Your wedding stationery checklist: everything you need to make a lasting impression on your wedding day

Your wedding day is going to be filled with love, beauty, fun, and of course lots of beautiful décor. But what about your stationery?

Stationery can sometimes be a last minute thought, but it really does add finer details to your day that matter. Think of signage to direct guests, seating charts that complement your room beautifully, elegant place cards on each table, flawlessly designed menus that wow. All of these things make beautiful and joyful keepsakes for you and your loved ones to treasure for years to come, and make a lasting impression when guests think back to the day.

But how do you know what stationery to choose from, and what do you really need? Well, in this blog we’ll talk through each stage of stationery and I’ve compiled a list of all the stationery you may need. Of course this is all down to personal preference and the choice is entirely yours, but some of these items do help to reduce stresses on the day, so you can both relax and enjoy your special day knowing everything is taken care of.

Let’s get to the list…

Save the Dates

The first stage of stationery may be your save the dates. The reason I say ‘may’ is because if you’re planning a shorter engagement, you might be better to skip straight ahead to your invitations. I’d advise if you’re less than a year away from the wedding, go straight to your invitations.

At this stage you have just booked your venue, paid the deposit, and the date is firmly in the diary with the countdown now on. Congrats!

 It’s best to get save the dates out as early as possible to ensure as many of your guests are at your wedding as can be. Giving notice early gives your nearest and dearest ample time to book leave from work if needed, avoids holidays being booked during the wedding, and gives time to prep for accommodation, costs, childcare and other factors.

Invitations

Your invitations might seem like just a note of paper, but they are so important. Your invitations are the first glimpse of your wedding your guests will see, they open the door to the atmosphere you’ll be creating on the day, drumming up excitement and anticipation. All this whilst providing a beautiful piece of art as a keepsake to look back on.

Make sure you’re getting the invites out to guests will plenty of time to rsvp and plenty of notice, especially if guests are needing to travel for the day. I recommend if you’ve sent save the dates, to send invites between 9 months-3 months before the wedding. If you haven’t sent save the dates, as soon as possible is ideal, but anywhere between 1 year and 6 months before is perfect.

Top tip: Remember to add an rsvp date earlier than when your venue needs final guest numbers, this gives extra time to chase any guests and helps avoid added stress.

On the day stationery

Your on the day stationery shouldn’t be a last minute addition. When you’re designing your room layout, décor, florals and other elements, this is where you should be thinking about stationery too. For example, if you’re having a cake and want to avoid guests asking you what flavour it is and the allergens, simply supply a cake sign to detail the flavours of each tier and the main ingredients. Likewise, if you’d like a welcome sign and want to ask guests to put phones away during the ceremony, simply add a note to the welcome sign politely asking guests to do so, this will save lots of time.

Stationery for the wedding day isn’t designed to eat into your wallet, it’s intended to help alleviate some of that stress on the day, so instead of answering guest questions, you can simply relax and enjoy all the beauty and joy that your day brings.

 So, now that we know each stage, here is my ultimate list of all the stationery you could possibly need:

• Save the Dates

• Invitations (including any details inserts, menu options, rsvps)

• Welcome sign

• Unplugged ceremony sign

• Reserved seat signs for pew/seats during the ceremony

• Vow booklets

• Reading cards

• Order of the day sign (timings of events such as photos, cake cutting, first dance, food, party etc)

• Order of service/order of the day booklets

• Seating plan (table plan of where guests will be sitting for the meal)

• Table number/name signs

• Place/name cards

• Menus

• Advice cards (guests to fill out marriage advice for the Bride and Groom)

• Ice breaker games

• Quizzes/games

• Favours

• Paddle fans (for destination or summer weddings)

• Guestbook (book to sign or alternative)

• Kids activities

• Smaller signs – cake flavours, photo booth, guestbook, memory table, sweet cart, flip flops, bathroom baskets, gifts, any other activity details

• Thank you cards

If you’re ready to get started on designing your stationery suite, book your free consultation here.