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| Wedding Invitations |
| Ordering
Wedding Invitations: What Do You Really Need? |
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Traditional
invitations, at least in America and most
of Europe, have always been white or ivory
paper printed with black ink, and always
engraved or embossed. (You should see
an expensive Indian invitation, though
– they're delivered in boxes and
include some remarkable things!)
Brides often still want the elegance
and formality of the traditional invitation,
but many others want something a little,
or a lot, different.
Remember, the invitation is the first
thing the guest sees for the wedding.
It sets the tone of your big day, and
gives the guest a clue as to whether
the wedding is formal, semiformal, or
casual.
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Anatomy Of A Wedding Invitation
Wedding invitations traditionally include:
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The outer envelope or
mailing envelope
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Invitation
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Reception card
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RSVP card for invitation
and reception
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An inner envelope to mail
back the RSVP card
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Map, driving directions,
and important phone numbers; also information
on where to stay while in town for the wedding.
Some more elaborate invitations also include
an engraved card and a second inner envelope
to hold the invitation – bringing the
envelope total to three. Do you need all this?
It's up to you. In a very casual small wedding,
just an email can be sufficient; in the aforementioned
Indian invitation, a hard wood box contained
all the above material in brilliant red in a
cloth-lined pocket, along with photos of the
bride and groom under rice paper, stationery,
and even a pen! To cap it off, when you opened
the box by untying a red ribbon, it played Indian
wedding music.
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| Wedding Invitation Types
There are several types or styles of wedding
invitation you can send your guests...
Engraved or embossed: This type
of wedding invitation involves stamping the card
in a mold to leave an indentation or imprint.
Engraved invitations take the longest to prepare;
six weeks or so should be allowed after you approve
the design and content. They are required for
the most formal weddings.
Thermographed: These wedding
invitations are printed with the same process
used to create raised lettering on business cards.
These are somewhat less formal than engraved,
yet still elegant. You can print in colors besides
black.
Calligraphed: These handwritten
wedding invitations look old fashioned and elegant,
but also take quite a while. You should never
try to do this if you've never done calligraphy;
it takes a special flair, and the ink smears easily.
Hand Colored or Personalized:
Making your own wedding invitations is a new trend,
adding a personal touch to your special day. For
my brother's wedding, I helped him print out rose-based
invitations that opened like double doors in the
middle; the doors were tied with a ribbon matching
his wedding colors and the whole card was delicately
edged with shimmering gold paint, like old-fashioned
books. Creativity and your personality will dictate
how your personalized cards look.
Boxed set wedding invitations:
These pre-prepared invitations can have personalized
messages printed on them by inkjet or laser printer;
with the proper equipment, you can even print
in metallic leaf with a laser printer. These sets
are fast, easy to use, and can be a perfect choice.
Addressing Wedding Invitation Envelopes
It's not considered proper to use labels on your
envelopes, but you do have a choice between the
cramping of hand-lettering envelopes yourself,
the expense of hiring a professional calligrapher
to do it for you, or using calligraphic fonts
on your computer to print all the addresses for
you.
The most critical thing, though, is having all
the correct information. The most beautiful wedding
invitation in the world is worthless if it goes
astray. |
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Wedding invitation
ideas and other wedding issues are always changing.
Our Wedding
Toolkit can help you make everything about
your wedding memorable, and avoid the traps and
pitfalls that many couples make ... |
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