Our Timeline and Guide for Your Wedding Invites + Save the Dates

Our Timeline and Guide for Your Wedding Invites + Save the Dates

Ahhh, wedding planning… the endless to-do list. You have a checklist and it feels like you can never complete it! Or maybe you have 7 different checklists, one for each vendor… lists for days.

And if you are anything like us you have several categories of lists that are all controlled by one master list. (I may or may not have some slight OCD when it comes to list making.)

Today, we have a handy checklist all ready for you on when you ACTUALLY need to send out those save-the-dates, invitations, thank yous, and much more. We will even go into detail if you are planning a destination or a local wedding.

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First Things First

First things first, if you haven't already, let everyone know you're engaged! It is such a heart-filling moment to have all of those closest to you be so happy and excited for you on this newest adventure! 

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Start with a vision

There are many things to check off your list before it is time to meet for your wedding suite, but one thing we encourage brides to do from day one is to create a vision for your big day. If you don't already have a mood board full of ideas, now is the time to fill it up. (We are loving gomoodboard.com) If you’re not sure how to find inspiration that’s unique with items you love, don't worry! We’ve got you covered in this blog: How to Find Your Wedding Inspo.

But don't fill it with things you kind of like, instead fill it with fewer things you love.

list maker here

I would even suggest making a different board for your main priorities: venue, florals, table settings, and of course paper goods.

*If you would like some ideas, check out our Pinterest boards

Okay now let's get to your actual wedding paper timeline!

Up first, Save the Dates

Once you have your date and location locked down, its time to send these bad boys out. The range we suggest is 6-12 months before your wedding date. The earlier the better for these - especially if you're planning a destination wedding. In that case, send them even earlier!

We suggest meeting with us 4-6 weeks before you’re ready to send Save-the-Dates out. This allows for plenty of time for a consultation, any revisions and design approval, ordering of letterpress plates, and printing.

Bonus: Save-the-Dates and invitation suites only need one consultation. Its all about the big picture, and how all the pieces work together. And it’s best done if you cover all the elements at once. 

Go ahead and put it on your calendar now - we DARE you!

Round number two, Your Wedding Suite

At this point, you have all of your vendors booked, all your deadlines in hand, and a full vision of your big day. If you didn't find us until after you sent your Save-the-Sates, don't worry - we’re bummed too, but that means it’s time to schedule a consultation for your wedding suite. Yay!
 

Wedding Suite

The pieces we suggest including are: invites, reply cards, detail cards, and weekend events. The “weekend events” card might include other wedding related gatherings such as a bridal luncheon or a groomsman golf round. It all depends on what fits your wedding! 

Again, we suggest meeting with us 4-8 weeks before you’d like to send them on their postal way - ideally sending them out 1-6 months in advance. This is really where sitting down with your wedding planner (or us) will help to determine what timeline is best for your wedding. Generally, destination weddings should be sent out much earlier than most stateside weddings. 

If you're running a little behind you can send them as late as 1 month away, *IF* you're having a local wedding where most of the guests live.
 

Don't forget your thank you cards

You’re gonna have a LOT of thank you’s to write - shouldn’t they look good too? Showers and gifts are on the horizon if you haven't already received a few. Having these in hand really helps you stay on top of writing all those Thank You's before they build up!

The finale, day-of pieces

These are important items not to put off until the very last minute. Although we can get them to you quickly, you don't want to be worrying about these right before your big day.
 

These pieces include item such as:

• programs
• escort cards
• table numbers
• menus
• favor tags
• welcome bag items
• etc 

Day of pieces typically require another chat or meeting to go through the specifics, and really nail down those final pieces your guests will see. 

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We know everyone loves a good free download, so we have just that for you! A simple timeline checklist of when to schedule a meeting and send out your wedding paper goods!

Our Holiday Cards- Twenty Eighteen

Everyone loves seeing what goes on during production here at the studio. So for this blog post we are giving you a sneak peak into our process as we make our 2017 New Years card!

A behinds the scenes of our 2018 New Year's card!

You probably know this by now, but we have a thing for letterpress (e.g. Wedding Invitations & Suites, Envelopes, Greeting Cards, Stationery). It is an obsession.

We’ve even shared a little about our letterpress process before! But when we have the opportunity to make something for ourselves, we couldn’t help but share our most recent letterpress obsession: OUR NEW YEAR'S CARD!

Our New Year's card is something we both get so excited to design and produce during the holiday season! In the beginning, we always start in one direction and land in a different world it seems. 

During our process of designing and working through several ideas, we came to the conclusion that we wanted to collaborate with one our friends and a local designer and artist, Reed Knauth. (Check her out more of her work here) Knowing we wanted something soft yet playful she went to work creating us some beautiful watercolor art. 

Check out more of Reed's wonderful work here:

 

Deciding the details

After narrowing down to our favorite watercolor image (don't worry you will see our other favorites soon!), we began to set different lockups of typography and exploring different accessories. 

We have been really loving grommeted tags, wax seals, and diagonally tied string this month, but next month is sure to bring new favorites. 

