When you’re first starting your wedding stationery, it can feel super overwhelming.

Trying to figure out who your inviting, what style of invitation you want, what details you need to include, how much is all of this going to cost, where do you even begin shopping for invitations—the list of questions is never ending, I know!

But, what if I told you that you only need three things to get started? Not kidding!

When starting your wedding stationery you really only need three things—your quantity, a budget and some inspiration images.

First, calculate how many invitations you’ll need.

In wedding world, there are two types of quantities you’ll use a lot—guest count + household quantity.

Your guest count is what you’ll use to order catering, book a venue, order programs, etc. This is the number of people who will be at your wedding.

The household quantity is what you’ll need for your wedding invitations + save the dates. This is the number of households you’ll be mailing your invitations to.

For example: if you plan on inviting your aunt, uncle and three cousins who all live in the same house together, they would most likely receive one invitation, even though they are technically five guests.

Next, have a stationery budget in mind.

When you’re first starting your wedding stationery, assigning a dollar amount to your paper goods can feel a bit daunting + kinda scary.

If you have a wedding planner helping you with your big day, I highly recommend working closely with them to create a wedding budget. They’re the pro after all, so definitely lean on them to help you with this step.

If you don’t have a wedding planner, that’s okay, too! I’d recommend basing your budget off of your priorities for your wedding day. If wedding stationery is super important to you and you’d like to really go all out with it, then set a larger budget to create the stationery of your dreams. If it’s not as important to you, that’s alright! You can set a smaller budget to allow more room in the budget for the things that are important to you.

Keep in mind that if you end up working with a wedding stationer to create your wedding paper goods, a lot of times they’ll work with you to come up with creative solutions to stick within your budget—that’s what I do with my couples! 🖤

Last, have some inspiration saved + ready.

Having inspiration images of stationery you both like and don’t like will be extremely helpful as you begin shopping for your wedding stationery.

My favorite place to find + save inspiration is Pinterest. You can create a board specifically for your wedding stationery and save inspo that you love. Definitely, save some images you don’t like, too. I know that sounds weird, but it’ll help you know exactly what you don’t want.

A lot of stationers ask to see what you’re looking for as far as design, printing, colors, etc. to see if you’re a good fit for them and to help determine what the investment will be. If you have a Pinterest board, you can simply share it with them!

If you’re searching for wedding stationery online maybe as a semi-custom design or a template you can print on your own, having an idea of what you’re looking for design-wise will be so, so helpful, as well. There are so many wedding stationery designs + designers out there that it can become overwhelming very quickly if you don’t know what you’re looking for before you get started.

Another quick tip: Don’t spend too much time in the inspiration phase. It’s helpful to get an idea of what you might like and determine what styles, colors, papers and printing you like the most. But, don’t let it take control over your personal wedding vision. You want this day to still be 100% your own.

Once you have those three things, you’re to start your wedding invitations!

Sometimes, getting started is the hardest part, especially if you’re not sure where to even begin. I know I get that way! When I don’t know what to do first, I totally freeze up and end up going nowhere. Hello, fellow procrastinators. 👋🏻

But, if you can get these three things ready before you even begin, the rest of the wedding stationery process will be sooooo smooth + stress-free.

When you’re all set to dive into your stationery designs, let’s chat! I’d love to create wedding stationery that’s the perfect fit for you. If custom stationery isn’t really your thing, check out my semi-custom shop—I’m sure there’s a design that’s right for you and we can even add your own personal touch to make it all your own.

Photos: Molly Hoffman Photography
Design/Florals/Styling: Elizabeth Mckenzie Florals
Design/Florals/Styling: Wildly Yours Weddings
Stationery: East + West Designs