Wedding Invitations

Once upon a time, wedding invitations were not sent out with response cards included.  Sometimes, you will still see those wedding invitations today that go out sans response cards from time to time.  Back then, etiquette frowned upon such enclosures with the invitations, but in those days, wedding guests automatically wrote little notes on their own notepaper to accept the invitation. 

In today’s very busy and fast-paced world, those little personal notes simply were not getting written — therefore, we saw wedding etiquette evolve and now give the okay to send out response cards with invitations.  But it’s interesting how, for the most part, wedding etiquette regarding response cards isn’t really terribly strict.  You see, there isn’t a “correct” way of response card wording. Instead, there are styles that are more appropriate for a formal wedding, and those best suited to a casual affair.  Taking the time to ensure your response card matches the type and tone of not only your wedding but wedding invitation as well is a nice thing to do…and, happily, part of staying in-line with etiquette.

As many brides know, those reply envelopes arriving in the mail make for a daily little moment of excitement in the many months’ worth of wedding planning.  Every “yes” was a thrill and every “no” was a disappointment, but when I was a bride, I was happy to receive each and every envelope in the mail.  So there’s pros and cons to both ways of wedding planning.

Ready for a surprise?  Once upon a time, wedding invitations were not sent out with response cards included.  Sometimes, you will still see those wedding invitations today that go out sans response cards from time to time.  Back then, etiquette frowned upon such enclosures with the invitations, but in those days, wedding guests automatically wrote little notes on their own notepaper to accept the invitation. 

In today’s very busy and fast-paced world, those little personal notes simply were not getting written — therefore, we saw wedding etiquette evolve and now give the okay to send out response cards with invitations.  But it’s interesting how, for the most part, wedding etiquette regarding response cards isn’t really terribly strict.  You see, there isn’t a “correct” way of response card wording. Instead, there are styles that are more appropriate for a formal wedding, and those best suited to a casual affair.  Taking the time to ensure your response card matches the type and tone of not only your wedding but wedding invitation as well is a nice thing to do…and, happily, part of staying in-line with etiquette.

I’m guessing that most brides were like me in the days and weeks leading to my wedding, when I would rush to see if the mailman had brought any more of those little response cards to me, which would tell us just who we could expect to be seeing in the pews at our wedding ceremony.  Each “yes” was a thrill and every “no” was a disappointment, but I was happy to receive each and every envelope in the mail.

It is widely known that the most popular wedding invitations design trend in the past years is pocket invitations. It is widely popular with brides, but for good reason. It’s clever design allows it to be practical but at the same time very stylish. Just like any invitation style, pocket invitations varies in style. There are those simple ones that consist of just your invitation inside while others open to reveal your invitation as well as a pocket to hold the enclosure cards. With all the different styles to choose from, you’ll have a great time looking through what’s out there. And it’s up to you to mix and match everything that will tickle your fancy. Hop in online and you’ll be sure to find websites that specializes with this kind of wedding invitation.

As they say, green is in. And that is what is the second wedding invitation trend is all about. Another more recent trend in wedding invitations is recycled wedding invitations. The wedding industry has finally started recognizing the “green” movement that has been spreading across the world. If you’re a bride that prides herself on being environmentally conscious, there are a variety of options that you can consider to satisfy your eco-friendly wants. There are websites online that offers a great selection of recycled wedding invitation that a nature friendly conscious bride can sink her teeth into. These wedding invitations are not only made of recycled paper, their designs would be right at home with outdoor weddings.

It only takes a creative mind to come up with wedding invitations that deviates from the traditional one. I’m not saying traditional ones are particularly bland, but if you want something truly different  for your wedding and make it truly memorable, why not put don that creative hat and start making your own unique wedding invitations.

More related topics across the web:

Edible Wedding Invitations - Besides offering a variety of wedding favors and reception accessories, Wedding Favors Unlimited has a delicious alternative to your standard wedding invitation. Their Edible Invites Cookie Invitations are a unique way to invite guests …

Wedding invitations for geeks - My wife and I had to shop for flowers, location, photos, and wedding invitations. Everything adds up and leading up to the wedding day, i thought that we were not prepared. Luckily, my wife is a mega planner. She is very organized and …

Go ‘Green’ with your wedding invitations - Not only do they have exquisite patterns and designs, but their letterpress wedding invitations are printed on recycled cotton handmade paper that they produce in their urban paper mill. Here are a few favorites: …

