Category: wedding invitations

Jenny Moore, a wedding invitation design specialist, is sharing tips on budgeting for a destination wedding. These remote weddings are becoming so very popular, I thought that I would share a few budgeting tips to think about while planning a destination wedding.

In any wedding planning book, you’ll find a budget page where you plan for all the standard wedding expenses (like your photographer, wedding flowers, band, your wedding dress and the food). But what if you’re having a destination wedding? Below are some costs that are specific to destination weddings that aren’t usually mentioned in standard wedding budgets:

Wedding site visit: Visit your destination at least once to check out venues and meet with potential vendors.

Wedding travel: Includes airfare, accommodations, car rental, and meals and entertainment.

Shipping: Leave a little room in the budget for sending beach theme wedding programs, linens, place cards, or other items to your destination.

Flying in vendors or your wedding officiant: If plan to hire someone who doesn’t live at your destination, you’ll be expected to pay their airfare, accommodations, local travel expenses, and per day spending money.

Group activities: You’ll probably host events over the weekend, such as a welcome party, rehearsal dinner, and a day after the wedding brunch.

Subsidizing expenses: You might help out with the bridal parties travel expenses or offer to pay for the bridesmaids’ dresses, jewelry, or shoes.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Wedding invitations are typically sent about four to six weeks before the big day. They are often ordered from a specialized printing vendor and are typically mailed in double envelopes. Some variants include a self-addressed, stamped postcard, thereby eliminating the need for a second envelope. Bolder variants still simply ask the recipient to RSVP by phone. Ah, how the times are changing.

In the 14th century, weddings were announced by town criers. As literacy proliferated through out the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, invitations were used to declare the engagements and weddings of upper class families. In the 16th century, weddings were announced in local gazettes and newspapers. With the advent of metal-plate engravings, a new refinement in wedding invitations had arrived.

In the 17th century, lithography altered the face of printing once again. This chemical process of engraving and printing still required hand-delivery by courier. A double envelope was used to protect the invitation from any damage. This tradition remains to this day. After World War II, invitation printing became more affordable, especially with the advent of the thermograph, also known as the poor man’s engraving method.

For a wedding it is, of course, customary to invite relatives, friends, and colleagues. It is vital the invitations are sent in a timely fashion, approximately a month before the date, and two months if it is a destination wedding. This allows the couple to confirm the attendance and arrange the necessary seating and catered menus. The caterer must have an accurate count to provide enough food and drinks to suit the guests. Some invitation accessories may be in order - like a location map, accommodation information, and a reception card -to ensure the guests can find and prepare for the wedding.