoices, and other important paper documents by storing them online. See the best APP below.
- Starting to collect the guests’ addresses as soon as you start planning your wedding. I recommend a great website below.
- Having one inbox solely dedicated to your wedding planning will save you time and keep you super organized.
- Designing your seating chart online, especially if you’ll have a large wedding. See the best APP below.
- Setting up automated payments with vendors instead of setting calendar reminders (and risk late payments).
- Creating a day-of inventory checklist that show what supplies you need to bring to your wedding and who is responsible for bringing each item. There is a great APP below to help you with this.
Download these must-have APPs (that you will thank me for recommending later):
- Scanbot or Genius Scan to upload your documents. This way you’ll be able to access the files from your smartphone when you need them and share it when you need to.
- Save yourself time by using Postable.com. This website will create a customized link that you can email to your guests that allows them to add their mailing information directly into a digital address book that only you can access.
- All Seated is a website that offers a free seating-arrangement tool that lets you choose from a wide range of table arrangements, or upload a customized floor plan.
- Create a checklist online using Todoist and share it with your partner. You don’t want to forget anything on your wedding day.
How helpful was this blog post? The only thing you will now have to do is find the solution that works best for you and enjoy planning your wedding and choosing the invitation that best fits you!
If you want to know more tips or just need some inspiration, follow us on Instagram and Pinterest.
