How many invitations do you really need for a wedding?
(Everything you need to know to avoid reprints, mistakes and last-minute panic)
One of the most common questions when we start designing invitations is:
“How many should we print?”
And the answer is: not as many as guests, but how many families or couples to be invited.
If you invite 120 people, you will probably need between 60 and 70 participations, not 120!
But beware: Printing only the exact number is risky.
That's why adding a few extra invitations is always a good idea, and I'll tell you why.
The 60% rule
A useful way to start is to apply the so-called “60% rule”:
Calculate about 60% of the total number of guests to get a first realistic estimate of the number of invitations to be printed.
Example:
- 150 guests? Start from approx. 90 invitations
- 100 guests? About 60 invitations
Why not the 50%? Because among single friends, families with children, non-cohabiting couples and +1 guests, that “exact half” hardly exists. The 60% takes into account the most common variables.
Practical method: one line per envelope
The best way not to make mistakes is very simple: create an Excel or Google Sheet file (digital is better, because you can then easily share it with whoever is doing the printing or preparing the envelopes), and enter one line for each invitation to be sent.
- A couple? One line
- A family with children? One line
- A single friend? One line
- Your parents, yourselves, the witnesses, the photographer? Yes, them too!
The number of lines will correspond to the exact number of invitations to be printed.
Extra invitations: trust me, you need them!
Once the exact number has been calculated... don't stop there.
Between ruined envelopes, last-minute changes, wrong addresses, requests for copies to be kept, or new guests popping up out of nowhere, extra invitations are always a saving grace.
My advice: always add at least 10 extra invitations, or a 10-20% in addition.
They are a few more, but they really make a difference.
1. The drama of reprints
If you choose high-quality printing methods such as letterpress or hot foil, know that reprinting even five pieces is virtually impossible (or otherwise very expensive).
These handcrafted techniques require the creation of dies, machine start-up, set-up times...
Making a few pieces can cost as much as reprinting everything from scratch!
2. Even for digital... it's not “just clicking print”
Maybe think: “Whatever, if we print digitally we can always add two later, right?”
Yes, technically it is possible, but in practice it is much more complicated than it seems.
It is not just a matter of reopening a file and pressing “print”.
Even to add a few pieces, everything has to be prepared again: from the paper (which often has to be cut to size, even if you do not fill the sheet) to the seals, from the translucent covers to the hand-written envelopes.
Not to mention that, in order to do so, one has to interrupt the workflow of the firm and reorganise the delivery of other ongoing projects.
That is why, in plumacreative, reopening an order has an extra cost.
It is not a penalty, it is simply a reflection of the time and resources it requires.
Be it 50 or 150 invitations, perfect printing starts with good planning.
You want someone to accompany you with clarity (and a bit of poetry) in every choice, write to me: we'll think about it together.
Do you like the photos?
All the photos you see in the blog are photos of newlyweds who chose plumacreativa to take care of their wedding graphics, yours can be so beautiful too!
Photo: Andreea Bizgan
