Wedding Invitations

Today’s column has to do with both Wedding Etiquette and Wedding Invitations. Sometimes the two overlap.

Specifically, I am talking about what to do with how to handle RSVPs- what types of information and choices you should indicate on them.

First of all, what’s an RSVP?

I think most readers know, but for those who may not, the free online encyclopedia Wikipedia defines an RSVP as:

Répondez s’il-vous-plaît” or “Réservez s’il-vous-plaît”, a French phrase that translates to “Please respond” or “Please book your place”

At the upper right corner of this post, you’ll notice an actual RSVP for a wedding that took place in 1989. I know that’s awhile ago, but when it comes to etiquette- wedding or not- things change slowly. Plus, I am happy to report the couple that sent these RSVPs are still married.

In terms of what’s on the RSVP, there are six text-type elements:

• The name of the couple who are getting married;
• A check-box for indicating whether the guest(s) will attend and require accomodations;
• A check-box for indicating whether the guest(s) will attend the pre-wedding dinner;
• A check-box for indicating whether the guest(s) will attend and do not require accomodations;
• A check-box for indicating whether the invited guest(s) will not be able to attend, and
• A deadline date for responding to the RSVP.

Tomorrow, I will cover one of these key topics: what to do about wedding guest accomodations.