Once the invite is fully designed we send all things to be flat printed to the printer, and all designs to be letterpress printed off to get plates made. 

We duplexed the flat printed piece, so that every invite would be thicker, and feel a little nicer on every hand that it touched. 

ON THE PRESS

We letterpress printed all of the tags on our Vandercook press, cut them all down to size, and then the invite was ready for assembly.

PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER

During this time of year, we love putting on a sappy holiday movie as we assemble our holiday cards, enjoy the season, and spend time crafting something we have put so much time and thought into! 

We will be sending out our New Years card soon, and hope you enjoy having one in your hand as much as we enjoy making them! Want to be on our mailing list for next year's card? Join our mailing list at the bottom!

xoxo,
Amanda & Melissa

A Suite Story of Adventure

|story| of this intivation suite:

|venue|: Calor Woodford Gardens

|season|: late Summer early Fall

|feel|:  The overall design of this identity suite was meant to feel modern with a touch of old world. To accomplish this we mixed two different typefaces, a modern san serif paired with an antique, hand-done script. Featuring earthy tones that are reminiscent of the colors seen in late summer to mid-fall. It is elegant and warm, while being informal and truly personal. 

|details|: The final product was a six-page letterpress, hand-bound booklet that contains the invitation, perforated reply postcard, weekend events page, Atlanta hot spots and travel information personalized by the couple. To finish off the booklet, it was wrapped in a sheet of vintage paper that read a quote from E.E. Cummings.

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the backstory

For this couple home is not seen as a place, but as a state of being. It’s defined not only by where you are, but more importantly whom you are with. For them, travel is a mirror to their souls. Made up of circumstances, moments, and feelings that are best captured through seeing the world.

Having a handful of mutual friends they couldn’t help but question why they weren’t introduced earlier. They began their relationship by admiring one another’s photos on social media. He would see, and envy, her photos taken on a business trip in London, and she would do the same with his photos taken on a hiking trip through Iceland. Finally, they got together and knew their adventurous spirits had found a match in each other.

This couple has a story rooted in intention and the pursuit of something wonderful and new. From their first weekend trip to Maine and a road trip to Texas hill country, they’re always being called to a new adventure. Their warm souls explored the cold of Alberta in the fall and winters in Rome. They’ve wandered through the lavender fields of Georgia together and have strolled through the ever-spreading grape vines in Bordeaux.

This moment, this circumstance, and these new feelings is their greatest adventure of all. We were so lucky to be a part of telling their story.

“This moment, this circumstance, and these new feelings is their greatest adventure of all. We were so lucky to be a part of telling their story.”

the consultation

During our first consultation we discussed what palette would be best to tell their story. We decided on an earthy tone reminiscent of the colors seen in late summer to mid-fall. It is elegant and warm, while being informal and truly personal.

The overall design of this identity suite was meant to feel modern with a touch of old world. To accomplish this we mixed two different typefaces, a modern san serif paired with an antique, hand-done script.

We brought an illustrator on board to help us tell their story in a more personal and fun way, so we included small, vintage illustrations throughout the book.

the final suite

The final product was a six-page letterpress, hand-bound booklet that contains the invitation, perforated reply postcard, weekend events page, Atlanta hot spots and travel information personalized by the couple.

Since the beginning of their story began with their admiration for one another’s passion for travel, the cover of the booklet expressed the same sentiment. A printed vintage map of the couple’s favorite travel location that was then labeled with a custom monogram including their initials and GPS coordinates. The GPS coordinates lead to the location of the first kiss they shared.  

A perforated reply card was included within the booklet that mimicked the vintage postcards they had seen while in Bordeaux. It was a perfect way to add a personal touch that made the whole suite even more cohesive.

To finish off the booklet, it was wrapped in a sheet of vintage paper that read a quote from E.E. Cummings. It was then tied with a copper string and letterpress tag that had the date printed on the front. It was the perfect way to introduce their story and invite their guests to experience this beautiful time in their lives from the beginning.

“anywhere i go
you go, my dear,
and whatever is
done only by me
is your doing,
my darling”

— E. E. Cummings

Why choose local custom wedding invitation designer?

We all dream of our special da. It’s personal and unique to us, so you want it to be like nothing you’ve ever experienced. This dream lies in the details.

Ordering wedding invitations online seems like the easier route, right? That is up until you’ve filed through hundreds of pages of premade templates only to realize none of them feel quite like you. After a while, they all begin to blur together and make each one less unique than the last.

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An Invite is more than an invite 

It’s important to find a designer who is dedicated to listening to your vision and carrying out your ideas. Every element of your invitation will set the tone for your event. Is it elegant and romantic, or rustic and chic? You get to decide what story your invitation tells.

This all comes through the colors, fonts, and images you choose. At The Impressionist we want your guests to open your invitations and know whose event it is right away. We want to help you think big picture and understand that every aspect of “you” can be a part of this creation.

Skip the uncertainty

The same way a shirt may look different on a manikin, the colors and design you see on websites may look different in person. The setback of ordering invitations online lies in the fact that once you order your invitations you can’t make changes. The last thing you need is to realize there’s a typo on an invite because you had to be responsible for proofreading.

