A wedding invitation is so important in setting the theme for the whole affair. It sets the tone, gives your guests an idea of what to expect from the event, and of course offers the basic information for the event! The wedding invitation’s character — formal, informal, elegant, or amusing — announces the newlyweds’ style. You should take the time to choose papers, typefaces, colours, and emblems that you love, before you head off and purchase your stationery.

There are some incredible designs on the market now for your wedding stationery, or you may decide to go the do-it-yourself route. You can expect to pay anywhere from $3 a piece for a template invitation to $20 a piece for a bespoke, extravagant invitation. Pink Frosting has designs at both ends of the spectrum. Remember though, there really is no reason why you can’t create something spectacular yourself with a bit of crafty and thrifty thinking!

Wording is always the tricky part. We often visit Invitation Consultants to ensure we have the wording correct depending on who is doing the inviting and what the circumstances are.

At the most basic, where the Bride and Groom are inviting guests, here is a guide:

Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Durand
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Sophie Lynn
to
Jeffrey Lautrec
son of
Mr. and Mrs. Michael Lautrec
Saturday, the fourth of December
Two thousand and seven
at two o’clock in the afternoon
Fox Green Country Club
2621 Hunter Avenue
Melbourne, Victoria

And, to make it more complicated, it’s important to address your guests correctly. Our fave etiquette master, Martha Stewart, offers the following rules:

Your guests’ names should be written in full on outer envelopes — no nicknames or initials. Use the appropriate social titles as well, such as addressing married couples as “Mr. and Mrs.” If a man’s name has a suffix, write “Mr. Joseph Morales, Jr.,” or “Mr. Joseph Morales IV”; “Junior” can be spelled out on a more formal invitation. It gets a little tricky when husband, wife, or both have different professional titles. If the husband is a doctor, for example, the titles will appear as “Doctor and Mrs.”; if the wife is a doctor, her full name would come first, as in “Doctor Sally Carter and Mr. John Carter.” If both are doctors, write “The Doctors Carter.” If they have different professional titles, list the wife first: “The Honourable Pamela Patel and Lieutenant Jonathan Patel, U.S. Navy.” If a wife has kept her maiden name, her name should appear first and be joined with her husband’s using “and.”

Good luck with it! Once you have the basics for your invitation sorted out, the rest will seem like a breeze!

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn