Why do so many search results still yield endless articles touting a plethora of unneeded stationery as part of the required wedding suite? It’s really gotten so much simpler! Today’s modern wedding couple only needs a few key pieces of wedding stationery.
Of course, everyone’s situation is different, so some people will need more pieces than others. But overall, pretty much everyone can leave out certain pieces these days.
Like, traditional advice would have it that you need engagement party invitations. But how many people even have an engagement party? If a couple does decide to have an engagement party, it probably wouldn’t be such a formal event that it would require physical invitations to be sent out. Creating a social media event would probably do the trick!
And wedding party invitations? Kind of tacky! It’s much more personal and special to ask potential bridesmaids and groomsmen to participate face-to-face.
Likewise, bridal shower invitations can be left out because bridal showers are pretty much a thing of the past. Who isn’t already living with their significant other — or at least on their own — by the time they get married nowadays? The modern couple doesn’t really need a bunch of housewarming presents.
And as for informal events like bach parties, it’s really not necessary to send anything more than a simple text message.
Most couples these days don’t have a rehearsal dinner party anymore, either. But if they do, it doesn’t involve many people, and can be handled by email.
So then, only two formal pieces of stationery need to be sent out before the wedding.
Pre-Wedding Stationery
First, Save the Date cards are extremely useful and should never be skipped. They should be sent out as early as possible. Eight to twelve months before the wedding is ideal. As late as six months in advance is still acceptable. The idea is to give potential guests as much notice as possible that they should avoid making other plans on that date.
Second, wedding invitations! These are incredibly important because they provide guests with all the information they need to know in advance. And, it allows you to collect RSVPs from your potential guests. Wedding invitations should be sent out about three months ahead of the wedding date, if possible. RSVPs should be collected no later than one month before the wedding.
Speaking of which, including RSVP cards with wedding invitations is optional these days. There are more efficient ways of collecting RSVP data, such as via an online form. Doing it the more traditional way is fine for smaller weddings, of course. But doing it all manually can be overwhelming for larger weddings, especially if RSPVs include meal choices and dietary restrictions.
Likewise, including venue directions and accommodations information cards with invitations depends on guest demographics and whether there’s a wedding website. If a lot of people are coming from afar, it could be useful to at least provide the venue directions card. But even then, most people have a GPS-enabled phone, so everything could go on a wedding website. If there’s no website, then all of the information must be provided with the invitation.
Event Day Stationery
At the wedding itself is where things can get more complicated, depending on various factors such as wedding size, venue layout, and personal preferences.
It’s almost always a good idea to have some sort of welcome signage at the reception venue. This tells guests that they are in the right place.
It’s also useful to make available a program detailing the day’s itinerary. This helps guests set their expectations for the day. Plus, this is a good place to name the wedding party, the officiant, the master of ceremonies, and a few key family members. These are usually parents and potentially grand-parents. But, with many families being started before parents get married these days, it’s appropriate to name the wedding couple’s children. Identifying these individuals on the program helps guests figure out who they all are, since everyone may not know each other.
Oftentimes, a lot of thought goes into planning the wedding menu. So, many couples like to highlight their feast by providing menus to guests.
Programs and menus can be combined into one piece of wedding stationery. Or, they can be displayed as signage instead.
Something crucial wedding couples need to decide is whether guests will sit at a pre-determined place during dinner. Some couples choose to seat guests at a specific table, but let them decide where to sit at that table. So how do guests know where to sit? With more signage and wedding stationery, of course!
If the wedding is larger, then a seating chart sign that shows table numbers is probably required to help guide guests. Escort cards can be set out nearby to provide guests their table numbers. Table number signs at each table help guests and wait staff correctly identify each one. Once at the table, if guests are asked to sit at a specific seat, then place cards are needed as well. These also help wait staff serve the correct meals to each guest.
A smaller wedding may not need any seating signage or stationery at all. Then again, it may only need place cards at each seat if there aren’t enough tables to require a seating chart, but wait staff still need to identify guests to serve them their correct meals.
If guests are allowed to sit wherever they want, a sign indicating so is helpful.
