Everyone knows that invitations must be sent out
before the wedding, but choosing the perfect invitation and style is no
easy decision. There is also an incredible amount of formality behind
invitations that many of us don't even realize. It had to come from
somewhere, though, so what's the history of wedding invitations and how
did it all begin?
It wasn't until 1447, with the invention of the
printing press, that wedding invitations even came to be. Before this
time, weddings were announced by someone known as a town crier. This
gentleman would walk through the streets announcing the news of the
day. Even after the printing press came to be, though, there was still
a huge amount of illiteracy among the people of the Middle Ages. Thus,
wedding invitations became reserved for those of nobility. Noble
families would hire monks who were incredibly skilled in the art of
calligraphy to write their notices. When these were done, they would be
sealed with wax and a coat of arms of the family. Some people still
will seal their notices with wax or put their family crest on their
envelopes today as a mark of higher class.
As time went on, the
printing press was still considered too poor quality to be tasked with
something as noble and honorable as wedding invitations. The tradition
of announcing weddings in the newspaper did pick up from here, though.
But it wasn't until 1642 when metal plate engraving was invented, that
invitations could now be printed acceptably by a press. This process
required that an artisan write out the appropriate text backwards on a
metal plate using engraving tools. This created a stamp that could be
dipped in ink and pressed onto the actual invitation. Once complete,
the press mark was then protected from smudging by being covered with a
piece of tissue paper, another tradition that still rings true in our
time. Another interesting note is that invitations from this time were
much more elaborate. Often, each guest's name was printed on the
invitation.
These are the very origins of wedding invitations
and in honor of their history, we still use some of the rituals and
traditions that have carried through hundreds upon hundreds of years to
appear in our newest invitations. Now, when you are choosing if you'd
like to seal your envelopes with a piece of wax or when you are
selecting the tissue paper that covers your inside inscription, know
that you are carrying forward traditions dating back to the nobility of
the Middle Ages.
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