The first impression that your guests will receive in regards to your wedding day is your save the dates and wedding invitations. Your entire stationary suite sets the tone for your wedding day and brings to life the theme and vibe of your special day. Since this is such an important piece to the planning puzzle, I’m sharing with you my top 4 wedding invitation shops that you have to check out.

First, let’s start with the question, “What is a stationary suite?”.

A stationary suite is your entire suite of paper or paper-like products that are created to provide details about your wedding day. The list includes: save the dates, invitations, rsvp cards, details cards, thank you cards, wedding programs, escort cards, dinner menus, and bar menus.  While most wedding shops will focus on advertising their invitations and save the dates, it’s important to note that you can ask the designers to create your programs, menus, and escort cards to match.  Pro Tip: Wedding websites allow you to customize most insert cards, so you can easily turn your matching “details” insert into a “wedding menu” card if you wish.

Your wedding stationary should showcase your unique personality and reflect the aesthetic and theme of your wedding day. There are so many options to choose from when it comes to the design, color, size, and font and narrowing down the choices can be a difficult task.  Lucky for you, there are some amazing websites that provide wedding invitation templates for you to choose from as well as local vendors in your city that can bring your vision to life with little hassle on your part.

Take a look below at my favorite wedding invitation shops you should consider when choosing your stationary.

 

SHOP LOCAL

If a beautiful & unique stationary suite is top of your mind when planning your wedding, I would highly recommend shopping local.  Not only are you connecting with a local vendor in your city and helping promote their business, you will also have the chance to create gorgeous stationary that is completely unique to your event.  Local artists will work with you to create a stationary suite that matches your wedding theme, color, aesthetic and you can 100% customize the invitations to your liking.  Another pro to shopping local is a lot of shops use their own calligraphy & hand-lettering, have options for add-ons like wax seals and silk ribbon enclosures, and offer vintage stamps to bring some personality to your envelopes. Here are a few of my favorite vendors that create one of a kind stationary for your wedding:

Columbus: Cheerup Press | The Columbus Calligrapher

Pittsburgh: Hello Rachel Creative | Blush Paper Co.

Baltimore: Shotgunning for Love | MLC Designs

Photo: What Molly Made

MINTED

Minted is one of my favorite online stationary brands. You have the convenience of creating your stationary from your computer & have opportunity to make your suite unique with tons of add-on options.  Add-ons include return address labels, envelope liners, multiple color options for front and back of invites and envelopes, and my FAVORITE perk of all is the FREE Recipient Addressing that matches your invitation suite. All you have to do is type in your guest addresses in a simple template and they will print them on your invitations in matching font and color that you choose.  A few other perks of Minted are you receive unlimited design proofs, unlimited samples of any invitations you choose, and they have wedding websites that match their invitations. Plus, you can usually find an awesome deal to save money on wedding suites – make sure to subscribe to their website so you don’t miss some of their amazing offers!  Here are a few of my favorite invites currently on their site, click on each image to be directed to customize:
       

 

WEDDING PAPER DIVAS | SHUTTERFLY

Wedding Paper Divas is part of The Wedding Shop by Shutterfly and like Minted, they provide beautiful stationary suites that you can customize to match your wedding theme.  The pro of Wedding Paper Divas compared to Minted is their prices are typically slightly less expensive.  The con is they don’t provide Free Guest Addressing to match your invitation suite.  This might not be as big of a concern for those that are hiring a calligrapher to address their envelopes or want to address the invites themselves.  Also similar to Minted, they provide sample kits so you can see multiple invitation options in person before choosing which one you want to design, and they are always running deals on wedding suites to help save on cost. Here are a few of my favorite invites currently on their site, click on each image to be directed to customize:

            

ETSY

Last but definitely not least if the beloved site called ETSY. Very similar to shopping local without the in-person consultations – Etsy is an awesome platform to connect with small business owners that can create unique stationary to bring your wedding theme to life. Most shop owners have invites for sale on their shops that you can customize & have sent to you home. Some sell invites that you purchase for a very minimal cost and receive the PDF or Jpeg image so you can print them yourself, and some will let you customize your invites 100% if you reach out and ask them to create a design for you. A few of my favorite stationary shops are below:

 

Juicy Paperie | Dunkirk Designs | Paper Dainty

 

Alright friends , I’ve just given you the scoop on my favorite wedding stationary shops and the many benefits of each. There are so many online websites and local shops to find your invites, save the dates, programs, menus, and much more – I would highly recommend comparing a few different options and choosing the best platform for you.   If you have a favorite wedding invitation shop that isn’t mentioned above – I would love to hear about it in the comments below!

 

xx- Alyssa

Alyssa Thomas is a Wedding and Event Planner based in Pittsburgh, PA and serving clients in Pittsburgh, Columbus, and Worldwide Destinations. Her work spans from weddings and corporate events, to meetups and intimate gatherings. Contact her today for your consultation and stop by her instagram to see some beautiful events, design work, and a peek into her personal life + traveling adventures. @alyssathomasevents

Pittsburgh Wedding Planner | Columbus Wedding Planner