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Want to make sure your loved ones attend your wedding? You need to start checking out invitations and deciding what you like and what just won’t do.
Besides searching through the endless invitation catalogs that almost every bridal store has available, you need to decide your personal style in order to find something with which you’ll be truly happy.
Start early, but realize that you don’t have to make a decision right away, said Kris Green, owner of Cherished Moments and Discount Bridal Service in Rochester, Ill.
“Since the companies I order from only take three to 10 days for the invitations to arrive, there is really no need to make a quick decision,” Green said. “So when you first start looking, you just need to get a feel for what is available, but at the same time you also need to know what you’re looking for, know your taste and style.”
When searching for something to match your own unique style, be sure to look into translucent invitations.
“I think people like them so much because they add a bit creativity to their invitations,” Green said.
Translucent invitations have an opaque cover over the card stock which has the information printed on it. The see-through film cover is often attached with a ribbon or bow, which can coordinate with the appropriate wedding colors.
After you decide which invitation to order, you can pick through a variety of ink colors and type fonts. Green said some people opt for their wedding colors for the ink, but black and silver are the two most popular colors.
You can also decide whether to use seals on the outside envelope.
“Most people who choose to use seals incorporate them as added decoration and to seal the envelope,” Green said. Some invitation styles require an additional charge to the normal first-class postage rate, so that cost should be factored into the equation.
Be sure the invitation includes the bride’s and groom’s names, along with the date, time, place and reception information.
Besides the pertinent information, you still need to decide how to word the invitation. This can be tough deciding on the perfect wording, especially if the parents are divorced.
“The best way to get around that is to use the couple’s names first and then state, ‘Together, with our parents, we invite you ...’“ Green said. “If you print every parent’s name, especially if both the bride and groom have divorced parents who are remarried, then by the time the person invited reads through all the names they’ve forgotten who’s getting married.”
Deciding who receives an invitation can be frustrating.
“Typically, only one invitation is sent to each family, unless a child has moved out on their own. Then the child needs to have one sent to their residence,” Green said. “Family should receive an invitation as a keepsake, even though they know when the wedding is and that they are invited.”
Once everything is booked and you’ve figured out how many people are receiving invitations, it is usually safe to place your order.
“It’s best if the invitations are ordered one month before they need to be sent out,” Green said. “That way you don’t have to address all of them in one night and instead can do 10 or so every night for a few weeks.”
You don’t have to address every invitation by hand, as long as you have a computer. Green said many people nowadays are using mailing labels from computers for the addresses.
The invitations should be sent out one month before the wedding -- a few days earlier for guests out of state in order to give them adequate time to check their schedules and make appropriate plans. But be careful not to send them out too early, because the replies you receive back will not give an accurate depiction of who will really attend.
“Typically, 60 percent to 75 percent will come,” Green said. “It also depends on when the wedding is. If it’s around a holiday, then more people are apt not to attend because they may be on vacation.”
You shouldn’t rely completely on the RSVPs because they are not always a true representation of who will attend. You need to be prepared to add extra place settings at a moment’s notice at the reception if people didn’t RSVP.
Invitations do come with a price tag attached, as do most wedding items. The average cost of 100 invitations is $75 to $90, which includes the inner and outer envelopes. The same number of reply cards can usually be purchased for $50 to $65, which includes the envelope, along with the name and return address printed on them.
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