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# 1 - Invitations - Getting Started
Invitations announce your wedding and instantly communicates the style of your wedding. Not a good idea to scrimp on your invitations. Never before have there been more options for wedding invitations; hundreds of fonts, styles, paper, textures, ribbons, and creativity than ever before. Use a professional invitation house; careful with ordering online--it's hard to detect typos and the online companies ensure that you are liable for any typing errors. If you decide to make the invitations yourself, be prepared to spend a lot of time perfecting the style you want and the hours of labor involved. You will need time to find stationery and ribbons, to take them to an copy center to cut and fold them, purchase outside and inside envelopes, response cards and return envelopes. It can be just as expensive as buying ready-made designs.

The complete ensemble includes:
The invitation to the ceremony, the invitation to the reception, response card (RSVP) and return envelope.

Additional contents may include: map (professionally prepared and verified), information about gift registry (not recommended) , special pew seating cards, special parking vouchers). Additionally, you want to purchase/create matching Thank You cards and perhaps a Wedding Day Program.


# 2 - How Many Invitations to Order
It’s always best to have a little more than be short, and have to reorder. After you feel comfortable with your guest list, order about 20 more invitations than you need. Extras are needed to correct writing errors, to add someone else to the originally-planned list, or you may want extras to save for your scrapbook, for your parents and best friends.

Careful when ordering. Let’s say you set your list to 150 couples and possibly 20 children. Most likely you will need to purchase 75 + 20 extra = 95 invitations. This assumes that each adult has a spouse/friend and you are sending only one invitation to them. Of course your list will be different from this example.

If you decide to invite some guests to the ceremony and some to the reception, then you want to have a separate reception card from the ceremony invitation. The RSVP or response card is important for your meal and seat planning. Include a map if you think this is an important piece of information. Today, Internet users type the address in Map Quest and print it. The more pieces you have, the more work it will be to assemble each invitation. Be sure to ask your wedding attendants to help you make this exhausting project a fun one.

# 3 - Save-the-Date Cards
Do you need to send "save the date" cards? It's all the craze today. Why? Brides want to share their exciting news about their upcoming wedding and because the cards are fun! Most of all, you want to inform those guests who live out of town about your upcoming event. By sending the cards, you are allowing them plenty of time to make travel arrangements. Is your wedding on a major holiday weekend? If so, this is another good reason to send the cards so your guests can plan ahead. Are you planning a destination wedding? If so, then Save-the-Date cards is another way to help your guests prepare their travel plans.

The key about sending these cards is that you are planning to follow-up with a customary wedding invitation. Is it necessary to send the cards? Only if needed. The cards are an extra expense (cards and postage) you may not have included the cards in your budget. If you decide to send the cards, there are many options available such as ordering small or large quantities, formal or informal, or, if you're creative, make your own. Save-the-Date cards also come in magnets which can be placed on the kitchen refrigerator. The cards are very simple - bride and groom's names, the date, city and state. Careful not to confuse your guests; perhaps you can add small print stating:"wedding invitation to follow".

# 4 - Invitation Wording
How to address the envelopes depends on formality and who is "hosting" the wedding event. Traditionally, the parents of the bride host the event and the basic invitation is:

  • Mr. and Mrs. Jack Adam [next line] request the honour of your presence [next line] at the marriage of their daughter [next line] Melissa Ann [next line] to [next line] Mr. John Mann [next line] Saturday, the twentieth of September [next line] at six o'clock in the evening [next line] Little Chapel [next line] San Diego, California

  • If parents are not living, can use a guardian, close relative, close friend.
  • Many brides and grooms are paying for their wedding. In this case, you can use the wording: The honour of your presence [next line] is requested [next line] at the marriage of [next line] Miss Melissa Adam [next line] to [next line] Mr. John Mann.

  • Some couples prefer adults only at their event. The politically correct way to accomplish this is by not addressing the children on the envelope (if you are using two envelopes, then the inside envelope). Another option, why not have a designated area at the reception as a children’s area and hire someone to watch over the children during the reception.


    • # 5 - Guest List Scope
    Work in an office? Word gets around quickly and some workers may believe they will be or should be invited. A safe thing to do is only invite the office friends if they are your social buddies outside the office. If you feel like inviting your boss, then that’s acceptable. Do your “single” friends need to find a date to attend your wedding? No, actually you can make them feel comfortable by telling them to show up alone and maybe they can meet other singles at the event.

    # 6 - How Many Guests to Invite
    Set a reasonable number of guests you plan to invite. Watch how fast the numbers increase. The number of children is needed to determine the number of plates to serve and number of seats.
    Bride’s family
  • 50 adults (25 families) + 15 children (ages 5-18)
  • 30 friends (total)
    • Groom’s family
  • 40 adults (20 families) + 10 children (ages 5-18)
  • 50 friends (total)
    • Vendors
  • 05 Band members, photographer

    • 200 TOTAL GUESTS

    # 7 - Thank You Cards
    Writing thank you cards is a necessity. Let’s face it, writing thank you cards is time consuming and challenging to write-as each one must be personally handwritten. One of the reasons this task is overwhelming is when you receive so many gifts (if you have a large wedding), there are 90 to 150 cards to write. The best strategy is to write the card as soon as you receive the gift, or set a plan to write five at a time as the gifts are received. For the majority of the notes, start writing them about five days after you return from your honeymoon. If you follow the strategy to write about five notes a day for four times a week, it adds up to 20 for the week. Multiply that by five weeks = 100 cards (families).

    # 8 - When to Mail Your Wedding Invitations
    Today’s environment is busier than ever -- everyone has a full calendar. It’s important today to mail your wedding invitations four to six weeks in advance of the event. Not only is there sufficient time for your guests to reply, but also gives your guests plenty of time to make arrangements around other family and work commitments—and your guests will appreciate the early invitation. Postage is probably more than you think. Put one invitation together as if it is ready and take it to the post office and have it weighed for the proper amount of postage.

    # 9 - Calligraphy
    Calligraphy is a such beautiful touch on your invitation. This is still heavily practiced in 2005. As you know, computerized systems are changing the scene. If you have your guest list in order and it is still about eight to ten weeks ahead of your wedding, then by all means investigate the cost of the calligraphy service. Rates for calligraphy vary according to your needs. It can cost from $2.00 to $3.75 per envelope (depending on number of lines and degree of formality). Other options if Calligraphy does not fit your budget: (a) find a personal friend who has beautiful penmanship; (b) type them from a calligraphy software package (check the Internet); or (c) have mailing labels printed. One way to make labels look nice on an envelope is to use clear labels. There are also software packages for you to print each envelope individually (this takes practice; just make sure you have extra envelopes).

    # 10 - The Wedding "Announcement"
    You may wish to invite many guests but are financially strapped . If you opt to have a small wedding, then send a formal “Announcement” to your family and friends to let them know you have wed. The Announcement should be mailed on the day of your wedding. Think you might elope? You can send Announcements to your friends and family on the day you marry.

    The Announcement can be formal from the bride’s family, or it can be informal from the couple. If from the couple, then the wording is simple, such as Jane Smith and John Doe [next line] announce their marriage [next line] Saturday, the first of June [next line] Two thousand Five [next line] Kaanapali, Maui.

    # 11 - Place Cards
    Invitation order houses offer place cards that match your wedding invitation. This is a nice touch. Popular today are creative place cards. These cards can be Table Numbers, or Table Names, Family Names or individual guest names. Many brides have used their imagination with the cards following a theme. They tie ribbons on them, use tasteful stationery found at the local paper store, place flowers, gift boxes, wine bottles, mini photo frames, you name, you create it!

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