While everyone concentrates on the venue, décor, and menu for a wedding, the true first look of the wedding is showcased in your invitation card. But more often than not, planning of the invites is left to the last minute, leading to annoying errors and sudden panic. We bring to you a short checklist to ensure a smooth tension free invitation process.

Do the Math!

The first most important thing to have in place is a list of guests to be invited. This is the starting point of all planning, including the size of the venue, and definitely the number of cards to be printed. But we do suggest a good buffer to be accounted for in the order you give for your cards. There are always people missed out, last minute invites, people expecting separate invites within a family...the list of surprises is endless. Better to be prepared with extra cards, than flustered or embarrassed later!

Make an informed choice

Make sure you see your printer's portfolio before placing your order. Just the design isn't enough to base your decision on, it's always recommended to visit the shop / have him visit you and check out the textures, colours and thickness of the papers used. Sometimes background colours that look beautiful in isolation, might not look great with the font colour selected. While you should be as creative as you want, it always helps to see a lot of samples to ensure you have the correct vision for your card.

Plan the functions

Keep in mind if every person on your guest list will be invited to all of the functions. If not, choose designs that allow for removable inserts, which you can customize depending on who you're inviting for which function.

Check, check, check!

Always insist on getting a proof of your card, and take out some time to read it peacefully. It's easy to skip spelling errors, miss out names and not notice small grammatical glitches. Ensure at least two other people review your proofs before you give the final go ahead, because beyond this point, it will be extremely costly and time consuming to go back and make changes!

Beware the Indian Standard Time

You might want to consider mentioning timings on the cards an hour prior to the actual event. You need to account for the time people take to reach and settle in, with latecomers causing unwanted delays in your ceremonies.

Be Practical

While wedding cards today come in all shapes and sizes, always keep in mind how you plan to send them to your guests. While heavy boxes will add to the shipping costs, irregular shapes may face the risk of damage in transit. While something looks pretty in front of you, ensure it reaches your guests as pretty and painlessly as possible!

Get address stickers

When preparing the guest list, also start the task of collating addresses of all the invitees. This is a herculean task and often requires a lot of time and effort, so it's best to plan in advance. Utilize your printer's service to print address stickers, as it is the easiest and most efficient way of preparing the invites. You can always go for a personalized touch and have all addresses handwritten (whether you do it yourself or hire someone), but ensure you plan enough time for this, as it can only be done once all the cards have arrived from the printer.

Pretty favours to accompany your card

While wedding favours as a concept might seem new, but it has always been around in the form of a box of sweets that are often handed out with cards, especially when the invitations are being hand delivered. But now there is a multitude of options available that can be given out with the invites or at the venue. Customizable wedding favours are different, thoughtful, pretty and memorable! From confectionaries to scented sensations, you can see some creative ideas (link to https://theweddingplannersindia.com/category/everything-else/wedding-101-how-to-pick-favours-with-flavour/). Plan your favours along with your cards to match the themes and make a pretty combination invite.

But more than anything else, ensure you give yourself enough time to plan and choose your invitation. It is after all an integral part of your wedding, something that should be enjoyed and remembered fondly!