Friday, October 9, 2009

How to Get Your Wedding Guest List and Invites

When you make the huge decision to become married and officially become engaged, it marks not only one of the greatest times of your life, but also probably one of the busiest. With an engagement and a future wedding there is much need for celebration, but there is also a need to realize that you're in for some serious work now that you only have a set amount of time to get your wedding planned. It's nothing to be too stressed about and you need to have fun while doing it, but just know ahead of time that to properly plan a wedding it takes dedication from not only the couple that's walking down the aisle, but also from many other friends, family and co-workers that will be involved in the planning as well.

One thing that I would suggest right off the bat is to find a few friends or members of your family that you trust can be of a huge help to you during this time and get them involved as soon as possible wit your planning. This will be fun for them and it will take a lot of work of your plate, which is always a good thing.

As I continue to plan my wedding, one of the things that I have focused on due to its importance to me is the creation of the wedding guest list and deciding who I am going to invite to my wedding. For my particular wedding I am having 200 guests, so that is my limit when sifting through all of the potential invites that I could send out to my many, many family, friends and family. Getting a proper guest list together that I am happy with is very important to me, so it's something that I've spent a lot of time working on. I've learned a few things along the way while I've been doing this, so I'm hoping to pass on a few tips to you so that you can get a great guest list together, too. Here are some thoughts on how you can end up with that perfect wedding guest list that you'd love to see at your upcoming wedding.

The first thing that you need to figure out is how many guests you can invite to your wedding because this will set the overall limit of people who will be attending your wedding and dinner. After you come up with that number, you need to come up with the people that you definitely have to invite to your wedding. Here's how I went through the various family, friends and others who I was thinking about inviting to my wedding:

Wedding Party: You need to obviously make sure that your wedding party is invited to your wedding and that they are going to be taken care of once they show up for your big day.

Family: For some of us (like me), family will take up a substantial amount of your wedding seats, so be sure to figure out who you want to be there and whom you don't. Also, something to remember is that you should look at your family by layers and once you decide what layer you want to invite to you should stick with it. I ended up inviting my close family, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and all of their kids. It adds up fast, but it's the layers of family that I chose.

Send Out Save The Dates: I'm pretty sure that most people do this already, but be sure to send out some fun save the dates about 4 months before your wedding so that your guests know that they're invited and can plan ahead.

Use Technology To Keep Track Of Who You're Inviting: This seems like a no-brainer, but using technology such as Google Docs so that you can share who you've invited to your wedding and keeping track of it as a couple will make your life much easier. Also, now that most of our friends were on Facebook, we have been able to use that technology to keep track of our invites as well.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Simple Methods For Personalizing Your Wedding Invitations

Since wedding invitations are the first intro your guests will get to the tempo and concept of your wedding, make certain that your invitations are as transparent and special as your wedding will be. Follow these easy steps for personalizing your invitations.

First, use invitation wording that mirrors you and your family's attitudes, beliefs, and personalities. People are sick and tired of reading the same old phrase on invitations. The popular phrase emblazoned across the annals of bridal magazines, and history in general, is the following: "Blank's parents request the honor of your presence at the marriage of their daughter, or son." Consider new and innovative ways of saying the same thing so people don't feel lukewarm about attending your wedding. Pull them in with invigorating, personal phrases that suggest warmth and kindness and a special call out to them especially. Here is a good example:

Because you have witnessed our beautiful child grow up along with us, Name and Name invite you to partake of the spiritual blessing of our wedding day.

Another good phrase might be the following:

Mr. Name and Mrs. Name lovingly and happily invite you to the marriage of their daughter, Name, to Name. There will be festivities, a reception, and a reception dinner to follow. Wedding favors are mandatory. Gotcha!

That last bit has a little humor because people read the word mandatory and think they have to do something. However, all they have to do is show up and accept the wedding favors. Humor and love can humanize and personalize your wedding invitations.

A second way of personalizing your wedding invitations is to designate the place where you live with some special importance. If your hometown or wedding location offers some sentimental boost to your heart, then make it known on the invitation. If you live in the Australian outback, use a kangaroo. If you're going to a beach destination for some fun in the sun, use images of seashells, the surf, or sand castles. For Western weddings, use cowboy boots and hats. If you're at a romantic spot for the wedding, especially if you're flying in guests to go there, use that scene's romantic architecture. You can't get more romantic than the beautiful canals of Amsterdam, Holland. You can also use your favorite paintings or movies if you're an artist or movie aficianado. Anything that evokes your personality or your partner's preferences are ideal. Your guests will get a real sense of who you and your spouse really are.

