There is a range of wedding stationery, some of it optional, that you’ll need for your wedding. They include everything from save-the-date notices to thank-you notes. Here are the types of wedding stationery you should consider using:
At-Home Card
Although optional, at-home cards inform friends and relatives of your new address, whether your name will change and the expected return date from your honeymoon. They can be included with the announcement or sent separately after your wedding.
Bridal Stationery
Your wedding stationery is usually engraved with your maiden name or initials. You use it to write thank-you notes for engagement, shower and wedding gifts you get before the wedding.
Bridesmaid Luncheon Invitation
Most brides host a luncheon to honor their bridesmaids a week or two before the wedding. Invitations are sent two to three weeks ahead of time. You can give your gifts to the attendants at the luncheon or wait for the rehearsal dinner.
Couple’s Stationery
This is wedding stationery you and your new spouse use after you’re married. The most popular options are to use your full names, both first names or a combined monogram. It’s used to write thank you notes and other correspondence.
Envelope Liner
Liners can add elegance to your invitation. They’re attached to the inside of the inner invitation envelope. Although your linings can be any color or pattern, they should complement your invitation’s design and tone.
Envelope Seals
Envelope seals add a decorative touch to your envelopes. The most common variations are adhesive stickers and stamped sealing wax. Stickers are available in a wide variety of shapes and designs, while sealing wax come in a range of colors.
Escort Card
Escort cards guide your guests to their assigned tables at your reception. Usually set up at the entrance, the cards indicate table numbers. They’re placed in envelopes upon which you put each guest’s name. Another option is a seating map, with the names of guests listed on or below each table.
Inner Invitation Envelope
Although optional, inner envelopes are enclosed in the larger envelope and aren’t sealed. Designed to protect the invitation, all that’s written on them is the title and name of the invited guest or guests. It holds the invitation, response card, response card envelope and other necessary insert cards.
Insert Card
You include insert cards with your invitations to convey additional details like alternate locations in case of rain, special seating for the ceremony and the like. Insert cards can include map, pew, response and reception cards.
Map Card
One way to make sure your guests get where you want them in time is to include a map card with your wedding invitation. Consider having extra map cards printed for your ushers to hand out at the ceremony if your reception is at a different site.
Menu
These can be an elegant touch if you plan a formal sit-down affair. Make sure the menu design complements your invitation and other wedding stationery.
Outer Invitation Envelope
The outer envelope is handwritten and has the full name and address of the invited guest or guests, with postage affixed.
Pew Card
If your ceremony site has limited seating or difficult sight lines, pew cards can assure that special guests can see and hear. They’re inserted in the invitations.
Place Card
If you have assigned seating at your reception, put a place card at each table setting. It bears the name of the guest to be seated there. It should complement the wedding’s other printed pieces.
Reception Card
If your ceremony and reception are at different sites, reception cards are included with the invitation in the inner envelope.
Rehearsal Dinner Invitation
Invitations to the rehearsal dinner are optional, depending on its formality. Alternatives include notification by telephone, e-mail or word of mouth.
Response Card
Enclosed with your wedding invitation, response cards are used by your guests to indicate whether or not they will attend. The response envelope should be pre-addressed and have postage already affixed.
Save-the-Date Card or Letter
Send these informal notices several months before your wedding to alert guests of the date so that they can make travel plans.
Thank-You Note
Thank-you notes are short, personal notes written to thank your guests for the gifts you receive and for their attendance. Mail them within a month of receiving each gift, sooner if you received it before the wedding.
Wedding Announcement
Mail wedding announcements to people you want to know about your wedding, but whom you’re not inviting to the wedding. Usually mailed a day or two after the celebration, it contains your names and where and when you were married.
Wedding Invitation
The invitation contains the your and his full names, time and date, and the wedding location. Traditionally, it’s is written in the third person, printed on folded paper or heavy card stock in black ink, and mailed in two envelopes.
Wedding Program
A wedding program outlines the ceremony in chronological order. Programs also can introduce members of the wedding party or explain any cultural or religious elements you include in the ceremony.
While you may not use or need all this wedding stationery, it is important to know you have options.