April Showers bring May Flowers: 2014 Wedding Season

Thus far, 2014 appears to be the year of true romance.  Simple, quaint, and chic are words that come to mind in describing this year’s weddings.

1.  Music that fits your theme.  Since the release of Great Gatsby many brides have gone back to the vintage look with themes of the Great Gatsby, Titanic, and even Cinderella with the music to match.

2. Mix it up a bit.  Get rid of the party favors and opt for a “pillow present,” a welcoming gift left at the guests hotel.  If you are lucky you can place in each room that is reserved for each guest.  Who doesn’t like to arrive on a big trip to champagne and fruit or milk and cookies?!

3.  Choose a Flavor for the Season.  Brides are going for rich chocolate cakes in the winter and light lemon or vanilla cakes in the summer.  Not into cakes?  Other options like pies, cheesecakes, and cupcakes are a great alternative.

4. Invitations just got smaller.  Cute and dainty.  The most requested look this year for an invitation is smaller than the standard 5 x 7.

5. Hungry? Why wait?! After doing your one two step on the dance floor and burning up all those calories the last call snack is always a hit.  Couples have selected sliders, french fries, corn dogs, any fun finger food to send their guests home with a full belly.

 

Happy Planning Beauties,

Kimberlee

 

 

Topic provided by Mind Over Media Enterprise.

Wedding Invitation Etiquette

“When to Send? How much Postage?                       Do I need a theme?”

When should I order my invitations?

Once your event details are finalized (i.e. location, date, and time), you should place your order.  You want to ensure you have enough time to find the right invitation and choose your ink color, font and wording to accommodate the look and feel of your event.  With so many options you need time to view what is available.  You also need ample time to receive your order, address the invitations and mail them to your guests.  Typically invitations are ordered 3 to 12 months before the date of any event.

Should my invitations match the theme or colors of my event?

First impressions are lasting ones especially with invitations, as this will set the tone of your event to your guests.  This choice is solely your own, and will depend upon preference.  You can incorporate colors of your flowers (for weddings) or bridesmaid dress on your invitations.  If you have a specific theme for your wedding you could even incorporate that with a specific motif into your invitations.  Or, if you are having a wedding on the beach, tropical invitations are a great way to illustrate the look and feel of your event.   For birthdays, corporate events, and any other occasion you may match your invitation colors with your decor, however, themes are often used for events such as these.

How many invitations should I order?

Remember to order invitations per household and not per guest.  If you have two guests that live in the same household they will typically receive one invitation.  Unless, however, it is a family with adult child(ren), the adult child typically would receive their own personal invitation.  An, adult child is typically over the age of 18 and/or 21.

Once you have your final number of invitations needed, make sure you order 10-25 more invitations than you need.  This is done just in case you remember someone you forgot to include on your list or decide to add guests later.  It is more costly to place a second order for just 25 or less invitations, so it is recommended to order extra invitations to begin with.

When should I mail my invitations to my guests?

For weddings, guest may be sent an invitations 6 to 8 weeks prior to the event date.  However, if you have international guests or a substantial amount of out of town guests you should typically send the invitations 10-12 weeks before the event.  This gives your guests time to plan their travel schedule.  The same guidelines apply if you are having your event during a holiday season or are having a destination wedding.  You want to ensure you give your guests ample time to plan for your special day.

A Save the Date announcement, is a great way to notify guests of your upcoming event.  Save the Dates are great for providing accommodation information along with event date information in advance for guests’ convenience.  Save the Date announcements should be sent out 3-12 months prior to your event.

We are having an adult reception how do we tell people?

You aren’t the first and you won’t be the last couple to have an adult only reception.  There is no sincere way to say leave your children at home please.

If your ceremony is immediately following the ceremony you would want to include a notation that reads, “Adult Reception immediately following the ceremony,” if your reception is at another location your reception card should read, “Please join us for an Adult Reception at 123 Main Street, Bing, Maryland 20839”.

If you are still on the fence about whether or not you will allow children as guests another option would be to pay a teenager relative to watch and entertain the guests children during the reception in location near the reception site or onsite if possible.

How do I address my invitations?

Invitations may be addressed in several ways.  Typically they are handwritten, printed or done in calligraphy.  Etiquette suggests to avoid using labels of any sort.

Outer Envelopes should be addressed to guests using the proper titles (Mr., Mrs., Miss., Ms.) Don’t abbreviate names or addresses.  The outer envelopes has the guests’ names and address.

Men and women living together who are not married should be addressed with names on separate lines with the woman’s name coming first.

The inner envelope has become less popular, but if utilized, should only have the guests’ names.  It is not glued so it doesn’t seal.  You may be formal by writing Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Williams or as informal as Uncle Joe and Auntie Ginnie.

When specifically inviting children:

Young boys up to the age seven are given the title as master.  Mr. is used at the age of 18.  No title is used between the ages 7-18.  Depending on your preference you may issue the child with no title.

Young girls are given the title Miss. Then when married it changes to Mrs. or Ms. if the woman keeps her birth name.  Again, depending on your preference you may issue the child with no title.

How much postage do I need?

You should weigh your invitation for postage before mailing.  When items are added to the envelopes, the weight can increase.  Additionally, the size/shape of your envelope could also increase cost of postage.  For more information on postage it is recommended you visit your local usps or usps.com

Cheers Beauties,

Kimberlee

Article Topic provided by Mind Over Media Enterprise