The earliest wedding invitations were said to be found in Bulgaria only as cave paintings. Wedding celebration is one thing in which humans have all participated in thousands of years ago, even before the existence of mankind perhaps. Years ago, before mass print advertising and internet came to play, weddings were commonly made known only by word of mouth. The announcement was done by either a town crier or other loudmouth individuals. During the 12th century, town criers earned their income by announcing the daily news from every corner of the street and all those who have heard the town crier were automatically invited to the wedding, unless they are mortal enemies, and were forced to buy toasters for the new couple. Town criers played an important role before since people did not know how to read. But with literacy rates growing, people learned how to write. Since then, wedding invitations were crafted and delivered directly to the person invited.
At present, wedding invitations and styles vary depending on your budget. Most couple still love the traditional form of wedding invitations which so often come in double envelopes with beautiful inscription. Nowadays, other wedding invitations do not necessarily need to look exactly like an invitation. They can now come in the form of personal letters or boxes of chocolates.
The delicate piece of tissue paper that is placed inside a wedding invitation also has a story of its own. During the 1600s, metal plate engraving was invented. In order to prevent the engraving to smudge, a small piece of paper was placed on top. This practice was handed down from generation to generation to preserve the printing of wedding invitations. On the other hand, envelopes started before the 20th century. Since deliveries were by horseback, the invitations were put in an envelope to arrive in the cleanest condition possible. Upon arrival at the place, the invitation is given to the housemaid, who then opened the envelope and handed the invitation to her master. Wedding invitations were also given to limit the number of guests. In this way, only those who were close to the couple and their family were asked to attend the wedding.