Ways to Save Money on Wedding Invitations

Inviting your possible guests on your wedding day can be costly. You have to give them traditional wedding cards to inform them of the date and venue, and possibly those cards are made of elegant or high quality papers and other materials that might cost a lot. If your goal is to save money, then you should think of cost – effective alternatives to send out cards to your guests. Here are some tips.

1. Make a list of possible guests first. Invite only your closest friends and relatives so you’ll know the number of cards to make. Sometimes cards are made in excess and are thrown away.

2. No RSVP, please. Who cares about RSVP cards? Chances are they’ll just tell you in person that they will attend, so don’t include RSVP cards. This is especially true when they are your closest friends and co – workers whom you see everyday.

3. Have a friend, relative or hobbyist make DIY cards. If you know someone talented in making cards, then have her come up with a design instead of hiring a company doing that for you.

4. Print them yourself. Just use a cheap ink and your own printer. No one will notice anyway, or they won’t care too much.

5. Send them ecards. Send your relatives living far away an ecard and add an audio to it. You will save on postage stamps and won’t take too long, too. Tell them to reply early.

6. Shop on cheap materials. Go to local bookstores and see those cheap papers and laces. Compare prices of these materials before making a decision.

Think of more ways to save more money on wedding invitations by being creative and delegating tasks to the people you know. Save on other things, too, like wedding cakes, music, photography and attire. You don't have to spend a lot to make your special day a success

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Anniversary Invitation For Your Wedding Anniversary

In order to throw a fabulous event for your loved ones to celebrate their marriage, you'll need to begin by sending anniversary invitation. Besides sending out those cards, you'll also need to make some other important planning decisions. Below are some ideas that are going to help you get started on those invitations and the rest of your party planning.

Many of the leading online invitations and announcements stores offer advantages to shopping with them, such as
· Instant Preview After Personalizing Your Anniversary Invitation!
· Your Proof Submitted Within ONE Hour, and You Should Be Able To Make Unlimited Revisions, FREE
· Same Day Printing and Shipping if Your Order
· Free Shipping and 10 Free Cards
· Exclusive Designs Available ONLY
· Add a Photo or Picture to Any Cards on Their Site
· Create a Design especially for you

Beginning Tips for Planning

When you start thinking about an anniversary party event, you should begin planning your budget first. Your budget will determine many of the other important factors surrounding your event, such as location and the size of the guest list. If you're going to be working with anyone else on the party, perhaps a sibling or another close family member, then you'll need to discuss the budget with them as well before finalizing any type of anniversary wedding invite.

Next you need to put together a guest list for the event. If you're trying to plan a more intimate, low-key event then consider keeping the number of guests small and limited to just close friends and family members. You could also opt for a larger event with all of the people the couple knows. Which type of event you choose could include a number of factors, including how much you can afford to spend and the preference of the couple.

Once you've chosen a guest list, the next job should be to select a location so you can prepare the cards. Make sure you choose a location that will be sufficient in size to hold all of your guests. Restaurant party rooms can be a good choice for smaller events. Party rooms and event rooms at hotels and other locations are a good choice for larger events. Be sure to place a deposit on the location so you can secure it for the date you want.

Completing the Anniversary Party Cards and Anniversary Announcements

Now that you've done most of the pre-planning, it's time to get those wedding anniversary invitations in the mail. If you've decided to choose a theme for the event, you'll want to select an that will match that theme. For example, the 50th Golden Wedding Anniversary theme or the 25th Silver Wedding Anniversary theme should have a gold or silver invitation, respectively. It's a good idea to choose the invite for the wedding anniversary early so you'll be ready to focus on the anniversary wordings and on the mailing of them once the details are set.

Make sure you give yourself enough time to prepare the Anniversary Invite so you can get them out in the mail within three weeks of the event. You want to make sure the guests receive them in plenty of time to make their preparations for attending. You should also make sure to request an RSVP for the event. That way you'll have a good idea of how many people will be attending and you can plan accordingly. Remember to include your contact information for the RSVP in the anniversary invitation so guests will be able to reach you with their response and questions regarding your special anniversaries!

Creative Wedding Invitations and Announcements

It is becoming more and more popular to create unique and creative wedding announcements and invitations. Announcing to your family and friends that you are going to get married is a special moment, and you can create some fun ways to let them know about your romance plans for your special day!

