Tips to ordering your invitations:

First Impressions

Every bride knows her guests first impression of her wedding comes from the invitation. Invitations not only set the tone for the event but also convey the couples personalities. While searching through hundreds of invitation styles, brides may find themselves being overwhelmed by the choices not to mention the etiquette that should be followed. Often, your best bet in ordering invitations comes from visiting your local stationery expert. Stationery experts will listen to your thoughts and plans and help you pull all the pieces together so your guests will receive the perfect invitation to the event you've spent so much time planning.

So how do you find your local expert? Look in the yellow pages under Invitations. Now that you've found someone local who can help you with your invitations you make plans to stop by the store one afternoon on your lunch hour only to find ordering invitations is not something you can do in 15 minutes. Even with your stationery expert guiding you through multiple invitation albums and writing your order, you can plan on spending a good 2 hours at the store.

Tips to ordering your invitations:

- Bring all the necessary information. This includes the name & address of the ceremony site, reception site, any artwork you need for a map.

- Know how many invitations to order. Remember when counting this number to only count the number of invitations, not the number of guests.

- Make your stop all inclusive. Your stationery store provides a lot more than invitations. Look over your "to do" list, as you will be able to cross off many of these items. Some of these include: thank you cards, informals, programs, napkins, table favors, reception decorations, albums, pens, glasses, garters, flower girl baskets, ring bearer pillows, unity candles, gifts for your wedding party, etc.

- Have fun! This is the most important step. Plan on making an event out of it. Bring your mom, maid of honor or maybe even your fiancee. Your wedding is a time of joy and should not be rushed or stressful.

Which ever style of wedding invitations you choose, be sure to let your local invitation expert assist you with every step of the process. After all, your wedding is the most important event, so don't just flip through impersonal catalogs and web sites when there is a wonderful person in your town waiting to offer you years of experience.