To answer one of the most common questions we get we are sharing your guide to sending wedding invitations. This is a full guide telling you the ins and outs of when to send out your wedding invitations and save the dates. It comes up so often we decided it was time to write a blog about it as a guide to our wonderful couples!
Photo by I am Mary Katherine
The Full Guide to Sending Wedding Invitations:
Save the dates (1 year to 6 months out from your wedding day)
We recommend sending save the dates between one year to six months out from your wedding day! If you are having a destination wedding, we recommend sending out at the one year mark. If you are having a more local affair you can send them as close as 6 months out to the wedding date! Save the dates are the first official correspondence and cue for guests to “block off” the weekend on the calendars for you!
Things to include on your save the date:
- Your names
- Your wedding date
- Your wedding location
- Your wedding website (so guests can visit and get more information)
Etiquette for save the dates: ONLY send save the dates to those you are positive you will be inviting to the wedding. Do not send to anyone on the B or C list.
Photo by I am Mary Katherine
Wedding Invitations (110 – 90 days out from your wedding date)
We recommend having your wedding invitations IN HAND at the 110 day mark and having them physically in the mail on day 100. It can take some time for your invitations to reach your recipients and I like to give guests about 45 days to respond.
RSVP Deadline – My recommendation is always to have an RSVP deadline 45 days out from your wedding date. Why? Because certain vendors require your contract quantities to be locked in at 30 days out. With a 45 day window you give yourself 15 days to follow up with those guests who never RSVPed…which trust me, happens with every wedding we do!
Other wedding invitation advice
- RSVP cards with meal choices should always ask guests to initial their meal selections. Why? Because if you don’t tell them to initial their choice you have no idea which member of the party ordered what and you are going to have to reach out to them to confirm. This can be very time consuming and not something you want to deal with right before your wedding.
- Add a line at the bottom of your RSVP card that tells guests to write any allergies or dietary restrictions on the back of the card.
- Include your menu on your wedding website and include dietary restriction information. For example indicate what dishes have dairy, nuts, or if a dish is vegan.
- Include your dress code on the invitation and provide a full description of this dress code on your wedding website.
- Create a number system in invisible ink for your RSVP cards. Why? This way if a guest returns the card with no name you can find out who it is from! These markers can be found on amazon.
- Have your stationer create a fake wedding invitation with fakes names and addresses for your detail photos! This way you can post it on social media and your actual addresses are not shown to the world!
- Order invitations PER HOUSEHOLD, not per guest.
- Order extra invitations. If you are one of our couple’s Aisle Planner will tell you how many invitations to order. See below for how that information is displayed in Aisle Planner!
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Thank you for stopping by!
Kolena Thomas
Owner & Lead Wedding Planner
Email: Bluesapphireplanner@gmail.comWebsite: www.bluesapphireevents.com
