Q: How long does it take for invitations to come in?

A: Depending on which company produces them, turn-around time is anywhere from 1-6 weeks. The quickest formal invitation line I currently carry is Embossed Graphics, which boasts proofs within 24-48 hours and ships the order within 3 days after that. Those puppies have been known to come in within a week – it’s amazing, and I have no idea how they do it. But I’m willing to bet their employees aren’t sitting around updating their Facebook statuses all day.

Most wedding companies produce invitations within about 2-3 weeks, and our custom line, Envelopments, takes anywhere from 3-6 weeks or longer, depending on the complexity and size of the order.

Q: What is the proper way to send a thank you note?

A: A thank you note should be written on a note or card bearing your name or monogram, rather than the words “thank you”. This is a common misperception due to the influx of thank you cards in stores, but etiquette dictates that a card should be personal and not look mass-produced (i.e. “less special”). I would make an exception to this if, for example, you found a completely awesome “thank you” style card like the one from Old Tom Foolery that says, “I’m forever indebted to you.*” (*By forever I just mean until you finish reading this card, then we’re square.)

In any case, the card or note should be personal and heartfelt, at least several sentences long, and should always follow a gift or an invitation (particularly if you’d like to stay in that person’s good graces and/or be invited back again sometime). In short: it’s a nice thing to do, so do it.

Q: How far in advance should I send social invitations?

A: Party or shower invitations should be sent one month before the event. Any sooner than that and they tend to get overlooked or forgotten about, and any closer to the date and people will likely already have plans.

Mailing them a month in advance means it’s a good idea to order them 2-4 weeks before then, to make sure you get them back and addressed in plenty of time.

Q: How far in advance should I mail save the dates?

A: You can send save the date cards anywhere between 6-12 months before the wedding. You don’t want to send them too early or people will forget, but too close to the wedding and you might as well forget it entirely and just send them an invitation. Here’s why…

The purpose of the save the date is to give people enough advance notice to plan ahead, make travel arrangements if necessary, and decide to come to your wedding instead of someone else’s super awesome event that may end up being the same day. It’s also a nice way to show off your beautiful engagement photos and get people excited about your upcoming wedding.

There are generally a few good reasons to send a save the date:

1) your wedding falls during May-October

2) is on a holiday weekend or an unusual day of the week or

3) is a destination wedding.

These are all circumstances that people like to plan way in advance for, or they are likely to have other plans altogether. And you don’t want your closest friends and family to not make it to your wedding simply due to a lack of prior notice, do you? Of course not.

Some couples like to send a save the date as their holiday card since the timing is perfect if you’re getting married during “Wedding Season”, plus you can use one of those amazing engagement photos we were talking about, and it kills two birds with one stone (Christmas card + save the date = only one holiday mailing).

Q: How far in advance should I mail wedding invitations?
A: Six to eight weeks in advance, or earlier if it’s a destination wedding. Most weddings fall during what’s known as “Wedding Season” which runs May-October every year. Due to the popularity of weddings during these months, and the fact that people typically get pretty busy during the summer months, it’s a good idea to get your invitations in the mail in plenty of time in order to ensure that people will pencil your wedding into their busy summer of vacations, holidays, clam bakes, and festivals – and all the catching up at work they’ll have to do once they recover from all the partying.

I usually suggest mailing invitations two months ahead of time. It’s a nice round number and gives your guests plenty of time to respond–and you get plenty of time to track them down if they don’t.

If you’re getting married in the islands, Napa Valley, Vegas, or some other exotic location such as Detroit, you’ll probably want to mail your invitations closer to 10-12 weeks in advance to make sure people can make travel plans, arrange to take off from work, coordinate childcare if it’s an adult only wedding, etc… all with comfortable time to spare.

Q: How far in advance do I need to order wedding invitations?
A: I generally tell people to order invitations 6 months in advance. This is a safe amount of time in case a stock is backordered or the proofing process takes an extraordinarily long time. You definitely don’t want to start feeling crunched for time. As with most things, it’s better to be early (and stay relaxed) than run behind (and become a total basket case). If you want to reeeallly impress me, go ahead and come in 6-12 months in advance of your wedding to get ideas. I promise it’ll be more fun for everyone, plus I like to get to know brides and their families, and really enjoy working through the creative process together.

Q: Do you address envelopes? What if my invitations don’t have inner envelopes?

