During the Middle Ages, and even before that period, weddings were announced through the town crier. Everybody who heard the news could go to the wedding pronto. It was only when the printing press was invented that wedding invitations appeared on the scene.
The Evolution of Wedding Invitations
Ever since then, weddings were always anticipated celebrations. For the ordinary men and women, it was a love match. For the nobility, marriages were means to expand territories and gain wealth. But for whatever reason for the union, the wedding was announced with a flourish.
During the Middle Ages, weddings were announced around the court piazzas by the town crier. During this time in history, illiteracy was common, so announcing the news through the town crier was the easiest way to inform people of the day s news.
When the printing press was invented, the nobility saw the printing press as a novel way to announce important news, and thus was born the earliest prototype of the wedding invitations.
The wedding invitations were important documents since these bore the family crest and were sealed with wax bearing the imprint of the family seal. Since this was quite expensive, only the nobility could afford the printed invitations. When the printed work became cheaper, the middle class had their wedding announcements printed.
The announcement of the weddings became part of the wedding preparations, and today it speaks of the kind of nuptials that will take place in the near future. The purpose of the invitations was to have family members and friends around to witness the betrothal.
The Different Types of Wedding Invitations
There are varieties of invitations ranging from the black or gold scripts on white paper, embossed scripts, or the modern versions of bright colors and non traditional scripts.
Both invitations have the names of the to be married couple, the date, venue, and time of the wedding, and the host who usually spend for the marriage ceremonies and festivities. But if the couple is paying for their wedding, they omit the names of their parents from the invitation.
Tradition now requires the sending of the Save the Date card to expected wedding guests. This is followed by the invite to the wedding ceremony or the invitation to the reception. Usually, couples separate invitations to the wedding ceremony and the reception as not all can be accommodated at the reception or if the couple only wants their families and closest friends around.
The invitations are sent 8 weeks before the wedding to give time for those living in other cities or state to prepare for the travel arrangements. Ask for the RSVP three weeks in advance to finalize the headcount of guests making it to the ceremony and reception. Make sure that you have extra envelopes in case you make writing mistakes.
You ll need an invitation for every single individual, one card for a married couple, children over 18 years old, parents on both sides, and attendants of the parents.
The town crier is gone and forgotten, but the tradition of wedding invitations remain and has evolved from the simple piece of printed paper to classy paper sporting elegant script or the modern contrasting colors and fun scripts. But invitations are more than just that. These are announcements to all and sundry that a wedding will take place.
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