DIY WEDDING STATIONERY GUIDE WITH PRINTED.COM

Your wedding stationery needs to capture the very essence of you, exude your personal style and also crystallise the theme of the wedding.  A tall order, I know when there is so much to consider from the colour scheme to the textures and tones which all need to be cohesive with your overall motif. All this is possible with a little know-how and thankfully we’ve got Emma Cownley from printed.com to, the online destination for custom digital print to take us through step by step.  So let’s get started!

It’s all in the planning!

You’ll already have a lot on your mind, so don’t let stationery stress add to your growing burden. We recommend slotting your wedding stationery in around your existing plan, working backwards from the big day. As a general rule, wedding invitations (including RSVP cards and menus) should go out six months before the wedding day and save the date cards are usually dispatched a full year before. You’ll need your table stationery and order of service ready nearer the time but don’t be tempted to put this off until the last minute; get everything printed and ready—you’ll have enough to worry about in the week leading up to the main event!  Each online or high-street printer will have different turnaround times and delivery options so don’t forget to factor these times into your plan.

Finding your inspiration

If you’re on the hunt for the perfect wedding theme, Pinterest is a great place to start. A melting pot of creatives, brides and wedding stationers, it is jam-packed with ideas and inspiration. We recommend making a board for everything; flowers, table decorations, wedding dress styles and wedding stationery ideas. Trying to explain a theme, look or idea to a florist or event planner is far easier with visual aids.  Creating a colour palette for the occasion should be the next item on the agenda.  COLOURlovers is a fantastic resource for collecting, matching and sampling colours. You’ll be able to browse existing colour palettes, create your own and check out the hottest colours of the season. If you need your wedding stationery to match your bridesmaid’s dresses or decorative fabric swatches, try The Dessy Group and their Pantone Wedding tool. This is our online tool of choice; you can organise and share your swatches and order exact colour match accessories.  Remember: the colour of the paper you choose will alter the tone of a printed colour.

Sticking to a colour palette and theme is crucial for a cohesive feel to your wedding. Lots of random, unrelated images and colours will give the event an uncoordinated feel which can dampen an otherwise impactful occasion. Carry one main image or design through all aspects of decoration and printed wedding stationery, like an embellishment on your dress, a significant monument from your relationship or make a statement with strong, recognisable colours. Even when you’re going for a homemade, eclectic look, a common thread is necessary to pull the whole look together.

Setting up artwork for print

When you sit down to design, you’ll need to make sure that the artwork you create is suitable for print; this means getting it the correct size, saving in the right file format and including crop marks and bleed. If we’ve already blown your mind, don’t worry! Print sites like ours usually have free downloadable templates for all products, all you’ll need to do is choose the size you want to your finished print to be (A4,A5, DL etc.) and the design programme you’ll be creating your artwork in.

If you decide to hire a wedding stationer to create your artwork for you, make sure that you tell them that you’ll be printing it so they can factor it into the design. Don’t forget to pass along a link to your Pinterest stationery board, so they know exactly what you’re looking for.

Picking your papers and finishes

The very best way to set off your stationery or theme is the type of paper you print on. Natural and organic themes always look stunning on earthy brown paper like Kraft. Classical and retro designs look authentic on more textured papers and iridescent papers ooze glamour. If you want your designs to speak for themselves, or fancy a more modern tone, silk and uncoated papers are a solid choice.

If you have strict colours you want to stick with, you’ll need to bear in mind that some papers will alter how your printed colours appear. Heavily coloured papers, metallic papers and creamy toned papers will all slightly alter your printed colours, so make sure you’re aware before you order! If you don’t want to take the risk, stick to white paper.

The end result of all this will be a gorgeous wedding stationery suite, perfectly tailored to your own personal style and wedding theme. Above all else, remember to have fun with it— the creative process is almost as exciting as having your freshly printed creations arriving on your doorstep, ready to send off or hand out.

Big thanks to Emma for such a comprehensive DIY wedding stationery guide.  If you have your designs ready to print or need some more inspiration head to – www.printed.com