If you are a jokester, you might want to do something that will confuse them at first and then you can announce in person or on paper that you are going to get married. If you are more of a romantic, you might want to create a poem of your experience with your groom and how you imagine it will be as a wedded couple. If you are a busy person who travels a lot, you might want to send announcements out to your family and friends. If you like to save time and money, you can send wedding announcements and invitations in one easy and creative card!

Your wedding invitation or announcement is actually your first impression on your family and friends about your nuptials. It is the first step towards your wedding. You can capture the whole feel of your wedding day (if you already know what you are going to do) in your wedding announcements and invitations.

There are a wide variety of designs and styles to choose from when picking out your own wedding invitation and announcements if you want to do it the formal way with a nice card.

However, you and your groom are unique, even as a couple. If you want to show your individuality, you need to either find a place that can help you customize your wedding invitations or you can create your own. You can create something unique that no one would be able to find in any store – online or off. You can use vivid and bright colors, or earthy colors to help you invite family and friends to your wedding ceremony and reception.

Another great way to create your own wedding invitation or announcement is to visit a scrapbooking store whether online or offline. You can find all of the supplies you can think of to create your own unique and creative wedding invitations and announcements. You might have a hard time getting your groom to be involved in making them, though.

Have fun with finding the right wedding announcements and invitations for you and your groom. Keep it your own unique wedding invitation and announcements that you will cherish for years to come.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Modern Wedding Invitations

Your wedding day is possibly one of the most important days of your life. Your wedding invitations expresses a lot about your wedding and sets the tone and feel for your wedding day. Modern Wedding Invitations are what you should have and what you need in a modern age. Guests expect a high quality professionally printed card. Gone are the days when you could send out an invite that looks the same as a funeral card. The expectation is so much more today and you do not want to disappoint.

If you want your guests to fully enjoy themselves and you are to feature a theme to your Modern Wedding Invitations. It is always important to tell them on their invite. For example your could have a medieval theme, a Victorian theme by spelling it is easier to participate on the day. Cards have to be sent out well in advance if your guests are to be expected to find costumes etc.

The design of Modern Wedding Invitations is always important. There are many sites and many companies offering these style of cards. But as you will only select one it is vital that you have decided on your theme . Be it a colour theme, flowers simplicity or style theme. Many companies offer stock cards but some will actually create one -off designs just for you. Meaning no other bride will have the same invitations as you.

The benefits for choosing Modern Wedding Invitations are:

1) Hearts and logos, embossed and in different colours

2) Wacky designs to suit the couple

3) Modern art designs

4) Contemporary colours and styles

Modern wedding invitations allow you the couple to express themselves on their wedding day. Doing what they want and in the style they want. Modern wedding invitations are far from conventional invites and should be moving in your time zone and creating what you feel.

Simple Wedding Invitations

Weddings are grand social affairs with celebrations continuing for days before and after the wedding ceremony and reception. Before the beginning of this revelry, it is very important to send out the wedding invitation cards to the various guests who are to be invited to the ceremony and reception.

Wedding invitations are therefore very significant aspects of the whole occasion. The invitation cards are vital as they contain the details of the wedding ceremony, its location, and timings. This is apart from the usual reference regarding the bride and groom and their families.

Therefore, wedding cards are an integral part of organizing the wedding ceremony. Special care needs to be taken to ensure that the invites are pleasant and graceful and at the same time appealing and nice. However, the kind of the wedding invites depends fully on the couple and there are a variety of designs from where they get to choose the final outlay of the invite.

Wedding invitation cards may be simplistic as well as gorgeous and elaborate. Simply designed ones are usually pristine white adorned with silver or golden decorations and look very elegant and graceful. The inside of the invitation should be filled up by the written invitation and it should be addressed with respect to the invitees.

Often these invitations are decorated with flower motifs, at times colorful and vibrant, and sometimes simple. These decorative features add beauty to the invitations and are appealing to the guests. At the same time, wedding invitations are also symbolic of the host's power and wealth. Therefore, one can also come across very elaborately decorated invitations.

These invites are usually available in two colors, Black And White Wedding Invitations. They may be striped or printed with larger motifs which garner a lot of attention from the invited and are eye-catching. They appear to be a complete contrast compared to the all white simply designed cards.

Nonetheless, the kind of wedding invitations depends greatly upon the way of expression of the bride and groom and different individuals have different modes of expression. All invitations are accessorized with suitable envelopes and are often accompanied by 'Thank You' notes.