A guide to Ordering Wedding Invitations

There are so many choices for wedding invitations, but the process will take less time if you know what you want and you remain organised. You need to take into consideration the formality of the event, the number of guests you will have, your personal taste, whether there is some kind of theme, and if there are special colours that will be incorporated into your wedding day.

Cream is the most often used wedding invitation colour, but you can find some really different colours and designs if you look in the right places, try a search on google for handmade wedding invitations or click here http://www.gibsondoyle.co.uk/cards.asp?cid=21 for inspiration. You may want to match your wedding invitation to your dress. If your wedding colour is lavender, you can look for a wedding invitation with lavender accents such as this http://www.gibsondoyle.co.uk/cards.asp?cid=53  the design also includes a matching envelope

Ordering your Wedding Invitations

First, you must gather all of your information, and then you are ready to place your wedding invitation order. There are so many questions to answer before you can actually sit down and order your invitations. Here's a checklist of what you will want to consider before beginning the order process. This list will alleviate frustration and will get you on the right path to ordering your wedding invitations quickly.

1. Who is going to send your invitations  (parents of bride, bridge/groom, both sets of parents, etc.)?

2. Which extras do you need  (save the date cards, reply card, etc)?

3. What typestyle/font do you like best?

4. How many wedding invitations do you need?

5. Do you know all your wedding day information (location, time, address etc.)?

6. What wording will you use?

7. What is your budget?

All of these questions will be asked during the ordering process and some will need to be answered before the order is sent in. It is best to be prepared and allow yourself time in making these decisions. Consult with your fiancé and your families before making your final decision. A good Invitation supplier will provide as much information as possible to help you determine what is right for your wedding invitations, 

How Many Wedding Invitations to Order

If you are able to determine the exact number of wedding invitations you will need, it is always safe to order a few extras. Wedding invitations are usually sold in quantities of 25, however  hand made wedding invitations can be ordered from quantities of 1 upwards from  a good quality wedding invitation company such as here http://www.gibsondoyle.co.uk. They can supply you with one or two extras at short notice for those little emergencies such as any wedding invitations that are sent back to you with the wrong address, or if you've added someone to the list at the last minute, maybe some people didn't receive anything and you need to resend them. 

As a guide quantities to order usually works out at half the number of guests, married couples and families only need one wedding invitation.  If you have several friends living in the same house together, it is customary to send each of them an invitation.

When to Order Your Wedding Invitations

The best thing you can do is to start browsing wedding invitations to get a feel for the styles that appeal to you. Once you have found some wedding invitations, start reviewing the prices to get an idea of what each wedding invitation and co-ordinating items cost per person. Then, multiply the cost per person number for each wedding invitation by the number of guests you will be inviting and that should give you a pretty close price range for what the total wedding invitation cost will be. You can give quantities to your chosen supplier who will the send you a quote, 

Wedding invitations should be ordered well in advance to when you want to post them (they are usually posted out at least six weeks before the wedding) so order them with plenty of time for you to assemble and address them.  If you considering envelope calligraphy, ask you supplier if they can provide this service and what lead time they will need to get this done if you are to do this yourselves then allow an additional two to four weeks.

Every bride has different priorities for their wedding. For some, the dress is the most important item while for others it may be the venue. So, when it comes to wedding invitations, planning your budget reflects its importance on your list. For the basics such as a wedding invitation with envelopes, response card with envelope, and evening invitation  you can plan on spending anywhere between 2-5% of your total budget. But, if you  want something really special and different then you may want to up increase the budget   Many brides today are choosing to have their reply envelopes  addressed  you can also have your invitation envelopes addressed this will cost more but will save you time in the long run. Other products to consider are thank you cards, order of services,menus, and place cards etc. 

Visit www.gibsondoyle.co.uk . Helen Doyle, the owner of Gibson Doyle Specialist cards, offers  8 handmade wedding stationery collections from which you can choose online, or you can have your wedding invitations custom made specially for you call 01422 204408 for a consultation appointment.