Tips on invitations

If you are planning to design your own invitations, consider the following advice from the staff at art stores:

- Have some sense of what your wedding theme and colors are before you go to a store. Upon entering you'll be inundated with choices, so knowing what you are looking for will ward off confusion. If possible, bring in swatches of your wedding colors.

- Consider how involved you want to be in the invitation's creation. Do you want to use a picture you've painted? Do you want to hand-glue special ornaments to each invitation? Does your budget require that you laser print your invitations, or will you bring them to printing press? Tell this to the salesperson, who might give you ideas for colors and papers, or printing techniques that might work best for you.

- Think about the amount of time and patience you have to devote to making your invitations. Those couples with eight months until the special day have more flexibility, and less presure, than those marrying in three. If you have no experience with crafts, factor in time for the learning curve.

- If you are using a calligrapher, have an idea of the wording you want to use. Does your invitation need to be in two languages? Do you have a favorite poem or quotation you wish to include? The text will affect the design.

- If you are working with a calligrapher, allow for at least one month to get the job done, especially in the peak wedding seasons of spring and summer.