Whether you are the one getting married, are part of the entourage, or simply helping the couple in sending out wedding invitations, you need a few simple tips on the do’s and don’ts of these little cards and envelopes. Since the era of the town crier has long elapsed, then you must learn enough about the trade of modern wedding invitations.

1. Have the final list of guests. Especially for those who are operating on a tight budget, the number of wedding invitations purchased should be equivalent to your number of visitors. At least an estimate will do so in case there will be a few glitches or errors, you are still within the safe range.

If the design of your wedding invitations is one that needs an envelope, then purchase extra envelopes. This is to avoid shortage in case you commit typo errors while addressing them.

2. Use the proper titles. Weddings are sort of a black tie event. Thus, to keep up with the “theme” and to show your guests of your intention of keeping it a formal occasion, you must write their names with the correct titles. Know who should have the following labels: Ms, Mrs, Mr, Dr, Fr, Honorable, etc. There’s nothing worse than giving out wedding invitations that have sloppily written guest names.

3. Get involved in the designing process. Needless to say, you need to be there to sign off designs and font styles and sizes. This is especially true if you are having your wedding invitations printed. Even if you are buying generic and pre-formatted wedding invitations in your local bookstores or bridal shops, you still need to have a say on the design.

4. If you don’t want children in your reception, be polite in saying so. Since you want to imply this fact in your wedding invitations, then you must be prudent with your words. You can either not include their names in the invitation. For instance, you can put in Mr. and Mrs. Smith instead of Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Family.

If you think this would not suffice, then you can place the phrase “adult reception” in your wedding invitations. Spreading out word regarding your preference of not including children in the ceremony is also a good idea.

5. Don’t forget to put the dress code for the occasion. Some weddings are strictly formal, others are not, especially if it’s a garden wedding. For any guest who’s invited to a wedding, his or her first question would always be: what should I wear?

Thus, to make them feel at ease and make them excited about the wedding, inform them what you expect them to be wearing. Surely, they would be more than happy to receive such an additional piece of information.

Wedding invitations are essential part of any wedding ceremony. Without them, the word about an upcoming union of hearts would not be formally announced. Of course, your guests would not be properly informed of your preference to have them grace an important affair of your life because they don’t want to be a gatecrasher either. Thus, since you’re already spending for wedding invitations, then you might as well do it right.

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Looking for the perfect store to shop for your wedding necessities, such as bridesmaid dresses, mother of the bride dresses, and of course, your wedding gown, is not easy. You could always choose to go searching for those items the traditional way, i.e. hopping from one shop to another. Or, you could make use of the Internet to make your job easier.

But from thousands of online bridal shops, how do you know which one to choose? How do you ensure that you did the right thing in choosing a particular online bridal shop?

Well, make this task handy by taking the following suggestions:

1. Get Referrals

As with anything else, the referral system is one of the best ways in properly choosing an online bridal shop. If you know of people who have done the same thing, ask them. They would be more than willing to share what they know about online bridal stores.

If, however, you don’t have friends and other close acquaintances that have been into the same endeavor, then let the Internet do the talking. Surely, the websites of these online bridal shops have promoted themselves through customer feedback.

Sometimes, however, relying on customer testimonials alone is not that objective since normally, no online bridal shop would put in negative feedback on its site. That would be negative advertising for them.

Don’t worry though as there are a number of wedding forums available. Still using the internet, you can search for reputable wedding forums, sign up and ask for the best online bridal shops. Surely, they will have various responses but if you are just patient enough, then you’ll find yourself dialling the number of the best online bridal shop in no time.

2. Go for Functionality

Online bridal shops differ from each other according to their flagship products or services. While most of them promote wedding dresses, some actually focus on other wedding items, such as wedding favours and wedding invitations.

Therefore, when choosing your online bridal shop, get the one that can properly address your need. For instance, if you are letting a celebrity designer in your locality to make your wedding gown, then don’t look for online bridal shops that specialize on wedding dresses.

