As the saying goes, “You only get one shot at a first impression.” Your wedding invitation is often your guests’ first impression of the event that awaits them and you want to get it right.  Since ordering wedding invitations is not something you do everyday, the process can feel daunting.  Here are some tips that should help make it a pleasant experience and not an ordeal to be endured.

1.       Start the process early

“The early bird gets the worm” . . . and the most beautiful wedding invitations.  Allow yourself enough time to define your tastes, learn about proper etiquette, and design the perfect invitation that will set the tone for your special day.  By ordering early, you will also avoid being forced to settle for an invitation just because it can be delivered in a short amount of time.  You will also save on rush fees and expedited shipping rates.

2.       Find a good stationer

The importance of this cannot be stressed enough.  A quality stationer will play an important role in creating your perfect wedding stationery.  Such a stationer will educate you, save you from errors, help you to create a truly unique invitation that is reflective of your personality, show you ways to save time and money, and become one of your biggest allies throughout the wedding planning process.

3.       Define your style

Review wedding magazines and wedding blogs to get a feel for the huge array of invitation styles available.  {Style Me Pretty is one of our favorite resources!}  Pay attention to the designs you are repeatedly drawn to and tear out those magazine pages.  Decide whether your tastes tend more toward classic and traditional or more contemporary or design-oriented.  Decide the tone you’d like to set for your day ~ is it one of classic elegance or one of fun and whimsy?  Bring this information with you to give your stationer a feel for your tastes.

4.       Have a good idea of your guest list

While you by no means need to have a final guest list before ordering your wedding invitations, you should have a very good idea of the number of guests you would like to invite and the number of invitations you will need to order.  {Remember that 200 guests does not equal 200 invitations, as most of these guests will not be single individuals.}  Be sure to get input from all parents as to the guests they would like invited.  Always order more than you think you’ll need so you’ll be prepared for the inevitable guest list creep.  The cost to order 25 or so additional invitations at the outset will be far less than the expense of ordering a small number of invitations later, plus the shipping and rush fees that would be required.  {Trust us on this ~ we’ve seen it happen far more than you’d think.}

5.       Be realistic about your budget

The bridal magazines are filled with multi-page layouts featuring the most incredibly gorgeous wedding invitations, usually in multiple colors that are engraved or letterpressed on high-quality card stock.  Brides fall in love with these invitations and then flip to the wedding budget worksheet in the back of the magazine, which all too often suggests ridiculously low amounts for wedding stationery that would not even cover the reply cards for those featured wedding ensembles.  Remember that you get what you pay for.  A good stationer will help identify ways that you can save money and still achieve a look and feel that you are going for, but they cannot create “a champagne invitation on a beer budget.”

6.     Understand printing methods

Your stationer should be able to explain to you the differences between flat or offset printing, thermography, engraving, and letterpress printing ~ and show you samples of each.  {If they cannot, run the other way and reread #2 above!}  The method of printing can dramatically change the look, feel and color of an invitation, not to mention the cost.

7.     Understand wedding wording etiquette

Etiquette guidelines often dictate the way that a wedding invitation should be worded ~ and the way that it should not be worded.  {Believe it or not,  whether you request the honor of someone’s presence or the pleasure of their company is not based on your personal preference as to which sounds better.}  Again, your stationer should be able to help you compose the wording of your invitation, based on your individual circumstances.  While it may seem like you’re sharing a lot of personal information, you should be prepared to share with your stationer the details of who is paying for the wedding and whether there are any sticky family issues that may need special handling.

8.     Decide how envelopes will be addressed

It is best to know before ordering whether you will be hand-addressing the envelopes, having them addressed by a calligrapher, or having them printed by your stationer.  Calligraphers may charge more for certain envelope papers or ink colors, or a stationer who is printing your addresses may need to request heat-resistant thermography inks, for example.  In any event, always order at least 15%  extra envelopes to allow for the inevitable mistakes in addressing.

