Each week radio DJ Laura Pittson opens up her wedding planning diary...
Hi everyone!
What a relief! I have finally proofed and agreed my invitations, and as we speak they are hopefully going around hot on the press! Not a moment too soon it has to be said, as I've had rather desperate and agitated relatives starting to contact me to ask if they are still invited to the wedding after all! I keep repeating the mantra of etiquette to them....it’s supposed to be six weeks before the wedding that the envelope lands on the mat (but secretly I’m panicking inside, because I’ve got to write them yet, etiquette or no etiquette!).
As I mentioned last week, next to the dresses, I have found the whole invitation debacle one of the most stressful points of the wedding, but I’m hoping I can stop that happening for you. There seems to be a lot of figures involved, and what seem to be a lot of hidden costs, but here’s how you can alleviate the confusion.
1. Get recommendations from your friends or here at You & Your Wedding. I started by calling all and sundry, and I wish I had gone to the company my friend recommended in the first place.
2. BE SURE ABOUT YOUR NUMBERS : Count your guests before you make even the first call to a printer. I knew that I had 200 guests coming to the wedding, but when I finally counted couples, and children, and of course added in the possibility of a few invitations getting ruined with coffees spilt etc. I came to a number that was nowhere near 200. So there’s your first saving.
3. Ask every quote to include VAT , envelopes AND anything else, some printers charge all sorts of other fees, and this can be confusing. Nothing is more frustrating than agreeing a price, then afterwards finding out that there are some extra costs.
4. Get on with it! Don’t leave it till the last minute as you have so many other things to do. The invitations are the easy bit, and I’ve yet to do the Order of Service...
So, who did I go with in the end? I wanted a style for my invitations called engraving, which is a traditional method which uses copper plating, not all printers have the equipment to do this. I was recommended The Wren Press and as soon as I met Anthony Rawlence for my consultation, I knew this was the right company to choose.
It’s a family run business and has been established for 25 years, and they have a very homely yet professional manner. The choice is vast and you can choose from traditional to contemporary, and to be honest you’ll find it really good fun! Anthony keeps things simple and there are plenty of styles to choose from which are on show.
Now the invitations are done, I can breathe again, and I’m starting to think about booking hair, finding a tiara, and next week I will tell you about my flower dramas... It could only happen to a DJ!