3. Get an easy-to-remember name

Most of the time, online bridal shop names are easy enough to remember. After all, that is their way of landing themselves on top of the page ranks. Therefore, take advantage of this marketing strategy. Online bridal shops that have the URL’s of “onlinebridalshop”, the “bridalshop” and “shopofbrides” are stores that would easily retain on your memory. Choose them.

Thanks to the Internet, you don’t have to go from one shop to another, spend at least three hours in every shop and go from one state to another just so you’ll find the perfect wedding items that you need. The Internet is truly a wonder.

And since every modern individual would take advantage of modernity, get into the groove as well. There’s barely nothing that the Internet cannot do. Therefore, make use of it. Hire the services of an online bridal shop now.

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Did you know that in ancient times, the task of informing guests regarding the details of an upcoming wedding is not done through wedding invitations? Yes, back when paper and stationery sets are not yet invented, spreading the word about tying-of-the-knot events were done using different means.

The Town Crier

When the printing press was not yet in existence, weddings are announced using a Town Crier. Typically, he is a gentleman with a loud voice and who roams around town to inform everyone about an upcoming wedding. Basically, everyone who has heard about such an announcement is invited to the wedding. In other words, one’s sense of hearing is a guest’s wedding invitation.

Calligraphy

Then during the medieval era, illiteracy was rampant. Because most people cannot read and write, the use of wedding invitations was only limited to the members of the nobility and to the affluent. Wedding invitations are done by using the services of monks and other people who are skilled in the art of calligraphy.

Because only the rich and affluent could afford the services of these skilled professionals, those in the lower and middle class had to make do of the town criers still.

Engraving

When engraving was invented in 1642, quality wedding invitations became accessible to the middle class. Engraving here means handwriting the text in reverse to any metallic object with the use of a carving tool. This engraved metal is then used to mass-print the wedding invitations.

Perhaps, this became the roots of mass wedding invitations that you see today.

“Double Envelopes”

When wedding invitations were to be hand delivered by a “horseman,” the possibility of damage is high. This gave rise to the idea of putting wedding invitations in two envelopes in order to protect these precious papers. Today, you can still see invitations placed in double envelopes because these are still to be sent to other parts of the world using a courier service provider. Of course, if you are the bride, you don’t want your guests receiving dilapidated and crumpled bits of paper.

The Modern Means

After the World War II, the use of “fine wedding stationery” came about. This then led to how you see wedding invitations today. This was also coupled with a number of different printing techniques including thermography, letterpress printing and laser printing. The third is promoted by many wedding experts because it is said to be the least expensive printing method.

You see, as with the other aspects in a wedding ceremony preparation, wedding invitations have also evolved. It has travelled from being a lowly auditory function to an elaborate written material that features different font types, styles, colors, sizes, and even scents.

You can see that even before, when the world still lacked a touch of modernity, the task of spreading the word about weddings was still carried out. You can see that people have used their creativity and ingenuity in making special announcements.

Today, however, you can still make use of that creativity – but not anymore in how the prehistoric people handled it. Creativity can be poured in your unique design of wedding invitations.

As the worldwide economic recession continues to haunt all of us, it is depressing to know that even wedding budgets have to be cut down as well. If you’re getting married anytime soon, then surely you have been stressing your brains and hearts out just to cover every wedding preparation detail with your meagre budget. How could such funds take care of all the wedding invitations, bridesmaid dresses, wedding favours and of course, your bridal gown?

Fret no more as there’s one department of the entire wedding-day-traditional-preparation that you can cut cost on, your wedding invitations! Yes, these important and official bearers of the good news need not be expensive. Here are a few tips on how to save on your expenses for wedding invitations.

Learn About the Trade

They say that an informed customer gets the most reasonable deals. And this is also true in wedding invitations. These cards could cost you a lot if you don’t know what you’re getting into. Use the internet to know about the common printing methods. Naturally, most the elegant printing method could cost you more. If a simpler technique could get your message across, then by all means, use it. Experts suggest laser printing as this is the least expensive.

