What does wedding stationery actually include?

Stationery is rarely planned in one sitting. It usually appears in stages, and that is exactly where it goes wrong: the invitations are long printed by the time you realise the menu cards should match, and the printer no longer stocks that paper.

The overview below sorts every piece by when it is needed, says for each whether it is genuinely required, and gives the order in which to place your orders. That way the scope is settled once rather than expanded three times.

It also answers the question underneath all of this: which pieces are answering a real guest question, and which are decoration wearing a functional hat.

Wave one — before the wedding. Save-the-date, invitation, reply card, details card with directions and accommodation, occasionally a card about gifts. These pieces go through the post, and they decide your postage bill.

Wave two — on the day. Order of service or programme, table plan, table numbers, place cards, menu cards, signage and sometimes a card for the evening's running order. These are not posted but displayed, so format and paper weight can be more generous.

Wave three — afterwards. The thank-you card, often with a photograph from the day. It is the one that gets forgotten, because it falls after the point where everything was meant to be finished.

The waves differ in more than timing. Wave one has to fit through a letterbox, wave two has to be readable from three metres, wave three can afford to be personal. Design all three as one and you will make life difficult for at least one of them.

In practice: a delicate script that works beautifully on an invitation held in the hand is useless on a table plan. Conversely, the sturdy lettering a table plan needs looks coarse on an A6 card. What connects the waves is not the type size but the typeface, the colour and the paper — three things that can carry across all three.

This table covers everything that is commonly printed. The right-hand column says whether you actually need it.

What stands out is how many pieces depend on a condition. Place cards are only needed with assigned seats; a table plan is only needed once there are more tables than you can point at. Test those conditions honestly and three lines usually disappear — with nothing missing on the day.

For a forty-guest wedding at a single venue, this selection is entirely sufficient: invitation with a way to reply, one details card with directions and accommodation, table numbers, a table plan at the entrance and the thank-you card. Five pieces instead of eleven.

It works because each of those answers a genuine question: where do I go, where do I sit, which table is mine. Anything printed beyond that answers no further question and instead makes a visual point — which is a legitimate reason, but a different one, and it should be argued differently.

The saving is substantial and it is not only financial. Six fewer pieces means six fewer sets of artwork, six fewer proofreading rounds and six fewer deliveries that have to arrive on time. In the last four weeks before a wedding, that second saving is worth more than the first.

At very small weddings of up to about twenty people, table numbers and the table plan drop away too. That leaves the invitation and the thank-you card, and stationery is decided in an afternoon. Above a hundred guests the opposite applies: stationery becomes a wayfinding system, and it is worth walking your guests' route in your head — entrance, coat check, ceremony, drinks, room, table, seat.

Menu cards at a buffet. They get printed because they belong at a place setting, then go unread because the food is right there. One large card at the buffet does the same job for a fraction of the effort.

Programme cards for the evening. The evening rarely runs as printed. If you want to announce the shape of it, do so out loud or on a board you can change.

A second details card. Directions, hotels, dress code and gift wording all fit on one sheet. Two cards add weight and postage and still get read once.

Place cards where seating is free. It sounds obvious and happens often: place cards are ordered, then the decision goes to open seating at each table.

The reserve that was too small. The reverse happens just as often — invitations ordered to the exact number of households, with no margin for spoiled envelopes, late additions or the two cards you want to keep.

These cases share a cause: they were ordered before the corresponding decision was made, or without a margin. Stationery follows planning rather than the other way round, and it tolerates a small reserve far better than a late reorder, which rarely matches on colour.

Do not order chronologically by use. Order in two blocks. The first covers everything that is posted: save-the-date, invitation, reply card and details card. It can be produced as soon as the date, venue and shape of the day are settled.

The second block covers everything for the day itself and can wait until the RSVP deadline has passed and the replies are in — place cards and the table plan cannot be written before you know who is coming. Four to six weeks before the wedding is the right moment.

Within the second block there is a further order: table numbers and the table plan first, then place and menu cards. Name spellings are only final once the seating is, and place cards printed earlier tend to be printed twice.

One thing connects both blocks: the paper. If the suite is to hang together, order spare sheets with the first block or ask how long the printer will stock your chosen paper. Paper lines are discontinued, and a menu card in a slightly different white is genuinely noticeable on a laid table.

If you are already collecting replies and guest details in one place — on a wedding website, for instance — the name list for place and table cards is finished when you need it, rather than assembled from messages and reply cards.