I don’t know about you, but I love a list. I always have at least two on the go for different areas of my life. I think I am just a natural planner because otherwise all that worry just builds up until my head is ready to explode and shower bullet points all over the place!
Anyway, my point is that planning a wedding can be quite stressful, (duh?! Sorry while I just state the obvious!) and when you throw a pandemic into the mix you can multiply that by about 100. You may be feeling with this ongoing uncertainty that you can’t plan anything because you just don’t know when or if things will happen at the moment? This in itself is very stressful. Then of course there is the inevitable worry about wasting money on something that you may not be able to use if the date changes. Of course, then you start to worry that you are leaving everything too late, what if your suppliers can’t make your date? Etc, etc. STOP! I am here to say don’t do that to yourself.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a magic wand or a crystal ball, but there are things which you can do, to be proactive. These things won’t cost you anything, and they might make you feel a bit more organised and ready to swing into action when the time is right.
So here is my little list of things which you can do to ensure that your stationery is primed and ready to go when you are….
1. Decide on a guest list, or three!
So, depending on when you are reading this we could be ceremony only with you and a couple of guests, ceremony with 15, ceremony and reception with 15, or 30….and hopefully at some point a few more. You could start off by writing your essential guest list – those people who you cannot contemplate saying I do without them by your side. Then you have list number two, the extras to make this up to say 15. Then the next list of the people from 16-30, and so on until you get to your ideal number. This way you can easily identify those you wish to invite, or uninvite should that be necessary. Ideally create this list in excel or word, especially if you are thinking of getting your stationer to personalise your stationery for you, that way you will have this list ready to email over when it is needed. You can save time now by having columns for their names as you want them on the invitation and also their names and addresses for the envelopes. This is an ideal task to work on when you have more time on your hands, and you can always update for any changes of address should that be necessary before you print your stationery.
2. Send Save the Dates or Change of Dates
Everyone is different. We are seeing that some people are opting for their planned date however many people they can have at their day. This is date they are going to get married and nothing is going to change that. For others, they cannot contemplate getting married without all of the friends and family they want with them, and they would rather reschedule to a later date. Whichever option you go for it is the right one. This is your day and your choice. However, if you are from the latter school of thought and would prefer to delay so that you can have a larger celebration then you may want to send a Save the date, or if you are re-scheduling, then a Change of Date. That way you can make sure that everyone has your date firmly fixed in their diary.
3. Get your sketch commissioned
I have tried to make this list generic, so that it is helpful to you whether you have decided to use us for your stationery or not. So, if we are not your cup of tea you can skip past this point! If however, you have fallen in love with your venue and want to have it captured forever in one of our beautiful pencil sketches, then read on…
Firstly, please check our website as we may already have your venue sketched and on file. If we do, that’s great, you can tick this one off your list! If not, then now is a good time to get in touch. At busy times our artist can have a bit of a waiting list, so it would be good to get your sketch prepared now. There is no downside to this as long as you are set on your venue and it will not change. We can discuss your sketch with you, agree the angle you would like used and start work on it. Once a sketch has been created it then has to be professionally scanned to ensure the best quality image for your stationery. When it is ready we can send you a proof of your sketch for you to see, and we can also get your sketch mounted and sent out to you, so you can look at your venue every day until your wedding date arrives. You will then know that your sketch is on our files ready for you to use when you want to get your stationery out. At this point we will only invoice you for your sketch fee, nothing else.
4. Decide on your Typestyle, colours and wording
Again, there is absolutely nothing to stop you thinking about this now, in fact we encourage it! What look are you going for? Is there a particular style of font that will complement this? What are your colours? Do you want to go for a classic gold title on your stationery, or perhaps bring in a complementary colour to your theme? Having these decisions made now will help to speed things up when you may need to move more quickly when decisions about your day have become clearer. You may also want to think about the wording of your invitation – who is the invitation coming from? You? One or both set’s of parents? Your children?
5. Get your proofs prepared now
There is no problem in getting your invitations ready to send, based on the wedding date you are hoping for. When we work with a couple we will send multiple soft copy proofs until you are happy with the wording and the look of your stationery, and then we will send a hard copy for you to see. At this point, when you are totally happy with it, we can just file this until you are confident about printing. In the meantime, should things change it is then much quicker to just amend a date and an RSVP than to have to start from scratch again, and if we have not physically printed them, then you have not spent money on invitations or stationery you can no longer use. (Don’t worry if you have, we still have a few free/cost effective solutions – check out our COVID page on our website)
I really hope this blog has given you some useful tips and things to think about, or at least thawed you out a bit if you were feeling frozen in indecision! Please feel free to get in touch with us if you would like to discuss your stationery, or if you just want to ask a question about anything I have said here.
I’m off to put the kettle on and see if I can cross something off a list 😊
xx