Yay! You’re planning a wedding…

We’re celebrating with you! This, of course, means that you need gorgeous invitations, and we’re here to help. The Happy Envelope is made up of a team of people that delight in design, paper, print methods, calligraphy, and all the bells and whistles of print design. With twenty years in business, we are here to share our knowledge and experience with you. 

However, we’re not only in the business of designing beautiful wedding invitations. Nope. It’s true:  you can get pretty invitations in a lot of places. Rather, we take a personalized, relational approach to our creations. We are a guide for you, the client, during the design process. Our mission is to offer peace of mind and a guiding hand through all of life’s occasions.  

We hope you’ll let us lead you through this process so that you can rest easy! We’re here to walk with you through etiquette concerns, guest list issues, design choices, post office regulations, and everything in between. Our aim is that you not only love your finished invitations, stationery, programs, menus, (and anything else you’ll need!) but also that you can enjoy the entire process. 

What to Expect

How much should I budget?

Each one of our invitations is handled by real people from start to finish—nothing is automated. We design each invitation suite and hold your hand during the entire invitation process, from wording to design to printing to envelope addressing to stamping and mailing!

Pricing can vary according to design, quantity ordered, parts and pieces needed, and final design choices. Plan to budget $2,500 as a baseline starting point. A few of our clients’ favorite upgrade options include envelope liners, custom illustrations, specialty papers, and hand calligraphy addressing.

Wedding Invitation Inquiry

In-store: Stop by the shop and our retail team will guide you through the inquiry process, show you invitation samples, let you feel our paper options, and collect some general information on our Inquiry Form. Walk-ins are welcome during regular business hours, no appointment necessary. If you know the day and time you’ll be visiting, feel free to call ahead and we’ll prep a space for you.

Online: If you cannot visit the store in person, no problem! Browse our invitation samples online and complete our online Inquiry Form.

Following your Inquiry

Our studio coordinator will email you an initial estimate based on your Inquiry Form. If design inspiration from your visit (whether in person or online) and pricing information from our coordinator align with your vision and budget, the next step is to schedule a designer consultation.

Designer Consultation

This is where the real fun begins! Schedule a one-on-one consultation time with a real graphic designer to discuss your wedding invitation suite. Plan to spend 1-2 hours discussing and designing your dream invitation suite in great detail.

Not in the Knoxville area? No problem! We work with brides from all over. We offer a phone consultation option, giving you the same one-on-one time with our design team. Similar to our in-person consultations, plan to spend 1-2 hours discussing and designing your dream invitation suite.

Next Step

Once you’ve discussed your dream invitation with our design team, we create a detailed estimate based on the design, parts, and pieces discussed during your designer consultation. We’ll discuss questions and walk you through next steps.

To officially book your custom invitations, we require a $1,200 non-refundable deposit. Once the deposit is received, we get rolling on sending your onboarding information, including:

• Content Request: who, what, where, when! Everything we need for content to pull together your first invitation proof.

• Need to Know Packet: guest addressing and assembly options with pricing

• Production Calendar: created by our studio coordinator, this keeps everyone on track for your proofs, printing, and delivery date

• Guest Addressing Template: required for all addressing options, in Excel format

Once we have your completed content, Need to Know packet, and approved production calendar, your designer will begin the proofing process for your very first invitation proof.

All proofs are digital and sent via email. Custom invitations include FOUR proof rounds (additional proofs incur an additional charge per round).

We require official approval of your final proof prior to printing. Print time typically takes 3 weeks. Upgrades such as envelope addressing and specialty printing processes (foil, painted and beveled edges, custom envelope liners) can increase turn-around time and we will build this into the Production Calendar. 

Your final balance is due at the time of pickup or before shipping these gorgeous invites into your hot little hands!