Common Wedding Invitation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

 

When it comes to common wedding invitation mistakes, we’ve seen it all. From poor timing to bad design to the cringe-worthy typos, there’s an endless array of “oh-no” moments that can take your wedding-invitation game down a notch (or twenty) as fast as you can say I do!. To help you avoid the blunders we’ve seen brides make time and time again, then, we’ve rounded up some of the most common wedding invitation mistakes and—more importantly—our top tips for avoiding them. Read on, brilliant brides. 

1. Not giving yourself enough lead time to mail them. 

When it comes to common wedding invitation mistakes, terrible timing tops the list. Pay close attention to your timeline when you’re planning out your invitation ordering process—and know that destination weddings require you give guests more notice than a typical in-state affair (see our breakdown below). You want to give people plenty of time to respond while keeping in mind the fact that most vendors want a final guest count 30 days out from your wedding date (so start bugging people you haven’t heard from around 35-40 days out). Talk to the stationers you’re considering about their lead time. At Lily & Roe Co., you can expect design proofs in 3-5 business days, with a final product in hand within 2-3 weeks of ordering.

• Save the Dates: Order these 8-10 months before your wedding date and send them out 6 months prior to your event. Destination wedding or multi-day affair: Order 10-12 months before your wedding date and send out 8 months prior to your event. 

• Invitations: Order 4-6 months before your wedding date and send out 6-8 weeks prior to your event. Destination wedding or multi-day affair: Order 6-8 months before your wedding date and send out 3 months prior to your event.

2. Using too many vendors. 

While shopping around for stationers is completely fine (and encouraged!), we always recommend you land on one single vendor when all is said and done, as getting different pieces of your invitation suite from multiple stationers can result in a less-than-cohesive look and feel. Things may look similar online, but matching paper finishes, colors, and font weights can be difficult, if not impossible—and you don’t want to end up with a suite that feels disjointed or piece-mealed. Instead, we recommend opting for a single vendor for all of the paper pieces of your invitation suite—and then asking for that stationer’s recommendations for additional vendors if you’re looking to add outside items to the invitations that the stationer doesn’t offer (i.e. silks, ribbons, vintage postage stamps, etc.). 

 

PRO TIP: Order a wedding stationery sample kit from the vendors you’re considering before you make any major decisions. Seeing and feeling paper choices and print quality in person will help you make an informed decision before you place all of your eggs—and budget—in one basket. 

3. Not proofreading. 

No matter how stunning your wedding invitations are, if they contain even a single typo or error, they won’t feel elevated and elegant. Pay close attention to wording, read (and re-read) your content, and be sure to enlist the help of a second set of eyes (preferably someone who’s great with grammar) to look over your files before you approve your final proof. 

 

PRO TIP: Read things backwards so you focus on the word itself—that way, your brain won’t automatically complete the sentence or see the word spelled in a way it wants it to be spelled as opposed to how it actually is spelled. 

Along those same lines, another one of the most common wedding invitation mistakes we see is poorly addressed envelopes. Nothing starts things off on a bad foot like your guest seeing her name misspelled on the envelope—so be sure you also proof your Excel file before you send it off for envelope printing or hand calligraphy. 

4. Misjudging postage

When it comes to common wedding invitation mistakes, misjudged postage is another one we see time and time again. Take the time to take a fully assembled suite to the post office and have it weighed to make sure you are calculating your postage correctly before you order those custom stamps or curate that stunning collection of vintage postage stamps. Be aware that square envelopes cost more to mail than traditional ones, and extra inserts can weigh your suite down and result in a higher postage cost. 

5. Not ordering extras

While we’re all for saving on budget as you plan the perfect wedding, don’t overlook the importance of having a few extra invitation suites on hand. Brides ordering only the exact number of suites they need is one of those common wedding invitation mistakes that can be so easily avoided. You want at least one or two extras to keep for yourself—and then one additional suite for your photographer to style on your wedding day. Be sure you grab a decent amount of extra envelopes as well, as there’s bound to be at least one calligraphy error or one “return to sender” that needs to be re-addressed and sent out again in the mix. 

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Overall, you can avoid common wedding invitation mistakes by taking a comprehensive, proactive approach to ordering, writing, and mailing out your suite. Pay extra close attention to your proofs, and use this guide to help you as you go!

 

Want even more pro wedding stationery tips? Browse the rest of our blog for advice and inspiration—or head to our stationery store to start customizing your invitation suite today!