Timing Tips for Wedding Stationery

What to order when – your quick guide to wedding stationery by Sophie

Once you’ve got engaged, all the preparations can seem rather daunting in the excitement. Help is at hand for your wedding stationery. We find that the questions we’re most often asked are when to order stationery, and whether it all needs to be ordered at once. Here’s our handy guide:

First stage: Order Save the Date cards as soon as possible after you have fixed your wedding date: usually at least 9 months to a year before your wedding. These cards are a great idea if your wedding is at a popular holiday time or mid-week – make sure your most important guests aren’t busy elsewhere. Don’t worry too much about colours at this stage – just choose something you love. You can coordinate later!
Second stage: Order Invitations, RSVPs and pocketfolds. We recommend sending out invitations at least 2 months prior to the wedding. You’ll also need to allow enough time for your stationer to make the items (we ask for 4-6 weeks). Once you’ve found a design you like, choose a colour theme. Your stationer should send out a proof showing all of your details in your chosen colours. This way you’ll be sure all the details are correct before the order is completed. Consider having Pocketfolds; they contain not only the invitation but an RSVP and information card for details of hotels, directions etc. tucked inside – we love making life simple!
Third stage: Order on the day items. You can do this much nearer the wedding. These items include menus; order of service; place cards; table cards; table plan – anything that will be used on the big day itself! We suggest making on the day items to match your invitations to follow your theme through. We know how long it takes sometimes to finalise things such as details with the vicar, caterer and your final guest list. We usually request wording for order of service and menus around 8 weeks before the wedding and details for table plans, place cards, table cards, etc. 4 weeks prior to the wedding.
Fourth stage: Order favour boxes and thank you cards. You can actually order these at the same time as any of the previous steps – many of my clients have purchased these at the same time as the invitations! Leave the thank you card inserts blank if you want to write your own message, or we have some standard examples that you could try out. Both thank you cards and favour boxes can match the rest of your stationery too.
It easy to order in several stages, meaning minimal fuss and the chance to evenly spread payments before your wedding! If you prefer to order everything at once, your stationer may provide the items in stages: we prepare your order in two batches – the first batch includes the invitations and RSVPs, the second includes all of the ‘on the day’ items. Of course, we give you plenty of reminders as to when we need your information!

Having set out our suggested timescales, we realise that it’s not always possible to stick to them. Don’t worry – we can often help out if you’ve got a tight timescale. Just ask us for advice, we love to help! Please visit our website http://www.cardsbysophie.com/