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Invitation & Wedding Stationery Information

Today’s uniquely personal wedding ceremonies require new directions in invitation selection. There are many new opportunities to create your special look with color, shape, proportion, and mood. Paper type face, ink color, and embellishment set the tone and introduce a couple’s style for their wedding day.

The following invitation information is provided by Joy Rodgers-Mernin, Owner of The Nittany Quill. The Nittany Quill is a wedding stationery shop that has been in business for over 25 years and provides a wide variety of options for stationery needs and custom calligraphy services for wedding couples.

Before The Wedding:

Save-The-Date Cards

Brides planning their wedding during the busy holiday and summer seasons or at a distant or popular destination may want to announce the location and date as early as possible. This will allow guests to make travel and overnight plans well ahead of the wedding and perhaps add vacation time to their trip. Advance notice of the date also helps to ensure that friends and family will be able to attend. These announcements are often printed on small cards in the same style as the invitation that follows, or in a more casual, lighthearted style.

The Invitation:

Paper Selection

While the most traditional invitations are printed on white or ecru, today there is a wide selection of paper colors, sizes, and weights to reflect the style, season, or color palette of your wedding. Soft blue is popular for waterside weddings while warm yellow is suggestive of a summertime event. A small card can be used to signal an intimate gathering of close friends and family. A large, heavyweight card suggests an impressive event. Cards with hand-bordered or beveled edges also hint at the color palette or tone of the wedding.

Lettering Styles

The lettering style brides choose also suggests the formality (or informality) of a wedding. Calligraphic scripts are more formal while casual lettering styles might be appropriate for an outdoor wedding. By mixing lettering styles, you can highlight the bride’s and groom’s names. The layout of the text on the invitation can be either traditional or more fashion-forward. The use of a motif, monogram, or frame adds further personality to the invitation.

Ink Color

Ink color selections are no longer limited to blank and grey. Brides can choose from a wide selection of ink colors to coordinate with their wedding from navy to soft greens to metallics. White or ecru ink engraved on a dark paper color offers a striking, crisp effect.

Envelopes

Whether brides use a single envelope or a more traditional double envelope set, brides can customize the look by using a distinctive return address, decorative linings, or by printing a small motif or monogram on the flap. Envelopes can match or contrast the color of the invitation.

Tissues

Tissues once served to protect slow-drying inks from smudging. While today’s inks are fast-drying, the tradition continues with the tissues serving to prevent smudges caused by postal sorting equipment.

Optional Enclosure Cards:

Reception Cards

This card invites guests to the reception and provides the time and location. This is particularly helpful if the ceremony and reception are being held at different locations.

Reply Cards

There was a time when wedding invitations were answered with a handwritten note. Reply cards have become a more popular convenience, offering space for the guest’s name and response, as well as a date by which the reply is requested. Stamped, return envelopes are typically included, pre-addressed to whom the reply is sent.

Direction Card

Out-of-town guests will appreciate receiving driving directions to a couple’s wedding and reception. Direction cards should include explicit directions from major roads. Map cards featuring major roads and landmarks are a useful alternative.

Accommodation Cards

Accommodation cards are enclosed with invitations sent to out-of-town guests who will need to make hotel reservations. The card lists recommended hotels and their phone numbers and indicates if rooms have been reserved. Accommodation cards may also be included with save-the-date announcements.

At The Ceremony:

Ceremony Programs

Programs are often provided to guests at the ceremony so that they can follow the order of events and anticipate when they might be asked to participate. Often included are the names of the officiant and those in the wedding party, a listing of readings and music, the names of soloists, and background on any special wedding traditions that are a part of the ceremony.

At The Reception:

Table Cards

Table cards efficiently direct guests to their appointed seats. Displayed in the reception entryway, the envelope bears the guest’s name and the enclosed card provides the table number.

Place Cards

Place card are provided at each setting, indicating the guest’s seat at the table. They may be personalized with names, monograms, or motifs to coordinate with the wedding theme.

Menu Cards

Menu cards announce the meal that has been planned for the guests. One menu card is typically shared by two guests and is placed between the two settings.

Favor Cards

Small gifts are often given by the married couple to wedding guests as a remembrance of the happy day. Favor cards, with a brief message from the bride and groom, are included with the gifts.

After The Wedding:

Informals

These small fold-over notes carry a woman’s full social name and were traditionally used for invitations and responses to informal occasions, reminders and gift enclosures. Today, brides use informals for wedding thank-you notes and a monogram is often used. Paper and ink colors may coordinate with the wedding set, or make a totally different style statement. Motifs further personalize stationery. Informals bearing both the couple’s names are appropriate for use by either the husband or the wife.

Correspondence Cards

These heavyweight cards were traditionally favored by men for informal correspondence. Many women have adopted the heavy cards for thank-you notes and other casual communication. Couples often share correspondence cards printed with both the husbands’ and wife’s names.

Calling Cards

Originally designed to leave when paying a social call, these cards are now often exchanged at social occasions when a business card would not be appropriate or used with envelopes as personalized gift enclosures. Social calling cards are printed with a name alone, or with a home address, cell phone number, and e-mail information.

For more information regarding wedding invitations, visit The Nittany Quill at the 2008 Wedding Showcase on September 28th at the Bryce Jordan Center from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. They will be located in Booth B4. For a detailed map of vendors, visit the Wedding Showcase’s website.