A: I offer several options for envelope addressing: calligraphy, in-house computerized addressing, and some of my paper lines also offer cool labels and/or their own matching computerized addressing as well. There are a bunch of choices depending on what look you’re going for, from old school to contemporary. And if you don’t have an inner envelope, not to worry…I’m happy to give you some etiquette guidelines on how to address outer envelopes when there isn’t an inner envelope- just ask!

Q: Do you offer wedding planning services?

A: After working in the wedding industry since 2003, I consider myself a wedding professional and I’m happy to sit down and discuss your needs, whether it’s full event coordination or just day-of services. I also work with a couple of fantastic wedding planners in the Dayton area and can recommend one if special services are needed that I cannot accommodate. I am also happy to give recommendations for various other vendors within the industry, and I can be a helpful resource for wedding tips, planning, advice and etiquette.

Q: Is rush service available?

A: Yes…most of the time. An in-house rush is easier to accommodate since I have more control over the projects I design and print, but it can still be tricky depending on how many other jobs I am working on at any given time. And with any service that requires extra effort and expedited production, there are costs involved that vary from order to order, and depend on the complexity of the product.

If you’re in a bind, ask me to recommend one of my lines that has a quicker turn-around time and you may not even need to rush the order at all. Otherwise, I can check into rush fees for whatever products you’re interested in, or we can talk about other ways to save time – for example, pre-shipping envelopes to you so you can start addressing them while the invitations are being printed.

Q: Do I need to know all of my wording before I can order?

A: No, and honestly that takes all the fun out of it for me. 🙂 I do this all the time and can make it much simpler for you if we can sit down and walk through the wording one step at a time. There are many different circumstances and it’s helpful for me to ask you questions as we go and make sure that the wording is perfect for your individual wedding. There are also pieces of information that you may not know by the time invitations need to be ordered, such as entree choices or accommodations details. But it’s fine to go ahead and choose a layout and get the order started so I can at least be mocking up other pieces and getting the design nailed down. Other pieces of info can trickle in as they are determined and we’ll adjust proofs accordingly.

Q: How many cocktail napkins should I order?

A: How fun are your friends? Just kidding. Kind of…In all seriousness, you should anticipate 2-3 napkins per person, depending on whether or not they are just being used at the bar, or also for the cake table and/or passed hors d’oeuvres. If you’re using them in multiple places, it doesn’t hurt to order extra. The additional lots of 50 are usually a few bucks, so it makes sense to be prepared. One other piece of advice: I don’t recommend putting the wedding date on them because if the leftover napkins bear only the names or monogram of the bride and groom, the happy couple can use them again when entertaining friends at home, post-wedding.

Q: What is the time frame for sending out wedding thank you notes?

A: There is a lot of debate on this one. Some say you have up to a year, but let’s face it- if you got a thank you note for a wedding you went to LAST summer, would you get slightly bent out of shape that they didn’t get around to thanking you before then? Probably. The best thing to do is to write a few notes every day after the honeymoon, or even better yet- write the thank you’s as the gifts roll in prior to the Big Day, so you don’t forget anyone and you have less to do in one sitting. No matter what, I wouldn’t advise waiting more than 1-3 months post-wedding to mail those puppies.

Q: What is proper etiquette regarding whose parents are listed on wedding invitations?

A: Parents of the bride traditionally host weddings (host=pay for) however these days anything goes. The general rule is to list whoever is hosting the wedding at the top of the invitation. If both sets of parents are pitching in and splitting expenses, they both get top billing. If the bride’s parents are paying but they want to mention the groom’s parents out of courtesy, his parents would then be listed underneath his name. If the bride and groom are paying for their own wedding, parents needn’t be listed at all and the bride and groom’s names go at the top, requesting the presence of their guests.

Q: When is a good time to order holiday cards?

A: If you’re an early bird, you can usually get killer deals in October and still ensure you’ll get your cards mailed out before the holiday craziness begins. Please, I’m begging you, don’t wait until after Thanksgiving to order! I know you have a turkey to cook, and dinner for 58 people to plan, but you can squeeze in a trip to pick out your holiday cards before then, I promise! I’ll even help you decide which ones look best with Grandma’s sweater you begged her not to wear in the family photo. (Hint: when in doubt, let us convert the pic to black and white!)

Q: What if I don’t find what I’m looking for? And what else do you offer besides invitations and stationery?

