ANATOMY OF A WEDDING INVITATION | Gilded Swan Paperie

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MAIN WEDDING INVITATION

This tells your guest, who, what, when and where.

REPLY CARD

Very traditional and a must for getting your guests to reply. Set your date 3-4 weeks ahead of your wedding date. You can add meal option choices for guests here as well. QR codes for replies are incredibly ugly and I prefer not to use them as they detract from your lovely invitations and many people, including the elderly have trouble using them. Read about online reply cards vs traditional reply cards here.

DETAILS CARD

This is literally anything you want it to be. You might just have one card, you might have a few. You will probably have more information than will comfortably fit on the main invitation. You only need the bare basics on the main invitation because we want to keep it timeless and classy. Details cards can have:

-- accommodation information

-- dress code

-- directions (only if you have elderly guests not comfortable with GPS or have a very hidden venue)

-- shuttle or bus to venue information

-- reception location and details if it is different from the wedding venue

-- your web url

-- brunch or cocktail information or any other weekend festivities

REPLY ENVELOPE

The smaller envelope that will hold your reply card and get sent back to you from your guests with their reply. You must put postage on this.

INVITATION ENVELOPE

This is the main envelope that holds your invitation, reply card, reply envelope, and details cards. We do not print any information on the back.

OUTER ENVELOPE

You may use these and you might not. Traditionally, your guest addresses go on this "outer" envelope, and then you would have another "inner" envelope that has JUST the guest names written on the front. From there, the rest of your pieces all go into this "inner" envelope. However, as of late, many couples eliminate the "outer" envelope altogether and just use the main invitation envelopes for guest addresses and names. Perhaps it's cost, perhaps it's extra landfill, who knows... The day is yours so you can do what you want! You will still need the "outer" envelopes if you are opting to purchase pocket folders as they are too large for a standard invitation envelope.

POCKET FOLDERS

My luxurious folder that holds your invitation, reply card, reply envelopes, and details cards. If using these, then you need to use an "outer" envelope (not an invitation envelope) to hold all of these things together.

BELLY BANDS

These are lovely and can tie your invitations, envelopes, and cards together in a decorative way. I can print belly bands, but to be honest with you, my designs are very intricate and colorful and most of the time, a pretty velvet or hand-dyed silk ribbon works best. I routinely go to flea markets and craft stores looking for gorgeous ribbon and little findings to secure my invitations for styled shoots. Go on Etsy and search "hand-dyed silk ribbon" and gush.

STAMPS

Nothing sets your vintage wedding invitations off better than colorful stamps. My go-to shop for unused vintage stamps is Verde Studio on Etsy. I love grouping a few different stamps to make my envelopes look really vintage. If you don't want to go that route, the usps has dozens of historic designs

WHEN SHOULD I ORDER MY INVITATIONS?

Your wedding invitation should be received by your guests two-three months before your wedding, earlier for destination weddings. I email you proofs within 24 hours of your deposit purchase and receiving your wording, printing your custom invitations can take three full weeks. And what happens if your Officiant changes the wedding time and we have to reprint? Moreover, sometimes your envelope or paper choice could be on backorder during busy times. The point is, order as EARLY as you can. Do not wait.