Check out the gorgeous Austin wedding.

Here’s a snippet from the article published on Style Unveiled:

“Confusion is rarely fun {obviously} so in our ongoing effort to de-mystify your wedding planning process, we bring you some expert advice from San Francisco based stationery designer, Paper Chez. The advice is so thorough and fabulous we’re splitting it into two parts!  Today, we take a look at all of the pieces of the puzzle you’ll want to have in place before you spend time and energy diving into the invites :)”

Click here to read parts one and two of the article. Thank you, Kimberly Person for publishing our article!

Things to know in advance

Before you even start thinking about invitations, there are a few things that you should already know about your wedding. Having this information on-hand will make your shopping experience a lot easier and stress-free.

1) Your venue (ceremony and reception), the wedding date, and time. This information is going to be printed on your invitation and the corresponding pieces. In order to place the order, the time and place of your wedding must already be decided.

2) Your wedding style. Knowing your wedding style and theme is going to help you decide on the type and design of your wedding invitations. If you’re having a black-tie event, it’s probably best to choose a formal and luxurious wedding invitation design. If it were a casual, outdoor event, you would be better off with a fun and fresh invitation design with lots of floral motifs.

3) What items to order. There are many different printed pieces that your stationer can provide. For your invitation set, the usual pieces are the wedding invitations and main envelopes, reply cards and envelopes, directions cards, and reception cards (if your reception and ceremony are not at the same place). Other items that are needed on the day of your wedding are the menus, programs, escort cards, and place cards. If you plan to send out save-the-date cards and thank you cards, be sure to order these items at the same time. It’s always more cost-effective to order everything at the same time so make sure your list is complete before placing the order.

4) Your wedding budget. Your wedding budget is very important when it comes to determining what type of invitations to order. Different types of invitations vary greatly in pricing, so having a budget to work with would narrow down the type of invitations you should be looking for.

5) Your guest count. For this part, I recommend actually creating a list of guests that you’ll be inviting to your wedding. The list does not have to be final but it’s important to list actual names of guests instead of just estimating. More often than not, the number of guests is going to be larger than what your original estimate was. Listing out your guests’ names also gives you an idea of how many families, couples, and singles are coming to your wedding. Remember that you only need to send one invitation per couple and possibly even per family.

When to order your wedding invitations

Wedding invitations take some time to design and print. After you receive the invitations, you need time to address all of them and some time for mailing. Below are recommended ordering and mailing times for a typical wedding.

Order: 3-4 months prior to wedding date.
Mail: 4-6 weeks prior to wedding date.

If you’re having a destination wedding, save-the-date cards should be sent 8-10 months prior to your wedding date or as soon as your wedding plans are in place. For custom invitation designs, orders should be placed 5-6 months prior to your wedding date.

Online or in-store

These days, there are so many online retailers of wedding invitations the options are virtually endless. You may also prefer to visit an invitation boutique to flip through the albums and to see and touch the invitations first-hand. Either way, here are some helpful wedding invitation shopping tips:

1) Online. Just because you are shopping online doesn’t mean you shouldn’t see and touch the invitations. It’s very important to order samples so that you’re able to experience the textures, colors, and quality of the invitations first-hand. Most retailers let you purchase the samples and deduct the cost from your final order if you end up ordering from them. Along with the samples, remember to request color swatches and even paper and envelope samples. Colors and textures can look different when viewed online so it’s best to see everything with your own eyes.

2) In-store. Most invitation boutiques carry a wide selection of wedding invitation albums from different manufacturers. Instead of blindly flipping through the albums, ask the clerk or shop owner for some help. They usually know the selection inside out and should be able to point you in the right direction if you tell them your style and theme.

Proofread, proofread, proofread!

Once your order is placed, a designer usually sends you a proof of your wedding invitation. This is a digital representation of how your invitation is going to look when printed, usually sent in a pdf format. Your job is to proofread the invitation and approve it for printing. It is imperative that you proofread the invitation over and over again until you are 100% sure that every word, sentence, and punctuation is correct. Remember to double check with your family members to make sure that every name is spelled correctly. The worst thing is to have a printed invitation with your future in-laws’ name misspelled!

Good luck and happy shopping!

Here’s a snippet from the article.

“Paper Chez is a boutique studio that features high quality letterpress, chic designs, and outstanding customer service. Each invitation is crafted with the utmost care, and are placed on 100?% cotton creating a posh look and feel. With a strong influence of old world charm mixed with classic styles, Paper Chez also keeps up with the latest trends to deliver you fresh designs. Are you looking for something completely different and more personalized to fit your wedding? They also work one-on-one with brides to help create that perfect look for your big day! I strongly recommend checking out their site for more designs and inspiration!” Read the full article here.

We hope you love it as much as we do!

Photos: Caroline Tran