I've made it a bit of an unofficial goal to start getting my invitations out next week, but I figured I'd run by the wording and format with you all before I go out making some big etiquette mistake ;).
As a reminder, here's the blank invitation:
I've been confused if I've been allowed a guest when wedding invitations came without inner envelopes so I'll be adding a "Name and guest" card and attach it to the bow on the front of the invite.
And here's what I've come up with for the wording (obviously altered for privacy reasons):
Sorry if it's hard to read. It says:
"together with their parents
Her Full Name
and
His Entire Givenname
request the pleasure of your company
at their marriage
sunday, the thirty-fourth of july
two thousand eleven
at half past ten in the morning
the venue name
214 venue name
austin, texas
brunch reception to follow"
I mentioned etiquette mistake for a good reason- we're not going with typical pre-stamped envelope RSVP.
*that it's pretty common for guests to skip RSVPing all together, wasting the provided RSVP card and prompting a call from the bride or her family
*traditional etiquette calls on guests to write and send a response on personal stationary
*guests that do use the provided response card often send it back with incomplete or incorrect information
*online RSVP responses are becoming more and more common to save paper, time, and money... but there are still some people without computers or the internet
So in efforts to simplify the invitations, but still make things easy on the guests, I've come up with this:
Okay, truth time.... is what I have planned okay?
What would you suggest that I change about the invites?
PS The fonts were free downloads from dafont.com: OptimusPrinceps + Jellyka Western Princess
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10 comments:
I love this idea! I would just say to make RSVPing on your website as simple and straightforward as humanly possible, since your older guests might not get the concept of RSVPing through a website.
I got married last May and I found the RSVP cards were really burdensome and annoying. People would tack names of guests (who were not invited) at the end of their RSVP cards or misunderstand completely and send us back their RSVP card totally blank. ARGH! And, of course, there were the guests who didn't bother to send RSVP cards at all! So frustrating. So I think taking personal phone calls is actually a great idea; there will probably be less confusion that way. AND you will save money by not having to include a million little extra cards in your invitations.
I agree - great idea! Etiquette is important, but it also has to adapt somewhat to the times. I think the most important thing about the RSVP is to be respectful and convenient to your guests while getting the info you need. At one time, providing a stamped envelope for them to return was the best option. Now, not necessarily. We did both for our wedding 7 years ago, but that was before smartphones and everyone having DSL, so we did get more traditional responses... but now, if I'm the guest, I would MUCH prefer a phone or internet option. You're pulling everything together very nicely, in my opinion.
Being SUPER picky? Traditional etiquette says to use 'after' instead of 'past' -> "at half after ten in the morning". Although I see tons of invites with 'past', so maybe that's not such a thing anymore.
I think they'll be beautiful!!
@carrie~ Hey, I'll take super picky!
I can understand why you did it that way, but I have to save I guess I'm a little old fashioned - I would miss the RSVP card. One of my favorite mementos of my wedding five years ago are the RSVP cards, where guests took the time to write a sweet note about how excited they were about coming. I guess that's not typical, but ever since, I've loved doing the same thing for other weddings we've been invited to. Something about the ephemeral nature of websites and phone calls is disappointing to me.
I like your RSVP idea! Hopefully it makes the RSVP process easier for everyone, including you. I think asking guests to call adds a personal touch. I just hope your guestlist is small...I imagine dealing with hundreds of RSVP phone calls would be crazy, lol!
I don't think I can say it enough-- I love your invites. So pretty without being over the top girly.
Apparently I am the one bride in the world that did not have a problem with RSVPs. I wrote on the envelople exactly who was invited and out of 132 people, I only had to hunt down 4 for an RSVP.
Personally, if I couldn't go to the wedding, I would feel uncomfortable having to call and tell you. I would feel better about being able to just check "Unable to attend" and send it on it's merry way. But that's just me. Also, as the bride, having to constently answer the phone for an RSVP seems combersome. It was much easier for me to have the RSVP card there so I could mark down things when I had the time-- not just when people called.
But good luck to you. I'm interested to see how this works out for you.
LB
I guess it just depends on your guests. I didn't count how many rsvp's that I got back. But I would say it was around half. People said they sent them and I never received them (maybe because they're small they got lost in the mail!) and then there were folks who just didn't bother to return them and I had to call. Luckily it was family and friends, no extended relatives, etc. so it wasn't a big deal. I think your wording is perfect and your invites are beautiful! The RSVP card is a hard call....
Oops, I was signed in with my work blog. Anyways, it's me, Kiley! ha ha who wrote that last comment.
That looks great! I have to say I just might use this RSVP card adaptation for my invites!
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