7 Frequently Asked Questions About Wedding Invitations

You’re planning a wedding and naturally you wish to have your nearest and dearest there to share in this momentous occasion. Invitations are a must! Whether you choose to invite your guests via email or with handwritten or printed invitations, is entirely up to you. Having invitations designed and printed for you takes a lot of the stress, time, and effort out of it but where to start?

There is no set etiquette for invitations and the information you should include so we’ll cover 7 frequently asked questions here.

Why Send Wedding Invitations?

You may have already sent out a Save the Date card to ensure the date is in your guests’ diaries but now you need to provide more information. By the time you’re ready to send out invitations, you will have your day fully planned out including the venue(s), food, and entertainment.

You need to be sure your guests understand exactly where they need to be and when. You can only do this by sending them an invitation. You can put all sorts of information on a website such as accommodation and public transport, but it is always wise to send an actual card with the most important details on it. Your guests can pin it up on their noticeboard and use it on the day to have address details to hand. Remember, not everybody is computer savvy so Grandpa Jo may prefer to have everything in writing.

Should I Send a Wedding Invitation?

The short answer is yes! Unless it’s a wedding with 2 witnesses and no guests, it really is necessary to gather all the important bits of information together and provide them in some form to your guests. This will prevent confusion and hundreds of phone calls from people asking all sorts of questions.

What to do Before I Send a Wedding Invitation

If you already sent out Save the Dates, then you will have done the hard work already and created your guest list. You will have found and booked a venue, decided on timings, and even worked out a menu if you are planning a wedding breakfast and reception. Once all of these decisions have been made, it’s time to plan your invitations. Ensure all your details have been confirmed by the venue and caterer etc. Keep a list of all the relevant details and work out when you’d like your guests to start arriving and where. Start with the list of guests who are invited to the church/registry office and to the wedding breakfast. Are your guests travelling from afar? If so, you may wish to gather information on airports, flights, train stations, accommodation, and local taxi companies.

When Should I Start Sending Wedding Invitations?

If you sent out Save the Date cards, you will have given yourself more time to organise the invitations, secure in the knowledge that your guests already have your date in their diaries. Deciding when to send invitations depends mostly on where the wedding is going to be and how far your guests will have to travel. If they’re travelling from halfway around the world, they’ll need most of the details quite far in advance. Hopefully your Save the Date cards will have already given them a date and location to help them plan their trip. The same applies for a destination wedding.

Your caterers may require you to give final numbers by a certain date so plan backwards from there. As a general rule of thumb, invitations should be sent out at least 6 – 8 weeks in advance, earlier if you’re having a destination wedding. It’s worth working backwards from the date you’d like to have your replies by. Give guests plenty of time to respond. Giving them just a week to make a decision can backfire. What if they’re away on a business trip for 2 weeks and don’t even see the invitation in time? Bear in mind also that many guests are terrible at replying. You can be pretty certain that not everyone will stick to the deadline and you’ll end up chasing guests for an answer. Allow time for this too. You’ll also want to have time to send out additional invitations if you find there are still spaces available due to guests being unable to attend. This is a great time to start on your backup/evening list.

Who Should I Send Wedding Invitations To?

This is of course a personal choice and often one of budget too. If you already sent Save the Dates, you already have a guest list or two. Then it’s just a case of working through your list. Remember, if you’ve already sent a save the date, you’re also obliged to send an invitation! Ideally, you’d start by sending them out to the guests invited to the daytime celebration (church/registry office and wedding breakfast). Once you’re sorted out your day invitations and started receiving responses, you’ll have a clearer idea of how many guests can make it and can then start on the evening invitations. This allows you to make up numbers of those on the day list by adding some from your evening list.

Be clear on your invitations to state who exactly is invited. It is just Sarah and Jack or is it Sarah, Jack and baby Emily? Most parents will presume their children are included if it doesn’t say anything to the contrary on the invitation. Is your guest permitted to bring a ‘plus one’? If so, be clear and state this on the invitation.

Don’t forget to give invitations to even the most obvious guests like your maid of honour and best man! And ensure they know if their partners are invited. It isn’t always obvious, and you shouldn’t leave these things to chance and risk upsetting someone just because you felt it was obvious that their wife/husband was also invited.

What Details Should I Include on my Wedding Invitation?

1. Your names – how formal do you wish to be? Are you using full names or just first names? Is it together with your parents or just you inviting the guests?

2. Your Guests’ Names – write each person’s name so that it’s clear exactly who is invited

3. The Date – do include the year! Amazingly, it’s not always obvious.

4. The Time(s) – decide whether to use am/pm or the 24-hr format. 12:00 is not midnight! 8.30 could be in the morning or evening. You’d be surprised how many people get it wrong. To avoid confusion, check the correct way to write out times and be clear.

5. The Venue(s): Some ceremonies and receptions take place in the same building; others are in totally separate locations. Ensure you provide details of arrival times as well as directions to each venue from the church to the wedding breakfast and the evening reception if there is one.

6. RSVP Information: There will always be those guests that don’t reply. You need to have a clear cut-off date in your mind of when you need your replies by. This is usually dictated by the caterers and/or venue. Allow extra time to follow up on guests or invite new ones to make up numbers if there are too many unable to attend. Make it as easy as possible to reply. Consider whether you’re going to be strict and say ‘no reply, no attendance’ or whether you’re going to go to the effort of following up. You could opt for a simple RSVP card with tick boxes. Ask about dietary requirements and allergies. Are you going to give food options? You could consider an SAE (stamped addressed envelope) to return the RSVP in. Or perhaps you’re going for the text/email reply instead? Always give them a date to respond by.

In our next blog post we’ll cover the full list of 22 Things to Consider Including on Your Wedding Invitations

Where do I get Wedding Invitations from?

This is entirely up to you. If you’re one of those people that loves being creative and hand crafting things, then you might consider making them yourself. If, however, you’d prefer someone else to do the work for you, consider using a wedding stationer. There are hundreds to choose from and it can be daunting searching the internet. Often search results throw up irrelevant companies that print stationery but don’t provide a design service. Have a browse on places like Pinterest and Etsy. Gather ideas of what you might be looking for. Approach a few companies and ask if they can do what you’d like. Send photos if you can’t see exactly what you’re looking for on their website. Order samples. This is a great way to establish the quality of any chosen invitations.

Vintage Prints provides a personal design service taking the stress out of creating your perfect wedding stationery. From Save the Dates to Invitations and Menus to Table plans, we’ve got it covered. Think outside the box and let us know what you’d like. We are happy to come up with new designs for customers and love hearing your ideas.

Finally

This is another chance to get creative and have some fun with your stationery. They don’t need to match the rest of your stationery. Try something new and give your guests a further insight into the tone of the wedding and the kind of couple you are. Set the mood: are you going formal or informal, vintage, or retro? Is it taking place abroad, on a beach, in a barn or in a country house? Make it extra special by having matching envelope liners or stickers. Have a look on sites such as Pinterest for ideas and be creative with your wording. The options are endless. And don’t stress over it! Is it really so important that the invites match the groom’s tie?

In our next post we’ll cover the full list of 22 Things to Consider Including on Your Wedding Invitations