Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Your Must Know Guide To Wedding Invitations

All elements of your wedding planning are important and
critical, especially choosing and creating the right wedding
invitations. Invitations not only reflect the couple's personal
style but also inform your guests of the upcoming event setting
the tone and theme of your wedding. For example, if your
destination wedding is on a beautiful tropical island you want
to set your sights on a beach theme invitation. Your wedding
invitations, save the date cards and thank you notes can be as
elaborate as you want to the most simple of invitations.
Your invitation specialist can help you decide on the right
invitation, keeping with your style and theme, as well as what
wording on your invitations is appropriate and looks the best.
The invitations should contain the basics such as who is hosting
the wedding, date, time, place and the names of the bride and
groom.

Begin your quest for the right invitation as soon as you secure
a wedding site. Invitations take up to three months to design
and print so give yourself six months to order them. You want
your invitations as soon as possible so that you can send them
out ten to twelve weeks prior to the wedding instead of the
usual six to eight weeks, giving your guest enough time to make
plans. Ask for RSVP's no later than six weeks before the wedding
date. Based on the save the date cards you should have a good
idea how many people will be attending. The save the date cards
can go out as soon as you decide on a date and destination.
These cards are exactly what they say they are, cards to simply
give your must be there guest, family and close friends, time to
work on making arrangements. Save the date cards should go out
about eight months prior, if not sooner, to the date. Do not
send cards out any time before a year. You want to include the
date and place as well as hotel and flight information, specific
information about the destination such as weather, currency
used, etc. and dress code.

A lot have couples have opted for emailing save the date
announcements. The advantage to this is that it can save you
time and money while putting a new and different twist on your
announcements. However this form of communication also has its
disadvantages. You will have to take into consideration that
there are those guest who do not have computers, are elderly or
not computer savvy. Therefore a limited number of cards may need
to be sent to these individuals. Make sure you look of over your
list and assess whether or not emailing your announcements would
work for you.

An invitation can be as simple or as elaborate as you would
like them to be. Talk with your wedding invitation specialist
and let them know the theme of your wedding and let them help
you find the perfect announcement.

About The Author: Yasmin Shikina created weddingsafar to help
brides plan their destination weddings easily. Having
experienced the stress of planning her own destination wedding,
Yasmin wants to share everything she learned, including all her
mistakes, with you. http://www.weddingsafar.com

Designing A Wedding Invitation With Your Photo

One of the best ways to make a personalized wedding invitation
is to put your photo into the wedding invitation. With the photo
in the invitation, your guest will certainly know who are going
to marry without reading the contents of the wedding invitation.
Some experts believe that your photo can also set the tone of
your wedding. It seems that a photo wedding invitation can be a
perfect choice if you are tired of the traditional and formal
invitations.

If you opt to make a photo wedding invitation, the first issue
you need to consider is the photo itself. You cannot have the
invitation done without the photo. In fact you have two choices
about the photo - you can either choose existing photos or take
new photos for your wedding invitation.

If you are planning to choose existing photos, you should
select it with your partner. It makes no sense to make the
decision based on your own preference only. At the end of the
day it is the wedding of both of you and you should respect the
thought and ideas of your partner. Selecting the photo without
communicating with your partner will just end up with arguing
with your partner.

On the other hand, you can also decide to take new photos for
your invitation. As mentioned before, the photo can help to set
the tone of the wedding. A funny photo will imply a more
informal wedding. On the contrary, a formal photo taking in
studio will by no means imply a formal wedding. As a result, you
should plan your photos well so that it will match the tone of
your wedding.

No matter you are choosing existing photo or taking new photos,
the key is that you are not trying to get the most beautiful
photos, instead you should try to get the most appropriate
photos which should be good to both your invitation and your
wedding.

Concerning the number of photos to be put into the invitation,
there is no definite answer for that. In fact it will be good
enough if you can find a photo with great visual impact.
However, if you would like to show different sweet moments of
you and your partner, you can put a series photos into the
wedding invitation. Of course you have to bear in mind that you
only have a limited space on your card and it will not be a good
idea to put hundreds of photos into the wedding invitation card.

After you select the photos, you need to compose them into the
wedding invitation. You can certainly do it yourself if you have
knowledge on graphic software such as Adobe Illustrator and
Photoshop. You can also hire a graphic designer to do it for
you. If you are going to do it yourself, you should ask the
printing company you are going to hire for the format and
requirements for printing.

A wedding invitation with your photos on it is certainly a
unique invitation. If you select the photos with care and design
it well. It is sure that your guests will be amazed when they
receive your wedding invitation.

