Are invites necessary?

[Tobi]

I was planning on sending invites but the more I think about it, the more I find it unnecessary. We have 34 people booked...do I send them an invite or I'm thinking an info brochure would be better. Do I send those who have not already booked an invite? Even if I am sure they will not come? Should I do invites for those not booked and brochures for booked? Opinions please...I tend to over scrutinize but my invites will be DIY so any efforts I can save myself, the better. Thanks ladies!

[KatyKo]

I am a bit confused about this as well. I sent out STDs already and I think I have decided to just send out some sort of brochure with all the details of the trip. Then they will also get a welcome package with the rest of the details once they get there.

 

I hope that is enough

[**~Jenn~**]

I have been making myself crazy with this. I sent my STD's out....but my biggest concern is people deciding to book there trip on their own and I don't know until they get there. I can see some of my Aunts & Uncle doing that.

So I've decided at the end of April to send a formal invite to EVERYONE...My RSVP will be in the form of a Postcard and they will RSVP for Mexico and also my AHR which will be 2 weeks after we get back. This way I get an exact head count.

Then, a week or so before Mexico, I will send my Travel Brochure and Luggage tags to those who RSVP'd yes for mexico.

It's alot of postage, but that's ok..At least I will have an accurate head count. The only snag I will have is if we decide to do to the AHR in Sept....then I will probably have to send a seperate invite for that since I can't expect people to RSVP in April for something in Sept. But I will dross that Bridge when I get to it!! LOL

How did everyone else handle theirs

[Karen]

It seems to me that for the most part formal invites are sent out more for sentimental/ traditional/ keepsake reasons moreso than practical reasons when it comes to DWs. Most guests have commited to coming (or not) well before the time that invites go out (6-8 weeks).

 

The wedding police aren't going to come and drag you away if you don't do them. But personally, I would do them. I can't explain it but there is this giddy happy "this is really happening" feeling that you get when you send them out. Plus relatives/ friends who can't make it can still have a keepsake of your day.

 

Online Printers like Vista Print can print up invites inexpensively and might not cost you more than DIY invites. Plus it would save you the headache of one more thing to do. We eloped but did our announcements, AHR invites, and thank you cards for around $100. Personally, I'll throw money at a situation to save me headaches.

[BachataBride]

I was torn by this as well...that's why I sent out my invites back in March...just after the first "lot" of guests booked. I knew that I wanted invitations...its my wedding after all!! But I knew I probably couldn't justify sending them out after people were booked & I knew no one else (or very few) were going to book! I also justified it by putting that an AHR would follow in the summer of 2009...details to be determined!! That was how I justified sending it to people I knew were not coming!! But it is completely up to you! I did my invites very inexpensively...140 invitations, 140 envelopes & 140 address labels all for about $120. That was through vistaprint as Karen mentioned above. To have a look at my invites look at this forum... http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t29462

But it's all said & done its completely up to you!

[JaimeLynne]

So far we sent out a STD magnet, then a follow up brochure about a month later. We're having everyone go to our website to RSVP and contact Tammy to book.

 

I did put on the brochure that the final RSVP deadline is TBD... so I guess I need to send out at least one more thing...

 

I'm kind of torn on the invite thing too... I'm sure we will send out a final brochure to those booked with all the details.

 

FMIL wants us to send some "Announcements" to friends and very extended family that weren't invited...

 

Gosh, there really is so much to think about! I just want to get married! lol

[adias.angel]

We are going to send out STD's (1 year before), Invites (6 months before) and Announcements w/ AHR info (day of wedding). We know most people will be booked by the time the invites go out so they will mostly be for sentimental reasons, mostly for people like my grandma who can't come.

 

The one thing I still have not figure out is what to do about getting an RSVP for AHR from those who are going to the wedding. My two thoughts are to send out a reminder postcard for them to go to our website to RSVP or to just send them the announcement too...

[~Debra~]

I was thinking about this too and I decided that I'm not going to send invitations to those people who have not booked by our deadline. The majority of our guests have already contacted us or our TA to inquire about deposits and things. I'm actually impressed how on the ball they are. We decided the few we don't hear from, we will personally call and ask them if they plan on attending or not. When we sent out our STDs we included our website and said that the preferred method of letting us know is RSVPing via our website. I'm sure not sending invites to those who haven't booked is probably an ettiquette NO but hey, its a DW...we can break the rules!

 

Besides, we are having an AHR in September and we are having about 200 people so I'll save my money for those invitations. The wedding, our group is small, 40 ppl, so I'm not gonna waste the extra money to send invitations to those few people who probably won't RSVP or book by our deadline.

[KirstenRN6]

We decided to skip the whole invitation thing and just send out announcements after our wedding in December. It seemed kind of pointless to send out invites when we knew the majority of them weren't going to come. But I do understand what some of you say when you wanted to have invites just for the sake of having them. But for us, we decided against it. Either way, it's all depends on what you want.

[Karen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KirstenRN6 We decided to skip the whole invitation thing and just send out announcements after our wedding in December. It seemed kind of pointless to send out invites when we knew the majority of them weren't going to come. But I do understand what some of you say when you wanted to have invites just for the sake of having them. But for us, we decided against it. Either way, it's all depends on what you want.

Sending announcements out sounds like a perfect solution to avoid confusion.