WEDDING INVITATIONS: 101

Working with a Stationery Designer to create wedding Invitations and what that process looks like.

We understand invitations and stationery are a foreign topic for most people. It's not often in our modern day lives that we find ourselves sending large quantities of invitations and letters. So, we've written this blog post to give you some basic knowledge on what wedding invitations are, how our design process works, and where to get started.

What's included in a Traditional Wedding Invitation?

So, you've got a good amount of wedding planning behind you at this point and you're ready to invite people to this amazing occasion. GREAT! It's your time to focus on Invitations now. That means you should have already solidified your wedding theme and design, you should have selected your bridesmaid dresses, and you should have an inspiration board of invitations you find aesthetically pleasing to reference.

You're ready to begin the exciting task of inviting your closest friends and family to the celebration of your love and marriage but have no clue where to start. First, let's chat about the basics. What goes in your invitations and what is each card supposed to say?

A Traditional Invitation Suite includes the following items -

• Housing Envelope

• (1) Invitation Card

• (1) Details Card

• (1) RSVP Card

• RSVP Envelope

Some other cards couples add or exchange could be -

• A custom Map

• Weekend Itinerary

• Engagement keepsake photo

• A love story card

A traditional invitation suite shown above. (minus the RSVP envelope not photographed)

How to hire a stationery designer for your wedding day

From start to finish, we take pride in the process and experience we offer brides through both in-person and virtual meetings. Much of our process is performed through email, zoom, and text. We do take in-person consultations, and hope to have a studio in the future for hosting our entire design + production process for brides to be a part of.

1. Consultation

For now, we start with your initial consultation after you've submitted your inquiry.

Initial Consultations are a great way for us to get to know more about you and your wedding needs! This is a time for you to ask questions, get educated, and get to know us on a more personal level so we can better cater our services to your needs.

2. Proposal

Next, you'll be provided a custom quote + design board with inspiration and ideas to reference while deciding if luxury stationery is in your wedding budget. Whether you decide to move forward or not, just let us know so we aren't left wondering if you fell off the face of the earth or flew to mars.

After contracts have been reviewed and signed, a deposit of at least 25% has been processed, then you've officially booked with Paper + Petals! Woohoo!

3. Design + Production Phases

The next few phases are way more exciting since we can actually provide you with design services! You'll receive a thank you email and information of next steps upon signing. You'll also receive a personalized timeline for the design and production phases of your wedding stationery.

Designing with Paper + Petals includes 2 - 3 Custom Design Options based on your overall wedding theme and style, up to 3 revisions and $55.00 for additional revisions.

4. Completion

Yay! We've designed your gorgeous and one of a kind wedding invitations, production has been completed and we are ready to pop these beauties in the mail for all your guests to indulge. We have 2 options for the mailing process:

Option One

We mail the invitations TO you. The Invitations with be assembled, addressed, stamped and ready for you to drop them off at the post office. They will be packaged and shipped to you by completion date. This removes the liability and assumption we have any control over the mailing services provided by USPS.

Option Two

We mail the invitations FOR you. This will require a signed disclosure informing you we are not responsible for the delivery of invitations after they've been passed to the hands of USPS. USPS is held responsible for any damages, lost letters, etc. For this reason, we encourage you order at least 10 extra invitations.

Ask To Hand Cancel your Invitations at The Post Office

We highly advise asking the post office to 'hand cancel' your wedding invitations. This will require you to go inside the post office and chat with a service member. They're not always willing, but it's worth the shot! Hand cancelling increases your chances of successfully delivered invitations. Normally, invitations are run through a machine-operated sorting system that marks up the envelopes with lines and runs the risk of damaging envelopes in the process.

We hope this helped explain the basics of Wedding Invitations! If you have any questions or thoughts, leave a comment below and we'll get back to you! If you're ready to get started on your custom designs, reach out and we'll let you know if we have availability for your wedding date.