Congratulations you’re engaged! You’re on glad nine, your fiancée has declared his love and asked you to become his wife, you excitedly talk about the future and your wedding day. You dream about the dress, partying with your friends and of course becoming husband and wife.

But, then the panic sets in. Just how do you plan a wedding, where should you begin? In our fortnightly series we will break down how to organise a wedding like a professional wedding planner.

In our 6^th instalment of our planning guide we talk about the design.

6-9 Months

The wedding is getting closer so now is the time to think seriously about your design and what you want the day to be like. Make a scrap book of magazine pictures as I’m sure you have hundreds at home. Section the images into flowers, décor, cake & stationery. This will help when meeting a florist or cake maker.

Florist

The flowers will make a big impact on your wedding style so choose a florist carefully, ask to view their portfolio of previous weddings and ask how long they have been doing it. There are many freelance florists who specialise in wedding & event flowers so are familiar with larger displays and how to create the wow factor. Discuss your initial ideas and colours with her and ask for suggestions on what flowers are in season and what would work well for your wedding.

Remember to ask about:

• Bouquets
• Button Holes
• Ceremony Flowers – pew ends, altar, registrars table, pedestals
• Reception Tables
• Reception entrance
• Reception focal points

Cake Maker

When selecting a cake maker think about whether you want a  simple cake to cut & serve or whether it should be a dramatic feature of the day.  Is it to be sliced in the evening or served as a desert. How many guests does it have to feed (daytime + evening guests + cakes to be posted). Ask your venue for recommendations on local cake makers and visit their studio to see current designs. Then compare to the more national designer cake makers. Talk about the fillings and style of cake you like i.e.  traditional, cup cakes, contemporary or chocolate. Popular flavours include:

• Lemon drizzle
• Carrot
• Ginger
• Rum and raison
• Cherry
• Chocolate
• Coffee

Stationery

The wedding invitation is the first chance guests get a glimpse of the wedding style and design. It can be an exciting process selecting the right designer who understands your vision for the wedding. Think about whether you want stationery designed bespoke for you or whether you are happy to choose pre designed versions. Ask for samples so you can check the quality of their work. What type of card is the stationery printed on, is it textured, coloured, floral or iridescent? Does the sample arrive in good condition? Local fairs are a good place to see designs in the flesh and quality check them. Also search the internet for stationery companies. Visit Chartula who offer some tips on etiquette or appropriate wording as well stunning stationery.

The stationery used in a wedding normally includes:

• Save the dates
• Wedding invitations inc. RSVP, directions & info card
• Order of service
• Table names
• Seating cards/tags
• Table plan
• Thank you cards

Knowing how to word your wedding stationery can be a minefield and the cause of many headaches. Traditionally the invitations were sent by the brides parents because they were the ones ‘hosting’ the event, today however it is normal for clients to pay for their own wedding or go halves with their parents. The wording used depends on the formality of the wedding/couple but also who is the host.

In this post we discuss how you should word your stationery, we will post on design and print process another day as that is a whole new subject.

Stationery from Chartula Studios

Top Tips

Abbreviations should only be used for titles, dates & times e.g. ‘Dr, Mr’,’30th’, ‘pm’.

The Bride’s name should always be before the Groom’s.

Be consistent with dates & times whether using numerals or words. e.g. ‘third April, two thousand and nine at one o’clock’ or ’3^rd April 2009 at 1.00pm’.

If the ceremony and reception are at the same location, the venue needs only to be written once.

Any special instructions like finish time or dress code would be written after the reception details but before the ‘RSVP’

If a bride is hosting the wedding then she uses her full title but if the wedding is hosted by someone else then she is referred to via first name only.

Invitations should be sent out 8 weeks before, however many couples choose to send 10-12 weeks before for summer weddings.

Save the dates should be sent anytime from 12 months to 6 months before a wedding, any closer then it is more cost effective to just send the invitations early.

Enclose a RSVP card to ensure speedy replies

The more popular invitation wording is covered below courtesy of Chartula Studios

 Invitation Wording Examples

Bride’s Parents Hosting

Mr and Mrs (Bride’s Parents Name)
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughter
(Bride’s Name)
to
Mr (Groom’s Name)
at (Ceremony Details)
on (Day, Date, Month, Year)
at (Time)
and afterwards at
(Reception Details)

Bride and Groom’s Parents Hosting

Mr and Mrs (Bride’s Parents Name)
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughter
(Bride’s Name)
to
Mr (Groom’s Name)
son of
Mr and Mrs (Groom’s Parents Name)
at (Ceremony Details)
on (Day, Date, Month, Year)
at (Time)
and afterwards at
(Reception Details)

Bride and Groom and Families Hosting

Together with their families
(Bride’s Name)
and
(Groom’s Name)
request the pleasure of your company
at their marriage
at (Ceremony Details)
on (Day, Date, Month, Year)
at (Time)
and afterwards at
(Reception Details)

Bride and Groom Hosting

(Bride’s Name)
and
(Groom’s Name)
request the pleasure of your company
at their marriage
at (Ceremony Details)
on (Day, Date, Month, Year)
at (Time)
and afterwards at
(Reception Details)

Groom’s Parents Hosting

Mr and Mrs (Groom’s Parents Name)
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of
(Bride’s Name)
to their son
(Groom’s Name)
at (Ceremony Details)
on (Day, Date, Month, Year)
at (Time)
and afterwards at
(Reception Details)

Divorced Bride’s Parents Hosting

(Bride’s Mother’s Name)
(Bride’s Father’s Name)
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughter
(Bride’s Name)
to
Mr (Groom’s Name)
at (Ceremony Details)
on (Day, Date, Month, Year)
at (Time)
and afterwards at
(Reception Details)

Stationery from Chartula Studios

Envelopes

If you have worded your stationery formally then you need to follow this through with the envelopes. See below for an example.

Envelope formal

Mr & Mrs Paul Smith + children

Envelope informal

Paul & Karen Smith + children

Invitation Terminology

Save the Dates – normally a small single sided card sent announcing your wedding date. It would have your name, date of wedding and ‘formal invitation to follow’.

RSVP – to encourage speedy acceptances many couples include a pre addressed RSVP card in the invitation. Many couples also ask for dietary requirements, favourite songs, transport requirements to be noted on the reply.

Info card – a small card or printed paper included with the invitations. It would include directions, map, hotels, taxis and any other information useful for the guests to know.

In the next etiquette guide in May we will cover the ceremony.

Bernadette

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