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The Invitations

Invitations and save-the-date cards provide guests with their first glimpse of the event you are working so hard to plan. For an outdoor affair, invitations establish your theme, reveal the location, and communicate critical information to those who will attend. Whether you opt for traditional invitations or something more inventive, you will want to think carefully about what this communiqué should include and what information you will need to receive from guests with their responses. From the essential information to fun extras, invitations are an important part of your outdoor wedding.

Save the Date

Save-the-date cards are a relatively new addition to the line-up of wedding stationery. Though they are far from mandatory, these first alerts that a wedding is in the works can help ensure that guests reserve your special day. Unlike wedding invitations, which traditionally are not sent until six to eight weeks before the event, save-the-date notices can be mailed six months to a year in advance. Wedding stationery companies have embraced this trend, so if you decide to send save-the-date cards, you’ll find a diverse selection of designs to consider.

Early Warning

Once you announce your engagement, you will be asked repeatedly, “Have you set a date?” The beauty of save-the-date cards is that they answer this question for all of your curious friends and family members. At the same time, they also provide people with hectic schedules plenty of advance notice of your impending nuptials. Of course, save-the-date cards also represent an additional expense for printing and postage and the added labor of addressing cards and taking them to the post office.

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Before you order save-the-date cards, be sure to formally reserve your wedding venue or venues for the date you have selected and to finalize your guest list. Once you’ve asked guests to hold the date, you don’t want to change your mind about when the event will occur or who will be invited to attend.

Don’t send save-the-date cards just because they are available. Decide first if they are truly necessary and if they will help you to set the tone and build anticipation for your event. Save-the-date cards are most helpful in conjunction with weddings that will take place over a holiday weekend or that will require many guests to make travel arrangements. They also make sense if yours will be a small and intimate affair—one that you won’t want any of the people on your short guest list to miss.

Selecting a Save-the-Date Card

There are two basic approaches to selecting a save-the-date card. One is to match these mailers to your other wedding stationery. Invitation suppliers are increasingly showcasing coordinating save-the-date cards with the wedding ensembles they offer. You can also use pieces designed to serve as invitations or response cards as your save-the-date by customizing the wording.

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If you are trying to save some money on postage, choose save-the-date cards that can be mailed as postcards rather than cards that require envelopes. Call or visit your local post office or visit www.usps.com to check current regulations regarding pieces that qualify for the discounted postcard postage rate.

One drawback to taking a coordinated approach is that it requires you to select all of your wedding stationery at the time you intend to send out save-the-date cards, which may be far in advance. Because invitation styles change frequently, there is a danger that your design may be discontinued. However, ordering invitations and other stationery items many months ahead requires you to have all of your details in place and to incur this expense earlier than you may have projected. It also means you will need to find a safe place to store invitations until it is time for them to be addressed.

Many couples are choosing to take a different approach to the save-the-date card, opting for something light-hearted and eyecatching, even if the invitations that will follow will be more traditional and elegant. Outdoor weddings especially call for a splashy introduction, and the possibilities for whimsical and unique mailings are nearly limitless. Many wedding stationers offer fun designs that incorporate such graphics as a calendar with your wedding date circled in red. Some cards even incorporate peel-off stickers to be placed on guests’ calendars or scratch-off sections that keep recipients in suspense until they reveal the bride’s and groom’s names and their selected date. Others offer options that incorporate images such as a couple’s engagement photo, baby pictures of the bride and groom, or even custom caricatures.

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If you really want to ensure that your wedding stays on guests’ minds, you can opt to announce the date via something tangible that guests are likely to keep around, such as custom-imprinted refrigerator magnets, puzzles, bookmarks, candy tins, or coasters.

As with other aspects of your wedding, try to select a save-the-date card that is in keeping with your personalities and the overall theme of your event. If the perfect announcement card is elusive, feel free to create your own using scenic postcards, hand-written notes tucked inside confetti-filled envelopes, colorful printer-friendly papers from the office supply store, or plain cards that you embellish with rubber-stamped ink designs or glued-on pressed flowers, glitter, or colored sand. For a truly frugal approach, take advantage of Web sites that offer free e-mail cards or invitations to alert your connected friends, or include a small note about the date with holiday cards you were already intending to mail.

