What to Do If You Notice a Typo on Your Wedding Invitations

You made your changes and checked them twice, but somehow an error slipped through the cracks. When you get your wedding invitations back from the printer, you notice a glaring error on the stationery. Wedding invitation typos happen—and they totally suck. That sinking feeling that hits you when you open the long-awaited box only to find your date is wrong, your name is misspelled, or something else is awry, is just plain awful. But there's no use crying over wedding invitation typos, and you might not be totally out of luck.

To prevent this issue in the first place (because hindsight is 20/20), diligence is key. While you may be feeling stressed or rushed, you need to take time to carefully examine your wedding invitation proofs. "We strongly encourage our clients to have someone who has not yet seen a single version of the invitation proofread their invitation proof," calligrapher Laura Hooper explains. "It is important that someone—or a few people!—see it with a fresh set of eyes, because once you've been looking at it over and over, you start to read what should be there instead of maybe what is actually there!"

But once the damage is done, try not to panic. As long as you gave yourself enough time for the invitations to arrive and be addressed and mailed, you'll still have time to problem-solve. Talk to your stationery designer or printer and discuss your options.

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If the wedding invitation typos appeared in the proof you signed off on, you may be liable for any reprints. "Most stationers do have a clause in their contract or policies that state that to correct any error after the final proof is approved would be incurred at the client's expense, regardless of who is at fault," says Hooper. "This is pretty much an industry-wide standard."

But sometimes they may be willing to work with you and provide a discount for your second round of wedding invitations. Ask to price out what a do-over will cost, keeping in mind you may only need one part of the invitation suite redone. If you were using a smaller, boutique vendor who is unwilling to budge, try looking into online retailers like Minted or Vistaprint, who often have lower costs and fast turnaround times. While the design may not be exactly what you originally planned, it's a great backup plan.

As a last resort, you can always mail them out as is. While not ideal, as long as the error doesn't change any of the critical information (like date and time), there is a high likelihood that many guests won't even notice. But whatever you do, don't take matters into your own hands. "Any attempts to 'correct' the error will only draw attention to it, and most people might not notice anyway," Hooper warns.