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Why You Need a Custom Map for Your Wedding

Category: All About Wedding Invitations, Beyond Wedding Invitations | Published on: Apr 14, 2016

In researching your wedding invitations, you’ve seen all those gorgeous custom maps on Pinterest and wedding blogs. But do you really need a custom map? I mean, doesn’t everyone have a GPS?

There's a few reasons why you might need a custom map to help guests out and take the stress off yourself.

Well, probably, but there’s still lots of reasons you might want to include a wedding map in your invitations, your welcome kits for out-of-town guests, or your programs.

  • Maybe the GPS is just plain wrong about where your wedding is.
  • Maybe your wedding is in a remote location and the reception isn’t reliable for GPS use.
  • Maybe most of your guests are older and don’t have a GPS.
  • If you’re having a lot of out-of-town guests, they’ll need to know more than where the wedding is. Where’s their hotel? Where’s the closest restaurant? Are there any sightseeing destinations in the area?

In short, you might want a custom map to keep guests from bothering you, and that’ll take some of the stress off your wedding day!

If the GPS is Wrong, You Need a Custom Map

Always check your wedding location with the major GPS sites: Google Maps, Apple Maps, Mapquest (they still exist, right?). Sometimes, they’re wrong.

A client recently ordered a wedding map because the GPS was telling her guests to drive across the front lawn to the venue! She wanted guests to go around back so they wouldn’t ruin the atmosphere of the ceremony.

Sometimes the GPS sends you a less-than-ideal route. Or there could be construction the GPS doesn’t know about. Maybe guests aren’t actually parking at the venue and there isn’t really an address they can put into the system.

As great as GPS is, you can’t rely on it blindly. You don’t want to be panicking an hour before your wedding because guests are calling and texting that they’re lost!

If you order a custom map, you have complete control over where the directions send your guests!

You’ll want: A Route Map

A route map has a highlighted route with written directions to guide your guests exactly where they need to be. Without getting lost. And on time. Show a route from the ceremony to the reception, or just show the last few turns off the highway into the venue.

If You’re Having a Lot of Out-of-Towners, You Need a Custom Map

Guests who are traveling a long distance probably choose to stay in town for a while. They’re here, why not vacation a bit? They probably want to know more about the area so they can get out of their hotel and enjoy the time away from work.

You might end up fielding tons of questions like: “Where’s a good place to eat around here?” Or “Are there any good museums in town?”

Or you could just give them a map and let them at it!

Maps can show more than just your wedding venue. Use different icons to show travel spots (airport, ferry), show restaurants, sightseeing destinations, parks, etc… It’s a win-win. Guests can go exploring to their hearts content, and you can relax and enjoy yourself!

Custom watercolor map of Charleston SC showing different locations with calligraphy and printed on deckled paper | Art by CharmCat | Photo by Allie Dearie Photography

 

Custom watercolor map of the state of Connecticut
Get super fancy and get your map custom painted!

You’ll want: An Area Map

An area map shows an overview of the area with lots of little location markers. Think about when you grab the brochure map at a museum—so you can pick which things you want to see and figure out how to get there.

Question: Why did you decide to have/not to have a map with your invites?

— Ashleigh

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