You also should learn about papers when designing your wedding invitations. Visit various stores first before you buy the stationery item of your choice. You’ll learn than paper boutiques have higher mark up’s as compared to bookstores and other general merchandise outlets.

Go for the Basics

Letting go of the extras in wedding invitations could really make you save. Do away with those buttons, strings and other decorative items. Keep your cards as simple but as informative as ever. You’d thank yourself for doing so come mailing time as an extra weight would also cost you more.

Invite Less People

If you really are tight on budget, then nobody would blame you for inviting only the most important people in your — and your fiancé’s — life. This is truly one of the surest ways to save on your expenses on wedding invitations. Naturally, because you have less people to inform and to gather for your special day, you have less notices to send out.

Use the Internet

Get practical. Use electronic invitation cards for friends who have regular access to the Internet. Surely, your comrades won’t mind. It’s more convenient for them as well as they don’t have to carry those stationery sets on their way to your wedding.

Plus, you can send these electronic wedding invitations to as many people as you can (at a time), provided that you have their email addresses, of course! Not only will this technique let you save on cost, but on your time as well. With electronic wedding invitations, a simple mouse click — or a series of clicks, to be more realistic about it — would replace the effort of writing down the addresses on each envelope and mailing them.

You see, wedding invitations (and weddings, in general) need not be expensive to become successful. As long as they fulfill their primary goal – that is in informing everyone about your big day – then you’re good to go. You need spend so much on it. After all, the ceremony itself is just the start of your life together… you still have the rest of your life to prepare for.

Bridesmaid dresses, to the dismay of so many bridesmaids the world over, has a limited spectrum of colors to choose from. All thanks to the earnestness and the solemnity of weddings, bridesmaids cannot wear deep mourning purple, jet black, any variations of white, chocolate or mud brown, plaid, stripes or animal prints.

So what are the colors suited for that occasion? What are the traditional shades when it comes to bridesmaid dresses? Bridal boutiques everywhere could assert that these are the top ten color of choice in bridesmaids dresses’ fabrics:

1. Peach

Who could not fall in love with the youthfulness, playfulness and sweetness of peach? It is the color that best signifies bridesmaids. Sweet, dazzling and charming. You could stay in church for a month and try to count how many weddings actually have bridesmaid dresses in peach. Why is peach one of the most favored colors? For one, its shade is timeless and elegant. It is one of the dress shades that withstood the test of time. Second, it is sunny and uplifting. Who could resist to smile upon seeing peach bridesmaids dresses?

2. Pink

I’m talking light, soft pink. The baby’s blanket kind of pink. Not the sharp, loud pink most teenagers opt to dye their hair with. The light pink shades represent sweetness and love. Why else would Valentines Day cards have a generous touch of pink? Why else would wedding cakes have hear-shaped toppings in pink? Simple, because pink represents sweet, sweet love. Isn’t that what weddings are all about?

3. Red

Not ruby red or blood red, mind you. A lot of bridesmaid dresses are within various shades of red. It could be maroon, or rose red. Either way, red signifies, more than anything, love. Love is exactly the reason why we have weddings in the first place. Red also signifies courage. Cynics say it takes bucketfuls of courage to take a walk down the aisle.

4. Blue

Blue, as a wedding theme, and as bridesmaid dresses, is not at all surprising. Blue, after all, represents loyalty and faithfulness. You will be needing tons of that in marriage. The various shades of blue are also extremely pleasing to the eyes. Maybe because it reminds us of blue skies and sunny days and glorious walks along the park.

5. Yellow

Yellow actually represents infidelity. But that belief held by thousands did not hinder yellow from creeping into wedding ceremonies. A lot of bridesmaid dresses are in variants of yellow. Why? For one, yellow is youthful. Yellow is also cheery, sunny and very uplifting. To sum it all up, yellow brings smiles. So why should it be banned from being worn as bridesmaid dresses?

