Wedding invitations - designing, ordering and printing

Reception only?
The design of the invitations can set the style you wish to create for your wedding, be it traditional or out of the ordinary. You can find designs to suit all tastes and budgets from good stationers and local printers or you can buy some card and design your own.

The classic wedding invitation is simply type (no graphics), ideally engraved on good-quality white or cream card. The format is an upright, folded card with the wording on one side only. Black or silver lettering is the most popular.

You can buy ready-printed cards and fill in the details by hand, or you may prefer to create your own design and have a set of invites printed off or - the cheapest and potentially most time-consuming option - create each invite individually. Just be careful that your design does not overwhelm the essential information.

If you have chosen a traditional, specially printed or engraved card, the guest's name is handwritten at the top left-hand side of the page.

When do I order them?
You will need to order the invitations at least three months in advance, or as long as possible in advance and as soon as you have a good idea of numbers.

You should allow one invitation per family including a courtesy one for the groom's parents and the minister and his wife. Also include family and friends who you may already know cannot come, but who would appreciate receiving an invitation, for example a very elderly grandparent.

Don't forget to order a spare twenty or so to allow for mistakes when writing them and for any extra guests you may decide to ask at a later date.

The printing process can take some time and you will need to scrutinize the proofs for errors very carefully. Corrections should be made for free at this stage, unless it was your mistake.

The invitations should be sent out at least six weeks before the wedding. Between ten and twelve weeks before is average.

You will need to record responses as they arrive and perhaps send out further invitations to people on the reserve list if numbers permit. Don't leave this too late, some people find being obviously a second choice offensive!

What else should I include in the envelope?
In with the invitation, put maps and directions to the ceremony and reception venues and be sure that car-parking areas are clearly marked. If appropriate, include a list of nearby hotel/guests houses and their prices.

You may also wish to include details of your gift list for convenience's sake - just bear in mind that this isn't the traditional approach. Your older guests will be more familiar with the idea of asking the bride's mother for details once the invites have been issued.

What other stationery should I order?
As well as the invitations, you may wish to have other personalized stationery such as:

• Order of service sheets (check the content with whoever is conducting your service before having these printed)
• Menus - again make certain that this is the final version before printing
• Place cards
• Napkins

If you go for all these, then it may be worth placing an order in bulk and negotiating a discount!

Changes of circumstance
Hopefully you won't have to postpone or cancel your wedding but if you do, you need to formally inform your guests. Here's how to word the cancellation cards.

For postponement:
'Owing to the recent illness of Mrs. Jones mother, the wedding of her daughter Susan to Mr. Neil Wood at St Mary's Church at 2pm on Saturday 5th April, 1999 has been postponed to 3pm on Saturday 12th August, 1999.

For cancellations:
Owing to the sudden death of Mr. Jones the wedding of his daughter Susan to Mr. Neil Wood at St Mary's Church at 2pm on Saturday 5th April 1999 will not now take place. The marriage will take place privately at a date to be decided.