Wedding Invitation Etiquette

So you have gotten through most of the wedding planning by this point….now you need to invite your guests formally. If you sent out Save the Dates…your guests already have your wedding on their calendar and they know it’s coming up. If you did not send out Save the Dates then you need to get your invitations in the mail! Invitations are the formal announcement for you wedding date. So let’s dive into some questions that come up regarding the invitations!

When should we send out invitations?

Here at MK we suggest sending your Invitations 8-10 weeks before your wedding. If you are getting married around a holiday or you are having a destination wedding…we recommend 10-12 weeks! (Hopefully you sent out Save the Dates too so some of your guests will have already made their travel arrangements.)

When should the RSVP date be?

Here at MK we suggest no later than 3 weeks before the wedding. This will give you enough time to tally your final headcount for your venue and caterer. This will also allow enough time for you to meet with your planner and go over the room layout in case you need to add more or take away some tables. If you are doing assigned seating at your wedding…we suggest having your RSVP date a little earlier…maybe 4 weeks out. This will allow enough time to make the seating chart perfect. There will always be guests who do not send back the RSVP…. if you allow enough time between your RSVP date and your wedding date you can call and check in with these guests so that your final numbers are accurate.

Where do we include our wedding website information?

Your wedding website information is normally on your Save the Date. If you want to add it to your invitation suite… you can add a website insert card. This will just let guests know that more information can be found online.

What does an invitation suite include?

Your invitation suite can be as big or as small as you want. Some invitation suites simply consist of the invitation and the RSVP postcard. Some invitation suites are a lot more involved and include the invitation, RSVP card, RSVP envelope, accommodations card, website insert, reception card, map card, etc. So it really just depends on how much information you want your guests to have when they open the invitation. *Invitation suites that are larger will require more postage.

Can we include registry information on our invitations?

Here at MK we suggest not including registry information anywhere in your invitation suite. That information can be on your wedding website for guests to look at. Let your parents, family and wedding party know where you are registered so they can also pass along the information when people ask.

Will I get to see my invitation before they are printed?

Yes, at MK we do digital proofs of your entire invitation suite. This allows you to look through all the content and design before they are printed.

How many should I order?

You want to look at your guest list and decide how many invitations are needed. You only send one to a family of 4 so you want to make sure to account for that. Normally it is about half + a little. So for example is I have 200 guests but a lot of them are families or couples then I would order roughly 115-130 invitations. This will allow for extras in case we decide to send out more invitations or if someone was accidentally left off our list.

What does A or B List mean?

Some brides who have a lot of friends and family but simply cannot accommodate EVERYONE will make an A and a B list. This means you will have two sets of invitations sent out. Your A list will be the first set of invitations sent out. Once you start to get responses from your A list you can see how many cannot attend. At this point…you can send out invitations to people on your B list to fill those spaces. This takes time and organization. You want to make sure to start your invitation process early if this is something you plan to do. Talk with your paperie company and your planner to make sure you allow enough time to do this.

How do you address invitations?

Whole Family:

The Jones Family

Just Parents/Adults:

Mr. & Mrs. Timothy Jones Unmarried Couples at same address: Mr. Timothy Jones and Miss Cathy Renner

Single Person:

Mr. Timothy Jones

Single person but accounting for a guest:

Mr. Timothy Jones & Guest

Titles:

Make sure to always use correct titles.

Ex: Doctor and Mrs. Timothy Jones (if the husband is a doctor) Drs. Timothy and Cathy Jones (if both adults are doctors) MK can help with different titles and how they should be addressed.

Make sure to always spell out the entire address.

Example: 1350 Manufacturing Street Suite 200 Dallas, Texas 75207

NOT: 1350 Manufacturing St. Ste. 200 Dallas, TX 75207

This will help ensure that all your invitations are delivered to the right address without any problems.

What is the difference in hand calligraphy and computer calligraphy?

Someone who has mastered calligraphy does hand calligraphy in ink on each envelope. This is a beautiful option but is more expensive due to the labor involved. Computer calligraphy envelope addressing is a beautiful more cost effective option. This is done by a printer and is normally in the same fonts as your invitation.

Both of these options are offered at MK Event Boutique & both will make a WOW statement when your guests receive their invitations.

How do we let guests know our dress code?

Here at MK we suggest just adding a small note in the lower right-hand corner of the invite or on a reception card. You can have the note read: “black-tie”, “cocktail attire”, “formal attire”, “casual attire”, etc. We also suggest putting this information on your wedding website.

I ordered my Save the Dates somewhere else; can MK still do my invitations?

Of course! We would love to help with your invitations.

How to word the invitation if bride’s parents are hosting, both sets of parents are hosting, both families and couple are hosting, etc.?

Here at MK we have a bunch of suggestions for wording. We want to make sure everyone is accounted for on the invitation. There are ways to word just about any scenario! During your consultation with our MK Paperie Specialist…we can present many different options to help you with this.

What is hand canceling?

When MK goes to drop off a wedding invitation order at the post office, we ask them to hand cancel them. This means they will avoid a few machines when being processed so that they are delivered looking as perfect as possible. Not all post offices will provide this service.

Our families are bilingual and many of our relatives do not speak good English, how can we handle this?

Well this is actually an easy fix…we can do two (or three, etc.) different invitations. We will take the same invitation and just change the language. So each of your relatives can have a wedding invitation in their native language. We think this is an amazing personal touch for couples that are in this situation.

What is Stuff, Stamp and Seal?

This is a service MK offers for our paperie clients. We will stuff all your invitation suites, seal the envelopes, stamp them & bring them to the post office to be hand canceled for you! This is a great option for many brides who have a lot going on. It takes the stress off of you!

*This service is for a fee.

After your invitations are sent…. your wedding planning will hopefully be coming to a close. This is a perfect time to go over last minute details with your wedding planner and you can finally relax and get ready for your big day. Let the nerves begin!

MK Event Boutique offers a wide variety of invitation options! We can do anything and everything…all you have to do is ask! MK offers flat printing, thermography, letterpress & foil stamping.

Email us at: info@mkeventboutique.com to get started on your invitations today!

*Pictures: MK Event Boutique Invitations!

Want to see more of our work: visit www.mkeventboutique.com, MK Event Boutique on Instagram, Twitter & Facebook, or visit our studio in Dallas!