"On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me - five golden rings!"
Did you immediately find yourself beginning to hum that (I want to say weird) Christmas song? C'mon, what on earth do you do with eight maids a-milking anyway? Weird, right? Or wait... maybe... I do live in the dairy state after all...hmmm.
But I digress. Squirrel!
Weddings conjure up images of stunning engagement rings and wedding bands to go along with them. But five? Despite what the song says, you don't need FIVE golden wedding rings from your true love (although as someone who loves rings, a variety of them is always appreciated; I do have 10 fingers after all!)
With the knowledge that no two people have the exact same DNA and, without having taken a college statistics class, I'd wager it's a safe bet that the variety in rings is pretty HUGE. Some of you love the notice-it-across-the-room diamonds. That's awesome. Truth be known, more of us might fall into that category if we had longer fingers and better-paying jobs.
But for a lot of brides, less is more - just as beautiful but more on the understated side.
I actually like that phrase: Less is More. I think I've moved more in that direction myself over the years. I loved collecting knick-knacks and hanging art or photos on every open wall space when we were first married but as we continued to collect children, a clean, simple look became easier to manage.
Less is more is also MY preference when it comes to stationery design - but, have no fear, I'm designing for YOU, not me. So we can go as wild and wonderful as you want, understanding there will be some professional advice from me along the way that you're certainly welcome to ignore!
But More Is More also applies to save the date cards and invitations in a different way. No, not putting every detail of the wedding you can think of ON the invitation. It's about the invitation itself.
I've seen a lot of social media posts recently inquiring about WHEN invitations should be sent out. I've even given some input on this in previous posts (see To Save or Not To Save, Your Date Is Worth Saving and Wedding Calendar Freebie.)
But I also see a lot of posts asking about sending digital versus paper invitations, a really important question borne out of the cost of paper and postage. I GET IT! We just sent out my son and FDIL's save the date cards and we went the route of a postcard to save money on paper AND postage.
We live in a digital world and most of the couples falling into the current demographic of young adults getting married have never known life without access to the World! Wide! Web! (Hey MOBs and MOGs, remember when we had to add that abbreviation at the beginning when we gave out a website address?) So, in relation to wedding invitations, you should be looking at more is more, i.e. use every channel to communicate.
You may have tech-savvy grandparents and great aunts and uncles who can process a digital invitation - either through their email or text or whatever and RSVP on your website via the handy-dandy QR code you create. But what about those who can't? Those people do exist you know. Do they just not get a written invitation at all because you're trying to be careful with your budget?
Why does it have to be only one or the other? Why can't it be both and still be budget friendly? More is...More.
This really isn't as confusing as it sounds. It's actually why I do what I do.
Consider this:
Create your guest list
Decide which guests would really benefit more from paper invitations
Once you've flagged those, sort them into family groups (e.g. husband & wife)
Make sure you only order enough paper invitations (that match your digital ones) for those groupings. (Common error: if your paper-only guest list is 35, you may end up only needing 25 invitations because you'll be sending to couples, not each individual)
Isn't it worth spending a few dollars to make sure EVERYONE gets an invitation in a way they can appreciate it? So that you're not snubbing those who can't handle a digital one? And it doesn't cost anything to send digital ones to your full list; it means that some people will get the invitations in multiple ways = More is More.
Personally, I think it's just nicer and more appropriate to send out paper invitations to everyone. It's worth the cost for so many reasons. When was the last time you got a piece of snail mail that wasn't a bill or an ad? How did that make you feel? Yup, I bet it went on the fridge somehow.
But it still doesn't have to break the bank. There are options. And it's an area where I love to help as much as I can. Beautiful wedding stationery doesn't have to be etched on leather or wrapped up in gold filigree to impress your guests.
If you're having a hard time making these decisions, let's schedule a time to chat. There's no obligation. We can look at all the options and hopefully settle on something that makes sense for ALL your guests + your budget.
On the twelfth day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Twelve drummers drumming,
Eleven pipers piping,
Ten Lords a leaping,
Nine Ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a ... secretary to keep us sane through all the wedding paper stress!
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