6. Green

Green, the color of hope, life and a fresh new start. No other color best represents weddings that this. Green is arguably the most widely used wedding motif since the turn of the century. After all, it best describes what weddings are all about –- hope, life and new beginnings

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You have probably heard of the latest craze in wedding invitations. Gone are the days when each and every bride in the country rushes to have her invitation printed with a laser-printer ink etched on glossy paper. We now welcome the era of handwritten wedding invitations.

There are actually two options up for brides and grooms-to-be. One, if you believe that your handwriting is passably artistic, you can always write the wedding invitations yourself. This exceptionally personalized means is definitely more affective if you wish to invoke a more intimate, cozy feel for your special day.

Moreover, writing your own wedding invitations slashes down a fraction of your expenses. Just buy your own scented stationery, a box of lovely, well-designed envelopes and voila, a lovely invitation without the hefty price. You can even add in a few embellishments and ornate designs here and there to complete the personalized feel to a tee.

This savings could really work well for you. You can then splurge on the wedding dress or your dreams, or on the bridesmaids dresses.

If you still wish to evoke that same intimate atmosphere, yet your handwriting is needs to be deciphered by a specialist, we suggest that you go get yourself a professional calligrapher.

The art of calligraphy’s roots could be traced back to cave paintings. Over the years, it grew to become a famous, treasured art despite the advance of other printing materials such as typewriters, and of course, computers. Despite the myriad of font styles, colour and sizes that a computer can produce, calligraphy is still sought-after. As long as there is a human being who keeps it alive, calligraphy will continue to be an art.

This art is brought to a whole new light when used in wedding invitations. Calligraphy set in glossy, embossed or silky paper gives the guests an impression of comfort and intimacy. Nothing says “you are special” quite like handwritten invitations. It basically shows that much thought and effort was put into each and every line.

A wedding invitation, much like a wedding dress, is the finest representation of the bride’s personality. A gracious invitation reflects a gracious host.

To avoid humdrum handwritten wedding invitations, you can always opt to indulge and experiment in the following areas:

1. Shape. You can always create unique shapes for your wedding invitations. You can either have it shaped like your wedding dress, your wedding cake or have it shaped like a bell. You can always play around with shapes, it is probably the safest element to experiment with.

2. Size. If you really want to make an impression, lay it on the invitation size. The bigger, the crazier. However, your guests would probably be eternally grateful if you will not send them a billboard-size invitation.

3. Design. Make sure that your wedding invitation design matches your theme. Do not depict a beach theme on your wedding invitation when you are actually going to have a church wedding.

4. Colour. Since it is a wedding, go for neutral colors, earth tones or pastels. Avoid black at all cost.

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A friend, a family member, a colleague or an acquaintance’s wedding reception is coming up. The wedding invitation reads “formal”, you panic, browsing through your closet. Then you realize you have nothing decent enough to wear for the wedding. So you head to the department store, in hopes of finding the perfect evening dress among the racks and racks of evening dresses. You sort through the seemingly endless rows of evening dresses and you are left even more confused than ever. You look around, looking for a sales lady to at least help you with your feat. You found one. However, you greatly doubt her taste with the various evening dresses she brings to you.

Then you realize, you should have sought the advice of professionals – be it through watching television shows, leafing through magazines, or by surfing the internet. These tiny advices might have done something to help you in your current situation.

So, here are a few essential tips in finding the perfect evening dresses for wedding celebrations. Do note that the best judge for an evening dress is you. If it is comfortable and classy, then grab it for yourself.

1. Stay away from pastel shades. There is a very valid reason behind this tip. Most bridesmaid dresses are within the spectrum of pastel shades. You would not want to end up wearing the exact same shade as the bridesmaid dresses, would you? It is a lot better to be safe that it is to be embarrassed.

2. Do not overdo it on the embellishments. It is a wedding you are attending, not the Oscars. Nor is it a haute couture fashion show in Milan. Here is a good tip, girl. Ease up on the bows, satin, beads, sequins and feathers. It is safer that way. Safer for you as well as for the rest of the wedding guests.

