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Wedding Stationery Timeline

Table of Contents

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*.

*Note, weddings close to Christmas and Easter need to allow more time than these guidelines, as public holidays will delay couriers. If your wedding is in early-mid January, you'll need to order at least 6 weeks ahead as we are closed over the Christmas/New Years period.

We maintain a comprehensive list of production turnaround times here. The "production time" refers to how long the printing and assembly of your order will take. We can't get your order into production until you've checked over the design. The timeline below takes into account this design/proofing process.

6 Weeks - 1 Month to your wedding

Ideally, you'll place your order for your wedding stationery with Be My Guest around a month before your wedding day.

We don't need the details like names/tables straight away, but knowing what items you are requiring means we can ensure we have the applicable cardstock on hand - plus we block out the time in our schedule for your order, as day-of wedding items are a high priority.

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

Your menu and order of service 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 into production/printing. This gives time for mishaps to occur and be rectified. Sending something with a "Saturday Delivery" doesn't guarantee a courier will deliver it on that day!

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 on an overnight or 2/3 day service. Large format prints (signs/seating plans) 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...

10 days - 1 week before your wedding

Guest books, vow and speech books, wine labels plus other ready-to send products are not a problem to order within a week of your wedding. 

For stationery requiring customisation, get in touch for advice on what's possible in a short timeframe. 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 - we absolutely hate saying no, but hate to let you down with a late delivery even more. 

*Note, weddings close to public holidays, Christmas and Easter need to allow more time than these guidelines, and courier issues can delay things... so keep that in mind.