WPCNR'S THE REAL DEAL. By The Wedding Jeannie, Jeannie Uyanik. November 17, 2007 (Second Part of a Two-Part Article on "Event Stationary"): First let’s discuss the program you distribute at your "event."  I give a wide range of advice to my brides on programs.  On one hand, many people don’t read them or they leave them on their seat at the ceremony.  On the other hand, if you’re having a religious ceremony or lots of musicians or attendants, often it’s nice to describe the traditions and point out the participants.  The program is another place where you can get really creative. 

The Pivotal Escort Card vs. Placecard

Once the ceremony is over, it’s time for the reception and depending on its format, you may or may not need the following items.  If you are having a seated affair, guests will need to know which table is theirs. This is usually done through an escort card.  It’s often confused with a place card. The difference: an escort card assigns you to a table; a place card assigns you to a seat at the table. Typically, we recommend using only escort cards.  Often guests get irritated if they are told to sit in a specific seat and it’s one less thing to print if you don’t use them.  Again, there’s a gamut of possibilities.  The most simple and cost effective is a standard tented card.  These can be either done through your calligrapher or through a printer.  We often use a company called www.placecards.com with our clients.

They offer several different papers, inks, and fonts and the pricing is ridiculously reasonable. If you want something with a dramatic flare, you can attach ribbons to your cards and hang them from an arrangement of flowering branches (although this can create difficulty in finding cards).  We’ve also done things like nestling them in wheat grass or placing them across a bed of roses.  Some couples even affix the cards to the wedding favor so people get them early in the night. 

But keep in mind, if you’re having a cocktail hour, your guests will have to hold whatever you’re giving them, so simple is best!  Another way to customize your escort cards is by labeling your tables with names rather than numbers.  Perhaps you and your hubby have traveled the world and want the tables to be names of your favorite cities.  Or perhaps you met in a particular city and you want to incorporate local streets, attractions and restaurants in that area. Again, the sky is the limit and in this case, your creativity isn’t costing you more money!

Once guests know where they are sitting, the will arrive at their table where it’s often nice to have a menu card at each place setting.  Guests are excited to see what will be on the menu!  Although it’s still done, it’s not proper etiquette to give guests a choice of entrée on the wedding invitation; it’s much better to do it at the event on a menu card.  I am a fan of the tea length card which typically measures 4” x 9”.  Its sleek long design comfortably tucks into a folded napkin where a fresh flower can be placed as well.  We’ve had couples include everything from the food to the wines to a special message.  If you’re giving a donation to a charity in lieu of a favor, it’s appropriate to mention it at the bottom.

Another paper product that appears at the wedding is the guestbook. 

Traditionally couples go out and buy a lined book and people sign it during different times in the evening. It can be a daunting and a dull activity….until now.  In recent years, guest books have made major developments.  Many people have started using beautiful art books or a book on the city they are getting married in as their guestbook.  A few companies make pieces of unfired pottery for guests to sign.  The piece is then sent back to the company where it’s fired and glazed to be used a functional piece.  The downside is, if you break it, it’s gone.

There’s also the Polaroid Guestbook that has custom pages that will hold a standard Polaroid picture. It can be expensive since you need to have enough film for every guest to have a picture, but it can be a fun thing to do (although its been done a lot). In keeping up with the “green” movement with weddings, our team has designed a guestbook that uses your positive RSVP cards as its pages.  Couples send in their cards, and we bind them into a beautiful custom book.  It’s a great memento of the wedding and it’s an eco-friendly way to reuse a piece of your stationery.  It’s scheduled to launch this fall.  For updates visit www.candgweddings.com .

Printing Cache

I haven’t touched on one thing that supremely affects the look, feel and cost of your stationery and that is the printing method.  I’ll just touch briefly on each as this topic is extremely vast.  The cheapest way to print is called off-set printing or lithography.  If you have many colors in your invitation or very detailed graphics, this is your best bet.  But many people find it very important for their invitations to have relief, meaning the ink can be felt when you move your finger over it.  There are a couple of options for this:  engraving and thermography. 

Engraving involves a process where a plate is made, which in turn makes it more expensive than thermography.  Thermography, known as the “poor man’s engraving,” is done by dusting wet ink with a powder and then heating it to create the texture. Both give you the same affect and only a trained eye can tell the difference.  The last method I’ll mention is letterpress.  It’s probably my favorite but it comes at a premium.  Actual letterpress machines aren’t produced anymore, so it’s truly an art and a rarity. Letterpress is the opposite of engraving because it produces a negative relief.  The machine literally presses images into the paper.  Recently, we had a bride that had the image of her wedding dress’s lace pressed onto the invitation.  It was spectacular!  A great designer in Chicago named Peggy Lambert produced these.  www.ericksondesign.com

Stationary Creates an Intangible Image

Stationery can be a powerful tool in creating the look of your wedding, why not optimize its power and make consistent and creative choices for every piece.  Creativity doesn’t always mean expensive. There are many companies out there that offer economical invitations that are beautiful. Make sure you touch and feel a sample before you commit.  And one last piece of advice, take your invitation to the post office and have it weighed.  Odd shapes and heavy invitations translate into extra postage.  The USPS puts out a wedding stamp set every year but make sure it’s sufficient for your exact invitation before you buy your stamps and mail your invitations.  

Above all, remember that your stationery should not be stationary, use it to move guests before and at the event

Note: Ms. Uyanik knows all kinds of events! Got a question or a comment for the Wedding Jeannie? Ms. Uyanik will answer your questions. Simply e-mail her at weddinggenie@candgweddings.com