As Soon as You are Engaged:
Share
your happy news with close family and friends. Be prepared.
They will probably want to hear the whole story and want to learn about
your future plans.
Comprise a fairly solid guest list for your big day.
Choose
your wedding attendants. You’ll want to be sure they will
be at your side on your wedding day. You may want to give them a
personalized card or gift to make their unveiling especially
memorable! Paper by Appointment has a variety of personalized
gift catalogs for your review including sterling silver engravable
items as well as affordable personalized stationery.
9 to 12 Months Ahead:
Plan an engagement party or send engagement announcements.
Choose the location(s) for your wedding ceremony and reception.
Revise your wedding guest list. Start verifying addresses of the guests you may not have had recent contact with.
Order
personalized stationery for the bride and groom-to-be. The bride
should have her own stationery for shower gifts. The bride and
groom should write joint thank you notes for engagement or
couple’s shower gifts.
Gather
information for a “Save the Date” card! Visit Paper
by Appointment and look at our samples. If your wedding location
is a destination for most guests, a save the date is very
helpful! Fill your save the date with useful information: hotel
and travel information, event itinerary, local sightseeing and places
of interest, etc. Now may be the time to develop a theme for your
wedding day that is evident in this initial mailing.
- To prepare, you might want to set
aside blocks of rooms for your guests as well as research airfare and
transportation information.
6 to 12 Months Ahead:
Order
your “Save the Date” cards. Bring the information
you’ve gathered into Paper by Appointment. We’re
happy to help you assemble your wording and create a unique first
impression of your wedding day!
If
most of your guests will be traveling, it is helpful to send out
information as soon as possible (we recommend 6 to 8 months ahead) for
planning purposes. The same applies for holiday weekends that are
very popular. For more intimate or local weddings, save the dates
might not be necessary, but are still convenient for your guests’
planning.
6 to 8 Months Ahead:
Start
searching for the right invitation with an emphasis on wording and
design. Our Paper by Appointment consultant is here to learn
about your invitation tastes and help create something perfect for
you! We have thousands of samples and plenty of ideas to make
your invitation unique.
If
interested in hand calligraphy, reserve these services as soon as
possible. Calligraphers are especially busy during wedding
season. Ask Paper by Appointment for hand calligraphy referrals
who can lend an extra personal touch to your invitation ensemble.
Finalize
the wording and order your invitations! Just let our Paper by
Appointment consultant know you’re ready to order!
Invitations should be mailed 6 to 8 weeks prior to the wedding
date. Allow yourself plenty of time to order, review proofs and
have the company print and ship the invitations. Most companies
deliver the finished product within 2 to 4 weeks.
The
basic invitation ensemble is comprised of the invitation, reception
card and reply set. You may also want to include a map or
directions card, which may require some additional preparation.
Matching thank you notes or announcements might also be ordered at this
time. (Reply dates should generally be 3 to 4 weeks prior to the
wedding date, but no more than halfway from initial mailing. If
you need a little extra time, be respectful that invitations are mailed
earlier.)
3 to 6 Months Ahead:
Decide
on your reception favors and order them! Paper by Appointment has
tons of options for favors as well as unique packaging solutions
Start
working on your ceremony programs and reception menus. These take
a lot of consideration, food and wine tastings, and music and reading
selections.
If
you are throwing a shower for the bride or the couple, Paper by
Appointment has an amazing selection of invitations to set the mood for
the event; from the Bridal Tea to the Bachelorette Bash! Allow a
few weeks if you are ordering from a custom company. If ordering
imprintables in house, allow 1 week for printing.
Print personalized napkins and favors!
For
the bride, don’t forget to thank the hostesses of your showers
and Bachelorette Party with a thoughtful gift! Paper by
Appointment has a great selection of personalized stationery and lovely
silver items that might be the perfect way to say thank you.
