When it comes to planning your wedding, most couples have a general idea when they need to hire most vendors but often when it comes to their stationery, they feel more lost and confused about the timing. That leads to so many couples waiting until the last minute which can not only be limiting in their options but can cost more due to rush fees and upgraded shipping.
When it comes to your wedding stationery, it’s so much more than just paper! Professional wedding invitations, designed and made-to-order by a wedding stationer takes time to get all the details right. The more custom and unique your wedding stationery is, the more time it takes to bring your vision to life. Today I’m here to share with you just when to order your wedding invitations.
When to order your Wedding Invitations
When it comes to ordering your wedding invitations and other wedding stationery, turn-around times may vary depending on your wedding stationer or vendor of choice. Be sure to always research the turn around times, rush order policies and fees and shipping options so you know what to expect and so you can give yourself enough time for the invitations of your dreams.
Here at Raspberry Creative, we have some guidelines for when to order your wedding invitations. Let’s take a look at each option.
When to order your Studio Wedding Invitations
Our studio wedding invitations are the invitations sold in our Etsy shop. Even though they look like the same invitations that we sell here on our site, our studio invitations have limited options when it comes to the add-ons available, the wax seal colors and designs among other things.
Our studio wedding invitations also limit the design customizations. While all wording can be customized to fit your wedding details and your needs, the layout, fonts, design elements and add-ons are limited to what you see. Because of these limitations, our proofing process is also less involved and typically takes less time.
Even though the design and proofing process is less involved, there is still required to have your invitations printed, trimmed to size and assembled depending on the needs of your order.
For this reason, we recommend ordering your studio invitations no less than 3-4 months before your wedding. Our typically turn-around time for studio wedding invitations is 4-6 weeks. Anything less than 4 weeks requires a rush order so depending on when you plan to mail out your wedding invitations, you will need to work backwards to find the most ideal time for you.
When to order your Semi-Custom Wedding Invitations
Our semi-custom wedding invitations are sold exclusively on our website. Even though they look like the same wedding invitations sold in our Etsy shop, there are many more options and add-ons available to really make your invitations personal and unique.
Our semi-custom packages not only include 36 wax seals colors and a custom stamp design, they also include nearly 100 envelope colors to choose from, the option to upgrade printing to letterpress, foil or thermography. There are also options to upgrade paper, add on a vellum jacket, envelope liner, pocketfold, bellyband and more.
When it comes to proofing, because our semi-custom packages can also include more detailed changes to the pre-designed suites sold in the shop, the process is much more detailed and thorough. Our line proofing method walks you through each piece of your suite individually so you can leave notes, make design requests or approve as-is. We also have a super easy to follow final approval form that walk you through a detailed checklist of all the things to double and triple check before giving your final approval for your invitations to be printed. This significantly cuts down on costly errors because you know exactly what you need to look for.
Because our semi-custom packages require more time pre-production for working out color and add-on details, include more detailed design changes and customizations before we even get to the printing and assembly, we recommend ordering your wedding invitations 4-6 months before your wedding.
When to your your Custom Wedding Invitations
When it comes to custom wedding invitations, the sky is the limit. Designs created from scratch require a lot of time and collaboration between you and our design team. Much more research, planning and design work is involved before we even get to the proofing process so for fully custom wedding invitations we recommend getting started 8 – 12 months before your wedding.
Remember to always double check with your wedding stationer on their recommended timelines. Also keep in mind that there is a big difference between working with a small stationer like Raspberry Creative and ordering from a mass-production company like Minted or the Knot. In addition to price and time, think about the experience that you want. Do you want to pick a design, fill out a few forms and be done with it or do you want a real person to bounce ideas off of, to ask unlimited questions to and receive a more personal service experience. There are pros and cons to everything.
My hope at least for today is to give you a general idea of the timeframe you should be considering when it comes to your wedding stationery. Waiting too long to order can significantly limit your options when it comes to customizing your invitations and you should never have to settle when it comes to one of the most important days of your life – your wedding!
Have other wedding stationery planning questions? Send us an email or leave a comment below!
