Wedding Invitation Tips

Recently a friend invited me to his wedding. He called beforehand and had mentioned that I'd be receiving a wedding invitation. I got it two days hence and it seemed to be a pretty grand affair, beautiful card and excellent wording (more about that in a later post). However, after reading thru' I was confused. He had mentioned my name in the wedding card but not of my sister, who he knew was visiting. While I knew him just well enough not to be offended, I was confused nevertheless.

Huge wedding, beautiful card, well-worded and delivered. And yet, thanks to the faintest of mistakes, I wasn't feelin' right...

Wedding Invitations, especially when it comes to our Indian shaadi, are probably one of the most laborious tasks, and easily one of the most important. So, here are a few tips for you to keep in mind, while you do yours.

Why does it matter?

A Wedding Invitation is the first preview to your wedding. And first impressions go a long way. Your guests are probably going to take a few days off & spend a few thousand rupees to be at your wedding. And a good well-delivered card will well make it worth the hassle for them.

When?

With schedules getting busier these days, the most respectful thing to do for your guests, is to give them enough time. Start shopping for invitations at least 3 months before the wedding. You'll always find tons of excellent local shops offering some great variety to choose from.

For out-of-town guests, be sure to send out your invites at least 4 to 6 weeks before the wedding date. If your wedding falls around a major festival, you might want to send them even 8 weeks in advance. Always follow up your mail with a phone call to confirm receipt.

It is always a good idea to do your wedding date announcement sooner than later. And of course, nothing beats a wedding website to do so.

How?

Take a guest count and engage all your family members in the process. Then add 10% more cards to the final count, so you have some for the ones you missed or to preserve a few as keep-sake.

It’s always a good idea to maintain a list of guests and their addresses in a diary. If you, like us, are not a paper person, then be sure to use the guest-list tool from our home page. You can keep a count of your guests, maintain their addresses, collect their RSVPs (through your wedding website) and track your invitation status.

Always include a return address on each outer envelope. This way, undeliverable invitations will be returned to you (this is a non-issue if you are couriering). Also, always have a few extra outer envelopes – in case of addressing errors (believe me, it does happen ).

Encourage your guests to RSVP their attendance. Getting a perfect count of your wedding will save you a lot of money – in accommodations, food and drinks. You can either include a separate self-addressed RSVP card or list your wedding website address in the invitation card and have your guests RSVP through the wedding website.

Finally, if your guest list is going over-budget, it might be a good idea to separate them into a “must-invite” and “nice-to-invite” lists. As you get “No’s” or "Regrets" from the former, you can start sending out invites to the latter.

Oh yeah, I did ultimately take my sister along to the wedding. And we thoroughly enjoyed it. Cheers!