And again, if the ceremony is being held at a different venue than the reception, some seating signage will probably be needed there as well. At the very least, most couples want to reserve the front seats for the bridal party and their immediate families.
If wedding games are being played, some signage or stationery may also be needed for those.
Some other standard wedding signage might include:
- a Thank You sign by the gift table and/or gift card box;
- a sign by the Guest Book (especially if a non-traditional one is being used);
- table signage (such as asking guests to post photos to socials with a wedding hashtag);
- signage by a wedding favours table (depending how favours are being distributed);
- decorative signage.
Lastly, remember tags for wedding favours! In addition to dedicated tags, it’s also great to have stickers made. They can be used with tags, on envelopes, in albums, etc.
Post-Wedding Stationery
After the wedding, there are two types of stationery that might be sent out.
For a traditional wedding, thank you cards are sent to everyone who attended (even if they didn’t give a gift). This should be done within three months of the wedding day.
If the wedding was an elopement or a small destination wedding, then announcement cards can be sent to anyone who wasn’t invited. This tells people that they matter to you even if you couldn’t invite them to take part in your special day. Do this within one month of returning from your elopement.
One final piece of advice! Make sure that your wedding stationery suite is designed consistently. You don’t always have to use the exact same pattern, so long as it’s all nicely tied in together. You can even go one step further and create your wedding website to match.
Wedding Stationery Examples
Agency owner Julie Dupuis had a destination engagement in 2022, and a destination elopement followed by a local reception in 2023. Check out her wedding story for the full picture! Here she shares her wedding stationery strategy.
“When we decided to elope, we knew we would have to do a bit of damage control with our extended families to make sure no one was offended. So, we posted an announcement on socials explaining our decision, adding that we would hold a reception for our immediate family. Many friends and family members already knew that we had been struggling with the question of getting married for years, having already been together for thirteen years by that point. So, when we posted that we were happy to have finally figured out how to do this thing on our own terms, in a way that was truly a dream come true for us, everyone understood. Shortly afterwards, we sent out our Save the Date cards to our local reception guests.”
“After the elopement, we sent out our wedding reception invitations and wedding announcements. We used the same design and layout for both, and just adjusted the text as needed. We provided all extra information and asked for RSVPs via our wedding website to keep the mail-out simple.“
“One thing we did for all our mail-outs was use upgraded envelopes. We wanted to make sure they weren’t see-through or cheap-looking. To make everything look nice and neat, we affixed our wedding sticker to the back of each envelope. We also had coordinating custom return address labels made. Plus, I printed all and addresses directly on the envelopes. For the wedding invitations, I also made sure to include all guest names. This served the dual purpose of indicating which members of the household were invited, since we couldn’t invite all the kids, unfortunately. And, we bought a roll of stamps to avoid ugly post office print-out stickers.”
“Due to local wedding laws in Greece and our own personal preferences, we opted for a symbolic ceremony during our destination elopement, and made it official at our local wedding reception.”
“Since we only had a micro-wedding of about 30 guests, we didn't have a seating chart or escort cards. Our venue layout allowed us to have a ceremony room separate from the main reception area. So, in the ceremony room, we placed family name cards at each of the six seat groupings where we wanted each family to sit. Likewise, there were only six tables in the reception area, so individual place cards were set out at each seat for people to find for themselves. About a third of the guests already knew where they were sitting anyway since they helped set up the décor in the morning, so it was easy for them to guide others to their seats.”
“And since everything was taking place at the same venue, we decided to amalgamate what are traditionally two or even three separate pieces of wedding stationery into one. Our wedding program included the list of wedding participants and key family members, the ceremony schedule, the reception schedule, and the menu.”
“After the wedding, we sent out Thank You cards to all the guests as well as to people who gave us wedding gifts. We also sent one to all the service providers who helped make our special day come true. The cards were designed with enough blank space to add a personalized message. Since I can’t trust my handwriting, I printed the personal notes on blank label stickers.”
If you’re having a destination wedding, Journiac Travel & Tours can help you plan all the details! At the premium service level, this includes designing wedding stationery, building a dedicated wedding website, and much more.