Photo: http://angelacannavo.com.au/
Planning and organising your wedding stationery doesn’t have to be stressful, it can be lots of fun! That’s why we’ve created this blog all about your wedding stationery timeline to help you with all your invitation and stationery planning. So let’s get started!
Your Wedding Stationery Timeline – Part 1
Sending out your stationery
When to send your Save the dates
Save the date cards are generally sent out anywhere from 18months -6months before your wedding.
When to send your Invitations
When you send out your invitations is really determined by what kind of wedding you are having.
If you are having a destination wedding where all of your guests will be travelling it’s advisable to get your invitations out about 6-12months before your wedding (especially if you are getting married overseas as you need to give your guests time to book flights and accommodation and organise time off work if necessary).
If your wedding does not involve guests travelling great distances a good time to send out your invitations would be 4-6months before your wedding.
RSVP Date
Most wedding venues want to know final guest numbers 4-8 weeks before the big day so you need to allow your guests plenty of time before that to advise their RSVP response. A good time frame would be at least 4 weeks before you have to let the venue know final numbers (that way you have a few weeks up your sleeve to chase any guests who have not responded).
When to get started on the design of your Menus/ Place Cards/ Signage
Generally it’s a good idea to get started on these as soon as you get your RSVP’s back – ie 8 weeks before your wedding.
Your wedding stationery timeline – Part 2
How long does printing take?
Printing is an important part of your wedding stationery timeline. How long printing takes is really dependant on the type of stationery you are ordering so to help you out i’ve listed rough estimates of timeframes below:
Invitations & Save the Dates
Generally we like to allow 2 weeks for printing and delivery of your invitations and other stationery. This process can be shorter however in the event that freight gets delayed so it’s always good to be prepared.
Adding Special finishes: Foiling, Letterpress, Embossing
Any of these processes take between 10-14 working days to complete + freight. You could be looking at around 3-4 weeks roughly from when we hit print to receive your stationery. It’s a good idea to keep this in mind when ordering.
Adding Die-cutting
We like to allow an extra couple of days for die-cutting so for printing an delivery of any die-cut goods would be 2.5 weeks if printing is full colour. Don’t forget to allow extra time if you are adding any special finishes (ie. foiling, letterpress, embossing).
Wedding Signage – foam core board
Generally 2 weeks for printing and delivery is plenty of time for these. It is advisable to have your signage in your hands 2 weeks before your wedding date.
Wedding Signage – Acrylic
Acrylic signage takes just a little longer to print and finish – I like to allow 3 weeks for this process.
It is advisable to have your signage in your hands 2 weeks before your wedding date.
Wedding Signage, place cards, menus – Acrylic
Acrylic signage takes just a little longer to print and finish. Allow 3 weeks for this process.
It is advisable to have your signage, place cards & menus in your hand 2 weeks before your wedding date.
Menus and place cards
Generally we like to allow 2 weeks for printing and delivery of your menus and place cards. This process can be shorter however in the event that freight gets delayed which very occasionally happens it’s always good to be prepared. Planning ahead and having your menus and place card in your hands 2 weeks before your wedding date is the best way to go.
Photo: Ash and Stone
Your wedding stationery timeline – Part 3
How long does the design process take?
The design process is really determined by how quickly you as a client get back to our proofs. We try to have drafts back to you within a few business days of receiving deposits. Any changes that need to be made to your design we make within a few business days of receiving your emails. If there is a big delay in your response to our drafts please understand that the printing times are still the same. In the event that you are in a hurry please let us know and we will work with you to produce things as quickly as possible.
If you have all your information ready to go we can knock the design process over in 1-2 weeks. This process is made longer by multiple edits so it’s best to keep that in mind.
The best stationery advice
The best advice we can offer to any of our couples organising a wedding is plan for the unexpected so allow extra time just in case – that way if there’s any little unexpected hiccups happen along the way you’ve got some extra time up your sleeve which is never a bad thing.
Got questions? We’re here to help!
I hope this information is helpful. If you have any questions, feel free to pop me an email tabitha@bluebirdinvitations.com.au or i’m always happy to chat via phone 0419 788 465
Happy wedding planning
Tabitha – Blue Bird Invitations xx
p.s don’t forget to have a look at our other wedding stationery tip blogs: