Dream Weddings Magazine - Devon & Cornwall - issue.30

Planning Makes Perfect
The invitations...
Your wedding stationery is the first clue
your guests will have about the style of
your wedding, so it’s worth taking time to
choose something appropriate.
If you’re planning a big formal affair, stiff cards and
high quality envelopes will sing and dance
traditional glamour.
If your wedding theme is vintage or rustic,
you can go for floral decoration or vintage
lace embellishments. Chic and classical?
Try contemporary stripes or bold colours. Going
for a theme? Then match your stationery to it.
Once you’re chosen the style, all your wedding
stationery should be in keeping,
English Rose
The traditional invitation, with the
bride’s mother and father acting as
hosts, is worded as follows:
Mr and Mrs Simon Hayes request the
pleasure of your company at the marriage of
their daughter Jennifer Anne to Mr Michael
Jones at St Benedict’s Church, Plymouth on
Saturday August 19th at 2pm and
afterwards at The County Hotel, Plymouth
RSVP 10 Marigold Gardens, Plymouth
In this form, the names of the guests
are handwritten in the top left hand
corner of the invitation.
Alternatively a space is left in the invitation
for the guests’ names:
presenting a unified theme for the whole day.
Invitations should be sent out six weeks before
the wedding (see panel for suggested
wording), but many couples now use an early
warning system in the form of a Save the Date
card – particularly useful if your wedding is
planned for the busy summer months when
some of your most desired guests are likely to
be taking holidays.
Allow your stationer or printer about three
months to complete your order.
Apart from Save the Date and invitation
cards, you’re going to need order of service
sheets (one for each guest plus a few spares),
menus for the reception, place cards, perhaps a
table plan.
It’s always a good idea to include maps with your
invitations to help guests find their way easily, plus
details of where guests can park and, for those
who are coming long distances, a selection of
recommended accommodation.
For guests of the groom’s family, the groom’s
mother should send a list of names and addresses
to the bride’s mother so she can issue the
invitations.
...and what they should say
Mr and Mrs Simon Hayes request the
pleasure of the company of
........................................................
at the marriage of their daughter
Jennifer Anne (etc)
Invitations for civil ceremonies and
partnerships follow the same pattern.
Make it clear precisely who is being
invited. For a married couple, Mr and
Mrs John Jeffries; for a family, Mr and
Mrs John Jeffries, Jeremy and Jemima.
If you’re hosting the wedding
yourselves, change the
wording accordingly.
BELOW: Invitations by Hand
As a matter of courtesy, an invitation
should be sent to the groom’s parents and to the
minister and his wife. When ordering your
invitations, remember you’ll only need one for
each family, plus a few spares for emergencies.
“...It’s always a
good idea to
include maps with
your invitations to
help guests find
their way easily...”
LEFT: English Rose Wedding Stationery
BELOW: Coral Wedding Invitations
Invitations to the evening reception
only should be worded as follows:
3 34 4 • • D DR RE EA AM M WWE ED D DI NI NG GS S I N I N D DE EV VO ON N && C CO OR RN NW WA AL L L
Mr and Mrs Simon Hayes request the
pleasure of your company at an
evening reception to celebrate the
marriage of their daughter Jennifer
Anne to Mr Michael Jones at The
County Hotel, Plymouth on Saturday
August 19th at 8pm
RSVP 10 Marigold Gardens,
Plymouth
cut out and keep