Attention brides: you’ve probably said yes to the dress and started to think about seating plans. But if there’s one vitally important area to set the tone for your wedding – and get your guests excited every time they see the invite on the fridge – it’s your wedding stationery.
From save the dates to wedding invites, menus and signage, it’s a lot more complex than simply choosing between Times New Roman and Montserrat (or Comic Sans, if you’re a psychopath). And as all soon-to-be brides know, the #wedding tag on social media can inspire… but can also be a slightly terrifying, anxiety-inducing place.
To learn more about the process from a seasoned expert, I turned to a Real Bride™, Angela – a member of our team who got married earlier this year (and looked like an angel doing so, to be frank). I sat down with her to hear all her tips and tricks for choosing wedding stationery and how she streamlined the whole process with stationery specialist Vistaprint.
Cue wedding bells!
A guide to streamlining the wedding stationery process
Nail your aesthetic
Had a Pinterest board since age 10 with your wedding style picked out down to the napkin colours? Fantastic. But don’t worry if you’re starting from scratch. Vistaprint has a wide range of wedding stationery designs and colourways that not only look great but can help set the tone for the overall aesthetic.
If you’re planning a garden wedding, opt for whimsical, spring-coloured florals. A traditional church affair? Go romantic and timeless. Those sending save the dates for overseas nuptials might go for a beach-themed invite or dreamy Italian script.
For her modern and classic wedding, Angela knew she wanted it “clean and sleek.” “But I wasn’t sure of the exact look. So I set the design filters to ‘modern’ and ‘minimal,’ and narrowed the colour selections to black and white. Then I chose a design I loved and built on that. What’s great is that you can browse for inspiration or choose one of Vistaprint’s templates.”
Soon-to-be-wed couples wanting a little something extra can also use Vistaprint’s Graphic Design Services, working with a professional designer to update an existing template – colour changes, photo retouching and more. And if you want a truly one-of-a-kind design for a special event, they can do that too.
Personalise your piece
“It was important to me that everything on our invite fit on one piece of paper,” says Angela. “That isn’t super traditional – usually, you’d have an invite, an RSVP card, maybe another card with information about the day. But we have friends in the UK and family in Taiwan, and we knew the heavier the invite, the more postage and printing costs would add up.”
Playing around with the edit functions on the Vistaprint website allowed Angela and her fiancé Jack to create a custom double-sided invite.
“We had the invite on one side, information on the other, and we used the Vistaprint free QR code generator to link to our wedding website. This kept it super streamlined.”
The highlight of the Vistaprint process for Angela? “Free envelope addressing.”
Instead of handwriting each address, you just upload your guest list, and the Vistaprint site even scans them for errors, then prints them for free.
“Considering all the international addresses we were sending to, the chance of mucking up a handwritten envelope was high,” she laughed. “It was one less thing for a busy bride to think about… and honestly, you can’t put a price on that.”
Paper weight
Once you’ve added your custom touches, it’s time to choose your finish and paper stock. There’s a good chance that when you were tearfully saying “yes” to the proposal, you didn’t foresee how much paper variety would play on your mind, but it’s all part of the wedding stationery fun.
Vistaprint has a wide range of paper options:
- Standard Matte: Glare-free and smooth – best for saturated designs
- Premium Matte: Thick and decadent – best for dramatic, colourful designs
- Premium Glossy: High-gloss shine – best for colourful or photo-based designs
- Linen: Woven Italian cotton paper with an elegant matte finish – best for simple, crisp designs
- Pearl: Gentle lustre – best for light designs with pops of colour
- Recycled: 100% post-consumer recycled paper – lightly textured notecard feel
So, how do you choose?
“A fun hack to figure out what you like for your stationery and wedding décor is to order your save the dates in different paper stocks,” says Angela. “I picked my top three – linen, glossy and premium matte – and ordered an even number of save the dates across the board.”
“When they arrived, I could see which paper worked best with our font and style. I really thought I’d pick linen, but I ended up going with premium matte as it suited our aesthetic. I’m so glad I got to see it in situ before deciding.”
Triple-check your work…
Throughout the editing process, Vistaprint automatically saves your design and allows you to preview the final result.
“The editing tool gives you little reminders to check your work, which is great for an anxious bride who gets in the habit of pushing ‘next’ just to get it all done,” says Angela. “The site kept prompting me to double-check it was correct, which I really appreciated.”
…But don’t sweat the small stuff
Even with all the help in the world, mistakes happen. “Of course, I mucked up. I was a sleep-deprived bride juggling a full-time job, and realised I had ordered my invites on the wrong stock. Cue heart attack.”
Luckily, there are multiple ways to get in touch about an order. “I used the chat function on the website to plead for help, and the representative came back with a solution immediately. Being able to talk to a real human being is a win.”
Take the opportunity to tick off the next job!
Vistaprint isn’t just for wedding invitations. Use the wedding décor tab to plan all your reception essentials and day-of details – from menus to place cards, coasters, and seating charts. Creating a cohesive suite of wedding stationery allows for a custom, polished look.
“As I was planning, I saw the other designs and realised: ‘Oh my God, I haven’t even thought about my menus!’ So I could get those done straight away using the same font and style – another job ticked off.”
There are even custom wedding favours like tags, stubby holders, and wine labels, so you can make your wedding one people remember for years to come!
When wedding planning, remember it’s the small details that make the difference. Custom designs don’t need to cost the earth – and if you can’t find what you’re looking for on the Vistaprint website, the team can help customise something perfect.
“It was such an easy process and one less thing to stress about,” says Angela. “As I learned, weddings are a lot of little decisions that add up. So having a one-stop shop for our wedding stationery printing was a dream.”
Ready to start the design process? Head to Vistaprint to explore the pre-loaded designs and start planning your big day. Get 15% off your first order with code NEW15 and enjoy free standard delivery on all orders over $75.
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