Themed Invitations

As weddings have become more individualized, invitations, too, have evolved into personalized expressions of the couple and their upcoming event. Much has changed since the days when most couples stuck with a standard verse in a standard font centered down the middle of a crisp, white card. Today’s invitations feature layered papers, bold colors, romantic images, clever sayings, unusual shapes and sizes, and decorative typefaces and add-ons. This variety makes it possible to select or create an invitation that is the ideal introduction to your outdoor wedding’s unique theme and flavor.

A Formal Introduction

Whether or not you opt to send a save-the-date announcement, your wedding invitations serve as the formal request for loved ones to join you on your special day. As such, it is your primary vehicle for enticing guests, revealing your plans, and setting a tone for the celebration. Whether your invitation is classic, cute, bold, sophisticated, or a one-of-a-kind work of art created as a keepsake, it is also a functional document that must adhere to the basic rules of invitation etiquette.

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Even if you are planning an informal affair, etiquette dictates that all wedding invitations be addressed by hand. If your own penmanship is not attractive, you may want to enlist the aid of a friend with an elegant hand or a professional calligrapher.

Every outdoor wedding invitation should communicate vital information, including the following:

Selecting Invitations

There are several ways to shop for wedding invitations. Visiting a print shop, stationer, or wedding boutique gives you the advantage of seeing many designs. It also lets you view and touch actual samples in order to get a feel for the weight and texture of papers, exact colors, and the appearance of raised lettering or embossed elements. Mail-order catalogs and Web sites, however, can’t be beat for the sheer variety of options they offer, their convenience, and, quite often, their pricing. Many will mail actual samples of invitations you are considering, so if you have ample time, ask if this is a possibility.

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Order more invitations than you think you will need, plus an extra supply of envelopes. You will want to reserve several copies of your invitation as keepsakes, and a few slipups are inevitable when you hand-address envelopes.

As outdoor weddings have become commonplace, the number of invitation designs available to complement such themes as a beach wedding or garden party has grown exponentially. If you are inclined to communicate the theme of your event in a more subtle fashion than selecting an invitation featuring seashells or flowers, color is an excellent alternative; today, white and ecru aren’t the only shades in vogue for wedding stationery. Choose a sepia tone or classic black and white for a wedding at a historic location, vibrant blues and aquas for a seaside gathering, or rusty reds and turquoise for a desert union.

Think carefully, as well, about how the wording you select might reflect your theme. While much of your invitation’s language will be informational, there is often room for a short personal expression. Avoid clichéd sayings, such as “Today I will marry my best friend.” Instead, strive for something creative and unique to your event, such as, “Against the backdrop of autumn’s hue, join us as we say, ‘I do.’”

Thematic Accents

Originality in invitations extends beyond the looks that can be achieved purely with paper and ink. Increasingly, invitation designers are incorporating eclectic accents or offering optional add-ons. The possibilities include bows, beads, feathers, gold seals, felt flowers, pearls, and charms.

The invitation industry is also devising new methods for holding together all of the components of wedding invitations. Since outdoor weddings tend to be some of the most involved, requiring that invitations include such additional enclosures as maps, hotel suggestions, and inclement weather instructions, you may want to look into some of these options. They range from simple ribbons, cords, and coils, to transparent overwraps, built-in pockets, lace-up eyelets, and colorful brads, clips, grommets, and safety pins.

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Always have your complete invitation with all inserts weighed at the post office before you purchase and affix postage stamps. Invitations marked “insufficient postage” and returned to you will result in very unwelcome expenses and delays.

Even the stamps you select can help to convey your theme. While it has become de rigueur to use “Love” stamps on invitation and response-card envelopes, the post office often has floral, scenic, historic, and other unique designs available that might make appropriate accents. If there is nothing fitting among the postal service’s current line-up, consider visiting a collectible stamp dealer or searching online auction sites for stamps from prior years that match your theme or color scheme. As long as they have not been cancelled, old stamps always hold their face value, though you may have to acquire them at a premium.

Designing Your Own Invitations

With the number of designs readily available, there are really only two reasons to take on invitations as a do-it-yourself project. One is to save money. The other is to create something truly personal and extraordinary.

