Choosing the perfect invitation is one of the most individual choices that you will make for your wedding. The style, paper, colour, wording should coordinate with your theme. Today, there is a very large selection of traditional and contemporary styles of invitations on the market, so it won't be a problem finding the perfect invitation to suit your personal taste and to match the style of your wedding.
If you are looking for something more advanced and want to give your invitations a special touch, go with the latest in digital technology to personalize your wedding invitations. These wedding invitations can be customized with your own picture and special digital effects.
It is advisable to order your invitations in advance if you are planning to invite guests from out of the country. Mail all invitations at the same time, four to six weeks before the reply date on the reply card, and make sure you use first class postage.
The outer envelope should have the full name, address and postal code, do not abbreviate and do not use symbols. The inner envelope should have the name only. If children are to be included in the invitation, their names go on the inner envelope only.
It is a good idea to include the reply cards complete with return envelope and stamp. This will ensure most of the replies within 10 days of mailing.
Wedding invitations are not sent to the groom's parents or any of the attendants. (Keep one for your future mother-in-law, as she will want it for a keepsake).
Count the number of actual invitations you need to mail out, not the number of guests, it is also wise to order some extra wedding invitations, as additions made after completing the order are charged as a new job. Compiling the invitation list is probably one of the biggest problems in any wedding; just make sure you involve your parents if you need to get a complete list of relatives that you may be unaware of.
If the presence of certain people is going to upset you, leave them out, after all it is your wedding day. Do not tell the groom's family to make up their list and give it to you. Tell them in advance that they may invite "X" number of people, if you are paying for the reception.
If you fail to tell the Groom's family approximately how many guests they may include on their list, you may be faced with a situation whereby the groom's mother wants to include 130 people, when in fact your parent's are only able financially to allow them 40 or 50. Avoid the embarrassment by starting on the right foot. There may be situations where the groom's family does have a large number of guests that must be included and perhaps you can work this out this his parents. It is quite alright for his family to offer to pay for a portion of the wedding reception.