Order
your Rehearsal Dinner and Day-After Brunch invitations. If your
wedding allows for these additional events, Paper by Appointment has an
abundance of samples and wording for your review! These
invitations may tie in with your wedding invitation ensemble, but are
generally less formal. If you are having more than one additional
event, they can be combined in mailing as long as they
coordinate. Rehearsal or brunch invitations usually are mailed 1
to 2 weeks after the wedding invitations as the lists can be
considerably smaller, but do plan ahead for guests who will need to
arrange for extra travel time.
2 to 4 Months Ahead:
Pick
up your invitations and prepare them to send out. Be sure to give
your calligrapher your envelopes and finalized address list. Hand
calligraphers typically need 3 to 4 weeks to complete your order while
Paper by Appointment can address your envelopes with digital
calligraphy within 7 to 10 days.
Think
about gifts for your attendants. Paper by Appointment has many
options for customized gifts: engraved glassware, jewelry, barware,
etc. Allow 3 to 4 weeks for personalized gift delivery.
If
you are hosting a Bachelor or Bachelorette Party, select your
invitations. Be sure to send these out with enough advance notice
for those who need to travel.
2 Months Ahead:
Send
out your invitations! They should be mailed no later than 6 weeks
ahead. 8 weeks is comfortable and if you didn’t use a
“Save the Date”, you may want to send them out a bit sooner.
Remember
to weigh an assembled invitation at the post office to assess mailing
costs. Most wedding sets will exceed the regular letter postage,
and squares automatically qualify for increased postage, regardless of
weight.
Don’t
forget to stamp your reply envelopes. Also note that guests in
other countries cannot use an American stamp to send the response card
back. There are international vouchers available for purchase at
the post office that can be included with the response card to cover
the postage for guests in foreign countries. Your guest will
exchange the voucher at their post office for the proper postage to
return the response card.
Ask
the clerk at the post office to “hand cancel” the
stamps. This process manually cancels the stamp and avoids the
normal process of machining the envelope and thus potentially streaming
black ink across the front of the envelope.
It
is also a good idea to number your reply cards by a master list, just
in case a guest forgets to fill in his or her name. Mystery
solved!
For the bride, if you are hosting an event to honor your bridesmaids, choose your invitations.
Try
to finalize the information for your menus and ceremony programs.
Ask to look at samples at Paper by Appointment! This is a great
place for the bride and groom to thank their guests or honor those who
cannot attend. Order them 4 to 6 weeks prior to your wedding
date, so that necessary time is allowed for changes and
revisions. You may also want to order matching escort or place
cards at this time.
1 to 2 Months Ahead:
Finalize
remaining details for the wedding day. Don’t forget a guest
book and a nice pen. Select and order your favors and packaging.
4 to 5 Weeks Ahead:
Send out your Rehearsal and Brunch invitations.
2 to 4 Weeks Ahead:
Responses for the wedding should be arriving now. Be sure to call guests who have not replied.
Give
your calligrapher a list of names for your escort or place cards.
Try to provide as complete a list as possible. Calligraphers will
understand if you have a few last-minute changes.
Plan ahead and wrap your attendant gifts and prepare nice notes or tags for the packages.
Think
about personalizing a nice gift for your fiancé(e) to be given
to them on the wedding day. Order it at this time.
Don’t forget about gifts for both sets of parents to thank them for all they’ve done.
2 to 3 Weeks Ahead:
Put
together welcome letters and/or gift baskets for guests arriving from
out of town. This makes for a wonderful initial impression of the
wedding weekend. They should be delivered to their accommodations
a few days before the wedding. Allow a little extra time for
printing welcome letters.
1 Week Ahead:
If
you are sending announcements, address them and give them to the
designated attendant in charge of mailing them. Announcements can
be postmarked as early as the day after the wedding.
The Big Day! Enjoy!
After the Wedding:
If
you didn’t order thank you notes prior to the wedding, order them
as soon as possible. Notes should be written up until 2 months
after the wedding date, or if your guests are delayed in sending your
gift, upon receipt.
