5 things to know about your wedding invitations
Wedding planning can be exhausting and sometimes frustrating because you’ll get to do things for the first time and not having an expertise or even the experience on these Can become very stressful. Last minute additions, new things coming up along the way that you’ll need to cover but wasn’t prepared for… anything can happen and be a surprise… but, I’m here to help you by sharing a few things I consider are essential to know when it comes to your wedding invitations (especially about mailing them) that will help you to have a smoother process
When to mail your invitations
Mailing your invitations depend on many factors, but the location is probably one of the most important. So here’s a simple time frame to consider:
For local weddings: If you’re sending Save the Date cards (which is completely optional), these should be mailed around 5-6 months in advance (but there’s certain flexibility with this timeframe because it could be affected by your guest list. For example, if you’re having many people that will need to travel to attend so you may consider a longer timeframe). For wedding invitations, the standard is to mail them 6 to 8 weeks prior the wedding.
For destination weddings: Save the Dates should be sent between up to 12 months in advance and then your invitations 12-15 weeks prior the wedding.
But, why are these the standard timeframes?
First, I’d like to remind you that these are suggested timeframes that have become standard in the industry, but every wedding has its particularities so even when they’re a good reference, they’re not written on stone. There’s always flexibility so don’t worry if under your specific circumstances you consider that these timeframes are too long or short. Adjust to your needs.
So the first reason why Save the Date cards and invitations need to be sent with such advance is to give your guests enough room to plan their agendas and schedule your wedding. Also, especially if you have a destination wedding, traveling plans are involved so they might need more time to set up all the details like flights and accommodation.
The second main reason is because you need the time to keep planning and to get a final guest count as soon as possible, so you want to give your guests a good timeframe to confirm their attendance. Remember that some vendors (like the venue, rentals, catering service, bar or stationery and calligraphy) need a final guest count for a specific date so be aware of what that date is and plan accordingly.
2. Who receives an invitation
Everyone who received a Save the Date card has to receive the formal invitation as well, no exceptions, but this doesn’t mean you can’t invite someone who didn’t receive a Save the Date card. You can always include people to your list and send them a formal invitation because we all know life changes and planning a wedding is usually a long journey in which you can get to meet new people or get a new job and you’d like to invite your new boss or coworkers.
Another important detail to know when deciding who receives an invitation is having a clear idea of how households are formed, because some factors affects this. For example, the general rule is to mail a separate invitation for every person over 18 years old, even if they live in the same house, so you’ll need to know how old your little cousin Amanda is before inviting her.
Kids under 18 don’t receive an invitation and their names usually are not part of the outer envelope (in these cases they’re usually included by writing “and family” at the end of the guest name line) but if you’re adding an inner envelope, their names have to be written on it.
3. About the RSVP cards
These next details may sound kind of obvious but you wouldn’t believe how many times people (including professional stationers) don’t know this or just forget to do it.
Make sure all your RSVP envelopes (or post cards, depending on what you decided to make) have their stamp to mail them back to you. It’s not proper to expect your guests to put a stamp on the envelope to confirm their assistance to your wedding. Postage is a cost you will need to cover, so don’t forget to add the stamps for RSVP’s when planning your budget.
Also, never send an RSVP envelope without your printed/calligraphed address. It’s not proper to ask your guests to write it themselves and this would also leave room to misspellings on their end that will cause you to never receive their confirmation.
Remember that, as a host, you need to make things easy for your guests.
4. One detail about non-conventional shapes and sizes of invitations
Nothing is more exciting for a stationery designer than having the creative freedom to develop an original concept for a wedding invitation suite that may include shapes and sizes besides the standard 5x7” card. That being said, be aware that when things are not standard, they’re usually more expensive, not only on terms of design and production, but also to mail them.
So before approving a design draft or proposal, consider the costs of mailing the final invitations as well to make sure your staying in your budget. Even when it’s hard to predict the exact weight of an invitation before it’s production, your stationery designer should have the expertise to give you an estimate you can have as a reference to calculate the costs of postage.
You can choose between current or vintage stamps. In any case, check with the postal office regarding how much postage you’ll need as well as how your invitations will be processed
5. Little reminder about the Post Office
When the time comes to mail your invitations, my biggest recommendation is to be calm and patient because, I’m not going to lie, dealing with the Post Office can sometimes be frustrating for many different reasons.
First, it’s important to know that not all Post Offices work the same. Even when there is information and rules that apply to all of them, there’s no consistency on how to apply those rules and things may vary from offices. So considering this, please try to stick to one office. Make the same office to calculate how much postage you would need (if you have a physical copy of your invitations, take it there to measure and weigh) and mail them exactly at the same place. Avoid mixed information that could lead to a more stressful process.
Also, remember to explain or show all the details of your wedding invitation when checking for their postage. If you include a wax seal on the outer envelope, if there’s bulky content such as ribbon, a bow tied or any other element that makes the invitation thicker than usual, calligraphy colors, envelope colors, etc, you’ll need to show or detail these to the clerk because some might affect how much you’ll need to pay to mail them.
Bonus tip: remember that if you’re curating a custom vintage stamp set for your invitations, they’re face value is what the post office considers at the time of mailing, not what you paid for each stamp (for vintage stamps, you’ll pay considerably more than their face value).
And lastly, be patient when it comes to delivery times. Remember that the Post Office don’t have guaranteed delivery times anymore and delays may occur.
I hope that you found some of these helpful when it comes to planning the production and mailing of your wedding invitations. Share if you liked these and let me know if you have any questions.
