Couples spend months on the invitation and about four minutes on the napkin, which is backwards: far more people photograph the napkin.

What to print

Two names and an ampersand, a monogram, or the date. That is the whole list that works. Longer phrases shrink the type until nothing reads at five inches, and a venue line is better on the sign than on the napkin.

If you want one thing that guests remember, use the two names. If you want one thing that dates the photograph beautifully, use the date.

Matching the invitation

Send us a photo or PDF of the invitation and we match the typeface, spacing and colour for free. The step that matters is the mockup: a delicate script that looks perfect on a 5×7 card can lose its hairlines at napkin size, and you want to discover that on screen rather than in the box.

Ink or foil

Ink carries the muted, dusty palettes most couples choose and is the safer answer for a script. Foil in gold or rose gold catches the light of the room and photographs beautifully, but it wants a simpler, more solid mark.

Blush or ivory stock with rose gold foil is the most-ordered wedding combination we run.

How many to order

Plan on roughly two to three napkins per guest for cocktail hour alone — people take a fresh one with each drink and put the old one down. Ordering to guest count exactly is the single most common regret.

Our minimum is 12, so ordering a small test batch first to see the print in your own hands costs almost nothing but a few days.