Your Stationery Timeline
Our most frequently asked question is ‘when should I even start thinking about my invitations?!’ The answer is now. You are probably already behind. JK! You’re doing fine! There are so many different stationery options that there isn’t really one right way to do it. If you are actually super behind, that’s fine too! We can suggest a few different options for getting your invitations out asap.
However, if you aren’t sure where you stand, we’ve put together an ideal timeline for getting your stationery taken care of, and a few other things to consider along the way.
**9-12 months before your **
**• **Start putting together a guest list of who you would like to invite to your wedding.
• Begin to gather wedding inspiration photos, or create a Pinterest board of images that inspire you.
• Consider whether you’d like to send out a Save-the-Date. We recommend you send out Save-the-Dates if you are planning a wedding during a busy holiday season, have a lot of guests coming in from out of town, or are planning destination wedding.
photo by Mikkel Paige Photography
6-9 months before your wedding
**• **Order and send out Save-the-Dates.
**• **Begin to look at wedding invitation options and decide which style you are interested in.
**• **If you’ve decided you would like custom designed invitations, reach out to set up a meeting and book your dates.
**• **At this time we will go over wording, what additional cards you might need, and embellishments you are interested in. We will also give you a detailed estimate so that you can budget accordingly.
**• **Start thinking of any day-of stationery that you will need. These include escort boards (showing which table guests are to sit at), table numbers, place cards, programs, menus, etc.
photo by Mikkel Paige photography
4-6 months before your wedding
**• **Finalize your address list with full names and updated addresses for all guests.
**• **Place your order for invitations if you wish to order from the Collections or Personalized invitation suites
**• **Book your calligraphy slot if you are interested in having your guest addresses calligraphed on the front of the envelopes.
Photo by Julie Livingston photography
3-4 months before your wedding
**• **Begin addressing your envelopes if you are doing so by hand, or expect to have envelopes professionally calligraphed by hand at this time.
**• **Once your invitations have arrived, begin assembling all the parts, adding any embellishments like ribbons, wax seals or rubber stamps to the enclosures. If you’ve ordered custom wedding invitations, you can check this right off your list; your invitations will arrive assembled. If you haven’t ordered vintage postage through One & Only Paper, take one complete invitation to the post office to have it weighed and purchase the correct amount of postage.
**• **Order any day of stationery that you will need.
8-12 weeks before your wedding
**• **Seal and mail your wedding invitations and wait for the responses to roll in! We recommend keeping track of the responses on the same spreadsheet that you used to create your guest address list.
3-4 weeks before your wedding
**• **Get in touch with any guests you haven’t heard from.
**• **Give the guest count to any vendors who may need a final number - wedding planners, caterers, and rentals to name a few.
1-2 weeks before your wedding
**• **make sure all of your day-of stationery items are delivered to the right person for set up on your wedding day.
Within 3 months after your wedding
**• **Send out thank you cards.
For those of you who like to have things on paper, we’ve put together this handy print out check list - download it here!
