I have been amping up my blogging as of late, so this marks
week two with two blog posts! Let’s see how long we can keep this streak going! haha
With wedding season in full swing and invitations being
created left and right, I thought I would take a moment to address some
important questions of etiquette and timing. While non-traditional is becoming
the norm, there are still some tried and true methods that you should follow when
sending out your beautiful wedding stationery. Below I will outline some of the
most important Q&A’s that I have encountered while working with brides.
When do you typically
send out the Save the Dates & Invitations?
Save the Dates typically go out 3-4 months prior to the
wedding date. However, you can never give enough notice. Trust me, no one will
complain about having too much time to plan, especially if it is a destination
wedding or if the majority of your guests are coming from out of town. The main
invitation should go out 6-8 weeks prior to the wedding and the RSVP should be
marked 2-3 weeks prior in order to get an accurate head count for your vendors.
How should I word my
invitations?
While this could be a whole blog post in itself, in this
case simpler is always better. You want to be sure all of your information is
clear and concise. Traditionally the wedding invitation should include the full
names of the couple marrying and those of the hosts, the place, time, date and
that is it. I say traditionally because now-a-days with multiple sets of
parents, step parents, etc. it is hard to determine the “host” and you
certainly wouldn’t want to go stepping on anyone’s toes. That being said
sometimes saying “together with our parents” is the best option.
Your information card should be reserved for all of the
other information such as attire, dress code, registry, website, etc.
Do titles really
matter?
Yes, titles do matter. If the wife is a doctor, her full
name comes first as in, “Doctor Williams and Mr. Robert Smith”. When the
husband is a doctor is would appear as “Doctor and Mrs.” and if both husband
and wife are doctors then it will be written as Drs. Kelly and Robert Smith”.
If you are addressing a single woman (unless she is a
doctor) she should be listed as Ms. If she is under the age of 21 then use
Miss.
Should we include our
registry info on our invitations?
Traditionalists would say NO. That this is horrible
etiquette. And while I agree it shouldn’t be on your main invitation, I don’t
see a problem with it being on your information insert. For somebody like my grandmother,
who doesn’t have Internet, won’t know to look at my wedding website for my
registry. Going back to the earlier point, it is important that ALL information
is clear and that everyone has equal access. So, I guess I will leave this one
up to you.
When should I send my
thank you cards?
The quicker the better; two weeks is the optimal thank you
card grace period. Plus, you don’t want to have those lingering over your head.
Just get those out of the way and go enjoy being newlyweds!
Do you have other questions that you would like answered? Comment below or shoot us an email. Your question just might be featured in another Q&A segment!
