The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

T h e M a i n & M i l l e r P l a z a G e o r g e t o w n S o u t h 9 0 5 - 7 0 2 - 9 9 8 2 YO U R W E D D I N G H A I R D E S T I N AT I O N For advertising information call Ph: 905 873.0301 Fax: 905 873.0398 A GOOD REASON TO SHOP LOCAL The Independent & Free Press is your source for local news, regional news, upcoming events & sports. Delivered to every home every Wednesday and Friday. 3 ( / 0 ( ! , 4 / . ( ) , , 3 This message brought to you by your local newspaper #5. Shopping local saves the environment. We are all aware of CO2 emissions and our envi- ronmental impact. Local shops do not require long car & bus journeys to get to, help reduce our global footprint. So... shop smart, shop our local stores! 2, Brides, Wednesday, February 20, 2008 The type of wedding invitation you choose goes a long way toward setting the overall theme and feel of your wedding. If you are having a casual wedding, you dont want invitations with a lot of frills. You do, however, want your invitations to look professional. The number of guests you are inviting to your wedding may determine whether you make your own invitations or purchase them. If you are having a small to medium- sized wedding, creating your own invita- tions wont be that hard. If you are planning a large wedding, creating your own invita- tions will take a lot of time and effort you probably dont have. Regardless which way you go, make sure you proofread your invi- tations for errors and create or purchase just the right amount. There really is no right or wrong design for wedding invitations. It is your wedding and the invitations should reflect that. If you are having a themed wedding, your invitations should illustrate that theme, of course, but ultimately, the choice is yours. Selecting a favourite font or lettering style is one way to personalize your special day. There are various styles of invitations to choose from: accordion style, tri- or bi- fold, or a single sheet of paper. Remember, formal, lavish weddings require a formal style, while simpler, casual weddings require an informal style. There are also hundreds of styles of paper to choose from in various thicknesses. Buying your invitations will offer you less of a selection than if you make them yourself. Do-it-yourselfers need to remem- ber that thicker paper works better for invi- tations that will not be folded and medium- weight paper for invitations that will be folded. Depending upon your calligraphy skills, you could also use parchment paper for your invitations. Along with the invitations, you will need RSVP cards and stamped return envelopes. You can make your own RSVPs and envelopes to match your invitations or buy them from a stationery store. RSVP cards and envelopes are available for most invitations. There is some etiquette involved in the wording and addressing of invitations. This includes: Spell out all dates and times. Dont use 5:00 or October 16. Instead, state five oclock in the evening on the sixteenth of October. Abbreviate Mr., Mrs. and Jr. but spell out titles like doctor. Only use punctuation between the city and state and after abbreviations. Spell out all states on envelopes. Dont include an RSVP for invitations to the wedding ceremony only. Indicate on the inner envelope of invi- tations to single guests that they can bring a guest. Dont include and guest on the inner envelope of invitations to single guests who are bringing someone you know personally. Send only one invitation to unmarried couples who live together. List their names alphabetically and on separate lines. Send guests who are living together but are not a couple their own separate invitations. Send children over 18 their own invita- tion, whether they live at home or not. List children under 18 who live at home on the inner envelope; do not use and family. There is nothing set in stone that says everyone has to observe the same rules when it comes to selecting and sending their wedding invitations. Its only natural for you to want to put your own personal stamp on your wedding invitations. After all, it is your special day. By Ronda Addy Invitations set the wedding theme