Black Mouse Wedding Stationery guide

What stationery do I need for my wedding?

Wedding invitations come in many shapes and sizes, but here are some usual components you may want to consider whether you are making them yourself or ordering them from us.

To go direct to the item you need

Day Invitation
The most basic requirement is the invitation itself. These can be many formats, but a quality card single folded to A6 is ideal. We have these available in white, ivory, gold, silver and pearl.

Traditionally, the lettering is in black, but a color or a metallic gold is not unusual. The text is usually printed on a paper insert and we have these available cut to fit our cards so that you can write, photocopy or print them from a computer yourself.

The wording of the invitation copy is dependent on your situation. Consider who is doing the inviting (usually the bride's parents), who are the recipients (their full names and titles), the kind of ceremony (church or civil ceremony, formal or informal), when, and where. An RSVP is usually requested and a reply card may be enclosed to facilitate this (see below)
Click here for basic wording examples.

Envelopes for hand made stationery are available in a range of colours, including gold and silver.

Evening Invitation
These are reception only invitations and can either be the same size as the day invitation or sometimes a smaller version. We have a smaller 88 x 114mm card available if required. To an extent the size may be determined by the amount of text you need inside.

Announcements
An announcement card is sent to inform those family and friends who for whatever reason were not invited to the wedding. They are sent after the ceremony. They look very similar to an invitation with different wording inside.

Save The Date
These are sent in advance of the invitations to ensure that the special day is earmarked by guests. Often used when the wedding is taking place abroad or for other reasons where the guests will need to know a long time in advance. They look very similar to an invitation with different wording inside. They can also be a flat printed A6 card. We can now supply these as blanks in white or ivory.For more details click here

Reply cards
Reply cards are now becoming more popular. They usually consist of a flat card with blanks for filling in of one's name and response, and an envelope. The name and address of the wedding hosts can be printed on the front if required. You would need to ensure these fit - with their envelope - inside the invitation envelope. Our standard reply card is 100mm square to fit comfortably inside the A6 invitation - now available as a DIY card blank so you can make your own.

Order of Service
This is often just a single double sided insert inside a card cover. Typically these are made to match the invitations. The text will usually need to be approved by your wedding official before printing.
For longer services, additional inserts are used and stapled into the card cover to make a booklet. We have a large card and pre-cut inserts ideal for Orders of service.

An alternative is to print the Order of Service/Order of the Day/Hymn sheet on double sided A4 and fold in half to make a paper 'service sheet'

Thank You
After the wedding the couple (or traditionally, the bride) should send a personal thank you note expressing appreciation and to say thank you for any gifts received.
Thank you cards can simply be the same as the invitation with a blank insert. We supply A6 cards for this purpose.
An alternative is an A5 sheet of notepaper - these can be plain, your own headed paper or we can make these up for you with your address, and a printed design in keeping with your invitations at the top.

For parents and attendants we can also make an extra special boxed card to say thank you. These are made to order to co-ordinate with your theme - or to be especially meaningful to the recipient. For details, click here

Place Cards
These are usually a freestanding, folded 'tent' card on which you write the guests name to idicate their place at the table. We supply these in white or ivory and other colours as a special order. They are often handwritten but can be printed. They can also be designed to tie in with other stationery elements.

Menu
These usually take the form of a larger card cover (our large card is ideal) with the menu details printed inside on a paper insert. These can be finished with ribbons round the spine, ribbon tails or tassels. One per table is usually adequate.

Table Plan
These are to indicate the overall seating arrangements at the reception - printed with the bride and grooms names, date of the wedding and sometimes the venue. The seating arrangements are indicated by panels representing the individual tables (numbered or named) and the list of guests seated on each table.
These are available in our increasing popular A3 size.
For very big weddings, a larger table plan may be required with an alphabetical list as well as a table plan to make it easier for guests to locate their name.
We can make these to tie-in with your colours and other stationery.
Click here for more details.