Your Wedding Stationery

Thousands of Choices, One Unique Style Rob and Melissa Zrabkowski
In your grandmotherís day, choosing wedding invitations was easy. It many cases, it came down to two choices: white or ivory. Today, there are over 1,000 invitation designs available to choose from. Imagine if every wedding vendor gave you so many choices: 1,000 dresses, 1,000 menu items, 1,000 photography packages, 1,000 cakes!

Even the most focused and well organized bride-to-be might have trouble making decisions with so many options. But with wedding stationery, your choices donít end with picking an invitation design. There is also wording, typestyle, ink color, envelope lining, embellishments (such as bows, wraps or vellum overlays), enclosures (including reception cards, map cards, RSVPs, and admit cards), thank-you cards, programs, guest favors, and accessories (napkins, matches, guest books, cake knives, toasting glasses, and much more).

So where do you start? First, think about the style of your wedding. Not every wedding has a theme, but every wedding should have a consistent style. This is set by the uniqueness of you and your fiance. Your values and your taste. Factor in your family situation, the time and place of your wedding, and of course, your budget.

Are you a bit old fashioned, or ultra-modern and sophisticated? Romantic or practical? Do you like simple elegance? Or do you prefer things that are more ornate and decorative? How do you react to things that are sentimental and cute? Do you like hearts and flowers? Bows and ribbons? Angels? Fairytales? Is your ethnic background important to you? All these things and more can influence your stationery choices.

Your first, and perhaps your most important, stationery choice is where to buy it. Today you can find invitations in mail-order catalogs or on the internet. The prices may be cheap, but most people prefer to work face-to-face with someone who can guide them in their decisions. Remember value is not just price, but price plus quality and service.

This holds true for retail locations as well. Wedding invitations are sold everywhere from large warehouse-type stores, to exclusive boutique stationers. In the first, you can expect low prices but little service. In the second, personal service but high prices. Quality is another consideration. With a custom product like wedding stationery, it is more than a matter of a recognized name brand. Are guarantees offered? What do they cover? Has the company been in business long enough to have a proven track record?

There are stationery vendors that combine the three elements of value, and it is worth the trouble of shopping around to find them. Most important of all, what are the people like? Do they greet you warmly when you come in, or make you feel that you are an intrusion? Are they interested in your needs and desires? Or do they have a ìmy way or the highwayî attitude? Are they helpful? Knowledgeable? Friendly?

Choose the right stationery vendor, and the rest of your stationery choices will be made much easier.