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It's All Inside the Envelope…
"The wedding invitation is key in communicating the type of party you are planning. It sets the tone," says Debbie Lee of Invitation House, located in Plainview, N.Y. "If it is beautiful and sophisticated, it tells guests that the affair will be an elegant one." Debbie Kahn of AGI Events in Hewlett, says, "The invitation is important. It is the first thing people see and they get excited. It arrives six to eight weeks before the party and they hold onto it the longest."
Long Island Invitation Trends
"Long Island invitations are more often simple and elegant. Crème is used in the winter and white is usually used for summer parties," Ms. Lee tells us. "If I layer, it is subtle and elegant. I often use platinum with a textured champagne overlay. 18 karat gold with its metallic finish and a matching gold or champagne ink color is quite sophisticated."
Triple thick card stock with a gold beveled edge is also popular here. Brown and champagne inks are used often. The type font also coordinates with the style of affair. For a formal, fancy invitation, Helinda Rook and Bickham Script with swash caps are popular and for a more casual affair, Five Hand is a popular print calligraphy.
Right now, thermography or raised printing is still the most used printing technique on Long Island. Letter press was popular 35 years ago, and is now coming back into vogue. Brides who want a newer look are going for letter press, which is pressed into the paper instead of being raised, like engraving. The latter is very expensive and high quality, but isn't very flexible. Hand calligraphy is used most often on envelopes for elegant invites.
According to Ms. Kahn of AGI, Long Islanders are starting to use more color. They want to be bold, but it will take a while before color is used in full force. Young brides want to step out of the box and go for something different, but more often than not, they bow to tradition. She adds, "I had a young bride who wanted to wear a red wedding dress. When her mother balked, we added red to the invitation and took it out of the ceremony, except for the red roses, of course."
Ms. Lee recommends brides bring their invitations to the post office and have them weighed and hand postmarked. This preserves the envelope and prevents bar codes from ending up on the bottom. Custom stamps are big these days, particularly picture stamps. Stationers like Invitation House can produce them for you or you can go to websites like photostamps.com or zazzle.com.
Timing
"Timing is just as important as the invitation itself," advises Invitation House. It is suggested that save-the-date cards be sent six to eight months prior to the affair, with invitations, eight weeks before and even earlier if it's a destination wedding or holiday weekend party (anywhere from 10 weeks to three months in advance have been suggested).
Budgeting
In order to keep costs down during the invitation process, Ms. Lee suggests the couple use a lighter weight paper and don't print too many extras. For a list of 118, print 125, for example. You can print your own save-the-date cards off the computer if you like.
While most couples on Long Island are opting for the subtle, elegant look, there's no reason you shouldn't have as much creative fun with the invitations as with the party itself. Invitation House adorned the invitation to a beach wedding with seashells and once printed an invite that resembled an Absolute Vodka ad for a couple of Vodka aficionados.
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