Your wedding invitations + stationery and Covid

Well, here we are a year later after that crazy word “covid” started circulating and we thought it would be done and over within about two weeks. Little did we know what the world had in store for us in 2020, especially when it came to weddings.

My heart broke post after post of couples and wedding vendors alike scrambling with very tough decisions on postments or even worse cancellations. I don’t want to dwell too long on 2020, thankfully it is behind us and hopefully, 2021 will be a *little* nicer to us. 

Here in Florida, we’re starting to see a little sense of normalcy when it comes to weddings and spring and fall couples gearing up to move forward with their big day, even if it’s a little different than they had first imagined.

So today I wanted to take some time to chat about your wedding invitations and stationery and some things you should think about when it comes to some decisions you’re making with your wedding now that Covid is a factor. 

When should you order:

I know a lot of couples, especially those who have already had to postpone, are very gunshy when it comes to ordering and making decisions *too* early (and all of the type A planners are cringing). But I do totally understand, you want to make sure that you aren’t jumping the gun by ordering something that will then have to be adjusted or changed in some way or another. 

The standard procedure for ordering your wedding invitations is at least 6 months prior to your wedding, allowing about 2.5 – 3  months for design and production, and then mailing them to your guests about 2 months prior to your wedding with an RSVP date 1 month prior.

This is generally for custom invitations where that design and production process are more involved.

My advice to you is to go ahead and get the process started so that way you secure your stationer and get on their schedule. You can start the design process and check with them to see when your deadline is to start print and production. That is when items are no longer able to be changed or adjusted. I love it when brides are ready for production months ahead of schedule, it allows us to not feel rushed, but I do understand their caution and want my couples to feel comfortable with their decision when they say “go”. 

Scaling down your wedding:

A lot of couples that are moving forward with their weddings, and depending on where they are located, are having to scale back their guest list due to state regulations, or their comfort level. I totally get that and am so glad that they are still able to move forward with their wedding, even if it is more intimate than originally planned.

For your wedding invitations, keep in mind that most stationery designers (especially when ordering custom) have a minimum quantity that they have to order. It can vary from designer to designer, but I know for me, my minimum for custom is 50 sets. So just keep that in mind when thinking about your stationery. If you have a much smaller wedding and only need 25 sets, you may need to look into a pre-designed collection that is more flexible. Most stationers offer this service as well. You can check out my wedding collections here! 

Items to consider with your day of items:

Wedding invitations aside, there are also a few things to consider with your wedding day stationery when it comes to Covid. Wedding day stationery can be menus, programs, seating charts, bar accessories, place cards, etc.

These are all amazing items to create a polished, branded look for your wedding, but I think some modifications are a great idea keeping Covid in mind. Some of my most popular items are bar accessories that include cocktail napkins, koozies, cups, stick stirrers, and such. And *normally* this is a great spot for your monogram/design along with your names + wedding date.

Well, this is where I found a lot of couples who had to postpone their wedding to a later date ended up with something that had their original date on it that they could no longer use.

So my suggestion would be to try and keep the actual date off as much as possible when it is not 100% necessary. You can still have your names, monogram, design, etc, but keeping off the date gives youa little more control and flexibility. Some things like programs, it is nice to have dates on for keepsake, but just keep this in mind when going through all of your day of items and what you want to include!  

I hope some of these topics help you feel a little more prepared when it comes to your wedding invitations and stationery during Covid and some precautions and considerations you can take.

If you’re interested in chatting about custom invitations, I would love to hear from you! Hop on over to my contact form and fill it out so we can get chatting! And if you’re interested in my pre-designed invitation collection, you can check it out here.