Tip Day Thursday: Invitation Etiquette

On this rainy Thursday (April showers bring May flowers hopefully) I'm going to answer a question from Facebook (Thanks Dee).  What is the proper etiquette for sending out invitations?  Well let's see if we can figure that out!  This advice can be applied to any event, but I'll focus on weddings. 

Size Does Matter

First things first - how many guests should you invite?  So many things determine how many guests to invite to your event.  What does your venue accommodate?  What works with your budget?  But believe it or not, there is a formula to figure out the number of guests that should fit in a space.  For each guest, there should be 3 square feet of dance floor and/or 10 square feet of tent space (for outdoor venues).

What's in a Name?

  So now you've figured out how many people to invite, you've booked space, hired me, picked out beautiful invitations...now.....time to get them addressed!  A general rule here is that a couple living in the same household, whether married or not, gets 1 invitation.  So Joe Leccese and Melissa Gregorio live together and are both invited.  Send them 1 invitation and put Melissa's name first - always go with alphabetical when addressing in this case.  Letting your single friend bring a date or their significant other that you haven't met yet?  Send 1 invite to your friend, but include an inner envelope that says & Guest.  And the last rule for addressing your invitations:  adults in the same house that aren't a couple each get their own invitation.  I know, your invites were expensive and no one cares.  If they're important enough to share in your special day, they're important enough to get their own invitation.  So if Aunt Sue and Uncle Steve has 2 daughters that both still live at home, are both invited to the wedding and are both over 18, that house should get......drum roll.....3 invitations...sorry kids.  And speaking of kids, they don't need their own invitation.  Address the outer envelope as The Smith Family or Mr. and Mrs. Smith and then take the time to list each invited guest on the inner envelope, kids and all.  

You've Got Mail

Ok, so now you're all addressed and ready to go....when do you send them?  At minimum, you want to give yourself 2 weeks to get invitations back, call anyone that didn't send an invitation to you, make your seating chart, make place cards or board and get final numbers to your venue.  Sounds like a lot right?  Hello....hire a planner!  So to make sure you have enough time, make the RSVP date about 3 weeks prior to the big day.  So the rule here is to send your invitations out 6 weeks before your event. 

Need more tips on invitation wording or have a specific question?  Contact me here for a free consultation.  

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Happy Planning!