9.       Understand the etiquette of addressing

Rules of etiquette dictate the way in which wedding invitations are addressed.  For example, did you know that an invitation to an unmarried couple who is living together should feature each of their names stacked without being separated by the word “and”?  Again, your stationer should be able to advise you as to the proper way to address your invitations.

10. Consider ordering accessories at the same time

The best wedding stationery ensembles are those that carry the same look and feel, color scheme, and theme throughout.  While your menu cards do not need to exactly match the typestyle and ink color of your wedding invitations, it is best to have a cohesive set of paper accessories that help create the tone you intend for your day.  For instance, if you have a custom monogram or duogram, or a seashell motif, these elements should be carried through your accessories such as the wedding programs, menu cards, escort cards, table cards, place cards, welcome booklets, and favor tags.  For this reason, you may want to at least identify your choices for these wedding accessories when ordering your invitations.  Often, stationery manufacturers will offer a discount for coordinating items ordered at the same time as the invitations.

{Tip: While you will likely not be prepared to order your wedding programs at the same time as your invitations, you can order a coordinating program cover and then have the inserts printed by your stationer as you get closer to your wedding when more details are finalized.}

Our new momAgendas and myAgendas have arrived!  These fantastic planners run from August 2009 through December 2010.  Think of how organized you will be when all of your activities and the activities of your kids are written down in one easily referenced location.  For those of you who are not parents, the myAgenda features all of this organization that you can customize in up to 4 categories each week.   This year,  the myAgenda is also offered in a larger desktop size.  {The myAgenda makes a fabulous gift for graduates going off to college or off to their first “real job.”}

My family and I live by my momAgenda, which resides on the kitchen counter and serves as the master schedule for all of our appointments and activities, covering six family members, one dog, and three carpools.  Yes, my husband and I have the nearly necessary Blackberrys/iPhones to keep track of things, but the momAgenda is our family’s one central “Keeper of The Schedule” that everyone can access at any time.  My favorite this year is the Spring Green Croc Desktop.  What’s your favorite?

{If you want to give the momAgenda or myAgenda system a test run before committing, you can now buy the ‘08-’09 versions, which run through December 2009, at 75% off!}

Great news for brides!  William Arthur has extended its Buy 75/Get 25 wedding promotion through June 30th. Order 75 or more pieces of wedding stationery {invitation, response card, informal note, etc.} and receive an additional 25 free.

The promotion applies to wedding invitations featured in the William Arthur, Vera Wang, and Rita Renning lines.  Call or email us now to book your appointment and take advantage of big savings!

Crane & Co. has extended their popular Buy 75/Get 25 Free promotion through June 30th.  Purchase 75 or more pieces of Crane’s personalized (engraved, letterpressed, thermographed, flat printed or embossed) products to receive an extra 25 free. This promotion applies to Crane and Kate Spade wedding invitations, birth announcements, and personalized stationery.

Father’s Day is June 21st ~ you still have time to surprise Dad if you hurry!

My jaw dropped open when I came across this blog post featuring 100 Extraordinary Examples of Paper Art.  The word “extraordinary” simply does not do justice to this collection . . . “outrageously and ridiculously talented” might begin to come close to describing these artists.  They make the paper-clad dress forms in our shops look like shabbily-dressed waifs!

Are there any paperophiles out there who find  themselves humbled by these masterpieces?

Shop ’til you drop all day at our Spring shopping event!  The merchants, restaurants, spas and salons of Ballantyne Village are offering fabulous one-day only discounts and promotions during our annual Soirée All Day event.  If you are in the Charlotte area on Saturday, join us at Ballantyne Village to lunch, shop, pamper yourself, dine, watch a movie, and listen to live outdoor music (starting at 6:30 p.m.).  Click here to read more about the Ballantyne Village event and for a ticket to enter the Grand Prize drawing.

