The first step in announcing your intents to marry is to issue your engagement announcement. This announcement should be about a paragraph long, and it should present the vital statistics for the couple's betrothal including the names and ages of the engaged couple, where they met, and when they plan on getting married. The cost of your wedding announcement will vary depending on the publication that the announcement is published in.

The next piece of wedding stationery that you will need to pick out is a bridal shower invitation. The stationary for this invitation will most likely be selected by someone other than the bride, but the bride's style, preferences, and personality should still be taken into consideration when picking out the bridal shower invitations. These invitations should reflect the style of the bridal shower, and they should include who the shower is for, when it will be, the address and driving directions to the location of the bridal shower, where the bride is registered, special instructions about what the guests should expect, and information about how the guest can RSVP.

After the engagement announcement and the bridal shower, the next thing that will need to be designed or picked out is the wedding stationary that the wedding invitations and thank you notes will be printed on. There are many options available for wedding stationary. You can go with a pre-printed set of wedding stationary, you can order custom wedding stationary, or you can design your own wedding stationery. The cost for each piece of wedding stationery will vary depending on the grade of paper used, the printing options that you select, as well as the quantity that you order it in.

If you would like to save some money on your wedding invitations then you can look at prepackaged themed invitations. These packages come in a variety of themes including contemporary, modern, classical, romantic, and funny, and they usually include both invitations and envelopes. In addition to offering invitations and envelope sets, companies that offer packaged pre-printed themed invitations also usually offer matching thank you notes and envelope stationery sets. The price of themed invitations will vary based on the vendor, the quantity ordered, and quality of the paper used.

If you want to get away from traditional wedding invitations then you can always opt to create unique wedding invitations using your own imagination and multimedia technology. One option for creating unique wedding invitations is to design the wedding invitation around a photograph of the engaged couple. This photograph can be a studio portrait, or it can be a simple snapshot taken of the couple on vacation or having fun. The second unique wedding invitation option is to create a video invitation using a digital video camera and editing software. This video invitation can be as simple as a photo slide show of the couple followed by information about when and where the wedding will be, or it can be a movie of the couple that reveals that they are getting married and that the person who received the video is invited to attend. The last unique wedding invitation option that you have is to send out e-invitations. This is a very cost effective wedding invitation option for weddings with a small or tight budget. Your guests can receive their invitations via email and then respond immediately simply by replying to the email. This will save you money on both wedding stationery as well as postage.

If you would prefer to stay away from store bought wedding invitations all together then you can always make your own wedding invitations. Handmade wedding invitations can be made in several ways. You can personalize blank cards with calligraphy, stamp art, or prints of your artwork. You can also personalize your handmade wedding invitations by writing a personal note to each guest on the invitation or by adding a photograph to the invitation.