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	ARTICLE 1 : INVITATIONS & MAILING Even though we live in the age of modern technology,we are still very much intrigued by corporeal invitations. Etiquette offers many methods of sending the invitation, but no other precedent than the fact, social, business, bridal special events -- all require formal invitations. In selecting your invitation, you will want to consider the cost per entire set against the number of guests, which includes: The invitation card The envelope for the invitation additional inserts such as a map to the venue Postage When planning your invitations, there are a few things to take note:
	Check and confirm the correct addresses and spellings of guests' names. Develop a time-line for your invitations. Receiver must have 4-6 weeks notice prior to the event. It takes 2-3 working days for the mail delivery within Singapore, and longer for overseas delivery. It may take two to three weeks to complete the addressing. Examine the invitations and envelopes for correct returns and information. ~Ordering Your Invitations~ There are countless varieties of invitations to choose, from Full-Page-letter-type to Color, Embossed to Engraved, and even Themes.If you are at a lost as to where to begin, try to get hold other invitations from your friends or relatives to give yourselves some ideas. And if there is one that you really like, you can even take it straight to the printers and have them mimic a similar design. When you are at the printers, always asks for finished samples to compare their products to others. From colored copying to digitalprinting to stencil printing, the cost can vary a fair bit. Another important component is paper. Paper is graded by "weight" and measured in gsm , grams per meter. Better quality paper are often heavier and thus thicker. Standard A4 paper used in offices ranges from 70 gsm to 90 gsm, while art & craft paper can be as thick as 220 gsm. Check with the printers for their range of materials available. Once you have confirm your design, the printers will usually produce you a draft copy before they commence printing. Carefullygo with correct spellings of names, accurate dates and times, address of the occasion. Wedding cards usually takes 2 weeks to print. While mostrestaurants and hotels provide invitations, always check to ensure that the invitations are ready at least 3 months before the wedding date. Tip: Always order about 10% more invitation cards. This is to accommodate any last minute additions to the guest lists, lost invitations and also for errors. ~Of Postage and Stamps~ Tip: Remember to weigh the combined contents prior to ordering and check for correct postage. Wrong postage can lead to embarrassing situations where the recipient of the invitation is asked to foot the difference in postage costs, plus an additional administration fee. Currently, postage for local mail in Singapore costs $0.25 for mail not exceeding 20g, and $0.31 for mail not exceeding 40g. ClickHere to view other postage rates. Sometimes, Singpost offers specialty stamps series with romance or love related themes. More information may be found at Singpost website (http://www.singpost.com). Write the addresses neatly. As most of our mail is sorted electronically, this greatly reduces sorting errors if the postal code is written in big neat block letter. Cursive styles of writing should be avoided. Fact:Ideal for sorting though astatically unpleasing to our eyes, sorting machines actually prefers typed addresses on sticker labels to our hand writing. Fact: High color contrast between the envelope and the forwarding address reduces both sorting and human errors. Always try to use lightly coloured envelope to contrast the address. If a dark coloured envelopeis prefered,a light coloured sticker label with the forwarding address may be used. ~ Confirmation of Attendance ~ About 1 week after sending your invitations, call your guests to check if they have received your invitations and if they will be attending your wedding. This will help you finalise the confirmed guest list. ~ Summary: At least 3 months of preparation ~ Working backwards, we can roughly gauge the about of time needed to prepare the invitations: 6 weeks - advance notice 1 week- mail delivery 2 weeks - write invitations 2 weeks - printing 1 week- Choosing design 1 week - confirm spelling of guests and addresses --------- 13 weeks - totaling to about 3 months From the above, we can see that it would take about 3 months to prepare the invitations from start to finish. It is often better to start early and some couples do start planningthe invitations some 6 months before the wedding. When you add up all of the time needed, look at your calendar and mark it according to what is next and proceed to do it systematically. Article by Tay Hak Peng www.whitebliss.com April 2004 Updated Jan 2007 Want to read more articles related to wedding preparations? Eager to share your experiences about your own wedding? Submit your articles and comments to us. We love to hear from you. Click [Here]to Email Us

All images on this site have been taken by the team at Whitebliss Wedding Photography and Crafts, Singapore. Duplication without the permission of the author is a criminal offence. WHITEBLISS © copyright 2005. Web design by Tay Hak Peng. [Zach & Lucas Gallery]