Pretty Papers

Once you’ve figured out your wedding budget, found your venue, made your design plan, and figured out your guest list it is time to focus on all of your printed materials including save the dates, invitations and other corresponding pieces; menus, programs, place cards, itineraries and thank you notes.  Ideally all these pieces should all follow the same theme and design.

We recently checked in with our friends at The Watermark in Denver to get some tips and information on all these pretty papers!

Juli at The Watermark suggests shopping for Save the Dates 9 – 12 months before the wedding date, and selecting invitations at least 6 months out.  It takes about a month to design, proof and print the invitations plus additional time if you are going to use a calligrapher to address the envelopes. Save the date cards can differ if you want to be a bit more creative or use a photo.  Some creative Save the Date cards are magnets, coasters, engagement photos or even passports for destination weddings.

A lot of brides come in with ideas from Pinterest so when Juli sits down to create their own invitation it gets built from the ground up and becomes a very personalized one of a kind piece.  The internet is bringing ideas to brides and then they can come into a store like The Watermark and show them a photo of what they would like and then as they break it down piece by piece it ends up getting recreated into a one of a kind piece with that brides particular preferences to reflect her style.

One big mistake that couples make is over ordering,  you only need enough invitations to be sent to each household.  So if you have a couple with a child, though it’s three guests, you’ll only need one invitation.  However if there is an adult child living with parents they should receive their own invitation especially if you are inviting them with a guest.

Most formal invitations would include an inner envelope where you would again address the guests by name and list all those invited even if the outer envelope only lists the parents.

Many couples are buying invitations on line today, but you will not get the customized service that a shop like The Watermark will provide.  The Watermark does offer items on line as well so they can combine their on line offerings with great customer service.

If you do opt for the on line route then be sure to order samples and get a physical proof before you place your order.

Your printed materials are just another element to show off your unique wedding design and style and gives guests a sneak peak at the main event yet to come!

For more information on invitations or questions regarding printed materials please contact Juli at The Watermark at 303-577-0058 or Jill at The Main Event 303-570-6570.