You’ve set the date, booked the venue and made the guest list. What’s next?

Your wedding invitations are one way for you to formally communicate the details to your family and friends about your big day, so you want them to be perfect and a reflection of you and your love. Sending good news to your loved ones with a personal wedding invitation always brings positive reactions.

Your wedding invitation can be many shapes, sizes colours and designs so you need to think carefully about how the design will reflect the style of your wedding and your personalities.

You may want to look online for wedding invites. There are sites that have all kinds in many styles and colors. You can even order beautiful invitations online. This makes the task quick and easy. Wedding sites that offer this type of service have made the process a breeze.

Here are a few tips that can help you find the perfect invitations for your wedding.

1. Theme

Before you start shopping for invites, know your theme. As the introduction to your wedding, invitations should set the tone and reflect your style. If you are having a fall themed wedding, you can often find invitations that have pictures of maple leaf. If you are having an outdoor theme, you may want to have invitations that have flowers on them to go with the outdoor theme. Whatever theme you are having at your wedding, you can probably find invitations that complement that specific theme.

2. Setting

When you are choosing wedding invitations, it may help you to consider the setting of your wedding. Whether you are having a formal wedding or a more casual wedding, there are invitations that reflect that setting.

3. Color

Invitations are available in almost every color you can imagine, so matching your invitations to your wedding colors is possible and a great idea. Although it is not a must, incorporating your theme color into the invite definitely puts a personal touch and creates a consistent “look and feel” to the overall decor that you are preparing. You can match colors to the theme of your wedding. For example: choosing bright and sunny colors for a summer outdoor wedding.

4. Size and Shape

Square shape is still the popular choice today. Although 6”x6” is the common size for invites, you can go with any size you want. But, before you decide on the size and shape, check with your local postal service for letter-mail size and weight specification. This would avoid the extra postage charge and possible delay in delivery.

5. Contents

Most invitation card should include all the basic details such as bride and groom’s name, date, time and location of the ceremony and reception, and any special requests, including dress code, cash bar and gift registry information. Many couples today have their reception venue at a different location from their ceremony. So having a separate reception card is useful, especially for those who plan to attend only the reception part. Also adding an insert with a map and hotel listings is important, if you don’t want dozens of people calling to ask where they should stay.

6. Budget

When choosing your wedding invitations, you should also consider the budget you have. For typical invitation, the price varies from $5.00 to $30.00 per invitation. The price will depend on the design, paper stock, embellishments, method of printing and number of colors. Some vendors charge per unit price and others sells by increments of 50 or 100. In any case, the more you order, the unit price goes down. You could save a bit of money right away by making the reply card a postcard, eliminating the cost of one envelope

7. Timeframe

Typically, invitations should be sent out approximately 12-16 weeks prior to the event. However, this depends on where your guests are located and where the wedding will be held. If you are having a destination wedding, it is good idea to give 6-9 months notice so that your guests can arrange their schedule ahead of time.

Your invitations are one way that you will let your friends and family know about your big day, so you want them to be perfect and a reflection of you and your love. Most couples would want their wedding invitations to be a special item that their guests will remember and perhaps keep as a memento. Keeping these considerations in mind can help you find wedding invitations that will be beautiful, unique and a wonderful way to invite your cherished loved ones to share in your special day