Photo on the thumbnail courtesy of Jason Smelser Photography.

Would you agree that wedding planning includes a wide variety of tasks? No matter if you just started planning your big day or if the special day is almost here, we’re sure you’ll have an absolute blast every step of the way! One of these tasks that isn’t as big as booking some of your major vendors, yet still something that you’ll put plenty of thought into is creating your wedding invitations. As you likely already know, there are certain things you definitely need to include on the invitations, some things that are optional, and several others which might not agree with proper wedding invitation etiquette!

Throughout this week’s blog post, we’ll be taking a deeper look at the details that you should undoubtedly include with your wedding invitations. Before we discuss that important information though, we would like to say hello to anyone new to our wedding venue! Madera Estates is a luxury wedding venue and event space in Conroe, TX. Each and every year, we have the opportunity to work with numerous engaged couples and help them plan their dream wedding day. From the moments shortly after your engagement all the way through the final send-off, this is such an exciting process and we’re always happy to help where we can!

Now…for those of you currently in the wedding invitation stage of the planning process, take a look at a few important details that you’ll want to find a place for on the invites!

Names

Of course, one piece of information that is a no-brainer to include on your invitations are both the names of the hosts and the couple tying the knot. In some cases, the hosts are actually the couple too, but that’s not always true. It’s not uncommon for the hosts to be parents or other family members too. Long story short, the traditional order of items at the top of the invitation should be the hosts names, request to attend the wedding celebration and then the names of the couple getting married. That part of the invitation is pretty straightforward!

Event Details

With all of the necessary names at the top of the invitation, the next component is going to be the details for the actual wedding. You’ll want the date and time clearly listed, as well as the location (with address) for both the ceremony and reception. If everything is being held at the same venue, then you’ll obviously just need to list one location on the invitation. As for the time of the wedding, it wouldn’t hurt to mention the time that you want guests to arrive too.

Incorporate Your Theme or Color Palette

This next item might not necessarily be a specific tip to include like those above, but will nonetheless add some extra pizzazz for your invitation suite. A popular trend in the wedding planning world involves crafting a theme (and color palette) that truly makes your celebration unique. Maybe you’ve seen some ideas on social media that caught your eye? Or possibly you’re wanting to go with a color palette that matches the season in which you’re tying the knot? That is extremely common as well amongst engaged couples, as you can also match it with in-bloom floral arrangements! In any case, just as you will with the other decor, it is always worth it to have invitations that blend in with the theme too!

Added Inserts

While the actual invitations themselves are extremely important (and should include the items mentioned thus far in this blog post), the complete invitation suite may include a few additional items. After all, there are likely other details you want to communicate with guests, but you also likely don’t want to include an overwhelming amount of information on the actual invitation. One of these added inserts that should be considered a must-include is a method for RSVP’ing. This typically just entails a date in which you’re asking for RSVP cards to be returned by, the actual RSVP card, and a stamped return envelope that’s also addressed.

Even though this blog post is largely focused on items that are must-haves for your wedding invitations, there are still some inserts that not every couple might include (but they’re still important enough that we wanted to add them here). One of these inserts (that relates to the “Event Details” section above) would be any directions or parking information needed. With the prevalence of smartphones nowadays, directions aren’t as needed of a detail as they may have once been, but if your venue can be tricky to find or if GPS doesn’t always take you right there, you may need to add some helpful directions to steer guests the correct way! Likewise, depending on where your venue is located (including potentially in a downtown setting), it may be in your best interest to include some tips on where guests can park close by the venue.

Before we head into some of the closing sections of this blog post, a final insert that many couples consider is one with information about their wedding website. For one, your wedding website can easily include many (if not all) of the items already discussed throughout this post. In addition, while adhering to proper invitation etiquette, your wedding website is the perfect place to list registry information as well! Not to mention, if you prefer your RSVP’s to be primarily digital, make sure your wedding website allows for that and also don’t forget to mention this possibility somewhere in one of the invitation inserts.

Need some help on the wedding registry aspect of the planning process? Since we just mentioned it in regards to one of the invitation inserts, we wanted to share a link to a prior blog post. Feel free to click the link HERE to take a look at that post and learn a few ideas about creating your wedding registry.

Make Sure to Double Check Spelling and Key Details

It’s safe to say that most people will find themselves double-checking and triple-checking everything on their invitations before putting them in the mailbox! This is certainly not a bad idea, as you don’t want to find yourself purchasing all of those invitations or even worse, mailing them out to your guests, with a typo. Having said that, it definitely doesn’t hurt to have a few other people get eyes on them. By the way, it’s always smart to order a test proof of the invitation too! Sometimes, you may accidentally skip over a mistake on a computer or phone screen, and then catch that error on a physical copy. Long story short, make sure to carefully check over the invitations before they get printed and definitely before they’re mailed out!

Book Your Dream Wedding Day at Madera Estates!

Long before you even start thinking about invitations, there’s a strong chance that you’ll be more concerned about finding a wedding venue which perfectly aligns with how you’ve envisioned your special day. If this is you and you’re still in the process of touring wedding venues around town, we would love to have the opportunity to show you and your spouse-to-be our wedding venue, Madera Estates. Located north of Houston and The Woodlands, we have worked with hundreds of couples over the years and look forward to helping out with more wedding days in the future! To check out our online booking calendar, click the link HERE. If you ever have any questions for our team, don’t hesitate to give us a call at (936) 441-9337.