Asian Inspired Wedding invitation - I designed this invitation for a friend’s cousin a few months ago. I really should get around to posting more of the wedding invitations that I design. I’ll start with this one. It is quite striking. The bride’s colours are Black and …

Wedding Invitations Done Right - Of course it is important to remember that your invitations should be an introduction to your wedding, so they should mirror the choices you have made for your wedding. There are many great Shower Invitations ideas out there, …

Handmade wedding invitations are definitely one of the most popular invitation options. Not only for the cost effectiveness, but for the creativity that can be shared and for the level of customization that can be achieved. Many couples choose to create their own wedding invitations from home. Here are some helpful tips to get you started:

• The first item needed when creating your own handmade invitations. Your options are to buy blank stock from a craft store or buy blank invitations already sized and maybe even pre decorated. One other option is buying parchment, or creating your own decorative parchment paper.
• If you are an adept in creating graphics, then you can use a graphic software to create your very own graphics to be used on your invitations. If you are note familiar with the software, there websites that specializes on wedding invitation graphics.
• The most popular ornament for wedding invitations is obviously bows. Bows from satin, silk, plain ribbon, string, the options are endless.
• Choosing the most appropriate wording, that suits your personal fancy is very important
• If you are creating your own invitations, you will need to purchase envelopes to mail them. If you purchased blank invitations to print yourself, they probably came with envelopes. Envelope addressing should be by hand, not by labels.
• Printing your own invitations is by far the most cost effective option. Be sure to feed your invitations in the printer straight to avoid angled text. Be sure to have an extra ink cartridge (or toner cartridge) on hand in case you run out.

There you have it, handmade wedding invitations do provide a high level of customization. Be creative, have fun, creating your very own invitations is a very rewarding experience.

More related articles:

Where to get Handmade Wedding Invitations? - Lot of us love handmade stuff for some unknown reason. I too prefer handmade wedding invitations but I certainly do not have a clear reason why I like handmade stuff. Probably they look more natural, simple, there is craftsmanship in …

Custom Handmade Wedding Invitations Add A Special Touch To Your … - Make your wedding truly unique and create a special touch for you and your guests by including custom handmade wedding invitations. Many couples use custom handmade wedding invitations to help introduce the weddings theme to the guests. …

Why handmade invitations are becoming more popular - It is essentially the first point of contact between guest and the wedding and offers the wedding guests a ’sneak-peak’ at what’s coming up. Most bridal couples love the idea of handmade wedding invitations because they are the most …

Wedding Invitations: How to Have Stylish Invitations on a Budget - Your guests will be thrilled to get a handmade invitation. There are DIY kits available to save you the time of finding all the necessary pieces for making cards. These contain everything that you need to make your own wedding invites. …

Handmade Wedding Invitation - Your Ultimate Choice - Concerning your wedding invitation card, there are different ways to make it unique and perfect. One of your choices will be a handmade wedding invitation. In fact, there are a lot of different styles and designs for you to choose from …

Once upon a time, wedding invitations were not sent out with response cards included (and, indeed, you will occasionally see those wedding invitations today that go out sans response cards).  Back then, etiquette frowned upon such enclosures with the invitations, but in those days, wedding guests automatically wrote little notes on their own notepaper to accept the invitation.  In today’s very busy and fast-paced world, those little personal notes simply were not getting written — therefore, we saw wedding etiquette evolve and now give the okay to send out response cards with invitations. 

An interesting thing is that, for the most part, wedding etiquette regarding response cards isn’t really terribly strict.  You see, there isn’t a “correct” way of response card wording. Instead, there are styles that are more appropriate for a formal wedding, and those best suited to a casual affair.  Taking the time to ensure your response card matches the type and tone of not only your wedding but wedding invitation as well is a nice thing to do…and, happily, part of staying in-line with etiquette.

As for myself, I vividly recall the excitement of getting our response cards in the mail in the weeks before our wedding.  Each day, I would rush to see if the mailman had brought any more of those little response cards to me, which would tell us just who we could expect to be seeing in the pews at our wedding ceremony.  Each “yes” was a thrill and every “no” was a disappointment, but I was happy to receive each and every envelope in the mail.

I ran across a little tidbit of information that may help a few of you out there. Did you know there is no rule in wedding etiquette that states you have to include an RSVP card with your invitation?  There are however benefits to RSVP cards.

