Whether you’re celebrating in Spain, marrying in Mexico or saying ‘I do’ in Ireland, you can find destination wedding stationery that will set the tone for your special day. Here are my top five tips for making sure it all goes without a hitch…
1. Embrace the Location
Invitations are the first glimpse your guests will see of your wedding, so why not go to town with the theme and make sure that the design reflects the destination you’ve chosen?
For example, if you’ve chosen Italy you could use invitations with illustrations of lemons, olive branches or even the beautiful Italian landscape. For a Caribbean wedding you could look at incorporating a tropical palm leaf motif, starfish or a seascape, and for a Mexican fiesta, perhaps some vibrant paper bunting designs inspired by their ‘Cinco de Mayo’ celebrations.
2. Give Your Guests Plenty of Notice
The chances are, lots of your friends and family will take the opportunity to make a holiday of it and stay on for a week before or after your wedding celebrations. This means you’ll be able to spend lots of time with them and make some amazing memories, but it also has implications for the guests in that there’ll be lots of planning to do.
So, give guests plenty of time to put money aside, book annual leave, make travel arrangements and so on. Save the dates are a great way of giving them notice, and I recommend sending your invitations eight months to a year before the big day if you can.
3. Provide As Much Information As You Can
Along with your invitations, send out as much info as you can so your guests can plan ahead and make the most of their time with you. Don’t forget to let them know your own travel arrangements, where you’ll be staying and if there is any particular area they should look to book accommodation in. If there are any pre/post wedding plans you’d like them to know about, don’t forget to include these too.
Adding in general useful information on the area is an extra special personal touch which your guests will appreciate. You can either include this info with the invitations or look at creating a wedding website, which you can then include a link to on the invites.
4. Give Your Guests Enough Time to RSVP
It’s so exciting to receive an invitation to a destination wedding. Although nothing could keep some of your loved ones away, there will be others who will need more time to work out whether they can attend. Existing holiday plans, expenses and annual leave will need to be factored in, so give guests plenty of time to respond to your invitation.
The usual wedding etiquette suggests one to two months is the best amount of time to give guests to RSVP, but for a destination wedding I’d suggest allowing three to four months.
5. Travel Light with Your ‘On the Day’ Stationery
Understandably, you’ll want to make sure that your reception stationery complements your wedding style, and possibly the invitations too. If you’re taking items such as table names, place cards and menu cards with you, make sure you pack them safely to avoid any damage occurring on the journey.
For your table plan you could opt for individual table plan cards or escort cards, which will be easier to pack than a traditional seating chart.
Guest post by Jenny Adjene of Hip Hip Hooray
Images from Maxeen Kim Photography