About The Author: TM Lung is a wedding invitation designer. He
has a great interest in Chinese Style Wedding Invitations. His
works can be found from http://www.983wedding.com. His personal
blog is http://www.weddingabc.net and some other wedding vendors
can be found from http://www.imarry.org

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

How Do I Word My Wedding Invitations to Avoid Uninvited Guests?

Weddings require complicated planning on the level that makes D-Day look like a weekend camping trip. It all works as long as everyone follows the plan. Sadly, some people don't. One common situation is the problem of uninvited guests.

The Traditional Solution

The customary way of handling the situation is through careful addressing of wedding invitations. If a person receives a wedding invitation addressed to "Mr. and Mrs. John Doe III" it is understood that little John Doe IV is not invited.

Guests sometimes miss this subtlety and will RSVP for all three. This means the guest is either clueless or thoughtless.

Clueless is okay. Sometimes we all miss the point and a simple telephone call can correct the situation amicably.

Thoughtless is a little harder. Some people feel entitled and just assume that they can bring a child, friend, or random vagrant to the reception. Be firm and explain that there are only so many seats available and that extra guests cannot be accommodated.

Other Ways of Dealing With The Problem

There is some debate about the etiquette of other solutions. Weddings are extremely formal and emotionally-charged events and seemingly trivial missteps can seem tasteless or even lead to long-term resentment.

Rather than depending on wedding invitations, some reinforce the message by explicitly listing the guests' names on the RSVP card. The downside is that this is more work on the bride's side and some people will still blithely add names to what's on the card.

Some invitations have the line, "We have reserved ___ seats in your honor" to hammer the point home. There are wedding planners who feel such a bold statement is tacky, while others consider it completely reasonable.

The correct etiquette changes from region to region, so talk to your friends about what they have done at their weddings. You could also ask the wedding planner or the printer what the latest fashion in wedding invitations is.

Handle It But Don't Obsess About It

If someone RSVPs with extra guests, call and explain. Most people will realize their error and correct the situation. Sometime people have genuine conflicts, such as being unable to get a babysitter on the day. Don't make it your problem. Your wedding is the one day that you can confidently say, "It's all about me!" Make it clear that there is only room for the reserved number of guests and let them figure out the details.

You want your wedding day to be the perfect fantasy. You can get very close to that ideal, but problems will always crop up. It's up to you to treat trivial problems as trivial. If someone shows up with an extra guest, that's not exactly on the same level as the reception hall burning down. Shrug it off, move on, and enjoy your special day.

Author is a freelance copywriter. For more information on Wedding Invitations, visit http://www.beeyondpaper.com

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Your Wedding Invitations Made Easy

One of the most important steps in planning a wedding is
picking out the right invitation. The invitation is the
first thing your guests will be seeing so it should reflect
both the bride and the grooms interests and tastes. There
are many different options when it comes to picking out
your invitations. You can choose what kind of paper you
would like it printed on, what design and colors you would
like, what shape you would like and if you would like to
add an accent.

You can choose from various papers such as metallic, card
stock, handmade, fine, Japanese or translucent paper. All
of these types of paper come in a variety of color and
shapes. You will want to pick out a color that will match
your wedding colors. If you don't want a plain wedding
invitation, you can pick out a theme to have printed on.
There are various themes that you can pick out that include
couples pictures, wedding cakes, flute glasses and hearts
to name a few. You can also have a picture of the actual
couple or church printed right onto the invitation. If you
chose to have a picture printed on the invitation you might
want to choose the translucent paper. When you use
translucent paper you can have the words printed on the
sheer sheet with the picture underneath for a very elegant
look.

Once you have picked out the paper and theme, you can then
decide what size and shape you would like the invitation to
be. You can pick out a long and thin invitation, a short
and wide one or one that is in the shape of an object such
as a cake or glass. The next step is to choose if you
would like to add an accent to the invitation. You can
choose from ribbons and bows or metal objects such as
hearts or doves. There are a variety of accents to choose
from to match your interests or style of your wedding. If
you do not want to go to a specialty card shop or design
your invitations online, you can order a wedding invitation
kit. These kits include pre-designed cards, return cards
and envelopes. Once you receive the kit, all you have to
do is add the text that you choose and any other additional
pictures or flares you may want to add and press print.
These kits often come with test paper so you can make sure
your invitation is exactly the way you want it before you
print them all out.

As you can see, invitations are probably the most essential
part of your wedding preparations. It is a very important
decision and by choosing a specialty shop, you'll be able
to announce your wedding in your very own unique way.

About the Author:

Purchase your wedding invitations at
http://www.myexpression.com . Article written and
distributed by Steve Cancel, IT Manager of Secure Link -
http://www.slwebsolutions.com .