OMG you’re engaged! Now what? | Sundown Paper
We've teamed up with stationery connoisseur, Sarah Ardrey of Sundown Paper on a guest post this week to bring you the designer's priceless advice on how to prep and plan for your wedding stationery journey.
Not only is Sundown Paper a seriously cool, couture stationery brand, but Sarah is devoted to nailing your personality with her fresh, contemporary designs. So get ready to view some showstopping stationery…
Firstly - congrats! Being engaged is one of the best feelings in the world, so soak it up and lap up all the attention (and free champagne)!
Secondly - do not listen to those rumours that planning a wedding is really stressful. The truth is, it really doesn’t have to be.
You’ve set the date and booked your dream venue…now it’s time to invite your favourite people to the party of your life…that’s where I come in!
THE BRIDE SQUAD PROPOSAL
Your wedding party. The people you just HAVE to have with you on the day and the people you’re most excited to share your news with! Whether it’s a total surprise or they’ve known you’re going to ask them for years, asking your besties to be a part of your wedding day is such a fun part of the planning.
Bridesmaids, bridesmen, maids of honour - whoever they are and whatever title you want to give them, crack open the bubbly, get the tunes on and give them one of these gorgeous cards that they can keep forever.
(All proposal cards can be customised to suit a colour scheme or specific wording you’d like to include.)
SAVE THE DATES
One question I get asked all the time is, do I need to send out save the dates? And to be honest this all depends on how long an engagement you’re planning on having.
If you’ve set a date but it’s 18 months away, I would definitely recommend sending out save the dates to be safe. But if your wedding date is within a year of booking the venue then you might as well just send out your invites a bit early and save yourself some money.
My main bit of advice with your save the dates is to just have fun with them. It’s the first thing your guests will see so use it as an excuse to show them how happy and excited you are and how amazing your wedding is going to be!
Here are a few of my favourite Save The Date cards:
INVITES
If you’re thinking about sending out invites then you’ve probably got a much better idea at this point of how you want your wedding day to look and feel (plus the Mother of all Pinterest mood boards to back it up - we’ve all been there) so you want your invites to reflect that right? 100%!
I’ve got you covered. Let’s chat through your ideas and I can create you a bespoke design to perfectly suit you as a couple as well as the vibe for your wedding day.
Here’s a few of my favourite bespoke designs:
On the other hand you may not have a clue what colours you want, or what style of decor you want to incorporate. That’s okay too! You can start by looking through my featured collections to give you a bit of inspiration and then we can have a chat and go from there.
Here’s a few of my favourite collections on the site:
NEARER THE BIG DAY
You’ve dealt with all the big jobs and now it’s time to bring that Pinterest board to life!
There’s so many ways to inject colour and personality into your wedding through your on-the-day stationery, some of it essential and some of it more of a luxury depending on your budget.
Here is my top three must haves for your on-the-day stationery:
Table plan: This is your chance to get really creative and have a lot of fun. Your table plan can be one giant board, lots of separate cards or you could utilise some furniture at your venue and display your table plan surrounded by loads of flowers…the possibilities are endless.
Place settings: An important one so everyone knows where they’re sitting and gets served the right food. They can also be a great way to add some colour to the table if everything else is a bit plain.
Table names/centre pieces: Once guests have found their table on your gorgeous table plan then they need to locate the table. This is another opportunity to have some fun and make your table signs personal to you as a couple - maybe name them after your favourite foods, holidays, bands…so many ideas for these.
Other bits to consider if you have the budget:
Welcome board: Obviously everyone knows who’s wedding they’re attending (hence this not being a necessity) but I just love a fun, happy welcome sign when I get to a wedding. They make for great photos and if you’re going for a fun, relaxed approach it really helps set the scene for the day ahead.
Menus: Yes, these look lovely laid out on each plate but just think about whether you actually need them. If guests had a choice of food prior to the wedding day it might be useful to remind them what they ordered, but if they didn’t then I would just suggest two per table.
So, hopefully that’s helped you out and given you an idea of what you could have in terms of stationery for your wedding.
The most important thing is that you stay true to yourselves and plan the whole day your way (comments from the mother-in-law not welcome, thank you)!
And remember - have fun! What’s the point otherwise?
Happy planning!
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