My customers believe that picking their invitation will be the easiest part of their wedding preparation. Unfortunately, once they start to browse, they realize just how important an invitation is, and how difficult it is to select.  A wedding invitation will signify to your guests how formal or casual your wedding will be. It will set the tone for the entire wedding.  This does not mean that your invitation has to be highly priced. There are many beautiful invitations in all price ranges.  If you go to your invitation source with the proper information, it will make things much easier for you.   Be sure to count your guest list. This means, count each couple as one invitation.   Most manufacturers sell their invitations in increments of 25, be sure to order enough to have a few left over for those people you forgot to add to your original list.  It will be much more expensive to reorder your invitations after the manufacturer has already printed your original order.   It is also a good idea to order extra envelopes if you intend to use a professinal calligrapher. Calligraphers do make errors and you should allow for a 10% error rate. One manufacturer offers a calligraphy service at a very reasonable price.  You can have your envelopes addressed to match your invitation ink color and font style.  When you make your guest list, enter it alphabetically and number each entry.  Place a number on the back of the response card that corresponds with the same number on the guest list. This way if your guest forgets to write their name on the response card you can just refer to your guest list and see who that card belongs to.