Invitation Questions

[piccolascimmia]

Hi all - I''m about to pull the trigger on invitations and have a few things I need help with:

1) What do you think of this for the rsvp card (a mix of helpful verbiage found on this site):

The favor of a reply is requested before August 26.
___ seats have been reserved for you

M___________________

___ accepts with pleasure
___ declines with regret

2) How much time did you give between the deadline on the RSVP card and the deadline from the caterer?

3) Do I need to order extra envelopes? Did y''all find it necessary?

4) What did you do for addressing them? Hire a calligrapher, write them yourself, print them yourself, or use labels (is that a gasp?). I''ll be sending out ~75 invites.

5) Did anyone forgo the inner envelope? They''re just a bit more for this particular invite, and I''m leaning against ordering them since I think its a waste, and am not focused on ''formality'' or tradition.

6) I''m thinking of ordering the same # of thank you cards as invites...is that right?

Thanks in advance!

 

[piccolascimmia]

Sorry to overload on questions, but one more:

7) Wedding is 9/9, and I think most folks would send the invite ~end of July. Some folks are out of town, but we''re talking to them separately so they can make plans. Can I send the invites out extra early instead of sending save the dates (which I should be sending STDs right now if I follow what brides.com says)? I dont really want the expense of sending STDs *and* Invites when I have such a compressed timeline....

 

[Blenheim]

1) I don''t particularly like "___ seats have been reserved for you" personally. It opens up the door for people not on the invite coming if one of the people invited can''t make it, and it kind of sends the message that you don''t trust them to understand who''s invited. We did not do it, and we didn''t have a single problem with people responding for more than those whom we invited. I know that''s not true for everyone though.

If your invitation is more formal, I''d also change the wording to "The favour of a reply is requested before the twenty-sixth of August."

2) We added 4 extra days for anything sent on the deadline to get here through the mail, 2 days to call people, and then about a week to figure out seating (the venue wants to know how many of each entree per table).

3) Order extra envelopes. You will make mistakes. If you''re hiring a calligrapher, they''ll require you to have extra envelopes. (Something to look into -- it was cheaper for me to order 25 extra whole sets of invitations than to just order 25 extra envelopes -- make sure to cost compare before ordering.)

4) I wrote them myself. It took about two evenings.

6) Is your married name printed on them? (Assuming that you''re changing your name.) If so, you won''t be able to use them on gifts before the wedding. However, if just your married name is printed on them, then you can also use them for general correspondance after the wedding. I ordered about 200 monogram notes, which is way more than I need just for thank you notes.

If they just say something like "thank you", then count the number of invitations you''re sending AND the number of people invited to your shower. Maybe add a couple extra for any engagement presents you receive, and then order that many.

 

[piccolascimmia]

Blenheim - thanks! I guess reading everyone''s woes on extra RSVPs got me worried. But I do think that we''re inviting folks mature enough to know what they should do...I''m not certain if I''ll keep the __ Seats part.

The invitation isn''t that formal, so I''m not sure if I should change the RSVP card...here''s the text:

picco
and
groom

have chosen the first day of their new life together
as sunday, september ninth, two thousand seven

you are invited to share in their joy
as they exchange marriage vows
at two o''clock in the afternoon

wedding/reception location
address
city, state

brunch reception to immediately follow

Thanks for the tip on the envelopes...I thought I should and it seems cheaper than just ordering 25 more invites. Good tip.

And I''ve made the thank you cards to just say "Thank You" so that I can use them for anything. I considered just using our first names (picco and groom), but I thought that kinda limited the occasions I could use them later...

 

[Jas12]

I did put the "__ seats " part. I don''t really like it that much either, but i did do it b/c I need to tightly control my guest list and this seemed the best way.

I also used clear-matte labels to address the invites with a font and ink to match the actual invite. It looked okay. I would have used a calligrapher but my invite company was under the gun to get them to me in time I had no other option.

As for sending them out. I mailed mine about 2 weeks ago and they have till June 1st to reply (wedding is July 1st) so that gives guests around 5 weeks in total to mail it back.

I also didn''t do an inner envelop (such a waste IMO)

I have received many. many compliments on the invitations so i don''t think all my ''faux pas'' have insulted anyone

 

[piccolascimmia]

Jas - thanks for letting me know I''m not alone in these dilemmas!

I''m ambivalent enough about the invites - I want what I like even if its unconventional, but I don''t want to do anything terribly embarassing out of sheer ignorance

And I''m learning that some of these wedding traditions mean nothing to us, so I don''t want to waste time/resources/$$ on things that I/we just don''t care about...