March 2021 | The Invitation Maker

6 Ways to Make your Courthouse Wedding More Special

March 26, 2021/in Wedding Life Hacks, Wedding Tips/by Brad Mills

Although having a traditional wedding ceremony can be full of magic and glamour, months of intense wedding planning can be full of stress while wedding expenses can drain your bank account.

Skipping the traditional wedding ceremony and opting for a courthouse wedding can definitely save you from both the wedding planning stress and the huge amount of spending that goes with it.

Having a courthouse wedding doesn’t have to be plain and boring either. In fact, you can make your courthouse wedding more special and memorable with these tips.

Wear Something Special

Don’t be hesitant in choosing something extra special for your wedding day! Since you won’t be able to choose your backdrop at the courthouse, the bride’s dress and groom’s outfit should stand out.

Is there a dress that you’ve been dreaming of wearing that’s a little above your budget? Don’t settle for an ordinary outfit and go for the one that excited you and will make your wedding more memorable.

Splurge A Little More on the Ring

One of the advantages of having a courthouse wedding is that you can spend a little more on things that actually matter – like the wedding ring!

The wedding ring is yours to keep for a lifetime. Take time in choosing a good quality wedding ring that you and your husband- or wife-to-be can treasure forever.

Hire a Good Photographer

A good photographer is all you need to capture all the good angles and memorable moments of your wedding day. Despite the possibility of a plain backdrop, a good photographer should be able to make your courthouse wedding look magical.

You can go ahead and skip other expenses, but hiring a good photographer is essential no matter what type of wedding you want to have.

Get a Fresh Bouquet

Don’t skip the wedding bouquet on your special day. Choose fresh and vibrant flowers for your wedding bouquet and boutonniere. If you brought a few family and friends to your wedding, consider giving them fresh corsages to add a little elegance to your wedding as well.

Ride in Style

Ride to the courthouse and around town in style! Rent a luxury car, carriage, or any fancy ride that you dream of for your wedding day. Getting a stylish ride during your will definitely add a luxurious touch to your courthouse wedding.

Have a Fancy Post-Wedding Party

You might not have spent a lot of time planning your courthouse wedding, but make sure to take time in making plans for your post-wedding celebration! Whether you want to have a party with friends and family or spend some time celebrating alone, go the next mile to make it extra special.

Decorate your home, splurge on good food, have a great time, and take memorable photos with loved ones. You can also book a hotel or a fancy Airbnb to make your celebration even more special.

With a courthouse wedding, you get the best of both worlds. You can avoid wedding planning stress and save up on money while focusing more on the details that matter to you! A courthouse wedding can definitely be as special and memorable as a traditional wedding ceremony when you follow these tips.

Wedding Invitation Do’s and Don’ts

March 23, 2021/in Wedding Planning, Wedding Tips/by Brad Mills

From all the chaos of wedding preparation, most of us can overlook important details of our wedding invitation that we should include and also things that we should avoid. Mistakes happen during wedding planning and that’s okay. However, if you want to make sure that you don’t miss anything before you send out your wedding invitations, make sure to read our list of wedding invitation do’s and don’ts.

Have a smoother wedding when you follow these wedding invitation do’s and don’ts:

Do’s

1. Be consistent with the wording.

Wedding invitation wording can be formal, casual, or in between. There’s no right or wrong way to write the wording of your wedding invitation although you can base it on what works for your wedding theme. Whichever style you choose, make sure to be consistent and to stick to it from beginning to end.

2. Match invitation colors with your overall theme

When you design your wedding invitation, you should have already finalized the details including the theme and color scheme that you want. Make sure to apply this theme to your wedding invitation because it also serves as your guests’ first peek of what your wedding will be like.

3. Include your wedding website

Don’t forget to include your wedding website where guests can send their RSVP and find out more details to the wedding. Although it’s not required, creating a website or social media event page for your wedding is a great way to quickly have an estimate of the actual number of guests coming to your wedding.

4. Offer meal choices

Be sensitive to your guests’ allergies, religion, and diet. Provide meal choices to those who are vegetarian and vegan as well as to those who are not allowed to eat pork and other types of food because of different reasons. Make them feel included and comfortable during your wedding when you offer meal choices.

5. Include directions

If your wedding venue isn’t popular or easily searchable on Google Maps, make sure to provide directions and nearby landmarks so people can know the exact location of the venue.

Don’ts

1. Don’t include wedding registry information

While there are no solid rules as to what you shouldn’t include on your invitation, putting registry information is considered rude by many people. It gives a vibe off a vibe that the couple isn’t inviting guests just for their presence, but to give them gifts too. Just stick to putting your registry information on your wedding website or event page and spread the word by mouth instead.

2. Don’t use more than two fonts

Having more than two fonts on your wedding invitation will make it look chaotic and less classy. Choose one font for your headings and one font for your subheadings and your wedding invitations will look more elegant and stylish.

3. Don’t forget to send out a Save the Date card ahead

Don’t forget to send a Save the Date card to your guests especially if you are planning your wedding on a weekday, holiday, or other peak wedding dates. Save the Date cards will give your guests enough time to plan their vacation leaves, expenses, and travel costs especially if you are planning a destination wedding.

4. Avoid changing details at the last minute

Before you print out your invitation, make sure that all the essential details that are included in the invitation are finalized and that no changes will arise at the last minute. We can’t control sudden changes or emergencies, such as any calamities or unforeseen events, that may occur, and that’s okay. But as much as possible, we should have made sure that every detail is confirmed on our end.