3. Never ever wear white. Unless you are mentally incapable of understanding that it is a wedding, that is. Why on earth would you want to take the spotlight off the bride’s wedding dress by wearing a white evening dress? Wedding dresses equates to white. You’re the guest, not the bride, so stay away from white.

4. Do not choose slinky, sexy evening dresses. Do not don a clingy, showy dress to a wedding. Especially if it is a church wedding. The reason behind it is simple. You, as a guest, ought to show your hosts a bit of respect. Give them the deference that they deserve.

5. Dress appropriately. There is a difference between long, formal wedding dresses and cocktail dresses. Cocktail dresses have a more casual feel. It is suitable for casual wedding receptions. Evening dresses are for more lavish, formal weddings. Know which evening dresses to choose on what type of wedding.

6. Choose an evening dress that would best suit your body shape, skin tone, height and personality. It is important for you to know those aspects so that you will be comfortable wearing your evening dress during the wedding reception.

Bridesmaids complement the bride. Similarly, the bridesmaid dresses complement the wedding dress. You have already figured out every detail of your unique wedding — down to your unique wedding dress to your unique wedding invitations. However, you still haven’t figured out what to do with your bridesmaid dresses.

The initial step is actually so obvious. Take down your gorgeous wedding dress, analyze it’s style, it’s cut and it’s theme, then go from there. If you have a luxurious Grecian wedding dress, then start from there. Search for Greek-inspired bridesmaid dresses online. There are actually a few extremely reliable web sites who can offer you a wide variety of designs to choose from. These Web Sites also feature wedding invitations and wedding favors, among others. If your wedding dress is Hawaiian-inspired, then what logical reason is there other than to have Hawaiian themed bridesmaid dresses? If you are wearing a princess cut wedding gown, you may also opt to have princess-cut bridesmaid dresses.

Consult your bridesmaids on the designs which they like. Most women know what cut and style suit them most, so a consultation would be a safer route. For those with more than one bridesmaid, let them debate on a style and cut which would work well for all of them. Or, you may let these bridesmaids wear separate styles so as to enhance their assets and to make them feel comfortable wearing the clothes of their choice on your wedding day. You could also give your bridesmaids a few magazines to leaf through. These wedding catalogues and magazines could be a huge factor in helping the bridesmaids come to an agreement on their bridesmaid dresses.

It would also be advisable to seek the help of a professional designer. These designers know women’s body types and they could design clothes to perfectly suit each body type. Remember, there are some things that clothes designers can see that the mere mortal’s naked eyes don’t.

Remind your bridesmaids that there are no slinky numbers allowed in weddings. That rule should be strictly enforces. So, if they want to change the style and cut of their bridesmaid dresses, the better make sure to stay away from embarrassingly suggestive clothing. Otherwise, threaten them that you are going to personally drag them through the threshold.

When it comes to the color, the bridesmaids actually have very little say about this. You should follow the wedding motif. Green bridesmaid dresses would look awful if your theme is lavender. Similarly, fuchsia pink bridesmaid dresses would totally seem out of place if your wedding color theme is yellow. You can choose bridesmaid dresses that may be just a shade or two darker or lighter than your wedding motif. However, you should never a totally different shade.

All in all, the important elements in choosing your bridesmaid dresses can basically be summed up as these: Your wedding dress style, your wedding color motif, your theme and venue, your bridesmaids personalities and preferences, and of course, your bridesmaids’ comfort.

What could possibly go wrong with wedding invitations, you might wonder. Funny, a piece of paper sealed inside a harmless little envelope does not seem to be potentially disastrous. Well, check again. There are already quite a few instances wherein the wedding invitations have caused grief for the bride. How? Let us enumerate the following mistakes that could be made with the wedding invitations:

1. Printing out the wrong venue. This wedding invitations disaster tops the cake. What could be possibly more horrible than leading your guests into the wrong venue?

2. Getting the bride’s name or groom’s name all wrong. How could it be all wrong? Well, for one, the printers messed up the names by mistake. However, as the bride, it is your responsibility to review each wedding invitation carefully.

