Wedding Stationery is a bit of an obsession here at One Fab Day. Beautiful wedding stationery sets the tone for the event - there's nothing like receiving a gorgeous invitation in the post to build the excitement for the guests, it also gives a great idea of the style of event you are planning - a festival style, a city chic event, elegant and formal, or a barndance style hooley...

Often it's the thing that gets left off the budget, or consigned to the "ah sure I can do it myself" - newsflash: unless you're a graphic designer - No. You can't.  You'll end up with gammy word document/clipart mankiness. For the sake of a few euro, do the rest of your wedding justice, and invest in decent wedding stationery! So this week we're concentrating on all you need to know before choosing your wedding stationery (and it doesn't have to cost a fortune don't worry!)

Watch out for our post on Wednesday about all the different styles of wedding stationery and how to choose wisely (and within budget).

Today though, we thought it would be useful to put together a list of all the different bits and pieces of wedding stationery that you may need depending on the type of wedding you're planning. That way you can think about it all well in advance, and won't miss anything or have to make any last minute rush orders.

Before the Wedding

While most people think of the wedding stationery as being the invitation and the various bits at the ceremony and reception, there are a number of items of stationery you may require to get the party started - these are all optional, but may be of interest depending on the celebration you're planning...

Engagement Party Invitations (Optional)

• To announce the couples engagement or an invitation to the engagement party. Be sure to only invite those guests who you plan on inviting to the big day.

Be My Bridesmaid Cards (optional)

Hen Party Invitations (optional)

• If you're having a particular theme for your hen party, it could be fun to send a card to the hens to set the tone. Finer Details have some lovely tea party style hen party invitations.

Save The Date Cards (optional)

• A Save the Date signifies to the guest that they are invited to attend your event and should "save the date".
• Save the Date cards are not official invitations, they simply give the bride and grooms names, the date and some brief details of the location, town or area town the wedding will be held and notification that the formal wedding invitation will follow.
• Save the Date cards are perfect for couples who need to give their guests advance notice of the wedding, particularly useful if you are getting married abroad or are inviting guests from abroad so they may begin to make travel plans.

Wedding Invitation Set

• Invitations are the most important piece of your wedding stationery. They invite your guests to  your wedding ceremony and the following reception and inform them of the date, time etc.

RSVP Cards (Wedding Acceptance/Wedding Regret/Response Cards)

•  Sent with your invitations, these cards allow guests to tell you whether they are attending or not.

Direction Information (Maps  & Accommodation Information)

• Maps and direction information is useful to help out of town guests with the location of your church/ceremony venue and reception venue.  Accommodation information contains contact details and web references  for local hotels or B&B's  for guests who may require it.

• This card lets the guests know if there are other activities planned prior to or following the wedding ceremony and reception,  such as a welcome party, a dinner the night before, or a second day bbq. Particularly useful for a 2 or 3 day wedding, or if the wedding location is far from home/abroad.

Wedding Day

• The order of service/ceremony booklet is used for the wedding service and contains the names of the bridal party, name of the officiant, the plan and songs, music etc. These differ greatly between various religions and can also be used for civil ceremonies.
• Additional information could be added to make the program  more personal to the day such as quotes or poems, bios of the bridal party,  "in memory of" tributes to loved ones who have passed on, or a thank you to the parents and guests.

• This informs guests of how the evening/reception will unfold from the meal to the speeches that will be made, the cutting of the cake and the first dance. At Irish weddings this isn't very usual, but sometimes is written as a blackboard sign. Helpful if you have lots of things planned, or a venue with many rooms.

• Place cards are placed at the seat of each guest and inform him or her where to sit. These can form part of a favour left for each guest.

• Placed on each table, table numbers or names are used to identify the table to your guests, so that when they pick up their escort card, they can immediately recognize the table card that matches it.

• The  Menu Card informs the guests of the meal ahead. It can contain the food options or the set menu and choices  for those with dietary restrictions. They are not essential for a buffet or if you are having  a relatively short wedding reception with appetisers.

Wedding Stationery for After the Wedding

• Thank you cards are sent to your guests shortly after the wedding, thanking them for their gift and for attending your wedding. Thank you cards are also used to thank bridesmaids, flowergirls and the host of your hen party.

• Change of address cards can be useful if the bride or groom has changed their residence following the wedding.

Other Optional Wedding  Stationery

If you're planning a lot of venue decor ideas at your wedding, like having a sweet bar or dessert table, a photobooth, baskets in the bathrooms, a fingerprint guest book etc, then you need to think about appropriate signage and stationery for it. There's nothing worse than a handscrawled or word/clipart sign to ruin all your great work. Worse, with no signage people mightn't even use what you've created. Common things you may need include: