There are a ton of posts on the internet claiming the importance of all things wedding related. This is not one of those posts. The wedding industry can be a bit ridiculous in this regard. And, guys, that is coming from somebody who would like you to buy wedding related things from her. I guess that kind of backs up the ridiculousness of it all, huh? I’m gonna try to break down what I think is important, what I think can be important, and what I think is replaceable when it comes to wedding paper products. And after it’s all said and done, I hope that those of you that feel like it’s important to you will come to someone (maybe even me!) who it was is just as important to. ♥
So what’s my answer to how important is the stationery for your wedding? Well, really it completely depends on you. Are you somebody that loves stationery and paper products? If so, I would argue that it is totally important. If you’re the kind of person that isn’t interested in those things, then it’s probably way less important, and that’s okay. It’s still a LITTLE important, but there are way less expensive options out there for getting your guests the information that they need. Let’s look at a few of the important aspects of the wedding stationery, and think about why they’re important, and maybe even look at replacement options for them when the aesthetic aspects just aren’t that important to you.
Information
Shop the Celestial Collection (pictured above)
So, probably the biggest bullet on the list of important things about your wedding stationery is the fact that it is how you are going to convey information about your wedding to the people you want to celebrate with you. This, however, is the absolute easiest bullet to replace with a low-cost (or free) option. The information you want to include wherever and however you choose to give this to your guests is:
- Date and time
- Location of wedding venue, reception venue, rehearsal dinner
- How and when to RSVP
- Any meal options
- (Possibly) An easy to type/shortened URL to a wedding website with more information (registries, more in-depth timelines, etc)
- (Possibly) Directions/maps to important places
- (Possibly) Hotel information
Low-cost option: Digital design + a lower priced printer. I’ve had good results from VistaPrint, but there are a ton of options out there.
Cost saving tip: Ask your friends and family to provide their addresses if they want a physical invitation. This will cut down on the numbers if you have lots of guests that for whatever reason don’t want you to send them a paper invitation.
Free option: Facebook event, emails, phone calls, and texts. You might want to consider printing off a few well-formatted “invitations” for any family members that might not be as internet savvy.
First Impressions
Shop the Austrian Alps Collection (pictured above)
Otherwise known as setting the scene, or giving guests an idea of what to expect. If you want an extravagant bash, you should probably go ahead and go the extra mile for your invitation set. If you want things to be low-key and casual, you probably don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on your invitation sets. A few things you should consider in this category that will help you make sure that you’re giving the feel you want with your paper set:
- What are your colors?
- What sort of theme are you going with? Rustic and cozy, country-chic and elegant, or bold and modern – this is one of the main things to pin down if you’re going to put any money into your stationery set.
Tradition
Shop bespoke wedding design (pictured above)
This one is waaaay less important to me personally. I don’t love tradition for the sake of tradition. My advise to you on this aspect: if a tradition is important to you, go with it, otherwise seriously don’t worry about it. That being said there may be other reasons that a tradition could be important to you. Maybe it’s important to [insert family member here] and you would like to make them happy. For whatever reason, if the tradition is important to you, then you should definitely place the wedding stationery on your important list. If not, take if off of there, and don’t feel bad for a second about it. Save that money brides & grooms, there are better things you can use it on than paper that you don’t love.
So there you have it! My honest, and hopefully helpful, breakdown of wedding stationery importance. I love stationery, so if you’re a fellow paper lover, I hope you’ll let me work with you to design your dream paper set. If it isn’t one of your passions but you have questions, feel free to email me, or comment here!
