Wedding Invitation Tips and Advice

You're well into planning your wedding and have finally decided on the design of your wedding invitation. The wording has been chosen and the guest list is well on its way to completion. Here are some additional wedding invitation tips and advice that you should also be aware of.

* If children will also be included as guests, you can choose to write out their individual names on the addressed envelopes or put "and family". For example:

Mr. and Mrs. Bob Simpson, Cathy and John
or
Mr. and Mrs. Bob Simpson and Family

* If the children are older teenagers (say 16 years of age or older), you may wish to send them an individual invitation, just like you would an adult.

* If you don't wish to include children at the ceremony, do not include their names or "and family" on the outside of the envelope. It's suggested you add "Sorry, but children are not invited", "adults only" or something similar somewhere on the invitation to make it clear. If you wish to include them at the reception, but not at the ceremony, you could note this information on the response card...or on the invitation itself at the bottom in some fashion.

* When issuing invitations to a guest who is single, it is polite to put "and Guest" on the outside of the envelope so that they have the option to bring along a companion. For example:

Mr. Ralph Jones and Guest
or
Miss Sarah Campbell and Guest

* Be forewarned. Usually 7% to 10% of the guests who respond with a yes will not actually attend the wedding. In addition, 20% to 30% won't make it to the reception. This can wreak havoc when budgeting for a sit down dinner. You may want to consider a buffet style dinner instead.

* In some cases, you'll want to invite people to the ceremony, but not the reception or vice versa. If so, then you will need two sets of invitations printed. One that includes reception information and one that doesn't.

* If you don't receive a reply from some guests by your reply date, do not hesitate to call them. It is important that you know how many are attending so you budget accordingly.

* If you decide to order invitations, be sure to do so at least 4 to 6 weeks before they are scheduled to be mailed. If you plan on mailing your invitations around the 15th of March, order them between February 1st and 15th.

* Double, even triple check everything before it gets printed. This includes invitations, response cards, envelopes, wedding programs, etc. whether you're doing them yourself or your having them professionally printed. Check for spelling errors especially.

* Always order extra invitation envelopes and response card envelopes. There will inevitably be a few mistakes when addressing these and you'll want to have a few extras on hand.

* You should mail your invitations at least 6 weeks before the wedding date and indicate that you would like a response at least 3 weeks before the wedding date. So if your wedding date is July 1st, mail your invitations by May 15th and ask that they respond by June 7th. This will give guests time to receive their invitations and reply by mail, which in turn, gives you time to firm up catering plans, seating arrangements, etc.

* If your wedding is going to actually be held on a beach or other outdoor area, be sure that you let your guests know this, so they can dress appropriately.

Are Your Wedding Invitations Important

So you have decided to get married. In fact, you have to start planning for your wedding as soon as you have make the decision to get married. You will of course need to think about the date of the event. Without any surprise, the venue and location of it is also very important. You will need to consider these two issues before you can start planning for the event. As a matter of fact, you will start thinking about the wedding invitations after you have make your decisions on the date and venue.

There are some couples who think that the wedding invitations are not very important. Yes it is very true that the price of them will not be that high when they are compared with other items such as your wedding gown and photography. However, this does not mean that it is not important. It is in fact just as important as your gown and photography.

As you may know, the wedding invitations will be setting the tone of your event. This is why these cards are so important. Even if you are going to invite your guests via email, you will still need an invitation. An e-invitation is still an invitation at the end of the date.

If you are going to print some physical wedding invitations, it is important that you try to order them as early as possible. In most cases, you will need to send the cards to your guests 10 to 12 weeks before your event. As a result, you will probably need to order the cards 5 to 6 months before you event. This will help to make sure that your guests will have enough time to reply you.

There are different styles and designs of wedding cards available in the market. You will need to choose them based on your budget and preferences. It will not be difficult for you to choose the most suitable one if you allow yourself enough time to shop for it!

Affordable Wedding Invitations

Wedding invitations are an important part of the wedding planning process. You've got to decide who you will invite and how you will invite them. Unfortunately, because of number of invitations, printing and mailing invitations can be a costly expense. Luckily, there are several steps you can take to produce cheap invitations that look great without breaking your wedding budget.