At The Impressionist we will send you proofs of invites so if you see something you don’t like we can make that change. We want you to be a part of the process and have plenty of say in the end result. 

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The Nitty Gritty

Inks, fonts, papers, sizes, envelopes, motifts, monograms. That’s a lot of detail that may seem overwhelming to you, but The Impressionist will help you navigate these waters with ease.

We’re going to work around the budget you’ve set. If you see a style you like that’s more expensive than others, but we’ll make sure we achieve the style you want while staying inside your budget.

We won’t limit your vision. Online, factory-made invites can only offer you so many choices. We have artists to fit whatever style you’re going for so no aspect is restricted. It’s all about pulling in the right talent to pair with your vision.

Choosing Local                 

Getting the opportunity to work with someone local is always a great experience. You will be working one-on-one with a designer from beginning to end and will have a true understanding of your wants.

Having someone who will work to accommodate your schedule in any way doesn’t hurt either. Your time means a lot to us, which is why we have a quicker turnaround and are available to talk and discuss details whenever you shoot us an email or give us a call. You’re our main priority and we want you to have a happy forever.

Good news, If you ever need anything from us again we’ll know what you’re all about already! This makes our next time working together even more seamless.  

Your guide to Custom Wedding Invitation Planning Consultations

A consultation sounds so serious, but there’s no better word for it. Unless we make one up: Super sweet celebration preparation. There. That’s better.

Anyways, back to the matter at hand. How do you get the most out of your meeting to decide on what will set the tone for your upcoming event? There’s lots of ways to prepare, and good news, all of them are very simple.

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Our Invitation & Stationery planning consultations are hands on. We won't just be looking through albums of designs. We will be pulling your story together by mixing and matching many different visual elements.

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Let’s start at the basics

Let’s get to know your story as a couple. We are suckers for a good romance and want all the deets. This way we can root our process in how this love came to be.

Tell us your favorite tastes in music, your quirks, hobbies, and nicknames. Anything and everything that will help us get to know you.

Here is a list of things to think about to get things rolling:

-       What parts of your personality to you want to shine?

-       Do you want the focus to be all on you or the experience of the event?

-       What are some things you love and want to include in the invitation? And on the flipside is there anything you dislike (glitter, a certain color, etc.)

-       Do you want to address the envelopes yourselves, with a calligrapher, or any other specific way?

Next, bring in a mood board. Ladies, we know you probably have a strong Pinterest game and hey, maybe your fella does too. Bring in images that resonate with you, random things you like, fun patterns, and colors. This mood board will be a visual representation of everything you like. The end goal is to use this to get a feel for the vibe you want your event to give off.

Not into mood boards? No worries. We will have a lot of visual inspiration here and can help you along the way. Sometimes you have to see it to know what it is that you actually want! That is where are letterpress printed samples come in.

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Inspiration & mood boards are the best way to visualize your invitation story.

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Let’s talk details

Before coming in to our Atlanta, GA based studio it will be good to know about how many invitations you think you’ll need. If you aren’t exactly sure just yet, a ball park guestimate is great.

Budgets are never fun to talk about, but it’s a necessary evil and a good idea to start thinking about how much you’re willing to spend before we start planning what sort of paper goods you’ll be needing. Below is a list of possibilities to get you thinking about what fits your event.

            - Save-the-Date

            - Invitation

            - Reply Card

            - Reception Card

            - Thank You Note

            - Envelopes

            - Return Address printing on the back flap of your envelopes

            - Rehearsal Dinner Card

            - Brunch Card

            - Map & Directions Card

            - Envelope Liner

            - Inner Envelopes

            - Website Card

            - Weekend Itinerary

            - Wedding Announcement

Don't forget your day of pieces. We can discuss these at your first meeting or revisit them as your day gets closer and you have finalized all the necessary details we will need.

            - Ceremony Program

            - Escort Card

            - Table Numbers

            - Table Menu

            - Favor Tags

            - Welcome Bag Items

Our Wedding Invitation Suites typically range from $800-$3,000 depending on the quantity, pieces, and print method. We specialize in fine letterpress printing and all of our letterpress wedding invitations are printed in-house. Foil stamping, flat printing and engraving are our other offered print methods. If you’d like to request a quote ahead of time to make sure it’s within your budget we’ve got you covered.

But if this all seems overwhelming, don’t worry, we will be sure to ask you all the right questions to get this thing just right.

Setting a time to meet

At the The Impressionist we want to make this particular aspect of wedding planning the most fun. Be sure to plan our meeting on a day that isn’t too full for you. We are located close to Buckhead, Dunwoody in the Brookhaven neighborhood. We’ll need to set about two hours aside for the initial consultation; sorry we mean super sweet celebration preparation. Feel free to bring anyone with you that you want to be a part of this process, especially if it’s someone who understands your vision. We’ve got plenty of bubbly to go around!

Visit our website to book our first meeting and get started on some pretty awesome custom invitations, announcements or stationery.