The subject of wedding stationery can be contentious.

One school of thought maintains that it is an unnecessary expense and that ordinary writing paper or invitations, the telephone and even now email are all that are required to make announcements and invite guests.

Another is equally adamant that for such a special occasion, special stationery is not just desirable it is indeed essential.

Those subscribing to the latter, need read no further.

For those belonging to the to the former group, and those still sitting on the fence, perhaps the following might help persuade you to change your mind?

There can be no doubt that a wedding is a very special occasion. It is a formal ceremonial event that accompanies an ancient rite of passage that still plays an enormously important part in our society.

A great many of the traditions and beliefs concerning weddings have been forgotten or discarded. In spite of this, it still ranks high on the list of special family events and as such should be marked out.

When you order specially printed invitations and “Thank you” notes, you are not only marking the event, you are also paying a great compliment to the person to whom the invitation or note has been sent.

You are acknowledging their important part in the proceedings, you are marking them out as special people for whom you have regard.

No ordinary note paper, no quantity of phone calls can do this. And that exquisite card can be put away and treasured as a memento of a very special day.

Convenience too comes into it. It is so much easier to merely sign and address a number of invitations and notes than to laboriously write each one out fully by hand. Individual yes but not really quite so ‘special’.

And it’s time consuming and time is something you will find you are very short of in the run-up to a wedding.

Then there is the concept of style. Most people take a great deal of care over the choice of decoration, flowers and other accessories at a wedding.

Often the bride’s gown and bouquet are echoed in the gowns and flowers of the bridesmaids, the floral decorations in the church and at the reception, the table settings. It all emphasises your attitude to style and co-ordination.

Wedding stationery that also echoes the general theme, is just one more aspect of an overall, beautiful design and a perfectly arranged day..

As well as invitations, correspondence notes and place setting cards, wedding stationery can include table napkins, order of service cards and even books of matches so choose your stationery carefully. As has been said, it adds that finishing touch to the arrangements.

Your local stationer or printer will have books of samples for you to choose from.

There will usually be three main styles; traditional and formal; modern and formal; modern and informal.

In addition there will be different type faces to choose from and a variety of papers.

You should find exactly what you want in your price range, however, and can probably have the samples adapted or changed to fit your own ideas if you so wish but do give the stationer/printer time to fulfil your order.

Make sure you are given a proof to approve before you take delivery of the order and check it very carefully. The last thing you want to discover is that the names of the bride and groom are wrong, that the date has been changed inadvertently or there are glaring spelling mistakes for all to see!