A: Let me know what you’re looking for and I’ll do my best to create something similar (or maybe even closer to what you had in mind?) In addition to invitations and stationery products, I offer: note pads, luggage tags, calling cards, personalized self-inking stamps, stickers, holiday cards, melamine plates, platters, cutting boards, coasters, iPhone cases…tired yet? There’s more! If you aren’t mobile or if you’re long distance, give me a ring or shoot me an email and I’ll suggest several fun sites you can check out for a hefty variety of personalized products and we can order together over the inter web.

Q: What if I find a better price somewhere else?

A: Just bring me your estimate from a competitor and I’ll take a look and see if I can beat it or match it. I’d love to work with you and frequently offer the same products at similar or lower prices. That being said, I can’t always match or beat prices of other competitors due to the differences in products and services we each specialize in. I don’t want you to miss out on having the best invitations possible, or lessen the quality of service I can provide by being solely focused on price. But if I can’t create your dream invitation, I am more than happy to send you to one of my industry colleagues who can pinch hit. One way or another, we’ll make sure you’re taken care of.

Q: Is it appropriate to put registry information on wedding invitations?

A: Nope, sorry…registry information should only accompany shower invitations or be spread via word-of-mouth. Etiquette dictates that putting registry information anywhere in a wedding invitation = asking for a gift. I know this worries some couples, but I promise: people will get you a gift, find your registry using other resources, or hey- you might end up with cash! And who doesn’t love cash? It’s an easy gift to give, and it can be turned into whatever you didn’t get from your registry. See? Win-win!

Q: What if I want to use a photo on my save the dates?

A: Great idea! I have many, many options for amazing photo save the dates. Tag and Company is my favorite because no one has better photo quality, anywhere. I have several of Tag’s albums to look through and their website is a huge resource too. I also have other lines that offer a variety of photo save the date cards as well as magnets, or I can design a custom one-of-a-kind photo card if you don’t see what you’re looking for in any of our wedding lines.

Q: Can I order paper and make my own invitations? Can I bring my own paper in to be printed?

A: Absolutely! I have about a bazillion stocks to choose from and I’m more than happy to help with as much or as little of the design/print process as you’d like. I have customers who know exactly what they want and just have me order paper for them to make their own invitations, and I have customers who want me to make their lives easier by facilitating the process from start to finish.

Or maybe you have a friend who wants to design your invitations as your wedding present… No problem! I can print them if he or she sends us the files. Do you have your own paper already and just need someone to print it? Bring it in and let me test it out…Printers are finicky creatures and they don’t always like super heavy, glossy, or textured stocks. The best thing to do is bring in what you’d like printed and let me give it a test-run. I am happy to quote out printing for products brought in from elsewhere, as well as design/layout services as well. Whatever you’re trying to accomplish, however much assistance you need, I’m here to help.

Q: Do you have invitations in all price ranges? What is the industry average cost for wedding invitations?

A: Yes, I do have invitations in every price range! In case you’re curious, the industry average cost for wedding invitations is approximately $1,000 for the ensemble. Most ensembles include the invitation, outer mailing envelopes, reply card and envelopes, and some also include a reception card. Most companies sell the enclosure cards a la carte since every wedding is different and not every bride and groom need various additional cards above and beyond the invitation itself.

I have books from a number of vendors with invitations ranging from under $200 for 100 invitations to upwards of $15 per invitation – it all depends on personal taste and budget, but I definitely offer something for everyone. I also have a popular custom line where the sky is the limit and the price can range dramatically depending on size, papers, layers, ribbon, and any other accoutrements that are added. The best bet is to stop in and see the various items I offer and get some ideas together.

Q: Do I put down a deposit on invitations or pay in full?

A: Once upon a time, we used to take a deposit for orders, but there were a few unhappy occasions where people ordered things and never came back to get them- this became problematic because (you do the math) half of payment + zero more dollars = we don’t make any money. And if we don’t make anything, we can’t keep buying cool products for the store, and we can’t stay in business to accommodate all the wondrous ideas you can dream up in paper. Soooo, long story short (too late), payment in full is appreciated at the time of the order, and the insurance policy sounds something like this: 1) nothing will be printed until proofs are fully approved 2) if you’re unhappy for some crazy reason, we’ll make it right 3) we’re pretty certain…you’re gonna love it!