E-Invitations

Many people send birthday e-cards. You can take that a step further and send your invitations online. Although this is somewhat unconventional, this way will certainly save you money. Plus, your guests can easily reply.

Direct Manufacturers

You can often get massive discounts (up to 50%) by working directly with the manufacturer and not the retailer. Even with the lower price, you'll still get beautiful invitations. However, as you can imagine, dealing with the manufacturer rather than the retailer involves a bit more hassle. But if your mind is set on getting Affordable Wedding Invitations, then by all means consider this option.

DIY (Do It Yourself)

There's nothing wrong with having cheaper invitations simply by making them yourself! This can be a tedious task if you have many guests, but if you're having a smaller wedding, this is a good option. Also, if you want to save time, you can purchase wedding invitation kits. These kits have all the raw materials you need to make awesome invitations.

Local Shops

There may be great sales at your local printing stores. Also, smaller vendors are more open to giving you a discount especially if you need many invitations.

Digital Wedding Invitations

Remember those times when it was common to write out wedding invitations one by one on a pretty stationary with all the trimmings. It was traditional to write wedding invitations out and mail those months before the wedding day came about. However, with the dawning of the internet era, and with the ease and quickness of sending messages electronically, it was only a matter of time before incorporating the ease of sending invites, even something as traditional as wedding invites, would become something that brides-to-be would start doing.

Now, we are not saying that wedding invitations have been taken over by evites and e-cards, however, we are saying that this is a sign of the times and the era of digital wedding invitations not only have arrived, but are here to stay. Digital Wedding Invitations are simply jazzed up emails that are mailed out in massive quantities to all the wedding guests you are planning to invite to your special day. One of the requirements however is for the bride to be or groom to be, whoever is organizing the guest list to have everyone's email that they are planning to invite. Obviously this is an obstacle to overcome. How does the bride to be or groom to be alleviate this concern?

One idea is to use a social networking tool such as Facebook or MySpace where the newlyweds can post their wedding online. Another way is to contact them obtain there emails and send out a fancy electronic invite better known as an Evite or Ecard. Now while a lot of the older generation do not have nor use emails traditional methods still need to be practiced when sending out wedding invitations on their special wedding day! A third idea is to have a website customized for the upcoming event and have it uploaded to the world wide web well in advance and have the URL advertised online.

Some of the downfalls to this approach as mentioned above could be people not having access to the internet or not being connected on a regular basis to be able to access either the wedding website created especially for your wedding day or they can not connect to the social network such as Facebook or MySpace. Another pitfall could be the older generation either being computer illiterate or being intimidated by the whole notion of the computer.

So in conclusion, digital wedding invitations will become the fabric of wedding for years to come! Although they will not replace the traditional wedding invitation digital wedding invitations are more cost effective, more time efficient and more environmentally friendly all while getting the message across to all the wedding guests in the same manner as a traditional wedding invitation would. Therefore go crazy with your digital wedding invitation be as creative with your digital invite as you would with your traditional print invitation. But still keep in mind that it is still a wedding and traditional methods must be applied.

Wedding Invitation Wording

There are as many wedding circumstances as there are brides and grooms, and how to express the nuances of your wedding in your invitation can be really tricky. Follow the guide below to create a properly worded wedding invitation that is both accurate and follow proper etiquette.

Jewish Wedding

Since the Jewish faith considers marriage the true joining of two families, the groom's parents' names also appear on the invitations, beneath the bride's parents' names, but with no joining word. The word "and" is used between the bride's and groom's names, however, because the Jewish faith believes that God brings a man and a woman together to be joined as partners for life, instead of a woman being married "to" a man.

Roman Catholic Wedding

The wording for a Roman Catholic wedding will vary slightly, and may include the phrase "Nuptial Mass" if the ceremony will be part of a Catholic service. It is helpful to guests to include this phrase since a Nuptial Mass lasts approximately one hour, longer than the typical marriage ceremony.

Hispanic Wedding

Invitations to Hispanic wedding celebrations may be issued in either English or Spanish, and many couples provide both, on the two inner pages of a folded invitation. Both sets of parents are usually included in the wording, with the bride's parents' names always listed first.

