So you have found your soul mate and made all of the arrangements for the wedding. You have chosen to have a beautiful summer wedding. You were able to book the wedding venue, the envy of other brides. You have a perfect custom wedding cake and a caterer to fullfill all your needs. You have even gotten the perfect wedding dress.
Now all that you need are guests for your dream wedding. You have probably decided on the number of guests based on the wedding location, now you need to pick the perfect wedding invitation to start your perfect wedding plan.
It’s time to work on your wedding ivitations
Before you get started you need to know who to invite. Remember this is YOUR wedding, so invite who you want to invite, you don’t have to let everyone else invite their friends or even family you barely know. Parents are great at this and invite people from your past, like your old babysetter. Make sure to talk with them to set the right expectation for wedding invitees up front.
Who is responsible for wedding invitations?
Ideally this should be both the bride and groom but often ends up being the bride and her closest friends. That’s fine, it just means you get to make all the choices the way you want.
What should be included in wedding invitations
It should include the 5 w’s. Who, what, where, when and why. It should list the name of the bride and groom, that they are getting married and the details of the wedding such as wedding location, times etc.
Some wedding invitations include information that the parents of the bride and groom are happy to announce the wedding of their children, but that’s up to you. Also it’s important to include an RSVP and a return envelope including stamp. This will encourage people to RSVP vs just showing up so you can plan accordingly.
How to choose wedding invitations
There are many different types of invitations to choose from. There are store bought invitations, custom made invitations and you can even print them on your computer. The first step in getting you invitations done for you wedding is to determine what kind of budget you have. If your wedding bugget is really tight then you will probably want to go with either pre-printed invitations or ones you print yourself. If you have a larger budget then you have more flexibility in getting custom wedding invitations.
If you choose to go with cost effective wedding invitations that doesn’t mean they can’t still be elegant and stylish. Add a ribbon around them or maybe print them on nicer paper to add a little flair. Also you can add a short hand written message on each card to personalize it. That will make even a less expensive invitation seem really classy.
If you opt for having them done the options are pretty much endless. If you can think of it, someone can make it. I multi layer / texture invitation can really make an impression that people will first have on your soon to be wedding. Make sure that you price items at multiple places and never settle for the price they first quote you. This is your wedding but no need to be taken to the cleaners.
Below are a few online sites that offer a variety of wedding invitations, cards and stock.
When should you send our your invitations?
Wedding invitations should be sent out 6-8 weeks before the wedding, this will give your guests plenty of time to plan and return your RSVP’s. If you are having a wedding where you are expecting guests that have to fly in from other countries it’s probably best to add a couple of weeks to that.