USPS Releases New Spring Wedding Stamps for 2013

If you were married last year sometime after February, your invitations and reply cards were probably adorned with the LOVE stamps, designed by one of my favorite designers, Louise Fili, and illustrated by the charming and talented, Ms. Jessica Hische. I enjoyed using these last year, especially for bills. I'm pretty sure the love stamp helped get our taxes done faster...seriously.

The USPS just unveiled the new wedding stamp for 2013, designed by Michael Osborne Design. You might not recognize his name, but you definitely know his design, especially if you shop at Target. Ever been tempted to buy an Archer Farms product because the packaging is so nice? me too...we have Michael Osborne to thank for that one. He has also designed Cocktails by Jen, branding for Gymboree, Janie and Jack, the list goes on. We now have Michael Osborne to thank for the new wedding stamp.

Unlike the LOVE stamp, this one is definitely geared more for weddings. Its nice and springy and sure beats the boring wedding cake or white rose stamp. To be honest, I still love the LOVE stamp from last year, but I have to appreciate the USPS using professional designers to design their stamps.

On a side note, I'm also excited to finally see a new option for a postcard stamp!! Good lord, I can't tell you how annoying it is to design beautiful RSVP postcards, only to slap a hawaiian shirt on it. So, here it is, the new postcard stamp---------------------->

Look, its better than a hawaiian shirt, okay?

What do you think of these options? Of course, if none of the USPS stamps work for you, you can always design your own.

Wedding Invitation Wording 101

Many brides that I work with are not quite sure where to start when it comes to writing their wedding invitations. To help future brides-to-be, I have put together a handy, no-nonsense guide to give you a starting point.

The guides below will provide you a basic structure for your wedding invites. They will make sure you put the most important content in the right order according to your hosting situation. From here on out, you can add to it and make it as formal or informal as you'd like. If you're going the informal route (which seems to be most popular nowadays) start with these base structures and then add your own personal style to the writing, add local color or adjectives that will set the expectations for the big day.

Scroll to the bottom for copy and paste templates.

Bride’s parents are hosting
{bride’s parents}
{request}
{bride’s relationship to host} 
{bride’s first & middle name}
to
{groom’s full name (first middle last}
{day of the week}, {month} {day}, {year}
at {time} in the {time of day}.

Bride’s parents are hosting,
 plus a mention of the groom's parents
{bride’s parents}
{request}
{bride’s relationship to host} 
{bride’s first & middle name}
to
{groom’s full name (first middle last}
son of
{groom’s parents names}
{day of the week}, {month} {day}, {year}
at {time} in the {time of day}.

Groom’s parents are hosting
{groom’s parents}
{request}
{bride’s full name}
to their son
{groom’s first & middle name}
{day of the week}, {month} {day}, {year}
at {time} in the {time of day}

Bride & Groom’S parents are both hosting
{bride’s parents}
and
{groom’s parents}
{request}
{relationship of host and b&g}
{bride’s first & middle name}
to
{groom’s first & middle name}
{day of the week}, {month} {day}, {year}
at {time} in the {time of day}

Bride & groom are hosting
{bride’s full name}
and
{groom’s full name}
{request}
{day of the week}, {month} {day}, {year}
at {time} in the {time of day}

Bride’s divorced parents host
{mother of the bride}
and
{father of the bride}
{request}
{relationship of hosts and b&g}
{bride’s full name}
to
{groom’s full name}
{day of the week}, {month} {day}, {year}
at {time} in the {time of day}

Bride’s divorced and remarried parents host
{mother of the bride & her husband}
and
{father of the bride & his wife}
{request}
{relationship of hosts and b&g}
{bride’s full name}
to
{groom’s full name}
{day of the week}, {month} {day}, {year}
at {time} in the {time of day}