• CONSIDERATIONS
• ORDERING
• ETIQUETTE
• TIMING
• WORDING
• ENVELOPES
• MAILING
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CONSIDERATIONS |
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When choosing your Invitations, consider whether your wedding will be traditional and formal, or more contemporary and casual. The number of guests invited, the bride and groom's personal style, colors of flowers and attire should be tied into your Invitation selection. If you are having a theme wedding, you will want your Invitations to coordinate with the theme. |
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ORDERING |
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Always order more Invitations than you think you will need. You should order at least 25 additional Invitations, in case any are sent back to you because of an improper address, or if you add someone to your guest list at the last minute, or if you need to resend an Invitation to someone who never received one. You or your family might also like to keep extra Invitations for a scrapbook. |
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ETIQUETTE |
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Send only one Invitation to a married couple, to partners living together, or to a family. If there are children older than eighteen living at home with their family, send them their own Invitations. Children over thirteen should usually receive their own Invitations as well. However, an acceptable alternative to sending individual Invitations to children between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, is to write their names on the line below their parents’ names on the Invitation’s inner envelope. When several unrelated adult friends live in the same house together, it is a common practice to send each of them their own Invitation. |
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TIMING |
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Invitations should be ordered as soon as the event date is set, and the wedding and reception sites are booked. Save the Date cards are becoming more and more popular, and are a great way to have busy people reserve the date, or to help out of town guests plan ahead. Save the Date cards may be sent at any point from five months, up to one year in advance. The Invitation itself should be mailed six to eight weeks before the wedding date. Response cards should be sent with the Invitations, and should request a return acknowledgement at least three weeks in advance of the wedding. Check with your caterer to see how far in advance they will need an exact guest count. |
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WORDING |
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Do not use abbreviations, with the exception of non-professional titles, such as Ms, Mrs, and Mr. Professional titles, such as Doctor, should be spelled out. Middle names, if used, should be spelled out completely. Avoid the use of nicknames. Spell out commonly abbreviated words, such as Street, and the names of months and days of the week. Be sure to spell out contractions, for example, "can't" should be "cannot." Ceremony and reception times should be spelled out, for example, "five o'clock in the evening." |
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ENVELOPES |
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Although not required, most traditional Invitations have an inner and an outer envelope. The outer envelope is addressed for mailing and stamped. The inner envelope has only the names of those invited and indicates whether or not a single person may bring a guest. Adding “and Guest” after the invited person's name indicates this. Depending on your Invitation style, you will follow a certain order in putting all the pieces into the envelope. In general, the Invitation goes in first with the Response card and envelope on top of it. Usually the Response card is tucked under the flap of its envelope. Slide everything into an inner envelope if you are using one. Place the inner envelope inside the outer envelope, with the guest’s name facing the back so that the names are seen first when the envelope is opened. |
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MAILING |
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Take a completed Invitation with all your enclosures to the post office and have it weighed for first-class mailing. Square envelopes will cost more to send than rectangular envelopes. You may request that the post office hand cancel your Invitations. This ensures that thick envelopes won't get caught in the processing machine. Ask to see a selection of stamps available. Different post offices may have different selections. If you don't see an appropriate stamp at one post office, don't be afraid to go to a different branch and ask to see their selection. The standard is to pre-stamp and return address the Response card envelope. |
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