You’ve got the ring, booked your favorite venue, set the date and hired your wedding planner. Now that the big stuff is handled, you might be wondering what’s next.
Wedding planning can feel like a part-time job (maybe even full-time!?). But having established wedding pros guiding you can take away a lot of that stress. One of those pros you may or may not have thought of is a wedding stationery designer.
If you’ve hired a full-service wedding planner, chances are you have a lot on your plate and need someone you trust to handle the paper side of your wedding: save-the-dates, invitations, and day-of paper and signage.
But before we dive into the “when,” let’s look at the “what.” What does a wedding stationery designer actually handle?
Save-the-dates: design, printing, addressing (having a second set of eyes on your guests’ addresses is a game changer), assembling, mailing and postage
Invitations: designing the invitation and every card that goes with it (secondary invitations, reply cards, details cards), ordering materials, managing production, addressing, assembling, mailing and postage
Day-of branding: programs, table numbers, escort and place cards, napkins, cups, matchboxes, bar signage, welcome signs, and the list goes on. Basically, if you need anything branded, your stationer can design and print it. That includes all the logistics of producing it, working with your other vendors and, most importantly, making sure it all fits the vision you and your planner have created.
And that list isn’t even complete! A good stationery designer, like a good planner, takes a lot of decisions off your plate. Trust me, there comes a time in wedding planning when all of my couples say, “I just want the planning to be over.” Decision fatigue is real, and the closer the wedding gets, the more those micro-decisions seem to multiply.
This was especially true for one of my brides when it came to choosing postage stamps for her invitations. She was so happy to have three design options which saved her the time of searching for stamps on her own and figuring out how much postage she needed to cover the weight of her invitations.
If you want to enjoy this process and trust someone to handle the paper, a full-service wedding stationer may be a good fit. So when do you reach out? Here are the milestones:
You’ve set your wedding date
You’ve secured your venue (or your location, for a destination wedding)
That’s it. This matters most if you’re planning to send save-the-dates. They go out 10 to 12 months before the wedding (12 to 14 months for a destination wedding), so reaching out soon after those two milestones gives your stationer time to design and print them. And like many wedding vendors, stationers’ calendars can fill quickly.
Ask your wedding planner for recommendations, or search Instagram and Pinterest. Check out their websites. By then, you’ll probably have a good idea of who feels like a fit. Most stationers, myself included, offer free consultations. It’s a wonderful way to see if you’re the right fit for each other, get pricing and check availability.
If you’re curious about the custom wedding invitation process, you can read more about what to expect here. And if you’re ready to book your consultation with me, you can do that right here.
Wedding invitations can get really detailed, with a lot of moving pieces. My goal is to be the most fun part of the process!