Tips for Your Wedding Invitations

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Invitations can be one of the most challenging parts of your wedding day. We frequently hear questions from our brides such as, “When should I send my Save the Dates?” and “How far in advance should I mail my invitations?”.

Here’s the answers to the above questions. In general, you should send your Save the Dates six months in advance of the wedding. This gives guests an opportunity to plan for your special day, especially if they need to book flights and hotel rooms, or block off time from work.

Our advice on the second question, “How far in advance should I mail my invitations?”, is two months in advance. When I assisted my son and future daughter-in-law with their wedding invitations, it took some out of state friends almost ten days to receive their invitation. Why? I have no idea although I suspect it was the heavier invitation (and larger stamp) that slowed down the delivery process.

Here’s what to include in your wedding invitation:

1. Ceremony time, location, and address.
2. Reception time, location, and address. You can condense these if the ceremony and reception are in the same place.
3. Hotel information for out of town guests. Begin negotiating hotel room blocks at least six months in advance of the wedding date. You can also include hotel information on your Save the Date!
4. Anything extra you want your guests to know, such as “Dress warmly” for an outdoor wedding, “Casual attire” or “Black Tie”. Whatever you feel is necessary to tell guests about, add it to your invitation.

In general, expect that 10-20% of your guests will not be able to make the wedding. No date is perfect for everyone. Last minute cancellations can happen too so you may want to adjust your final number to the caterer, especially regarding guests who are not reliable. Also, plan at least a one week buffer between your rsvp date and the date the count is due to the caterer. This gives you a chance to track down unresponsive guests.

How about online invitations? In general, we are more fond of the good, old fashioned, paper invitation. As a matter of fact, a recent post of ours generated lots of interest on Pinterest when we featured a clever wedding invitation, based on a popular game. That said, we are in favor of online invitations when the following exists:

1. The guests are all internet savvy.
2. The wedding date is booked in close and there’s not much time to have invitations printed and mailed.
3. The budget for the wedding is small and online is affordable.
4. The bride and groom want it this way. (yes, this is a reason!)
5. The wedding is less formal and more of a party or picnic.

Paperless Post is a good option for online invitations. They have a wide array of beautiful email invite options that you should check out. They also have bridal and baby shower evites too. The advantage of email invites is that you can track who opened your invitation, who rsvp’ed, and who needs a nudge.

We can advise you on invitations when we are on board for your wedding. Feel free to use our contact tab and send us a message. We’ll offer you a free consultation and a chance to tell us your special wedding plans.