Wedding Tips & Articles

Planning your wedding can be stressful. Let the experts and other brides fill you in on some handy hits, checklists and information you may not have thought of.

Wedding invitation checklist

Some tips for organising your wedding invitations:

• The design of your invitation should reflect the formality and style of your wedding. They offer the important information of who, what, when, and where. They are your first point of contact with your guest and therefore they set expectations and the mood for your special day;
• Choose your invitations at least four months before your wedding. Invitations could take up to four weeks to print and assemble and then they may need to be hand addressed which can take some time. The invitation should be received six to eight weeks prior to the wedding;
• RSVP dates should be 2-3 weeks prior to the wedding to allow you to confirm numbers and organise table plans;
• The font or typeface selected should also reflect the formality of the wedding along with your personal style. It also needs to be a practical decision. If you are using patterned papers or a light ink then consider using a clear and simple typeface so you invitation is easy to read;
• Always order extras. Ordering additional invitations after your order is completed can be very expensive. It is always better to have a few extra than to be caught short;
• You must proof read your final draft carefully – checking everything including venue, dates, names, addresses, spelling and grammar. Pass your printing proof over to someone else for a fresh set of eyes;
• Overseas and interstate guests should be notified informally of the wedding date as soon as it is set to allow them to make travel plans. A "Save the Date" card is a nice way of doing this;
• Invitations with embellishments (studs, ribbons etc) should be hand franked so they are not crushed. (Franking is the red stamp over your postage stamp. It is normally done by machine that passes through rollers) Hand franking is done by request at Australia Post and does not incur a fee;
• Envelopes should be addressed in the same manner and with the same pen as the invitation is written;
• Invitations that are not post office preferred size will cost more to post. Don’t forget to allow for this in your budget. Post Office Preferred size is 240mm (w) x 130mm (h) x 5mm (d).