If you are one of the many excited brides to be who has decided to take over a little more control of her wedding day and create her own wedding invitations, either from scratch or using one of the many wedding invitation kits available, the key is to have them reflect your personality and style.
But in order for the process to go smoothly, there are a few steps that need to be followed ahead of time so you can achieve a stress free, beautiful end result.

• The first step is to begin early.
  This sounds like a no-brainer but many times when planning a wedding, the time gets ahead of you and before you know it the day has come and gone.
  So starting early is key to keeping things in check.
  
• Once the colors have been chosen for your wedding party, then it is time to get to work on your wedding invitations.
  Ideally, wedding invitations should be sent out two to three months before the wedding.
  
• Next, decide when you want to have all of the response cards back.
  So a reply date needs to be decided up front.
  When you get down the final stages of planning, you want to be able to have a final count of people who are coming to your wedding.
  This helps decide a multitude of things, including giving the caterer a final count.
  So take everything you will need to know and by what date before you make a decision as to the reply by date.
  
• Will you be using a reply card or an RSVP phone number?A "reply by" date needs to come back three to four weeks before the wedding day.
  It is best to allow for this extra time because the inevitable "stragglers" will come in after the date.
  If using an RSVP phone number, the same should apply.
  
• Plan everything up front.
  When you begin designing the envelopes, invitations and response cards, do everything together.
  This will keep the colors complementing one another and all elements of the cards will be in sync.
  The sizes of the envelopes to the font on the invitations all need to be decided at the same time.
  Wedding invitation kits usually have everything together in one package as far as sizing goes, but if you plan on adding your own creative touches or you have purchased the printable kits, then planning everything up front will allow time to think things through and leaves more room for creativity.
  
• Purchase more than you need.
  Buy purchasing an extra kit or paper stock, you will be sure to have extra in the event of any mistakes.
  Last minute fixes are inevitable and will go smoothly if you have planned ahead and have enough stock on hand for those fixes.
  
• Before getting started, decide on the wording for your invitation.
  Don't dive in without knowing what you want your invitation to say.
  Make sure all of the practical details are clear.
  There are plenty of on-line "cheat sheets" and sites that show you different wording and etiquette to follow for every scenario.
  Research your own personal situation and type or write out your wording ahead of time so you can read it back to yourself and let others see it as well.
  
• Choose the font.
  The typeface should match the design and overall "theme" of your wedding.
  Formal, casual, destination - whatever your wedding theme conveys, your font should match.
  It is important to not get too fancy.
  Your invitees should be able to read the text without effort.
  So find a good balance between the two.
  
• Print out one sample invitation first and be sure to get someone else to proofread the text for spelling and punctuation.
  Once satisfied, then you can begin the printing process.
  

Planning everything ahead of time will reduce the stress of creating invitations and any last-minute "panic" attacks.
Above all, try to remember to enjoy the process.
So many times the enjoyment is sapped out of the brides to be and it becomes a chore rather than an exciting and fun process.
Wedding invitation kits and planning can reduce the stress of creating invitations completely on your own and keep you in control of the process from beginning through to the final result.