If cutting costs is your motivation and you are computer savvy, your best bet is to purchase invitation papers and envelopes at an office- or art-supply store. Try to keep your invitations simple. The text can be laid out in any word processing or desktop publishing application. Watch out for graphic design no-nos that will make your finished results appear amateurish, such as use of bold type, mixed fonts, or all capital letters. Be sure to print and proofread a test copy on plain paper before you begin printing the actual invitations. Don’t be tempted to run envelopes through the printer while you’re at it; they should still be addressed by hand.

If you are tempted to design your own invitations as a method of achieving the exact look you envision, first realistically evaluate your artistic and creative talents. If you are a professional photographer, artist, designer, or craftsperson, this may be completely feasible, but producing your original design in the quantity you require may still require an inordinate amount of time or money. If your design experience or time is limited, you may be better off enlisting the assistance of an artist in your community or a company that specializes in custom invitations. Keep in mind that while one-of-a-kind invitations are the ultimate in personalization, they are also quite costly. Unless money is no object, be sure you have conducted an exhaustive search of commercially available designs before you head down this road.

Instructions for Guests

Whatever lovely design you select, it will serve as a clever disguise for your invitation’s true mission—to serve as an instruction manual for guests. Outdoor wedding invitees need to know a bit more than when to show up and where. You will help to put guests at ease if you provide them with thorough, up-front information about your event. Though incorporating all of the necessary details can lead to an overstuffed envelope, your day will run more smoothly if guests receive clear and precise directions in advance.

Details, Details, Details

You have already discovered that attention to detail is one of the most critical aspects of successful outdoor-wedding planning. While you may be inclined to keep some details under wraps so that your loved ones will be enchanted when they arrive upon your wedding scene, as a general rule, it is better to err on the side of revealing more detail rather than less. You certainly don’t want guests to be surprised to find that your wedding is outside, nor do you want them to learn too late that they will be required to hike up hill to your wedding site, pay an admission or parking fee, stand for a prolonged period of time, or catch a boat at its appointed departure time.

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If guests are invited to participate in additional activities, such as a rehearsal dinner or a post-wedding brunch, this is a detail that should also be communicated specifically. Use additional enclosures to extend an invitation to these events.

It is best not to assume that guests have heard wedding details through the grapevine. Neither should you conclude that just because a place is well known, all those attending will know what to expect. Even for weddings held at home, you should specifically indicate that festivities will transpire outside. Depending upon the invitation wording you choose, you can incorporate language such as, “Your presence is requested at the outdoor marriage of,” or “You’re invited to the outdoor wedding of,” or simply, “Join us outdoors.” Alternatively, mention the location as “in the outdoor courtyard,” “in the rose garden,” “on the sandy shore,” or “under the open skies” at the site you have selected.

Rain or Shine

The most important detail you will need to communicate is your backup plan in the event of foul weather. Details of an alternate date or site are best included on the main invitation, though a separate card with inclement weather instructions is another option, particularly if you want to provide guests with extended details, such as a phone number to call or a Web site to visit for up-to-date location information. If your event will move inside a tent or other facility if storms roll through, this should also be clearly stated.

Incorporating Enclosures

Invitations, response cards, response-card envelopes, reception cards, at-home cards, “rain” cards, hotel information, maps, ancillary event invitations and details, registry cards, inner envelopes—the contents of your invitation can easily become rather bulky, particularly if you are hosting a multiday affair or a destination wedding. While some invitation designs specifically strive to address the emerging need to organize and assemble all of these components, many couples still find that they must contend with a plethora of loose inserts as they prepare their invitations for mailing. As long as your outer envelopes seal neatly and completely, you may want to simply stuff away. However, if you are hoping to reduce your postage expense or present a more streamlined appearance, there are several strategies you might employ.

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Tissue paper inserts, traditionally positioned over the printed face of an invitation, are a throwback to the days when oil-based invitation inks might not be completely dry and could potentially smudge. They are really unnecessary thanks to modern printing advances.

First, evaluate whether all of the enclosures are absolutely necessary. Might you, for example, send at-home cards with your new address along with thank-you notes after the wedding? Though they are convenient, the bridal registry inserts provided by department and specialty stores are actually an etiquette no-no, as they are akin to asking for a gift; rely instead on word of mouth to spread the news of where you have registered. For more casual weddings, some couples are choosing to do away with the traditional inner envelope, and this, too, can reduce your invitations’ heft. Posting information such as hotel recommendations or nearby attractions on a wedding Web site is another possible way to cut down on the number of enclosures.