The Bridal Couple As Hosts

If the bride's parents are both deceased, or if the bride and groom are older or marrying for the second time, the couple may choose to issue the invitations themselves. The use of "Miss" versus "Ms." before the bride's name is based on personal preference and may depend on whether or not this is the bride's first marriage.

Including The Groom's Parents As Hosts

If the groom's parents assume a large portion of the wedding expenses, their names may be included, with both sets of parents' names at the very beginning of the invitation. This makes it clear that both families are issuing the invitation.

Including The Groom's Parents

If you simply wish to include the groom's parents' names on the invitation, no matter what the circumstances or financial contribution, the bride's parents are still noted first as the official hosts, with the groom's parents assuming the second position. If the groom's parents' names are short enough, the words "son of" can be included on the same line as their names so that the names of the bride and groom stand out more.

Including The Groom's Parents When Divorced

To include the groom's parents in a place of honor when they are divorced. The groom's mother's name appears first, using her remarried name (if appropriate) and the groom's father is second.

Divorced Parents of Bride Hosting Together

If the bride's parents are divorced but enjoy an amicable relationship (even if one has remarried), they may issue the invitations together. The mother's name always appears first.

Hosted By One Parent

A wedding may be hosted by only one parent if the other is deceased or if the parents are divorced. In this case, the parent issues the invitation alone and the word "his" or "her" is added in place of "their" in the request line.

Idea About Wedding Reception Invitation Wording

Organizing invitation will be very exciting, particularly if you need to make the good wedding reception invitation wording as well. It is required if you plan to hold the reception at the different place as the ceremony. Holding at the same place, you can simply include the information in the bottom of the invitation. Can you arrange the good wedding reception invitation wording? In this case, it is probable for you to use the wording if ceremony and reception are held in a friend's home. Here are the tips of wording for any situation.

Different Venue, Different Wording

The good wedding reception invitation wording will be excellent in giving the direction to the guests about where they need to go, since the wedding ceremony takes place at the same venue as the reception. Commonly, these invitations are on a separate card that is included with the actual wedding invitation, if the reception will take place soon following the service.

Besides, you can also add a response card that enables guests to easily RSVP and gives you a proper head count to plan for at your celebration.

What about the Reception at a Different Time?

The private and quiet ceremony is preferable for several couples. And then, they will hold a larger reception later for all of their family and friends. At that condition, the right wedding reception invitation wording will allow guests recognize that the wedding has already taken place, and this event will be a part of what has happened.

Lastly, it is very great and beneficial in offering the inclusive information to the guests about everything concerning the reception. Please remember that reception can be awkward at times. You will be happy of seeing everybody attend to your great party in your lifetime with a perfect performance, right?

Unique Wedding Invitations Ideas

Wedding invitations are the best way to add uniqueness to your wedding celebration. Nowadays, with the availability of so many options, unique wedding invitations can be designed within a few clicks! There are many ways to create unique wedding invitations that make the lasting impression on your special day. The choice of unique wedding invitations is very important as it is the best mementos of your grand day. Hence, find quality time to choose the best invitation that reflects your true identity that you both share as a couple. Following are few ideas that may help you to for making the perfect wedding invitations:

Photo Invitation:

Many couples love to put their pictures on their wedding cards on the cover. You can put your pictures in different ways. You can include a full photograph or add just faces on the cards. Use a black and white photograph to give it a classy look or add a colored photograph to make it really catchy.

Invitations with drawings:

Many couples add a number of drawings into their wedding cards. Choose drawings that describe their romantic connection with each other. Add anything from a church, wedding bells, or anything interesting to make your card look really appealing and attractive.

Fun elements can be added:

Nowadays, many couples add some funny elements in their cards to make it look really interesting. You can add a number of things such as confetti, stickers or funny pictures to make a card look really appealing to everyone.

Make your invitation non-traditional:

If you are one of theme who likes to maintain traditions and rituals at wedding then you can choose traditional wedding cards. But, people who are of modern thinking can choose non-traditional way to invite people close to their hearts.