The Most Important Wedding Invitation Etiquette Questions Answered
The Most Important Wedding Invitation Etiquette Questions Answered
The process of sending out your wedding invitation may raise a few very important questions. When should you send out your invitations? How should you indicate to your guests that you won’t be having children at your wedding? Where should you include wedding registry information? When it comes to communicating the details, etiquette is important and there are a few things you should keep in mind. Here are the answers to some of the most important wedding invitation etiquette questions.
When should we send out our wedding invitations?
You should send out your invitations 2-4 months prior to the event. If you’ll be having a destination wedding, send out the invitations about three months prior to give your guests ample time to make arrangements. When it comes to ordering your wedding invitations, start working on them with your stationery designer about five months before your wedding.
What should be the deadline for RSVPs?
The date to receive RSVPs back should be around 4-6 weeks before your wedding, to ensure you have enough time to craft an accurate seating chart as well as provide the final numbers to your caterer. Maybe we can add something here about booking your day of stationery with us ahead of time to ensure we book you into our design and production calendar during the busier months (wedding season)
Can people RSVP both online and with their RSVP card?
A mix of both online RSVPs through a website and receiving RSVP cards is an option, especially if you have guests who aren’t extremely tech-savvy. We do recommend choosing 1 option to help you streamline the process. [Ensure that you’re organized and know exactly who you sent an RSVP card to and who you expect to RSVP online. – maybe remove?] Follow up with any outstanding guests who didn’t RSVP before the deadline.
Where should we include our wedding website information?
You can include your wedding website in your save-the-dates and let guests know it’ll be updated so they can get excited about the upcoming event. If you’d like to remind your guests of the website in your invitation, you can include it on your details card. If you’re having your guests RSVP online, you can include a card with the website information in lieu of an RSVP card.
Should we include wedding registry information in our invitation?
It’s best not to include wedding registry information directly in your invitation, but on your website, as it can be seen as impolite to ask for gifts. Including the information on the site will also make it easier for guests to access your registry and purchase any gifts online.
How can we convey that children aren’t invited to our wedding?
When addressing your wedding invitation envelopes, ensure you write out each guest’s name, as this will make it clear exactly who is invited. If your guests include their children’s names in the RSVP, reach out to them directly and let them know that the event is adults-only. Do not write this in the invitation. You can include information on baby-sitters or childcare services in your area on your wedding website. You can also include a line on your RSVP card “we have reserved _ number of seats for your party” where either you can fill it out ahead of time or have your guests’ indicate how many guests they are bringing.
How do we communicate the dress code in our invitations?
Including the dress code on your invitation is not required (unless it is a black tie event) and it is completely up to you on whether or not to include it, based on your invitation design. It may be nice to include to give your guests a better idea of what kind of event it is, otherwise they may rely on word-of-mouth or what your invitation design looks like to know what to wear to the event. If you prefer to leave dress code information out of your invitations, you can opt to put it on your wedding website.
