Selecting and Designing your Invitations
This is your wedding (or other special event), so design an invitation that reflects your personalities and interests. Your guests will be impressed with a creative and thoughtful expression of you and your celebration.

The invitation should also set the tone of the event; the design, paper, fonts and graphics should all give your guests a very clear idea about the type of celebration they’ll be attending. Is it formal, casual or completely bohemian? Our fonts, colors, and styles span a wide range of formalities—our designer can help you determine the best choices for your celebration.

Of course, your wording also does more than relay the basics about your celebration. Wording can indicate the level of formality as well as the unique personality of your event—traditional and elegant, outside and carefree, or alternative and funky. With poetic phrasing, you can let your guests know more about your wedding location--is it on the beach, in an elegant ballroom, or among the flowers of your garden? Find inspiration for your own invitations at www.twistedlimbpaper.com/wording_etiquette.htm.

Timing
Send Save-the-Dates: 6-12 months in advance of your wedding date. Save-the-Date cards are sent at least 6-9 months before a wedding to which most guests will travel and 9-12 months for destination weddings to tourist areas or for weddings close to the holidays or busy travel seasons.

Send Invitations: 6-8 weeks in advance of your wedding date. Anything less, and it's starting to cut things close for both you and your guests' planning purposes. Eight weeks is best when most guests will be travelling from out of town. You may wish to send invitations a bit before the 8-week mark if you did not send Save-the-Dates, or if you need a particularly early reply-by date.

Reply-By Date: Variable. Reply by dates are typically 3-4 weeks before a wedding or bar/bat mitzvah, but can be less than this for a shower or informal occasion. Make sure that your reply-by date allows time to give accurate head counts to your vendors, and builds in some cushion time for contacting invitees who have not responded.

When do I order? Please plan to give us 3-5 weeks to create your invitations. Feel free to inquire as to our current turnaround. Also be sure to give yourself enough time to print and/or assemble invitations if you need to, as well as time to address and stuff envelopes.

Postage
Except for circles and squares, all Twisted Limb invitations require only one first-class stamp for mailing.

Circle and square invites require additional postage.

Reply postcards require only a postcard stamp instead of the first-class stamp an envelope requires.

Who’s Invited? How Many Invitations?
Remember that the number of guests does not equal the number of invitations—couples and families only need one invitation.

When finalizing the number of invitations you need, you may wish to order five to ten extras for last-minute guest additions and keepsakes. Don’t forget parents and bridal party in the invitation count!

When sending invitations to single guests, you may put “and Guest” on the envelope to let them know that they are welcome to bring a date. If guests have significant others, however, it is polite to write their names on the envelope rather than "and Guest."

Let parents know that children are invited by writing the children’s names on the addressed envelope. You may wish to send children 16 and older their own individual invitation.

If you are having a small, private ceremony, but want to invite more guests to a reception, we can print two sets of invitations for the same design fee—one with the ceremony information, one without. Just let us know.

Though decline rates of 20% or more can be common, it's wisest to keep your guest list at the limit set by your venue and your budget.

After your wedding, you may choose to send announcements to acquaintances or distant relatives who you could not invite to the wedding.