Today’s wedding planning invariably includes picking out and sending wedding invitations. While most are familiar with formal invitations, other couples are opting for casual, colorful, and unique ways to ask people to celebrate their special day with them. However, the wedding invitations we see today have not always been a part of the wedding celebration, and they have gone through a rather long evolution.

It is believed that the tradition of sending wedding invitations began in the 12th century with the use of a town crier. People did not send pretty paper invitations through the post. Instead, the town crier would walk through the city streets doing what he was hired to do…announce the news to the citizens. Thus, word of mouth was the key way to invite friends and family to the wedding.

The use of a town crier or word of mouth was a necessity in a time where people were fairly illiterate. It was mainly families of nobility that would hire calligraphers, mostly monks, to hand-letter wedding announcements. Often the wedding announcements would include the wording along with a family crest or coat-of-arms. The crest was a way for people to distinguish which family was hosting the celebration. This tradition is often a part of modern wedding invitations today, though not as common as it was during the Middle Ages.

Over time, though, people became more literate and printing large numbers of documents became commonplace. Thus, by the 16th century it was more commonplace for wedding announcements to be placed in a newspaper. The process of engraving became much less expensive with new technology, so even middle class citizens of the time could afford to have wedding invitations printed and sent to family and friends. Some modern wedding invitations are still engraved using this same method.

By the 18th century lithographing became more commonplace, and thus engraving was no longer necessary. The second envelope became more popular at this time, as invitations were still delivered by hand. The extra envelope provided greater protection to the invitation, and it is still a common tradition today.

After World War II, thermographic printing methods were developed and allowed more versatility in design and printing of invitations. The raised print became popular for most brides and grooms. All of these options, over time, have set the tone of creating the unique and modern wedding invitations we see today.