A step-by-step guide to stationery with State of Reverie

 

When the time comes to start thinking about wedding stationery, you’re getting into the nitty gritty of planning now.

It can be a daunting task with many options and aspects to consider. From style, stock, timelines and more – it pays to have an expert on hand to guide you through the process.

We’ve gathered some advice from one of our stellar stationers, Emily of  State Of Reverie, to help make your wedding stationery suite an easy part of the planning process. 

While we’re at it – the shiny new State of Reverie website is jam-packed with inspiration and advice, too. Emily is always on-hand to answer you questions and with an instant pricing feature – there’s also no need to wait on quotes.

Keep reading for your super handy step-by-step stationery guide.

 

 

 

Seeking inspiration and finding your stationery style

You have probably been saving posts and pinning away ideas for your whole wedding. When finding your stationery style, you should look at your styling inspiration as a whole and see if you can find any overall themes. Are you drawn to a more traditional formal wedding, or do you love a more modern casual style? Is your look more romantic or do you gravitate towards cheeky and fun? 

Once you’ve got a pretty good idea of the overall theme, it helps to start narrowing down your stationery style. Have a look at what you’ve been pinning – is there lots of colour or do you love the classic whites and blacks? Do you favour modern clean typography or prefer a handwritten script? Are you loving shapes such as arches or circles, or prefer the simplicity of straight lines? 

Creating a mood board on pinterest is a great way to narrow down the look you’re after. We recommend having a different board for stationery, signage, table settings etc so it’s easy to get a clear idea of what you’re going to look for. You may go back through your mood board and find some images don’t fit in with the majority, so delete them and keep refining your mood board till you have a consistent style.

Need a hand getting started? Check out State Of Reverie’s pinterest board with lots of inspiration including their own work plus ideas they love. 

 

 

Choosing a Stationery Collection

Now you know what you’re looking for, it’s time to shop. For a wedding that is polished and well thought out, it’s key to keep things consistent. Ordering all your stationery from the same vendor, from the Save The Dates through to invitations, a website, signage, menus and even thank you cards is the best way to achieve this. 

State Of Reverie creates Stationery Collections that include everything you might need, and it’s super helpful to be able to view a collection as a whole so you get a really good idea of how the stationery will consistently tie in all elements of your wedding. And don’t forget there’s also digital stationery such as eInvites and wedding websites that match the paper pieces in each collection.

When choosing a collection keep in mind that it’s the shapes, layouts and fonts that you are choosing. You’re welcome to change any of the colours, and even if you don’t see a colour you like online, there’s hundreds more available so just ask the girls at SOR for some guidance! 

 

 

Building your stationery suite

Once you’ve landed on a collection, it’s time to go ahead and select what pieces you need. This decision really comes down to what kind of wedding you’re having and what your budget will allow. If you’re keeping things simple, then a paper invitation paired with a single page website might be all that is needed to get started. 

If you love the idea of sending guests a beautiful invitation set that includes all the lovely papers and accessories then you’ll have a ball creating a suite that includes invitations, details cards, RSVP cards, name tags and address printed envelopes to finish. You can also choose from a range of print methods such as letterpress, metallic foiling, white ink or flat ink printing. It’s probably the one time in your life you can indulge your love of premium stationery, so why not create something special?

Once the invitations are sorted, then it’s time to think about event day pieces. Again, it’s really dependent on the kind of wedding you’re having as to what pieces you might want to include. At a minimum we suggest a welcome sign, seating chart, and personalised menus or place cards. Think about how you would like your table set, and what other decor is going on the table. That will help guide you in deciding what stationery pieces you might need. For example, if you’re having a shared menu then the table will probably be set with dinner plates. A circular personalised menu works well here, and will save space down the centre of the table. 

You might also consider hiring stands to display your signage and make it a feature. 

A great place to get ideas is State Of Reverie’s Journal which is full of real weddings and styled shoots.  

 

 

Getting your stationery order underway

After you’ve placed an order it’s time to start getting all your content together, so your designer can start work on your suite! When you order with State Of Reverie they will send you a very handy google sheet that houses all your content. 

For invitation orders, you’ll need to have the majority of your event information sorted by now, including how you want guests to RSVP, any accommodation information, recovery events, gift suggestions etc. 

For event day stationery orders, you’ll receive another handy Google sheet to fill in with your menu, seating plan, names for place cards, signage text etc. 

There’s no need to worry about wording though, as State Of Reverie are experts at writing invitations and more than happy to suggest the most appropriate wording for you if you get stuck!

Once your content is ready to go then it’s over to your Designer to create some magic. It definitely starts to feel real when you receive invitation proofs in your inbox to sign off on, and even more so once you receive the finished product!

 

 

Timeline

The handy thing about ordering stationery online is that you can just start with the pieces you need now. So if you’re at the invitation stage, then stagger your spending by ordering those now and saving the event day pieces till afterwards.

One of the most common questions we get asked is how early should invitations be sent? If you’ve got the details sorted then there’s nothing wrong with sending them sooner rather than later. It will help your guests with their planning. The latest you should send is 8-12 weeks before your date. However keep in mind that you’ll need to allow time for RSVPs to come in. 

If you’re ordering event day stationery you’ll need to place the order no later than 5 weeks prior to your wedding, with content required 4 weeks before your wedding (such as your seating plan which you’ll need your RSVPs for). So it’s not a bad idea to factor in those timings and work backwards from there. If you’re hiring stands then it’s best to book those in well ahead of time as they get snapped up very early!

A suggested timeline might look like this:

SAVE THE DATES – ordered 10-11 months prior (sent 9 months prior)

INVITATIONS – ordered 4-5 months prior (sent 3 months prior)

RSVPs – received no later than 5 weeks prior

EVENT DAY STATIONERY – ordered 5-8 weeks prior (with content provided 4 weeks prior) 

THANK YOU CARDS – ordered 2 months post wedding (or once you’ve received photographs!)

 

 

What we adore about State of Reverie is that they truly go above and beyond when it comes to your customer experience. Still stuck on stationery choices, colours, paper stocks etc? Simply call or message the studio on 0420 283 598. Sold on their sexy stationery? You’re welcome to lock in the love with a 50% deposit rather than the full amount.