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From choosing the right colors to finding the right phrasing, it can be tricky to navigate the waters of both stationery design and stationery etiquette. We sat down with the experts from Wedding Paper Divas to dish on top trends and sticky situations! For more information, visit www.weddingpaperdivas.com.

Q & A with Wedding & Etiquette Maven, Amber Harrison:

A wedding involving children from a previous marriage is an important milestone signifying the creation of a new family unit that often needs a delicate touch. A lovely way to include the children on the invitation without naming them would be to use wording such as “together with their families,” followed by the names of the bride and groom. If you would like to honor them in the invitation wording, you can do so by including their names above or below the bride and groom’s names and adding “as they become a family” or a similar phrase to the wording. There are many wonderful ways of incorporating your children in the wedding and the invite is just one of them, so don’t fret if the wording isn’t working out.

We all know that thank-you notes are a must -- What should you do if no one documented whom a gift is from?

All couples want to properly thank a gift-giver for their thoughtfulness and generosity. To avoid a sticky situation like this one, feel free send thank-you notes as each gift arrives. You don’t need to wait until the wedding is over! It could also be helpful to set up a system for recording all gifts received, whether they arrive by mail or are brought to the wedding reception. If you still end up with a mystery gift, your closest friends and family, or even the wedding party, could be useful in discreetly helping to identify the giver. Even if it takes some time to figure out who the gift is from, a late thank-you note is better than none at all!

Do thank-you notes have to match the color scheme of the rest of the stationery?

Not at all! While there are many wedding stationery suites that include thank-you cards, creating a personal and creative photo card has become a popular choice since it’s a great opportunity to show off all of those gorgeous wedding photos. Modern monograms with unique typography can also be a nice way for the newly married couple to send their thanks.

What’s the latest that’s acceptable to send save-the-dates?

If you are not able to send a save-the-date more than three months before the wedding, you may consider eliminating it completely, and instead opt to mail the invitation just a bit earlier, since invitations are typically mailed two months prior.

How do you handle monogramming if the bride isn’t planning to change her name? Is there a joint monogram option?

A traditional rule has yet to be established for monogramming for newlyweds who have hyphenated or who don’t share a last name, so there are a few options to consider. If you are close enough to the couple to ask their preference, it might be considerate to do so, ensuring your very personal gift is perfect. It is also common to monogram using just the first initial for each person, just the last initial for each person or to use two individual monograms united with a small symbol or embellishment.

Plain and simple: What is the best quality stock?

There are so many gorgeous and high-quality paper options available, including extra thick, textured and shimmer papers, especially when it comes to wedding stationery. Any paper stock that is 110 pounds or above will provide the distinctive and elegant quality desired to celebrate such a special occasion. Wedding Paper Divas recently upgraded the standard card stock in addition to adding a number of new premium paper options. The gorgeous new paper has us all swooning!

What’s the best way to incorporate “green” into traditional invites for the couple that doesn’t want to go paperless but still wants to be eco-friendly?

Many modern couples are taking the environment into consideration when planning their wedding. When it comes to stationery, there are a few ways to ease the impact. You can look for vendors who offer recycled papers and who have sustainable production practices, forgo more traditional practices like multiple envelopes and limit the number of printed pieces included with the invitation, opting to provide details on a wedding website.

Q & A with Merchandising Design Manager, Janel Wiley

What color combinations are you seeing as an emerging trend for invitations in 2013?

Combinations of blue are a hot trend this year and one of my absolute favorites is a deep Baltic blue energized by bright coral. There is a popular design in our new spring and summer 2013 collection that features this stunning combination. You’ll also see several shades of blue combined to create a relaxed, yet stylish palette and pairings of aqua liven up destination weddings. Black and white plus a pop of bright color is another popular pick because you get a hint of the classic, while color perks it up and lets your personality shine through. Finally—shimmer and sparkle: it’s a gorgeous choice if you’re going for over-the-top elegance and goes beyond just the classic gold and silver to hushed pastel hues that recall a bygone era of glamour.

What’s the most unique idea for stationery you’ve seen this year?

The focus on bold typography and iconography are the most exciting new ideas I’ve seen for wedding stationery in 2013 because they’re all about making the designs your own. Designers are really engaged in letting the couple shine by featuring their names as a focal point of the design itself. The greatest thing about this trend is that it extends to several different styles from modern to classic, so no matter your personal taste, you’re able to find a design that will work for you. The other idea that I’m really thrilled about is infusing the wedding stationery with the couples’ personality through the use of icons or unique phrases. Whether it’s an infographic timeline design, such as the brand new Tasteful Timeline invitation from our new 2013 collection, which details the history of how the couple got together or cheeky phrasing that lets their humor shine through, these designs are all about keeping it personal.