Let’s Talk Wedding Invitations – Stationary, Colors & A Wedding Invitation Maker, Oh My!!!

The wedding countdown is on! Everything is booked, and you’ve already sent out your save the dates! Now it’s time to order your invitations! So, what’s the etiquette for wedding invitations? When do you send them out, who’s name goes first, heck what font should you pick? Let’s talk wedding invitations!!!

* This is a sponsored post by Basic Invite. Their website has a wedding invitation maker and they also allow you to create a personal wedding website for free. All reviews and opinions expressed in this post about their products are based on my personal view after trying them out. All images are mine and are of their products!

Color & Fonts!!!

There are a toooon of beautiful color options and beautiful fonts to choose from! One thing to keep in mind is what your wedding colors are and how they will fit your bridal details! The shot above is one of my favorites because it features the Pantone color of the year for 2020, Classic Blue!! This celestial-inspired wedding detail shot looks cohesive because the invitations, bridal shoes, and wedding band set are all fitting the color palette! Your invitations should be ordered with your bridal details and the vibe of the rest of your wedding in mind!

These invitations were made on Basic Invite, who sponsored this post! They have over 180 colors to choose from and I was able to customize the colors, fonts, and pick from a bunch of samples to start from on their website! It was pretty easy to create these and order samples so I could make sure they were the same quality and look like they did online! They have tons of paper options including foil (seen on the next image), 900 invitation sets (with save the dates, RSVPS, and thank you’s and envelopes in forty colors). You can also make your personal wedding website on their site too! Its free, customizable, and you can add your registry, wedding hashtag, images, wedding day details and more!! It’s nice to have a one-stop shop for everything to keep your wedding planning simple!

Tip! Mail a wedding invitation suite to your photographer so they can have them with to photograph on your wedding day!

Wording!!!

There’s a few different ways you can word your wedding invitations! You can go the traditional route, which includes your parents names, or go more simple and modern with the bride and groom’s names!

If you go the traditional, then the invitations should start with ” *insert the bride’s parents names* together with *insert groom’s parent’s names*, invite you to the wedding of *insert Bride’s first and middle name* to *insert groom’s full name*. This tradition including the parents is usually because the bride’s parents are paying for most of the wedding and including the groom’s parents as a courtesy. You can adjust this as appropriate to your family circumstances and relationships! If you are going less traditional, then you can leave the parents out and just do full names, just make sure to put the bride’s name first!!!

Also include on the invitation the wedding date and time, ceremony location and address, reception details, dress code, meal options if appropriate, RSVP card, wedding website and/or registry information. You can also include directions and lodging information if necessary! If you don’t have a wedding website yet, make sure to make a personal wedding website! Here’s a link to some more great wedding invitation etiquette from brides.com!

When to send them out!!!

Order them about three to four months in advance so you have time to address them! Make sure you have set your ceremony time in stone and created a timeline with your wedding photographer first to make sure you have enough time to fit everything in! After they arrive in the mail, you can address them yourself, hire a calligrapher, or have labels printed with your guests name and address (which is so helpful to have a few extra copies printed for your thank you cards from the wedding and bridal shower)! Put them all in the mail to send out about 6-8 weeks before the wedding so your guests have time to respond and plan for your big day!!

Basic Invite also has Seal & Send invitations with a tear-off RSVP postcard included in 30 designs! Guest’s addresses are printed on the front of each invitation so you don’t need an envelope. You can collect addresses with a link and upload them. When they come in the mail you pop on a stamp, fold ’em, sticker and put them in the mail!!

Order samples before you order all the invites! You can try them out before you order them to make sure the color and spacing look exactly how you want! When my samples came in the mail for this article, they were in an envelope in the guide with details, color samples, and a discount code for your invitations! If you don’t order samples and get a discount code that way, they currently have a 15% off code using 15FF51! Happy Planning!!!

All photos by Expedition Joy, sponsored by Basic Invites invites!

Chicagoland Wedding Photography & Day-Of Coordinating