How to Proof-Read Your Invitation
When you order any of our invitations or stationery we always send you the proof to approve. This is so that you can check that all the details on the invitation are correct – only you know the spellings of names, the time of your celebration, your ‘phone number etc.
But, proof-reading isn’t easy. I know. I’m the person who sent out invitations for the “Unveiling of the plague” to all the great and good at the local hospital. Amusing maybe, but a lesson I have never forgotten. You read what you think you will see – and I obviously thought the invitation would say “Unveiling of the plaque.”
So here are my top tips to proof read your invitations:
- Get someone else to read them – choose someone who is good a spelling and a bit pedantic. They will not know what they should be reading, so are more likely to spot mistakes.
- Check the calendar - probably the most common mistake on invitations – you will often get the right day “Saturday” but the wrong date 12th. Make sure you get out the calendar, find the right year and check that the 12th May really is a Saturday.
- Check the time – we’ve all heard horror stories of some of the wedding party turning up late because the time is wrong on the invitation. This is a good excuse to phone up the venue(s) to check they have your booking and that you agree times and then double-check it on the invitation.
- Check the venue – there maybe two similarly named Hotels in a town or the name of it might have changed. Put the postcode into Google or the satnav and check the correct place comes up.
- Check the spelling of the family names – don’t get your future in-laws names wrong, your other half should know the correct spelling.
- Check the RSVP details – phone the phone number that is written on the card or send a test email to the response email address – it is so easy to get one number or letter wrong and then all your best plans go awry.
- Finally.... read each line from right to left. In effect this makes you read each word individually and not as part of a pattern. When you read sentences your eye sees a pattern, your brain makes sense of the pattern. Reading from right to left breaks this up.
