Your wedding stationery is the visual overture to your celebration. At Lucky Onion, we always say that your save-the-dates and invitations are the first glimpse your guests will have into the world you’re creating. Long before your wedding day arrives, your invitations set the tone for everything to come: the setting, the formality, the feeling. Thoughtful planning ensures every element, from your save-the-dates to your wedding website, works in harmony to communicate not just information but atmosphere and intention.
One should think of their wedding invitations and information communication as a form of hospitality for their guests. Leave no question unanswered, and let guests know exactly what they can expect. This applies both to general wedding information and the look and feel of your event.
1. Begin with a Thoughtful Timeline
The stationery process should unfold slowly and intentionally, allowing space for design, printing, and the many small details that make your suite feel personal and polished.
Starting the Design Process: 12-15 Months Out
It takes time to plan and curate your dream wedding stationery. When working with our team, we go through an initial discovery process and design process before finalizing your save-the-dates, which is step one in the stationery process. The designs we finalize will flow through your save-the-dates, invitations, and day-of stationery, so the initial design phase is extremely important. In order to work at an efficient pace, we ask that you engage with our team no later than 12-15 months prior to your wedding date.
Save-The-Dates: 9-12 Months Out
We recommend sending save-the-dates approximately 9-12 months before your wedding, especially if your celebration involves travel, a destination location, or a peak-season date. This gives guests ample time to secure accommodations and plan ahead. Again, this is when you should be sending your save-the-dates. Have your planner engage with our stationery design team well in advance so that we can create your dream vision and branding for your wedding.
Make sure your wedding website is on your save-the-dates! You don’t need to enable any RSVP steps yet, but have the general website information ready to go for your guests.
Wedding Invitations: 3-4 Months Out
Your formal invitations should follow about 3–4 months before the wedding. This timeline allows your planner and our design team to collaborate seamlessly, ensuring your suite and day-of stationery aligns with the full event design, from the tablescapes to the floral palette.
RSVP Deadline
Your RSVP deadline should typically fall around 6-7 weeks before the event, giving your planner and venue time to finalize guest counts and seating. This timeline applies also to destination weddings.
Insider tip: When you're expecting both digital and physical RSVPs, we highly recommend designating an RSVP Manager. This is someone who can manage both your digital RSVPs and any RSVPs sent in by mail. It can be easy to underestimate the importance (and sometimes, chaos) that comes along with managing RSVPs. Our Lucky Onion team does offer this service and we are happy to speak about options.
Day-of Stationery: 3-4 Months Out
Similar to your invitations, we recommend finalizing your day-of stationery about 3–4 months before the wedding. This gives our design team enough time to create cohesive pieces that complement your full suite. Day-of stationery includes menus, welcome signage, escort walls, ceremony programs, bar menus, and even dance floor wraps (and more!), ensuring every detail of your celebration feels thoughtfully curated and beautifully unified.
2. Align Stationery with the Broader Wedding Design and Day-of Stationery
Your stationery should feel like a continuation of your overall wedding aesthetic, not an afterthought. We always work directly with a couple’s wedding planner and creative team to make sure every paper element supports the event vision.
Our services go far beyond wedding invitation design. We work with you to design your entire stationery suite, all the way through to the very end of the wedding weekend. This includes your welcome signage, ceremony programs, escort walls, table signage, cocktail bar and table menus, and more.
We will echo your desired tones, textures, and motifs throughout your entire wedding weekend. A custom monogram or venue sketch introduced on your save-the-date might later appear on menus or escort cards, while the typography and materials can weave a consistent narrative across every touchpoint, including your website. You want your wedding to feel like a cohesive and highly personalized event, and that’s what we specialize in.
This level of cohesion is what makes a wedding feel considered and curated from the first envelope to the final toast.
3. Curate What’s Digital vs. What’s Tangible
In the modern era of weddings, it’s completely appropriate, and expected, to strike a balance between digital and printed materials. The key is knowing which pieces deserve to live on paper.
Your save-the-dates and invitations should always be printed and mailed. The tactile experience of holding an invitation (the weight of the paper, the subtle embossing, the scent of ink) signals to your guests that this is a moment worth celebrating.
We also love including a physical RSVP envelope and response card in our invitation suites. Not only is this a beautiful touch, but it immediately signals to your guests that this is a well-planned, formal event. While many younger guests may prefer to reply online, older family members often appreciate the tradition and simplicity of mailing their response. We know this might sound “old school”, but this goes back to our hospitality point. Providing both ensures that everyone in every age group feels accommodated and cared for. And, hey, it’s not every day you get to send a mailed RSVP card for an event, maybe with a little note to the couple or a song request. You’ll be surprised how many guests choose this option when you provide both.
Your wedding website, on the other hand, is the ideal home for expanded details, travel recommendations, weekend events, attire guidance, and registry links. It should mirror your printed pieces in tone and design so that the experience feels cohesive from screen to stationery. By the time your formal invitations go out, your website should be ready to accept digital RSVPs and dinner preferences, along with listing your hotel block information.
4. Share Information with Intention
Each phase of your stationery suite plays a specific role in guiding your guests:
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Save the Date: Introduce your wedding date, city or venue, and an initial glimpse of your aesthetic.
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Invitation Suite: Include the full details. Date, time, venue, dress code, RSVP deadline, and a reference to your website for further information.
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Wedding Website: Host everything else. Travel, accommodations, maps, transportation, FAQs, attire guide, digital RSVP, and registry links.
This layered approach allows your guests to receive information gradually, ensuring they never feel overwhelmed but always feel informed.
You’ll hear this often from our team: repetition is your friend. While your information will appear on both your invitations and your website, it’s important to use the real estate in your physical suite to share as much as possible with your guests. Consider including design cards, maps, and weekend schedules within your suite. There are plenty of opportunities to communicate key details and repeating information in thoughtful ways ensures nothing is missed.
5. Mail with Care
When it comes time to send your invitations, the method of delivery matters. At Lucky Onion, we always recommend using a packaged mail delivery service (such as UPS, FedEx, or USPS) instead of standard postal service. Packaged delivery offers tracking numbers, reliable handling, delivery confirmation, and better protection for custom suites featuring delicate materials like wax seals, ribbons, or letterpress texture. Over the past few years, we’ve noticed a significantly slower delivery time when using standard mail. Packaged mail services are more expensive, yes, but they will give you peace of mind.
If you prefer direct mail for its aesthetic or tradition, we suggest asking about hand-canceling. This is a process that minimizes machine damage during sorting. And always confirm postage costs in advance; premium paper stocks, embellishments, or oversized envelopes can require additional postage.
Our stationery team handles this step for you, ensuring your invitations are mailed in pristine condition and arrive precisely when intended.
6. Enjoy the Process!
Designing your wedding stationery should be one of the most enjoyable parts of the planning process. It’s your opportunity to slow down, savor the artistry, and collaborate with your planner and stationer to create something that feels distinctly yours.
Every texture, ink color, and material tells a small part of your story. When your guests receive that first piece of mail, thoughtfully designed, beautifully presented, and perfectly aligned with your wedding vision, they’ll already feel connected to the experience you’re inviting them into.
At Lucky Onion, we believe your invitation suite should feel like more than stationery. It should feel like an introduction; the first chapter of the celebration to come.
