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Home > Advice + Planning > Wedding Stationery Inspiration > Page 2

How to Address Wedding Invitations + Envelope Etiquette

16/12/2016 by Karen

how-to-address-envelopes
This is a guest post by Jo Bryant, a wedding etiquette specialist

I recently met a newly-wed who was suffering from a common condition: post-wedding-and-honeymoon-blues. In a bid to cheer her up from the onset of dark evenings and the daily grind, we reminisced about her fabulous summer wedding.

We raved about her perfect country barn venue, amazing table of desserts, stunning understated floristry, adorable bridesmaids and comedy first dance, but we also recalled some of the trickier parts of her planning.

None of the disagreements were about the big stuff. In my experience, they rarely are. It seems that the pressures of planning and expectations of everyone involved can blow up over the smallest things.

For my friend, this was a standoff between her and her mother over how to write the guests’ names in the invitations. She wanted the simple option of using first names, but her mother was shocked at such ‘informality’ and was insisting on the Mr & Mrs route. This became one of their biggest cross-generational planning battles…

When it comes to the invitations, writing just ‘Tom and Jo’ (to use me and my husband as the example) is often seen as more suited to many couples’ wishes for a relaxed, informal day. That may be so, but don’t forget that the envelopes need to be written, so you will still have to face a potential minefield of modern forms of address.

Don’t panic! Here are my essential guidelines to help you avoid unnecessary stationery-stress.

how-to-address-wedding-invitations_1361
Sending a Signal

The first thing to consider is that the invitations offer the guests a first glimpse of the style and tone of the wedding. It makes sense, therefore, that the styling of the guests’ names is in keeping with nature of the wedding.

For a formal wedding with traditionally formal invitations, it may be most appropriate to opt for the ‘Mr & Mrs’ route. Similarly, first names for guests are best suited to invitations for a more casual day — particularly if the couple, rather than their parents, are the hosts.

That’s Just the Half of It

Once the decision of whether to use first names or a formal Mr & Mrs has been decided, there are many other quandaries to face. What goes on the envelope? What about including children? How to manage maiden names, Miss and Ms? Divorcés and widows? Someone may be a ‘Sir’ or a ‘Dr’. Then there is the tricky matter of the plus-ones (and do you even know their names?)…

Being Proper

If you want to stick to tradition, then the guests’ names on the invitation (and envelope) would be formally styled as the following:

Single man:  Mr Tom Bryant
Single woman:  Ms Jo Jones (see below)
Married couple:  Mr and Mrs Tom Bryant
Unmarried couple:  Mr Tom Bryant and Ms Jo Jones

how-to-address-wedding-invitation

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Real Jewish Brides: Choosing Our Wedding Stationery

09/10/2016 by Karen Cinnamon

dara-intro-image
Right now, Alex and I are in that really fun stage of wedding planning. Meaning, our invitations have been mailed out (phew!) and we’re just now starting to receive our guests RSVP’s back in the mail. Which for whatever reason, makes wedding planning  that  much more exciting. (what is it about snail mail that’s so deliciously appealing?)

Currently, coming home to check the mail is my favorite part of the afternoon, and because of that, I thought I’d talk about the process of choosing our wedding stationary.  

wedding-stationery
Save The Dates

This is essentially a piece of postage that formally alerts your friends and family, that at some point in the not-so-distant-future, they will be receiving an actual wedding invitation. An invitation for an invitation, if you will. Alex didn’t care much about it (or think it was necessary) so he let me take the lead on the design and the entire process. Which I was more than happy to do. The save-the-date is the first piece of tangible evidence that shows we are going to be wed (minus my engagement ring, of course)!  

I booked a quick 30 minute engagement shoot with a local DC photographer, and scheduled our shoot in Georgetown. It was a ridiculously cold morning in March, but at the end of the shoot, we had nearly 200 photos to choose from before we settled on the one we ended up using.  

I loved the various save-the-date options I found online, however the price and lack of flexibility of the designs offered was enough to steer me towards a DIY project. And that’s exactly what we did.

I browsed Etsy until I found something similar to my vision. I worked 1-on-1 with a designer who tweaked everything to my liking. She emailed me a template, which I then uploaded and printed it locally at a shop. 100 copies for just about $50 (not including postage or addressing labels).  

I was thrilled with how they came out. They were in the mail in the very beginning of April. Providing our guests with a full eight months of notice – which for destination weddings seems to be standard etiquette. Fast forward through the summer…

Save The Date

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Basic Invite – Pushing the Envelope on Wedding Stationery

23/09/2016 by Karen

basic-invite-wedding-stationery
My former life as a graphic designer – pre STG – was awash with Pantone references, fonts, typefaces and paper stock. A love you can’t take out of the girl it seems. So when it comes to wedding invitations, I’m the first in line to coo over a sassy design, a bold choice of colour, thoughtful monogramming, the texture of the invite and the weight of an envelope.     And believe me attention, individuality and quality never go unnoticed.

It’s important to set the tone for your big day and nothing builds anticipation better than the invitation.   It’s the movie trailer, the pre-promote and the amuse bouche to tantalise your guests.

Just as e-commerce for luxury fashion goods has developed over the last decade – think Net a Porter – so too have online destinations for luxury, customised, wedding stationery.

And Basic Invite is one of the best I’ve seen.

basic-invite-wedding-stationery_0793
Every paper product you could possibly need

It’s an elegant, online hub for all things printed and wedding –  save the date, invitations, RSVP cards, menus, programs, and thank you cards. And I love that it covers the whole gamut because it’s so important to pull all the threads of your wedding together and coordinate your paper products into one look – it is your brand after all.   But it’s also an incredibly efficient way of organising such an important aspect of the big day, without compromising on style.   Quite honestly, it sometimes feels as though you could make a full time job out of wedding preparation, that is on top of your actual job, so at STG we welcome style-conscious efficiency whole—heartedly.

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The ultimate ‘Smashing The Glass’ Save The Date design!

09/02/2015 by Karen

One of my readers, Alon, and his fiancà©e, Sharon, sent in their Save The Date design to me and I just had to share it…

breaking-the-glass-save-the-date
Alon told me. “We wanted an original and funny Save The Date, and the idea of me practicing smashing the glass just came up! We took the photo in my parents’ garden, and my younger brother and sister helped with wrapping the glasses and taking the picture.”

“When we posted it on Facebook we got amazing reactions from friends and family! Everybody laughed and said it was the best  Save The Date they’d ever seen! It was a lot of fun taking the pictures and we loved getting those great reactions….”

Thank you for sending this my way Alon. I’m a big fan of it too! What about you lovely readers – did you do something fun for your Save The Date? Tell me all about it…

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STG Recommends: Invitation London

29/01/2015 by Karen

Invitation-London-Smashing-Supplier
I am thrilled to welcome Invitation London  to our  Smashing Suppliers, Smashing The Glass’s handpicked selection of the best brands and services the wedding industry has to offer.

Smashing The Glass hand selects and verifies each Smashing Supplier, and can personally vouch for the fact that every one of them has the ability to turn your wedding day into something truly special.

You can find  Invitation London  in the UK Wedding Stationery  category of  Smashing Suppliers.

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