WHAT IS A WEDDING INVITATION SUITE AND WHAT SHOULD YOU INCLUDE IN IT?
If you’re in the midst of planning your wedding right now, congrats! You may have seen or heard the word ‘invitation suite’ or ‘wedding suite’ come up as you’ve browsed Pinterest or chatted with recently married friends and wondered what in the world that even means?! That’s why I thought it’d be a great idea to pop in and give you a short run down on what an invitation suite is and what it may include.
As the designer behind all of the items we produce at M&L I dove headfirst into the world of wedding stationery almost three years ago and have learned so much along the way. It’s kind of like one of those jobs where you’ve been at it for awhile and then you need to train someone new. As you begin the training process you realize just how much in depth knowledge you have about your specific job. This feeling dawned on me a few months ago that brides and even those in the wedding industry (photographers, florist, and even planners) may not know even the most basic details about wedding stationery. After all, most people are not professionals at getting married so you really wouldn’t have any reason to know much about wedding invitations (other than picking out what meal choice you want at your friend’s wedding). ?
So let’s get right to it but make sure to keep scrolling as I have some major caveats to this list, which I’ll chat more about below.
A WEDDING INVITATION SUITE CONSISTS OF:
- an outer mailing envelope addressed to your guest
- your invitation (Includes your names, wedding date and time, venue and address without zip code)
- information card 1 (Includes reception venue name, address and reception start time and accommodations info such as where you have hotel room blocks. You may also include your website at the bottom of this card.)
- information card 2 (An extra card that you may or may not need that includes information like directions, travel arrangements, website or other pertinent information for guests.)
- rsvp card (Includes a space for guests to write in their name and check if they are attending. You may also include a space for meal choice or song requests.)
- rsvp envelope addressed to you (Don’t forget to place a stamp on this so your guests can easily drop them back in the mail to you.)
Other items you might include are a custom map, ribbon or a belly band to tie all of the pieces together and an envelope liner. Let an expert stationer guide you in which of these items will make the most sense for your wedding invitation! Does it make sense why it’s called a ‘suite’ now? All of the pieces together should work in harmony and become a ‘suite’ of items that make up your wedding invitation.
WEDDING INVITATIONS AREN’T ONE SIZE FITS ALL
So that’s it! That short list above is essentially all of the pieces that are crucial to include so that your guests know where and when to show up and so they can send you back an rsvp card letting you know they’re coming! However, there are so many customizations that can and should be made to the above list to ensure that your wedding invitation is a beautiful, well designed intro for your guests to what your wedding day will be like. If you’re having a casual wedding all in one location, a reception + accommodations card might not be necessary. In the same way, if you’re celebrating with a destination wedding and want to include quite a bit of information about booking travel and flights then an extra card may be necessary.
In addition, adding special elements like a perforated tear off RSVP, a custom map or a wax seal on an outer envelope are just some of the many details that you can add to make your invitation shine.
Keep in mind that every single wedding (including yours!) is unique and one of the perks of working with a custom stationer (like us!) is that we not only design something completely custom just for your wedding but we can help make recommendations on what you may or may not need to include which will save you time and money in the long run.
I hope that this brief overview is helpful as you continue your wedding planning! Check back soon as I plan to continue sharing more of these in depth stationery posts in the future including information on how to pick your wording and how to know when to send out your invitations. Do you have a topic you’d like me to cover? Leave a comment below!
Cheers!
Emilee