Selecting Your Wedding Invitation

Wedding invitations set the tone for the wedding; they are the first exposure most people will have to your wedding, and will create your guests' first impressions. Not only do your invitations tell them where and when your wedding is being held, they subtly tell them how formal it is, how they should dress and may even influence the types of gifts they may send.

When you select your wedding invitations, keep in mind what kind of weddings you are having. Your invitations and your wedding should complement one another. While formal invitations are appropriate for, among other things, a traditional church wedding, something less formal and more colorful may be suitable for a wedding held at sunset on a beach.

Wedding invitations should be ordered at least three months before your wedding. This should leave you enough time for engraving, addressing and mailing. (Wedding invitations should be mailed four to six weeks before the wedding.) Of course, it is best to order them as soon as you have all the necessary information.

Where should I purchase my wedding invitations?

There are many places that sell wedding invitations including stationery stores, jewelers, engravers, department stores, and specialty stores. When selecting a stationer, you should look for one who has expertise in selling wedding invitations and whom you feel comfortable working with. Your stationer should be able to anwser or find the answer to any questions that you might have.

What kind of paper should I use?

This is actually a three-part question, as you need to choose the material from which the paper is made, the color and the type of stationery.

Wedding papers are made from either cotton or wood. The first true papers were made from cotton almost two thousand years ago. Wood-pulp papers came into being in the 1800s during the industrial revolution . They supplanted cotton-fiber papers for many uses because of their lower cost and the seemingly endless supply of trees.

The finest paper, though, is made from cotton. Before you order your invitations, run your fingers across the paper. Invitations made from cotton will have a soft, rich feel to them. You'll be able to recognize the luxury and the quality inherent in cotton-fiber paper.

There are other advantages in using cotton-fiber papers. In addition to the superior quality, papers made from 100 percent cotton are environmentally friendly. Cotton is a renewable resource. A new cotton crop is harvested every year, whereas it takes many years to replace the trees used to make wood-pulp papers. And unlike papers made from ordinary wood pulp, papers made from cotton do not decompose. Your wedding invitations will look as beautiful on your Golden Wedding Anniversary as they did on the day you sent them.

Formal wedding invitations can be engraved on either ecru or white stationery. Ecru is the color you may know as buff, cream, ivory, or eggshell. It is the off-white color that we typically associate with wedding invitations. The color that you choose is a matter of personal preference. Ecru is the more popular of the two in the Americas while white is the color of choice in Europe.

Formal wedding invitations have a fold on the left-hand side and open like a book. This type of stationery is called a letter sheet. They may be either plain or paneled. Paneled invitations have a blind embossed frame. The decision on which one to choose is usually determined by the lettering style that you select. Another choice for less traditional invitations is a heavyweight flat card. Selections include simple ecru or white cards as well as those that incorporate a panel, hand bordering, or beveled edges with hand applied gold or silver leaf. Script styles tend to look better with no panel around them while most other styles tend to look best on paneled invitations. If you choose to do a script lettering style within a panel, you should ask to see a proof so you can see what the invitation will look like before it goes to press. While some script lettering styles can look beautiful on paneled invitations, they are condensed to fit the panel, so they may not look the way you expect them to. A proof eliminates surprises and is a wise investment.

What size should my invitation be?

Wedding invitations are available in three sizes: 6 3/8 by 8 7/8 inches, 5 1/2 by 7 1/2 inches, and 4 1/2 by 6 1/4 inches. Each of these letter sheets fits in a set of matching envelopes.

The two larger sizes are also available with a second fold across the middle of the sheet. The sheets fold a second time from top to bottom. The fold runs beneath the "to" line and does not cut across any of the engraving. These invitations are the most traditional. If you look at your parents' or grandparents' wedding invitations, you will more than likely find that they were done with a second fold.

These traditional invitations date back to earlier times when most formal social events were held in cities and towns. The residents had relatively small mailboxes so instead of having the postman stuff large invitations into small mailboxes, engravers folded the invitations neatly into smaller envelopes.

