Making sure you have the perfect wedding invitations is essential as it sends out a message of the style and flavour of your wedding. More importantly the wedding invitations have all the information regarding the venue, date and time of the wedding.

It is easy to forget when surrounded by close friends and family that not everyone will know automatically where and when your wedding will be. Therefore enclosing a map with the wedding invitations is a good idea.

The first thing you must consider is how many people you will be inviting. Sit down and make a list of the people and factor in their guests as well. Once you have a number in mind you will then need to consider your budget.

We all know that the cost of weddings can be staggering and it is normally the little incidentals like wedding invitations that cause costs to spiral out of control.

Whilst you may want the very best wedding invitations money can buy it is worth remembering that most of your guests will look at the invitation once and then it will be discarded. With this in mind and when considering your budget requirements an option may be to print you own wedding invitations.

You can buy colour printers very cheaply these days and good quality paper which will give a look and feel of professional wedding invitations at a fraction of the cost. Alternatively you may be able to get a good deal at a wedding shop or printers and although you will not save money this way you will save yourself time.

Most wedding invitations ordered from a shop or printers offer pre ser template designs where all you have to do is fill in the blanks. You can request bespoke designs however this will again add to your budget. A good idea would be to ask around and in particular couples that have just got married for advice on where to get the best deals.

Traditionally it is the mother and father of the bride who send out the invitations albeit in name only. The wedding invitations should read

" John and Mary Smith request the pleasure of the company of Joe Blogs to celebrate the marriage of their daughter Jane to John Brown (Note that only the brides first name is used on the wedding invitations) To be held at ST Johns church on the 5th of July 2007 at 15:00pm" The invitation should also provide details of where the reception is to be held.

Together with a map giving directions to the church a reply card should also be included, traditionally saying

"Thank-you for your kind invitation to Jane and John Browns wedding

I/We will/will not be able to attend."

Also the reply card should request the guests detail any special dietary requirements for instance if they are vegetarian or have any food allergies.