Planning timeline
Start looking for invitations at least 6 months prior to the wedding, and earlier if you plan on sending Save the Dates (6 months - a year in advance). A GREAT place to start is a shop where you can walk in and see many types of invitations. If you are in Northern Virginia I highly recommend stopping by The Dandelion Patch. I had solely been looking at Letterpress online before, and they even had one of my favorite brands, Bella Figura (even if you aren't getting married, this website is worth ooing and aahing about!). I ended up using a one-woman vendor, the fabulous Mimi at http://www.mika78.com/. I had been mad crushing on the invites I wanted for over a year (see previous posts with stationary tag) and got them! They were perfect for my historic mansion garden wedding with a butterfly motif! Order invites 3-4 months in advance, order closer to 4 months if you plan on having calligraphy professionally done. Send invites out 6-8 weeks in advance, with the reply date a month in advance. Final numbers are usually needed 7-10 days before an event for catering.
Suggestions
-Number the backs of the reply cards in light pencil (coordinating with numbering your guest list) in case someone forgets to write their name. This does happen, and the numbering system saves you from being totally confused about who hasn't RSVPed. Oh, and of course not everyone RSVPs by the deadline. You will be making calls! The "no's" usually come in the week before the deadline -- people like to delay the bad news.
-Let the invitation help you define a theme or essence to your wedding to the guests months before. I picked a vintage style invitation and it helped connect the historic property venue with my other vendor choices, like flowers!
-Make the invitation as informative as possible while staying clean and not too wordy -- I was able to include the dress code on mine ("cocktail attire") which is the answer to a question always on guests' minds.
-Consider having a handful of invitations (usually 25 count is the smallest batch) with a later RSVP date. You never know, you may forget someone... or if not you then maybe one of your parents or future in-laws forgot about a long lost buddy or cousin that is wondering where their invite is. I did not do this, but wish I had! Final numbers are not due to catering until about a week to 10 days before, so set your initial RSVP date a month before, and the late date maybe a week, week 1/2 later. Another good rule of thumb is to order 25 extra invitations because it is cheaper to buy in bulk. Remember that guest count does not correlate to the number of invites you send out because not everyone in a family needs their own invitation.
-Square invites (or other unusual shapes) cost more to mail. The most economic invitations are on cardstock with digital printing, while the most expensive prints can be on anything from cotton paper to wood done via engraving. I looove scrapbooking and paper so I had to splurge on this and had cotton paper engraved. For engraving they have to make a metal mold of your invite and then press it into the paper... twice if you have 2 different colors but the end product is worth it. A great alternative that has a similar effect? Thermography! Its slightly raised and also feels pretty cool to the touch (and is shiny!). This can cost 1/3 the price of engraving but is still super fancy. Pinkies up to that!
