Getting organised for your wedding reception? One of the trickiest tasks is trying to figure out wedding seating. Where is everyone sitting for the speeches and meal?
Family politics, friend drama and ex girlfriends all have to be kept in mind. Sure, it’s your day, but if you can do something to minimise the chance of drama taking away from the shine of your big day, you would, right?
With this in mind, allocated seating for your wedding guests is a smart move. In this article I’m sharing tips and tricks to create the perfect wedding reception seating plan with Be My Guest Design.
I think we can all agree that 2021 has been another rollercoaster year! I’ve found it more challenging than 2020 with price rises, stock shortages and courier delays.
As we head towards December, it’s going to get even more hectic. We’ve instituted close off dates to keep everything running smoothly and to ensure everyone gets what they need in plenty of time.
The close off days are when your design must be signed off and approved for printing by, not when you place your order. You need to be ordering in advance of these dates. We are back open for the year on Monday 10 January 2022 so if your wedding is in early/mid January, you will need to order in advance.
Deadline for canvas prints
Orders printed onto canvas must be signed off as ready to print by 10 December. No urgent turnaround is possible due to canvas order volumes in December.
Deadline for all other large format prints
(i.e. mounted on board, posters, fabric decals, card): Orders must be signed off as ready to print by 17 December.
Deadline for Custom printed items
Save the Dates, Wedding Invitations, Guest Books, Place Cards etc must be signed off and approved for printing by 16 December to be done in 2021. NZ Post have bought forward their courier cut off forward to 20 December, so the 16th gives us time to produce, package and get on the courier!
We will continue to print and package items up until we close on 22 December. This does not allow for any delivery time, so if it’s needed for Christmas, we only recommend leaving it this late if you are able to collect from our studio.
Orders for Extra Bits
Envelopes, accessories and other ready to ship items in stock will be shipping daily up until our last day. It’s the courier’s busiest time of year so while we ship these items on an overnight service, there is no guarantee it will arrive overnight. We are closing at lunchtime 22 December.
You’ve got a colour scheme, sussed out a guest list and have decided on the when and where. Now let’s get to the nitty gritty. Wording your wedding invitations is a minefield of etiquette and detail to dodge. So how do you actually say “come to our wedding”?!
Why are wedding invitations so important?
Your wedding invitations communicate important information to your guests. Of course, the all-important who, when and where – but also information on the type of wedding they can expect to attend. Does your invite say cocktail dress and fancy up-do, or jeans and a nice top?
A properly designed invitation conveys the tone, style, theme and sets the scene for your guests. You have your perfect day sitting in your imagination. Your wedding invitation is your first chance to express this vision to your guests.
Your wedding invitations are your guests’ first peek into your wedding day. But when are they getting this first peek? We are sharing our recommended wedding invitation timeline today. We’ve compiled our best advice and tips to answer that common question: “when are wedding invitations sent?”.
In the home stretch to your wedding, while the big things are organised and locked in, the smaller details still need to be ironed out.
Those finishing touches can’t always be planned in advance, so it’s one of those last-minute wedding planning admin tasks that has to be left till close to the big day (but not too close!)
Here’s an ideal wedding stationery timeline for when you should be ordering your day-of pieces*.
We don’t need the details straight away, but knowing what items you are requiring means we can ensure we have the applicable cardstock etc ordered in – plus we block out the time in our schedule for your order, as day-of wedding items are a high priority.
Check out our range of wedding stationery for design and wording inspiration
Now would also be a good time to read through the Epic NZ Wedding Seating Planning Guide. You’ll pick up a few handy hints for figuring out where guests should sit and how setting up on the day can be done quickly.
3 weeks before your wedding
3 weeks out from your wedding is when your stationery wording, guest lists, seating plan etc needs to be submitted. That’s to give us enough time to design your stationery, get it back to you for review, make any changes, then setting up for print.
Some things take longer than others – for example canvas prints take a bit more time – so we may encourage you to finalise some items earlier than others, just so we know everything is good to go in time.
2 weeks before your wedding
A fortnight before your wedding date is when we like to have all your stationery off to production (i.e. printing!). I always sleep easier knowing that wedding stationery is into production with a couple of weeks to spare – this gives us time for printer hiccups and courier mishaps to occur …and be rectified.
We are very conscious of your wedding date but you are welcome to check with us if you are feeling nervous.
Most items are shipped to you on an overnight courier service. Large format prints (signs/seating plans) can sometimes take a little longer because of their size.
Don’t sweat it if you think you’ll be a bit later than the times listed above, just keep in touch and communicate what’s happening with us. Which leaves is with our last “milestone” of this timeline…
Check out our range of wedding stationery for design and wording inspiration
Last Minute Orders: 1 week before your wedding (Ekk!)
Occasionally we get people getting in touch a week or 10 days before a wedding, asking for assistance with bits of wedding stationery. It is rare for us to say no – it all depends on our existing orders, the particular items the last-minute person wants, and the capacity of our production partners. There’s typically an urgency fee associated with these expedited orders.
Don’t leave it till the last minute if you can help it – I absolutely hate saying no, but hate to let you down with a late delivery even more.