3. Sending out the wrong wedding invitation to the wrong person. This happens quite a lot, actually. Many people choose to stay safe and refuse to put in the addressee’s name on the envelope. This, however, takes away the personal and intimate appeal of wedding invitations. It would be a whole lot better if you do jot down the name of the recipient. All it takes is a little extra care and a whole lot of attention to details.

These are just a few of the possible mistakes that one could make with their wedding invitations. Do note that wedding invitations blunders are not as easy as a wedding dress blunder. You can not cover it up and pretend that nobody else will notice. Mistakes made with the shade of the bridesmaids dresses is not as disastrous – unless of course, your bridesmaids have to end up wearing a sickening shade of green.

Here are a few guidelines to remember so as to avoid wedding invitation slip ups:

1. Before sending out your wedding invitations to the printing press, make sure you have already checked it and reviewed it. It is a lot better to be sure than to have a hundred copies printed out wrongly. The printers merely follow your instructions. If you misspelled your name, they have no way of verifying if it is actually spelled wrongly.

2. Upon receipt of the printed wedding invites, review each line thoroughly. Make sure everything is written properly and that everything is in its place – the names, the venue, the time, all these are of extreme importance. There is no harm in checking, right?

3. When writing the recipient’s name on your lovely envelope, make sure you spell out their names right. Call up your guests, if necessary, so as to get their proper designations and to have their names spelled correctly. You may think it is an unnecessary thing to do, but it actually does matter. Whether their names are spelled right matters a lot to your guests.

4. Upon delivering the wedding invitations, make sure you are aware of who’s who. Politely hand over the wedding invitations to your guests, but before you do, check out if you got the right one. How embarrassing it would be if you gave Mrs. Colby’s invitation to Dr. Jones. That reflects thoughtlessness on your end.

After finalizing the guest list to your wedding, and conveniently forgetting to list some people, it’s time to send out the wedding invitations. Your wedding invitation will set the stage for your special day. Invitations come in all shapes and sizes there are a lot to choose from if you go pre-made, and even more if you go custom. What’s In The Envelope?

If you are not yet entirely sure what should be on your wedding invitations, there are many sites that will show you around the basics with helpful hints, along with many samples that can be viewed online, or if you should choose, you can get a free actual sample. For example, a good invitation will answer all the FAQs: who’s getting married (of course), where, and when. The details on what to wear, what to expect and what is expected may be left to be placed on the reception cards. Make sure that the printer you choose has the answers for the what and how, so that all you have to worry about is whom to send the invitations to.

There are also some people that seek the formality of being sent a solid and tangible wedding invitation, for whom verbal invites or general statements of “hey, I’m getting married, be there” will not do. When it comes to wedding invitations, there are many options to choose from, in classic or modern designs that are also good have as keepsakes.

There are many wedding stores that could provide for everything on your wedding, from wedding invitations to wedding cakes in Mississauga. If you’re pressed for time, this is always a good route to take.

Counting The Days

You should be able to send out the wedding invitations at least two weeks before the event, to be considerate and for practicality’s sake. A good printer will ensure that you get to send your wedding invitations as fast as you want it, and at a reasonable price. You can get quotations at the site. Wedding invitations are often hand carried, but if this is impractical, so at least go through registered mail or local courier, for your peace of mind that your invitation was received. The time allowance will allow guests with to make arrangements. If you have the time, or know someone who does (like your maid of honor or bridesmaids), call up the guests to confirm if they are coming. Not only will such a practice make you sensitive to your guests convenience, you also get to prepare for your receptions headcount so you don’t end up budgeting for too much, or worse, too little.

Tit For Tat?

Avoid the politically incorrect in guise of practicality trend of putting in cards with wedding invitations that say “in lieu of gifts, the couple for reasons stated herein would rather receive cash” that will often be read as “we invited you to give us money.” More important than your wedding invitations’ design is your etiquette. Know propriety for a successful wedding.