5. Do not send out the invitations too late

Knowing the timeline of when to order and mail out your wedding invitations is crucial. Make sure to have your wedding invitations ready to be sent out at least six to eight weeks before your wedding and even earlier on when and how you plan to get married. When you send out your invitations too late, not only is it possible for your guests to have other plans but it can also be interpreted as a sign of lack of respect for their time.

Follow these tips to remember the details that you might overlook and to avoid mistakes that might come off as rude to your guests. Wedding planning is a difficult task, but everything will soon come to place if you do things right.

When to Send Wedding Invitations | When to Order & Mail Out your Wedding Invitations

When to Order and Mail Out your Wedding Invitations

March 11, 2021/in Wedding Planning/by Brad Mills

Once you start planning your wedding, one of the first questions you’ll probably ask is when you should order and mail out your wedding invitations. Well, knowing the perfect time to order your wedding invitations is crucial as you don’t want it to be too early that there can still be changes to your wedding, nor too late that your supplier might charge you more expensively.

Finalize All the Important Details

First of all, before ordering wedding invitations, you need to make sure that all the important details are finalized. Finalize the date, venue, and overall theme of your wedding. Make sure that all your important family members, loved ones, and wedding vendors are available on this date and that you have already reserved the venue.

Don’t forget to have a rough estimate of the number of guests that you are expecting. You don’t need to list down all the names yet, but make sure that the number of invitations you order is close to the number of guests that you expect.

Timeline of Ordering the Wedding Invitations

Your wedding invitation is the first peek of what your wedding will be like to family and friends. It will set the style, tone, and give them an idea of your overall theme.

To have plenty of time in designing, writing the wording, and deciding on the perfect wedding invitation for your wedding, make sure to order at least four to six months before your wedding date and to mail it out at least two months before your wedding.

Make sure to adjust this timeline to one to two months earlier if you do not plan to send out a Save the Date Card. You should also consider sending it out earlier if you are planning on having a destination wedding, or a wedding on a holiday or wedding peak season.

Three months after your wedding, don’t forget to send out Thank You Cards for all the guests who attended your wedding.

Avoid Invitation Errors

If there’s one mistake you want to avoid, it’s a mistake on your invitation! Once your wedding invitations are printed, it can be costly to undo errors. Make sure to be extra careful in finalizing wedding details to avoid stationery mistakes, spelling errors, and other etiquette issues.

Have your invitations checked and double-checked by a trusted friend or family member or by your wedding planner. Order at least 20 extra wedding invitations in case of errors, a last-minute guest, or simply to for safekeeping.

3 Essential Wedding Invitation Wording Tips

March 4, 2021/in Wedding Tips/by Brad Mills

After getting excited about wedding invitation designs, the elegant calligraphy, and that perfect paper for your invitation, make sure to put the writing in place as well. It might not be as fun as choosing these things, but it’s a task that we need to accomplish all the same.

If you are having a hard time looking for inspiration for writing your invitation, here are some tips that will help you get started.

1. Make sure that the information is complete

No matter how creative you want your wedding invitation to be, you must remember to include all the basic information. Write the date and time, venue, hosts, theme, and more on your invitation. All these information are essential for guests to know what they need to know about your wedding.

Aside from basic information, include an additional sheet for any other information or rules that guests need to know such as the sponsors, program, gift registry details, a map to get to the venue and reception, etc. You can also include a separate RSVP card.

2. The order is important

While more couples are opting for modern or unconventional weddings, the proper order of things is important to avoid confusion. Here is an example of the traditional order of a proper wedding invitation:

The host line – This is traditionally the name of the bride’s parents. However, it is up to the couple if they also want to include the groom’s parents’ names or completely remove this part. In most cases, it depends on who is sponsoring or shouldering the wedding.

The request line – Simply put, this is the request for the guests to attend the wedding.

The names of the bride and groom – The first names of the bride and groom typically have the biggest typeface on an invitation to put an emphasis on their wedding announcement.

The date and time – Include the date and exact time that the venue is ready to welcome guests. Put at least a 30-minute allowance on the time before the ceremony starts. Make sure that it is enough time for the guests to arrive and settle down so the ceremony does not get disrupted.

The venue or location – Put the name of the venue on the invitation. If it is a known venue, you opt to stick to just the name. But you can also include the complete address of the venue in case some of your guests aren’t familiar with it.

The reception line (if it applies)

The dress code (if any)

This is the general structure of most wedding invitations but of course, it can be tweaked to the couple’s preference. It still depends on the details they want to include and how they want to announce their wedding.

3. Choose the Level of Formality

The way you want to write your wedding invitation depends on the tone and style that you want to achieve. There are different levels of formality when writing an invitation. Some opt to follow a more traditional wedding invitation tone, while others choose to have a more casual and laid back tone. Both are completely acceptable and you can also choose a level of formality that is in between a traditional and casual tone.

Here are some examples:

Traditional Wedding Invitation Example

Mr. and Mrs. Michael Wright

request the honor of your presence

at the marriage of their daughter

Baylee and Justin Andrews

Son of Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Andrews

Saturday, the sixth of March, two thousand twenty-one, at four o’clock in the afternoon

At St. George Event Center

St. George, Utah

Reception to follow

Casual Wedding Invitation Example

Kaitlyn and Michael Wright

would love your presence