Although many people don’t return the RSVP cards, it at least tells them “hey we need to know if you’re coming?” Believe it or not, many people don’t realize they are suppose to respond whether their going or not. They don’t realize it helps the couple make the appropriate plans. 

Some RSVP cards include important information that will be necessary to use for the catering, etc. For example, I once received a wedding invitation with a very detailed RSVP card requesting whether we wanted chicken, salmon or steak. They needed those specifics in advance so they could meet the caterers deadline and know what costs they were looking at. It turned out to be a full course meal. Even the kids got an amazing and fun dinner specifically made for them.

Whether you send an official RSVP card or not, it’s probably a smart idea to include as many ways to contact you as possible so they can RSVP. Include your telephone number, mailing address and/or email. You’ll need to make follow up calls either way.
 
Have a beautiful day!

Alright, so we’ve discussed many wedding themes that I’ve run across to share with you and I hope you’ve been enjoying them. Now it’s the Lord of the Rings fans turn.

After some extensive discussions how to pull it off, another movie going couple in the United States recently decided to have a Lord of the Rings Wedding theme. Once again it was planned out all the way from the themed wedding invitations to the departing of the bride and groom.  They must have some truly incredible friends and family to agree to what comes next. With the invitation, they invited people to come dressed as various people and creatures from the books and movie. They however didn’t want any scary creatures as they figured it would be best not to frighten the children.

As you’d probably guess, the tall guests mostly dressed as the Elves (the ones with pointy ears and long white hair). Some of the shorter guest came as…you guessed it…hobbits. I wonder what they did for the feet? Did they wear normal shoes or did any actually wear those fake hairy feet? Hmmm. As you can imagine, most of the children were hobbits, even with the curly hair. That would have been a cute site.

The newlyweds did receive some flack from people, but they (the guests) were more than welcome to wear normal clothes, which they did.  This brings me to the wedding etiquette portion of today. As a guest, it is important to understand that this is the newlyweds big day, not yours. So please be gracious and supportive. Most newlyweds will also understand if you don’t want participate, so try not to get too worked up over something so trivial.

When compiling your wedding invitation guest list, decide whether you will include only the spouses of your guests, or whether you would like to invite fiancé and significant others as well.

If you address an invitation with the words “and guest,” you should assume that the invitee will bring one. Factor this into the number of guests your budget, location, and caterer can accommodate, and decide as a couple what you would like to do.

You can always leave out the words “and guest” initially, then call your single guests closer to the actual wedding, once you have a firmer idea of how many people will be attending, and offer them the option to bring a date if they would like.

Send out your wedding invitations six to eight weeks in advance. That way you’ll have plenty of time for slower RSVPs as well as time to move to your “B” list if your numbers are coming in lower than expected.

Any international guests or those traveling great distances to attend should receive their wedding invitations or, at minimum, information regarding the wedding, ten to twelve weeks in advance as a courtesy to assist them in travel planning.

Include a “reply by” date on your reply card to encourage guests to RSVP in a timely manner. Prestamp your reply card as a courtesy to invitees.

Check with your caterer as to the absolute final date you can let him or her know your total number of guests. As this date approaches, if you have not heard from certain guests, you and the groom should call them to find out if they are planning to attend.

After the wedding, frame, matte, or etch your invitation on a silver serving tray, glass plate, or Lucite block to serve as a beautiful reminder of your special day.

When are wedding reception cards necessary?
Traditionally, a reception card is only used when a select number of guests invited to the ceremony are invited to the reception. Nowadays, a reception card is included with the invitation, even when everyone invited to the ceremony is invited to the reception. Sometimes they can be omitted if the reception is taking place at the same location as the wedding ceremony - if there is room to fit "Reception immediately following ceremony" on the wedding invitation. The most formal way still, however is to include a separate reception card.

Why is it proper to send a reception card?
The invitation says, "You are special." Mailed along with the wedding invitation, this card announces the time and location of the reception.

Should you send out Save the date cards? If so, why and when should it be done?
We often get the question: Why should you send out "Save the Date Cards" ahead of time rather than just send out your wedding invitations early?

Many times sending out your invitations eight weeks in advance will be sufficient; however, it’s a good idea to give family and friend as much notice as possible of the coming event. This is especially true if you have many out of town guests, your wedding is scheduled around any holiday or if you are planning a destination wedding where long distance travel plans would be involved.

It is recommended that if you do decide to send "Save the Date" cards out, that they go out three to four months in advance of the wedding. You can use any wedding invitation you see on our site as a "Save the Date" card.