Tuesday, February 13, 2007

When to Order Invitations?

With the frequency of the question, "When do I order my invites," we decided that an answer post might be very helpful to many browsing brides. The process of creating and ordering invitations should be a very fun and enjoyable one, as long as you are not under a time crunch. Pre-designed wedding stationery packages, which can be found at any local stationery shop, are the quickest way to order your invitations. We recommend this process to all wedding clients who do not have at least 4 months before the wedding date. If you have the time and budget, creating a custom invitation can be very fun and rewarding. Having a unique and personalized invitation set is a great way to send your guests a preview of the wedding day. After all, in most cases it is the first glimpse of the wedding for your guests. For custom invitations you should allow anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks for proofing and decisions, 4 to 6 weeks for printing and shipping and 2 to 4 weeks for calligraphy (if you choose to use a calligrapher). You should send your invitations 4 to 6 weeks before the response date (which should be printed on the response set). We like to advise clients to ask for a response date which is 3 to 4 weeks before the actual date of the wedding. Many guests will send their responses back at the last minute (sometimes after the requested response date) and most of your wedding vendors will require a head count 2 weeks before the wedding date. This will give you a few weeks to gather your final guests list. And if you choose to use a pre-designed set you can take quite a bit of time off the above estimates.

And don't be afraid to get creative with your invitations. The trend is becoming to really personalize and make a statement with your invitation set. Unique sizes and colors are being used more often than you would expect. For more information on local stationery shops and resources, please feel free to send us an email at info@soireesonline.com.