Wedding invitations are among the most important parts of wedding planning for reason. Unless you are planning an elopement, you will probably want to have at least a few guests in attendance. This requires invitations to announce important details about your wedding day, such as the location and the time. Wedding invitations fit into a place on your wedding planning timeline and follow a few simple rules of etiquette.
Twelve to Six Months on the Timeline
Most couples begin planning their wedding about a year in advance. You should not send out wedding invitations too early; otherwise, the unplanned details will be absent from the invitations and many would file the invitations away and miss the big day. Instead of sending out invitations too early, you should send out notices to save the date. The save the date can be a note printed on engagement photos or a postcard. Mail out your save the dates as early as possible.
Choosing Your Wedding Invitations
You should start choosing the design for your wedding invitations about six months prior to your wedding day. Before this can occur, you will need to have a theme and a color palette. Your wedding invitations should convey your theme and follow the color scheme of your wedding. Make sure you allow enough time to customize the designs, review proofs and put in the final order. You will have more to consider than the wording on the invitation, fonts and design. Invitations enclose a RSVP card with prepaid postage, travel information, hotel room block information and other important details, such as whether children are welcome and the dress code.
Mailing the Wedding Invitations
Sending out the invitations is just as important as creating them. Mail your wedding invitations about six to eight weeks prior to your wedding day. If you are planning a destination wedding, you should mail invitations about three months in advance to allow more time for guests to make travel arrangements.
Other Invitations
There are more wedding invitations than those related to the actual wedding day. You will probably have a bridal shower, welcome party for out-of-town guests and a rehearsal dinner. A bridal shower is usually planned by the bride’s wedding party and hosted by the maid of honor, another family member or close friend. The bride should provide her guest list to the maid of honor or whoever is hosting the special event a few months prior to the wedding day. They will need to send out invitations about a month prior to the bridal shower. Bridal shower invitations will follow a different theme than your wedding and are usually designed by those planning the event. If you are planning to have a welcome party for out-of-town guests, you should include that invitation in the wedding invitations to those special guests. The rehearsal dinner is usually planned by the parents of the groom. The invitations should be sent out a couple months prior to the rehearsal dinner. Do not forget to include RSVP information.
The RSVP
A reply from your guests is necessary to finalize the headcount for seating charts, place cards, favors and the catering. The French phrase répondez s'il vous plaît or RSVP means, please reply. Your RSVP should have a deadline of no less than two to three weeks prior to your wedding. Your wedding venue and your caterer will need the final number of guests that will be in attendance. You should always follow up with your guests that did not reply. You will be able to use your final guest count to create your seating chart and finalize the small details.
Crystal Ballroom at Sunset Harbor
If you are looking for inspiration for your theme and invitations, discover the Crystal Ballroom at Sunset Harbor. This all-inclusive wedding venue bundles the venue, furnishings, décor and services into an affordable luxury wedding package. Crystal Ballroom weddings include an in-house design team to stage the entire ceremony space and reception ballroom, an impressive bartender service, formal banquet staff, elegant furnishings, chinaware for a full three course meal, all the linens and the décor. Bring imagination to this destination wedding venue and plan a fairy tale in a ballroom designed just for you.
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