Hey all you lovely readers! Invitation suites are way more complicated than I realized when I started planning my wedding, so I thought it might be useful to break down just what makes up your suite of paper goodies. We’ll take a look at the basics, the items I would recommend every time, and then glance through the pretty and exciting world of extras and finishing touches. Who knew you’d be getting an anatomy lesson from a wedding blog?
The Basic (but still ah-maaazing) Stuff
Invitation
The main event, the star of the show, the invitation!! This card is generally the center of attention, and is where you put the very most important information about your big event. You’ll typically include the names of the hosts, YOUR names, the name of the venue, and the date and time.
RSVP Card
How many chicken versus salmon dinners are we going to need?? This little guy steps in to save the day and help you answer questions like these. RSVP cards are useful for so much more than just finalizing your guest count. My standard cards generally have a spot for guests to put their names, check yes or no for attendance, and then have a section for the guest to leave any dietary restrictions or happy notes for the couple, but it’s easy to add in dinner choices, song request lines, and more. Just about any information you need to collect from your guests to make planning the final details easier can be put on these (but the more info you include, the higher the chances are that you’ll want to bump the size of them up a bit!)
Envelope(s)
The house your suite lives in, the envelopes are the very first thing your guests will see. A majority of customers opt to go with just one envelope these days, unless they want to add in an inner envelope. (I’ll be writing a whole other post talking about inner and outer envelopes!) In short, the most important aspects of your envelopes is that they have a readable delivery address, return address just in case, and the correct postage. If you opt for an inner envelope, you will generally want to include the names of each guest invited here.
Recommended Odds and Ends
Map + Info Card
I love custom maps so much that I’ve written an entire article about them (find that right over here.) They are one of my favorite, and most useful additions to a paper suite that you could include. They can show your guests where your venue is, where places around town are, and they are oh so pretty. If I had my way I’d make one for every one of my wonderful customers. You can include the information card on the back of your map, or make it its own piece. On the info card you have room for any important stuff you want to keep off of your invitation itself:
- Addresses and phone numbers for the venue
- Dress codes or suggestions
- Your wedding website
- Directions for parking, travel tips, and more
Reception/Accommodations Card
A reception card is super useful if your reception will be in a different place than your ceremony. You can include the address and even directions to the reception venue from your ceremony site. For the accommodations card, if you don’t choose to include it on your info card, you can list out all the room block information, and any different hotels you might recommend for your guests. Include the phone numbers for the hotels, along with any room block codes to make booking as easy as possible for guests.
Rehearsal Dinner Invitation
Or day-after brunch invitation. Or after party invitation. This one is useful to throw in if you’d like to invite guests to any thing other than the main event. Make sure that they get a heads up about every event you’d like to have them attend!
Pretty Little Finishing Touches
Belly Band
Okay so, “belly band” generally refers to a piece of paper wrapped around your suite, but here I’m really referring to anything that can be used to hold everything together. Ribbon, twine, leather (side note, can somebody please let me design a leather accented suite for you???) anything you can imagine really. A lot of times this is where those pretty wax seals you see on Pinterest come into play as well.
Envelope Liners
Envelope liners are one of those things that I get a million questions about. Originally, they were there to protect the contents from the envelope itself, but today they are just a pretty extra detail. But boy are they worth it when you add them in! They can change the whole feel of a suite, whether you opt to include a pretty watercolor of your venue, a fancy monogram, or just a solid pop of color.
Envelope Addressing
One of the more optional and underrated services I offer is envelope addressing. I’ve heard couples remark so many times that they’ll just do it themselves, but you guys, it takes *so long* to write out all those addresses. I only had about 35 to send out for my wedding, so I decided to hand address them myself, and OH BOY did I regret it by the end of that session. Let me take the stress out of it and print your lovely envelopes for you. As a plus, they’ll come out beautifully, and make a stunning first impression straight from the mailbox, with no hand cramps on your end!!
And there we go, hopefully this will help as you make your way through your wedding planning! Ready to dive in and start working on the perfect combination for the wedding suite of your dreams? Click here to get started:
Or send me a message and we can chat more about what you’re looking for:
