Perfect Equation

For a funny and unusual way to inform your guests of your forthcoming wedding date, especially if you or your other half is in the teaching profession, these Perfect Equation save the date cards from Prettywild Design get top marks!  The card with your printed details can be removed from the heart clip to be kept in a wallet or stuck on a pin board.  They cost £2.00 each so that will be an A* for design, economics and effort.

And just to whet your appetite as to some of the goodies in store here are a selection of my fave Oh So Cherished Guest books.

Request a song card

Now here is a fab idea that I wish I could claim to have come up with myself but I stumbled across it on the You and You and Your Wedding Forum. It is common to send a Reply Card with your invitations but I do not imagine many people have thought of sending a “request a song at the reception card”. There are a number of wedding stationery ensembles such as the Simplicity range from Collisons that includes a reply card and a guest information card in a pocket fold design. This guest information card would be perfectly suited for such a card.

If your chosen wedding stationery range does not include a guest information card (or if the Guest Information card is too big for the reply card envelope) then take a look at some of the cheap low run business card printers out there. Many printers offer a cheap business card print on first orders because they hope to get repeat orders. Vistaprint, for example are running a promotion whereby you get 250 Free personalised business cards. All you pay for is the postage which is under £4.00. You can design your request a song cards online and the neat little business card size cards would fit neatly inside any reply card.

The first dance of course will be especially chosen by you and your partner but your guests will appreciate being part of the remaining play list and for those who are already married it may rekindle some of their own wedding memories if they choose a song that is special to them. You will always get a few jokers who will request a funny song or heavy metal track but of course its entirely up to you which ones you choose to pass on to the band or DJ. Its your day after all !

This is definately the most unusual wedding album I have come across.  It has a wooden hinged cover which means that you won’t ruin the corners and the inside will be very well protected.  It is hand painted and has a lovely rustic appeal with two raised, entwined hearts.  What suprised me most about this sweet ablum though was the cost, it’s £17.50 from Coco Male.  Admittedly it’s not huge at 16cm x 13cm, but would make a lovely keepsake to keep on display with your favourite photos and mementos for you and any guests to look at whenever you fancy, rather than having to pull the entire album out.

Guest books are a great way of capturing your guests thoughts on your wedding day and are a keepsake you will want to look at straight after the wedding and year after year, and if you are having disposable cameras at your reception tables you can put in the odd photo here and there next to the ‘authors’ to capture the mood of the day.  It is best to choose something that will stand the test of time since it will be handled again and again.  This fabric covered guest book from Confetti has a delicate floral embroidered pattern and is available in champagne or ivory for £24.99.  It has 60 pages for your guests to write on and there is also plastic protective sleeve available for £1.99 to keep it clean.

I was surprised that this lady did not notice that the cards were the same when she ordered the wedding invitations but I would encourage anyone purchasing their wedding stationery in stages to check what other items are available in the range are what they are expecting so they are not disappointed later.  The reason why many wedding stationers duplicate cards within a range is quite obvious… it is usually a commercial decision rather than a design choice as it is father more economical to hold stocks of a range that uses the same core card stock rather than individual items that each need to be inventory controlled.  I have to say that this practice of card cloning across a whole range does not happen often and it tends to occur on the cheaper ranges of wedding stationery.  A more common use of the same card tends to occur only between the Thank You card and Reply Card in a range.  This in fact does make common sense because when your guest is returning your RSVP card then whether they accept or decline they are in essence thanking you for the invitation.

For a really unique and unusual table plan a canvas print is great idea as it will last forever.  I found this Disney table plan whilst looking at Canvas Graphics as they print some of the most popular venues onto canvas and then your table plan is printed on this as well.  They are based in Essex and have a wide range of venues listed, but if your venue isn’t on there, then as long as you get permission from the venue, they can photograph and produce a table plan.  Anyway, back to the Disney table plan which is an explosion of magical disney colours with the castle in the background, absolutely perfect if you’re having a disney theme.  Prices range from £211 to £346.

A bit of a cheeky title to this article for which I apologise but a flick through the web pages of Devon Based printers Wedding Stationery Etc and you will soon realise that this company have got the hot foil invitation sector of the market well and truly foil covered.  They have scores of designs all with their trademark foil lettering so if you do not like the selection of designs in the image above you are unlikely to warm to any of the designs from this company.

I happen to like this contemporary style of invite.  I am not sure I would choose it for my wedding but they would certainly make my shortlist.  Now, I am no expert here but I do know that there are two types of foil printing… hot foil and toner foil printing.  I am pleased to here that Wedding Stationery Etc use the hot foil method which in my opinion produces superior results.  I suppose you would not expect anything less from the experts in the field.

If foil printed invitations are not your cup of tea for the whole stationery shebang then you might consider a look at this company’s Save the Date Fridge Magnets.  These too are foil printed (of course) but I do think that this one kind of novelty item suits the hot foil printing style far better.  What do you think ?

Capture your guests thoughts and good wishes in style with this handmade lilac leather guest book from Aspinal of London.  It’s bound in leather and lined in contrasting cream silk with a double ribbon page marker.  The front is embossed with GUESTS in either gold or silver and you have a choice of plain pages or lines and columns.  It costs £95 and can be gift wrapped and boxed for an additional £5 or £10 for deluxe.  There’s a choice of six colours but if you’re looking for some funkier colours there’s a lovely range of soft suede guest books in vibrant colours that cost £40 or a pastel leather range that cost £47.  Whatever you are looking for, you will find something to suit your theme.

The great thing about handmade wedding stationery is that you can customise the colours to match your wedding.  I just love the Aura Crystal design from the Handcrafted Card Company.  The hearts are of course handmade and the colour can be changed to pick out any colour in your dress, flowers, or reception decor.  The other half of the heart is dipped in either silver of gold or enamel which creates a wonderful fire glazed finish.

I love the turquoise blue finish on the colour scheme shown and together with the twisted silver wire embellishment I think this design would be ideal for a winter wedding.  The sparkling diamante crystal symbolising a single snowflake.  There is a large range of items in the Aura Crystal collection so you can really go for a coordinated look and I was particularly impressed with the quality of the Table Plans.  The double frame around each table is cut to perfection and is great to see a table plan made to such a high standard.  Good quality handmade wedding stationery is often let down with ancillary items such as the table plan.  Not in this case.