Module
18: Printed Materials and the Gift List

 What printed
materials the happy couple likely to need

 About your role as a wedding planner when it comes to printed materials  How to organise a gift list for the couple

 How to obtain the best prices for printed materials

By the end of this chapter, you will know:

 What printed materials is the happy couple likely to need

About your role as a wedding planner when it comes to printed materials

How to organise a gift list for the couple

How to obtain the best prices for printed
materials

18.1  : Introduction

Printed materials are sometimes seen as an afterthought when it comes to

weddings.

However, they're just as important
as any other element of the planning
process. From 'save the
date' cards through to the menus you lay out on the table, your printed
materials need to tell a story and
they must tell it consistently.

18.2  : What printed materials is the happy couple likely
to need?

The kinds of
printed materials your couple chooses will vary according to their tastes and desires.

Some may want a printed material for practically every aspect of their wedding.

This can be broken up into materials
for before, during,
and after the wedding:

 Before: Before the wedding,
you may need save the date cards,
invites, last minute
RSVP cards, and rehearsal plans

 During: During the wedding
there's the ceremony
outline, table name cards, seating
plans, seat cards, and menus

 After: After the wedding you may need thank you cards.

18.3  : Your role as a wedding planner when it comes to
printed materials

As a wedding planner, your role is simple: you need
to make sure the printed materials follow a theme and you should aim for a
discount.

Before
you begin ordering
these materials, you need to establish the following:

 What theme has the couple chosen? The imagery is
going to continue throughout the materials,
so make sure they think about it carefully.

 What types of printed materials do they want?

Would they rather take a hand printed approach?
Some couples love crafting!

How many of each type of material do they need?

Are you going to order spares?

In general, the more you order of a particular type of product,
the greater the discount. If possible,
establish how much you need of each type prior to ordering and then order
everything at once. By doing this,
you stand a stronger chance of getting the discount your couple has hired you
to attract. To make sure the printed materials are perfect, ask
for samples.

18.4  : Organising a gift list for the couple

Gift lists are exciting for couples. In days gone
by, towns had specific gift registries and couples stuck to them.

Today, there's a myriad of options available. The
traditional gift registry still exists – mainly in the form of department stores – but there are rivaling practical
bricks and mortar options.

To diversify, there are web sites that allow you to
pick gifts from across the web. This means you're more likely to get what you want in terms of gifts, but it also
means you may pay a fee. Some sites operate
primarily off affiliate commissions, which means fees aren't always a factor.

As a wild alternative, you can suggest to the
couple that they allow the guests to just choose and bring their own gifts. One of the biggest problems
associated with this is that they may end up with more than one of the same thing.

An increasing number of couples are now choosing to
use websites that allow guests to make some form
of donation. These sites may be geared towards helping to pay for the wedding,
or they can be used to donate to a
charity. In either case, whether or not to keep the donors anonymous is at the couple's discretion. This is a
particularly popular option among couples who cannot afford to pay for their
own honeymoon, but are quite happy to accept donations.

18.5  : Setting up a website
for the bride and groom

It may sound quite complicated when you hear that the bride and

groom
want a website set up for them. But in all honesty, you don't have to be a
computer geek to get a nice looking website done for them.

In fact, there
are plenty of options out there when it comes
to different website
builders. Whether you are looking for a specific
color or a theme, you can find it out there, and it's fairly easy to set up quickly, too.

There are many companies who are more than willing
to help create a fabulous looking website for the new bride and groom. There
aren't a lot of steps in the process when you choose some companies. While others may ask for more details,
really the process
is quite simple.
You just need to sit down with your soon to be wife
or husband and decide on the details they'd like included.

18.6  : Free or paid websites?

The first choice
you'll need to make is whether or not you want to go
with a free web building
website or if you would rather pay for the website.

There are plenty of choices, and you can have a
really nice looking free website done within a few hours.

The benefit of picking a paid website is that you
do have more choices of designs and other things that can be included on the webpage. Some people like to have
beautiful images, or designs; you may not have the choice that you like the most if you go for a free web builder.

See how you get on with the free website builders
first

A good suggestion is to try a free website builder
first then see what setting up a website for you would entail. See what the options are for colors, designs and
other choices of what can be added to your page.
If you don't like it, then you can always
switch over to a paid website builder.

Most likely the place you've built your free site
on will have an upgrade or premium option. Simply click on this, many will not
make you pay right away, but you'll be able to see what is offered as premium
content. Then you'll be able to decide whether this is a choice you want to make.

Compare services
before you start

Just keep in mind there are more than one web
builder out there, so compare several of them before you even start the process. This will keep you from having to
build your website more than one time. Nothing
could be worse than building the site, finding out you don't like it, looking
at the premium choices, and finding
none of them fit with what you want.

Of course, if you have skills in building html
codes, you may want to consider making your own wedding website. However, you may find it much simpler to finish
up a webpage by using a builder that
worries about all the codes and where they need to be placed so that your page
will come up properly with no broken
links.

Another option is to hire a professional to do the
job. A web designer will be a lot more expensive. But they can custom design a page to all your needs. If this is
an important option in planning your wedding,
you may want to seriously consider this choice.

18.7  : What do you include
on the website?

There are things that every wedding
site is going to need, they are

the
following.

If you want to add in more feel free to do so, just make sure these things are on your website.

Get the right
information displayed

Basic information: which will include not only your
names, but also the date of the wedding, where it will be held, and at what time; along with the place and time of the reception. A good way to make sure you've included everything that
is needed is to ask yourself, if you've answered, what the events are, when it's being held, where it's being held, and why it's taking place.

You'll need to include directions to where the
wedding is being held, and where the reception will be. You should include helpful directions, like any landmarks a
person who does not know the area will be able to see so they will not get lost. If at all possibly
try and include a map, either one that
you have linked by using Google maps, or even a hand drawn map.

Information about hotels in the area: where
out-of-town guests would be able to stay. Also, if you've reserved rooms,
you'll especially want to let this be known on your website. If there is more
than one option, you may want to list
the information of the hotels, including links to websites and phone numbers
for reservations.

Another thing to place on your website
is suggestions for what should be worn by guests attending the wedding. Not all
weddings are formal; so let your guests know if some other style of clothing is
allowed. This will save them from showing up for a wedding where they could
have worn jeans, but choose to wear a suit instead.

People will enjoy knowing who you've chosen for
groomsmen as well as bridesmaids. It's just a bit of extra information that could include a picture of the person, and their name. Don't forget people will