QR codes on wedding stationery, and where they help
Where a code earns its place, where it is clutter, and how to make one that does not look like a parcel label on a table setting.
5 min read
A QR code is a link somebody can reach without typing. That is all it is, and it decides everything about where it belongs.
If a guest is already holding a phone, a code is worse than a link, because they have to open a camera. If a guest is standing in front of a printed thing, a code is the only way to get them to a page at all.
Where a code genuinely helps#
- On a save the date card. The card holds the date, the code holds everything that has not been decided yet.
- On a sign at the door. Order of the day, seating, the taxi number, all without a printed programme per guest.
- On an order of service. For the readings, the translations, and the words to the hymns.
- On a table. A photo album everybody adds to during the evening.
- On a thank you card. Pointing at the photographs.
Where it is clutter#
- In an email or a message. The link is right there. A code makes it harder.
- On the invitation card itself, if the card already carries the address. Pick one. Two ways to reach the same page reads as indecision.
- Anywhere without a caption. A bare square is a thing people do not scan. One line underneath doubles the number who do.
Making one that suits the stationery#
The default black square is a parcel label, and on a place setting it looks like one. A code has more room for design than people assume, because the format carries enough error correction to survive a good deal of interference.
- Colour. Use your own ink and your own paper rather than black on white. Contrast is what matters, not the specific colours.
- Shape. The modules can be dots or rounded squares, and the three corner markers can be softened separately, which is often the whole job.
- A mark in the middle. Small. A quarter of the width at most. A logo eating the centre of a code is why logo codes have the reputation they have.
- Quiet space. Leave a clear margin all the way round. Codes fail far more often from being crowded than from being small.
The rules that stop it failing#
- Test it printed, not on a screen. Ink spread and paper texture both change the result.
- Test it in the light it will live in. A candlelit table is a real problem for a low contrast code.
- Mind the size. About two centimetres square is the practical floor for a card in the hand, and a sign across a room needs to be far larger than people guess.
- Keep the contrast honest. A pale code on a dark ground scans on most phones and fails on some older ones. If the code matters, dark on light is the safe way round.
- Never point it at a link that could change. Once it is printed, that address has to keep working permanently.
The caption#
One line, saying what is on the other side. Not scan me, which says nothing.
The order of the day, and where the taxis go.
Everything about the fourteenth.
A code with a caption gets scanned. A code on its own gets photographed by nobody.
