8 Common Wedding Invitation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
When it comes to wedding planning on a budget, every penny counts. Don’t make these wedding invitation mistakes – they could cost you!
Mistakes are inevitable when working on a creative project, and a wedding definitely falls into that category. While the majority of errors that may occur are either fixable or for the best, there are a few that can be a little more difficult to rectify. Some of the wedding mistakes that can be slightly more difficult to solve are related to your wedding invitations, but the good news is they’re all preventable!
Below we’re explaining eight common wedding stationery mistakes, why they can be problematic, and what you can do to prevent them from happening in the first place. Whether you’re in the process of designing your wedding invitations or you’re about to mail them, take a peek at our list and use it as a checklist before you drop your stationery on its way to your guests.
1. Not Setting a Budget
Knowing what’s important to you and where you want to spend the bulk of your money is really important. Specialty printing like letterpress and engraving are more expensive than flat printing — so if gold foil is on your “must-have” list, be sure to work that into your budget from the start. Adding special details like ribbons, pockets, envelope liners, and rhinestones can really make an impression on your guests but can have a big impact on your bottom line if you haven’t budgeted for them.
2. Not Allowing Enough Time
Timing is important throughout the entirety of planning a wedding, and it’s particularly important for several reasons when it comes to wedding invitations.
The first thing to keep in mind is when to start working on your wedding invitations. Whether you’re designing your own invitations, working with a friend or stationery designer, or ordering invitations online, the earlier you start, the better! This allows time for the design process, edits, printing, and shipping (if needed) to all take place without a time crunch.
The second thing to keep in mind is when to mail your wedding invitations. An easy error to make is to not mail your wedding invitations with enough time for them to travel through the mail, be received by your guests, and for everyone to offer their reply. Plan to mail your wedding invitations at least 6-8 weeks prior to your wedding day. If you’re hosting a destination wedding or an event where many guests will be traveling, add even more time.
3. Ordering Too Many Invitations
We all love to receive mail, but not every person in a household needs to receive an invitation to your wedding day. If you’re inviting friends, family, and coworkers to your wedding who live in the same house, you only need to send one invitation to the residence if they’re related, married, or dating.
4. Choosing an Expensive Size, Shape, or Material
Wedding invitations that are made from materials other than paper or cardstock, like wood or acrylic, or suites that are larger than a standard size will cost more to mail. If you’re aware of this going into your design, the higher cost won’t come as a surprise once you’re at the post office ready to send your suites out into the world.
5. Forgetting to Proofread
Spelling errors are so frustrating, and one of the worst times to find them is after you’ve pressed print. So, before you officially mark your wedding invitations as complete, comb through them carefully in order to check for spelling mistakes. Consider checking the spelling of names and ceremony and reception locations (venue names and roads are key). You might even think about asking a friend or family member to take a look at the suite for you — a second set of eyes is always helpful!
6. Neglecting to Confirm All Details, Times, etc
Similar to checking the spelling of all names and locations mentioned throughout your wedding invitation, another easy mistake to make is to not double-check all of the times mentioned on your suite. Often, ceremony and reception times can change while planning a wedding. Make sure the final time you have decided on is the one noted on the stationery guests will receive.
7. Not Detailing How to RSVP
The primary purpose of a wedding invitation is to invite your guests to your ceremony and reception, so their response is key! Make sure the ways in which they can respond to your invitation are clear and easy. If you would like guests to mail back RSVP cards, double-check that the card is included in the wedding invitation bundle you will mail. On the flip side, if you’re asking guests to reply by email or via a website, make sure those addresses and links are noted and easy to find.
8. Not Including Your Wedding Website Link
Your wedding website will have a wealth of information included on it, and it can often be used to answer many common wedding questions, like where you’re registered. In order to avoid answering the same questions again and again, include your wedding website link on your invitation. This site will quickly become an easy and preferred way to communicate with your guests (and for them to learn about you), so the link is invaluable.
9. Purchasing the Wrong Type of Postage
Wedding stationery most often does not qualify for a Forever stamp as they tend to be over 1oz in weight. Instead, due to size and weight, wedding invitations almost always require additional postage. So before you purchase your stamps, make sure to take a trip to the post office to your complete wedding invitation suite weighed– envelopes and all. Only after the weight has been confirmed should you purchase your postage.
The biggest mistake that can happen if you don’t carefully complete this step is you will likely not purchase and apply enough postage. That means either your mail will not reach your guests, or you will have to add additional postage at the time you hand over your suites to your mail staff.
Are there any wedding invitation mistakes you’re nervous to make? What else would you add to our list? We talk about wedding invitations often in our community, and we would love for you to join!
