Save the date etiquette help!

alberthathrasher · November 3, 2009

Hey all,

I have a bit of a conundrum regarding our save the date invites for our destination wedding. We will be getting married in Nov. 2010 in Mexico and had arranged our trip package so everything is booked and ready to go. Our immediate families know of our plans, including the information that a deposit is required by Dec. 13 2009 to guarantee a spot on the trip and to be a part of the early booking bonus.

On our save the date invites we are torn over whether to include the full price of the trip or to give our guests the contact info to find out the price themselves. I believe it is tacky and presumptuous to fully state the trip package price options (our save the date's clearly state we are getting married in Mexico and will be having a reception in our home city for all those who can't attend, so everyone knows we will be going away no matter what). My fiance wants to include as much info as possible because her reasoning is that she wants people to know up front what kind of price they can expect and they can decide from there, plus have the advantage of taking part in the early booking bonus.

We fully expect it won't be a large wedding party in Mexico, asides from a few of those on the fence. Some guest we know can't make it because of money or health or other issues, but we will be sending them a save the date regardless.

Is there a proper way of wording our invites so as not to insult anyone? I'm partial to including all the trip info, including prices, on our website which we'd include on the card. Or should we just throw it all on there and let the guest decide? We're sending an actual wedding invitation later on this summer for guests to RSVP to our reception at home. By the time our wedding invites hit mailboxes, the final payment for our trip package would have passed.

Can anyone help with their advice on what they did for their destination weddings? Is there an etiquette involved? Any suggestions would greatly help alleviate this already stressful process.

flbluiiis · November 4, 2009

I don't know if there is any proper etiquette or not... but I would probably just put the prices on the website and include the website on the STD. That way you don't have to clutter the STD with the extra info because the guests can get it all from the website. Maybe you would put something like "For early booking specials and other wedding/travel information please check on our website." Or something like that...that way they know to look at it early but don't have the prices right there in their face?

Sheree10 · November 4, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by flbluiiis

I don't know if there is any proper etiquette or not... but I would probably just put the prices on the website and include the website on the STD. That way you don't have to clutter the STD with the extra info because the guests can get it all from the website. Maybe you would put something like "For early booking specials and other wedding/travel information please check on our website." Or something like that...that way they know to look at it early but don't have the prices right there in their face?

Great idea, I agree with placing some not all of the info on the STD's. We sent out ours in August and I didn't want to send out too much info in the beginning. I wanted to send it to let people know that we had a date and they should look forward to getting more information. Then we sent out a letter with all of the travel details. You don't want to overwhelm them too early, especially since you have one year- but it flies by so fast!

vgirl17 · November 4, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by flbluiiis

I don't know if there is any proper etiquette or not... but I would probably just put the prices on the website and include the website on the STD. That way you don't have to clutter the STD with the extra info because the guests can get it all from the website. Maybe you would put something like "For early booking specials and other wedding/travel information please check on our website." Or something like that...that way they know to look at it early but don't have the prices right there in their face?

I agree! Make sure they know to go to your website for Early Booking incentives and detailed pricing info. You may also want to consider having them tentatively RSVP online for the Mexico ceremony so you have some idea of the guest count to get a head start on OOT bags, etc. I did this and it has worked great. I also made a note on there that I know this is not set in stone but since this is a destination wedding it will help us with planning.

NaM · November 4, 2009

We didn't put a thing on the STD except the hotel and the date. We did however put a link to our website where the most information was and we kept that up to date. People also RSVP'd on the website and it helped us keep track of everything.

I think a STD is supposed to be casual and simple, I wouldn't bombard your guests with ALL the info all at once...give people a chance to research and soak it all in and then if it's something they want to pursue they can look up the details or contact you/your TA.