Save 50% off your dream wedding invitations and announcements

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Design wedding invitations that your guests will love, online from Vistaprint
Use promo code "CNNFOIL" for an exclusive 50% off from Vistaprint

Editor's note: Shop now for 50% off announcements and invitations via Vistaprint. This is an exclusive code for CNN Underscored readers when you enter "CNNFOIL" at checkout.

Once you've set the date for your wedding, it's time to start alerting the troops. And by troops, we mean the friends and family who will be your guests on the big day. When sending out your wedding details, you'll want to be sure that your wedding stationery — from the save-the-dates to the thank-you notes — matches the aesthetic and occasion perfectly.

The first thing you're going to want to do is pick a printing service. This may sound easy, but given the number of impressive options online, narrowing it down can be tough. I'm getting married this summer, and when I chose my wedding stationery supplier, I had three things in mind: the quality and uniqueness of the designs, the price, and how easy it was to use. That meant if a service had poor design choices, was too pricey, or was difficult to navigate, it was out.

After much research, I landed on Vistaprint — and I'm happy that I did. Once I chose my design and had all the details in front of me, designing and ordering the stationery literally took minutes. When they arrived, my invites looked stunning and all of the matching little details, including stickers with our initials and preaddressed envelopes, were carefully done and looked sophisticated. As I unboxed everything, I couldn't have been more pleased with the result, and I'm even more excited to send them out to our guests.

Below, I've included a detailed description of the items I ordered, along with explanations of why and how I chose my design. Here comes the good news: As an exclusive offer to CNN readers, Vistaprint is now offering CNN Underscored readers a 50% off discount with promo code "CNNFOIL." That means there's no better time to get your dream invites sent straight to your door. Keep reading to learn about my Vistaprint experience and to gain tips and tricks on how you can order yours now, too.

1. The invites

Choosing your invites will likely be the most fun part, because the design of your invites usually dictates the overall theme for your stationery collection. For instance, for my invites, I landed on a floral design with white and gray marble accents in the background. Then, for the RSVP cards, envelopes, stickers and otherwise, I made sure that they all matched my primary invites.

I loved the floral and marble design because it combined traditional and modern design elements. The floral pattern gave it a traditional, classic feel, while the more masculine, trendy marble pattern of the background made it feel modern. But, of course, if floral and marble isn't your jam, Vistaprint has hundreds of other invite designs to choose from.

In the pictures above, I've hidden some of the text for the purpose of this post. However, on the real thing, you'd list the address of your venue on the front side of the invite and you could list your wedding website URL on the back, which is what we did. All of the fonts, sizes and placements are customizable.

2. RSVP cards and envelopes

Next, it's time to design matching RVSP cards that your guests can send back by your deadline. This is a chance to ask all of the questions. Do they have food allergies or sensitivities? Will they be bringing a plus one? Fish, chicken or veggies? You, as the bride, will get so much peace of mind as these are mailed back and you can check off everyone on your list. All you'll be saying for the next few months is: "Yay, they're coming!"

3. Rehearsal dinner invites

These are simply cards to let your wedding party, officiant and close family know when and where the rehearsal dinner will take place. Here is an example of one design offered through Vistaprint.

4. Thank-you notes

Thank-you notes are another basic part of your wedding stationery, but they are one of the most important. Customizing them, rather than buying some stock version from a card store, is just a more personal way of saying thank you.

5. The matching details

These are the finishing touches on your invites and thank you notes. Here, we've pictured the preaddressed envelopes, personalized envelope seal stickers, and table seating cards for guests. We are big fans of how all of the invites coordinate and go together.

Go forth and design your very own invites! Be sure to have fun with it and create wedding stationery that reflects your personalities. And, as a final piece of advice: It's also a good idea to have your invites match the party's theme so that guests know what to expect. For example, if it's going to be a black-tie affair, perhaps consider elevating the design of your invites so that they reflect how formal the affair will be. On the other hand, if you are hosting a backyard wedding that's more casual, you can really go any direction with your invites — so long as you love them, of course.

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