In order to ensure that all critical enclosures find their way into each outbound envelope, set up all materials assembly-line–style on a table that is free of other clutter. For invitations that have wording on the outside, enclosures should be placed on top, type-side up; for invitations whose details are printed inside, enclosures are tucked under the first folded flap. From bottom up, the invitations should be followed by the reception card, other inserts in size order from largest to smallest, then response cards tucked under the flap of stamped, self-addressed response envelopes. If you are using an inner envelope, insert materials so that the fold of the invitation is “in” and the printed side of all materials faces the back or flap side of the inner envelope. The inner envelope, upon which tradition dictates you should handwrite the names of invited guests, should be inserted within the outer envelope so that this hand-inscribed wording faces the back or flap side of the outer envelope and is immediately visible when the envelope is opened.

Directions to Hard-to-Find Places

Some outdoor spots can’t be pinpointed with a street number. For a large complex with many landmarks, such as Walt Disney World, directing guests to the proper location within the site probably won’t prove terribly difficult. If you will be marrying at Cocoa Beach, though, how exactly will guests find you along that six-mile stretch of sand?

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You may need to have volunteer escorts lead guests from the parking area to your ceremony site if there isn’t a clearly marked path. If this is your plan, alert guests to look for these guides when they arrive on site so they won’t panic and attempt to proceed on their own if an escort is not immediately visible.

Enclosing a detailed map with your invitations is one answer. Many locations that commonly host weddings or other functions have reproducible maps available for your use. It is always a wise idea to augment a map with some written directions, as well. Spell out the specifics of how the location is best approached based on your own experience of accessing the site. While online mapping and directions programs can be a helpful starting place, their accuracy is not perfect. Be sure to field test any directions before providing them to guests.

RSVP with Contact Information

For most weddings, selecting the wording for response cards is a very simple task. Usually, guests need only indicate whether they “will” or “will not” attend. In some cases, they may be asked to check off their preference for chicken, beef, fish, or vegetarian entrees.

For an outdoor wedding, it is a good idea to make use of the response card to obtain a bit more information about those who do plan to join you. Work with your invitation printer to incorporate additional blank lines where guests can jot down their contact information, including home and cellular phone numbers, e-mail address, and the hotel or other location where they will be staying while in town for your wedding. If there is simply no room on the response card, you may need to include an additional small index card or printed form for guests to complete and return. In the event you need to make a last-minute alteration to your plans, you will be glad to have these contact details at your fingertips.

Something Fun

For all of the fancy papers, inks, formats, and decorative add-ons available, most wedding invitations are still, at their essence, printed, two-dimensional paper products inserted within envelopes. Want your invitation to be something completely different that really stands out in a mailbox filled with catalogs and sweepstakes notices? Innovative invitation possibilities do exist for those who want guests to know from the outset that they have been invited to attend a somewhat novel event. Even seemingly traditional invitations can incorporate interactive elements that offer a unique twist.

Thinking Outside the Envelope

Many couples who choose an outdoor setting are seeking to differentiate their celebration from other weddings, perhaps even a previous one of their own. If that is your situation, you may feel compelled to do everything just a bit differently. Why not start with your invitations? Here are a few creative alternatives that will definitely set your event apart from the start:

Interactive Invitations

Another way to make your invitations more than just words on a page is to incorporate an interactive element. Since you will be asking guests to supply additional contact information with their RSVPs, you might also request that they take a moment to write down their tips for wedded bliss, draw a picture of what they think the two of you will look like on your wedding day, or answer a question, such as, “How did you meet the bride and groom?” or “What is your funniest memory of either the bride or groom?” The responses or sketches can be collected in a scrapbook that is displayed at your wedding or perhaps even used as a guest book for contributors to sign on your wedding day.

Some socially conscious couples also use their invitations as a call to action. If you support a specific charitable organization or endeavor, you may see your wedding as an opportunity to do something meaningful by asking guests to contribute to a special collection. For example, you might request that guests bring canned goods for donation to a soup kitchen, teddy bears for delivery to a police department or children’s hospital, or phone cards for shipment to service men and women stationed overseas. Guests’ participation should, of course, be optional.