There must be hundreds of different lettering styles. How do I go about choosing one?

Selecting a lettering style can be a tiresome and confusing task. Style charts present just one line of each particular style surrounded by a myriad of other styles and, therefore, do not give you a very good idea of how the whole invitation will look. The best way to choose a lettering style is to skip the style charts and look at the sample invitations. This allows you to see what your invitations will look like in each lettering style. Since traditional invitations all follow the same format, your invitations will look pretty much like the sample in the book.

The lettering style you do choose should reflect the formality of your wedding and your personal taste. Classic lettering styles, such as Royal Script or Shaded Antique Roman, are the most popular and are always in good taste.

What color ink should I use?

Formal wedding invitations are engraved in black ink. However, exceptionally bold lettering styles on white paper can look too heavy and busy when engraved in black ink. In such cases, dark gray ink is suggested.

Less formal invitations today might incorporate other colors such as navy, burgundy or dark green. The color selection is often made to reflect the season or tone of the event, or to coordinate with the color palette of the wedding.

What is engraving?

Engraving is one of the oldest and most beautiful processes for reproducing images on paper. It was developed during the 1700s and was initially used to reproduce the documents and announcements that were at that time copied by hand. The appeal in engraving was in the exquisite detail created by its three-dimensional impression.

Engravers were talented craftsmen who carried their trade from the Old World to the Americas. Their craft was not only used to produce stationery and announcements but also currency papers, such as stocks, bonds, and dollar bills. Two of the United States' most famous engravers were Paul Revere and Benjamin Franklin.

The most elegant invitations are still engraved. The invitation copy is etched in reverse into a copper plate. Ink is deposited into the resulting cavity. The engraving press then forces the paper into the cavity, creating a raised impression. The paper is literally raised with the ink adhering to its raised surface. The fact that the paper itself is raised is what distinguishes engraving from printing and thermography.

How can I tell if an invitation is engraved?

The easiest way is to turn it over and look at the back. If there is an indentation, it is engraved.

The indentation is caused by the pressure the engraving press exerts on the paper when it forces the paper into the cavity of the die. None of the other processes produce an indentation. When you look at the front of the indentation, you will notice its "bruise." The invitation will have a gentle wave or ripple to it, giving it a look of distinction. Run your fingers across it. You will feel the softness of the cotton paper interrupted by the sharp, crisp lines that can only be created by engraving.

What is thermography?

Thermography is sometimes called "raised printing," although the printing is not raised at all. Unlike engraving where the paper is actually raised, the raise in thermography is created by a resinous powder that is melted over the flat-printed ink. Thermography is less expensive than engraving and can give your invitations a look similar to but not quite as nice as engraving.

What is blind embossing?

Blind embossing (or just "embossing") is a process similar to engraving. As with engraving, a raised impression is created from a copper plate. Unlike engraving, no ink is used. Blind embossing is commonly used for a family coat of arms, the return address on the outside envelopes, and monogrammed thank-you notes. Dies made for blind embossing can be used again to blind emboss or to engrave in a metallic color. They cannot, however, be engraved in other ink colors.

When should my wedding invitations be mailed?

Wedding invitations should be mailed four to six weeks before the wedding. For summer and holiday weddings, many brides mail their invitations eight weeks before the wedding since people are more likely to be traveling at those times.

How much postage will my wedding invitations require?

The invitation's size, the number of enclosure cards, and even the humidity affect the postage. To determine the correct postage, you should have your invitations (including the stamp on the reply envelope) weighed at the post office from which they will be sent.

How much money should I expect to spend?

Costs will vary as they are determined by the quality of the invitation, the number of enclosures, and the quantity ordered. When selecting your invitations, it is important to remember that even though the invitations set the tone for the entire wedding, they comprise, on average, only about 2 percent of the cost of the wedding. No matter how much money you save by purchasing inexpensive invitations, it will be a tiny amount in relation to the overall cost of your wedding.