Even if you are not in the Charlotte area, you can still enjoy Salutations’ Soirée All Day discounts.  For one day only, shop in Charlotte, Chapel Hill or online and receive 20% off all in-stock, regularly priced merchandise and 40-75% off clearance items.  {When shopping online, use coupon code SOIREE.  In Chapel Hill, mention this Soirée All Day promotion.}

Don’t miss this chance for last-minute Mother’s Day gifts, graduation gifts, or gifts for yourself!

We believe strongly in building a community of fabulous people like you on Facebook {we refer to it unofficially as the Salutations Nation}.  Through this community, we hope you will exchange ideas with each other and give us feedback on how we’re doing, as well as ideas for new products or services you’d like to see.  Having a larger community of fans will help facilitate this communication and exchange of ideas.

During the month of May, for every person who becomes a fan of the Salutations page on Facebook, and writes on our Wall that you referred them, you will be entered to win a $50 gift certificate.  The winner will be announced during the first week of June.

Ready to start racking up those entries?  Just update your status with this message (or feel free to revise any way you wish):

Help me win a $50 gift certificate! Become a Fan of Salutations Fine Stationery’s page on Facebook and tell them I referred you.  Every person who does this increases my chances of winning!

Then click on “Link” below the status box and past this link:  http://facebook.salutations.com

It’s that easy!  Have fun, good luck, and thanks for helping us build the nation!

Host a Salutations Web Soiree^TM and earn merchandise credit and discounts for your guests!  Think of the gifting occasions coming up ~ Mother’s Day, teachers’ gifts, graduation, Father’s Day, birthdays ~ the possibilities for savings are endless.

Here is how it works:  You send us an email to let us know that you’d like to host a Web Soiree and the date that you’d like the party to begin.  We will email to you a customized invitation and a soiree code that you can email to your guests.  {We don’t require you to submit your friends’ email addresses to us.  If they want to share their email with us, they can register for our Inspirations newsletter.}

Web Soirees last for 10 days, during which your guests can shop on Salutations’ website and receive 15% off of their purchases using the special soiree code.  At the end of the 10-day period, you will receive a merchandise credit worth 15% of the total of purchases made by your guests using their soiree code.

You can even include a theme for your Web Soiree (e.g., Pajama Party, Girls Night Online, etc.).

Get started compiling your list and send us an email today to let us know the date you’d like to reserve for your Web Soiree!  Know someone who might be interested?  Share this with them!

One year after the last increase, the United States Postal Service is increasing postage rates again ~ effective May 11, 2009. The rate for the first ounce is increasing from $0.42 to $0.44; the one-to-two ounce rate is going from $0.59 to $0.61; and the postcard rate is going from $0.27 to $0.28. The Forever (Liberty Bell) stamps will remain effective, so you may want to stock up prior to May 11th.

Brides especially will need to take note. Wedding invitations typically take the two-ounce stamp {although you should always have your local post office weigh a complete invitation set to be sure}. Reply cards will also need to be stamped with the new postage. The good news? The USPS is about to release a new set of wedding stamps, based on the photography of Washington, DC photographer Renee Comet (pictured above). These photo-based stamps are so much better than the current horror of a wedding set. {Seriously, is there anyone out there who actually liked these stamps?}

Of course, if you want to one-up the USPS, you can customize your own wedding stamps at Zazzle.com. Choose from their stock images or upload your own photo or graphic design. The other good news? For 100 wedding invitations and reply cards, we’re only talking an increase of $4. In the grand scheme of things, this one is not worth stressing over.

We had so much fun with this give-away.  We gained many new fans on our Facebook page and loved the comments that several of you posted about your favorite birthday cake and invitation combo.  Without further adieu, the winner is . . .

Robin Williams of Charlotte, NC, who wrote “My favorite is the Lion Cake and Jungle Girl invitation.  So cute!”  Congratulations to Robin on winning the 20 Jungle Girl invitations printed by Salutations!  Here are her picks: