When should I send Invitations?

[Brenna]

I have been needing this thread! Thanks for the input ladies!

[KelZavs20]

all this info is so helpful! seems like i am on the right timeline....wedding in Aug.2010 so im crossing my fingers for having my STD's out by end of aug.2009 (11 months in advance), and according to you guys the invites should go right around february (6 mos) with an rsvp for end of May/June?!

[hockeymom97]

Quote:

Originally Posted by islandbride317 Since I decided not to send out Save the Dates, I will be sending out formal invitations by the end of August 2009 for our wedding in May 2010 (about 9 1/2 months in advance). Now, here is what is strange....I asked my travel agent this very question and she said that I should have the end of November printed as my RSVP date. I don't know if this has to do with Sandals payments policy (ie. the full amount of accomodation costs have to be paid by the end of March for a mid-May wedding), but she said anything later than that would not give guests adequate time to plan for the added expense of attending a DW (referring to the dismal state of the economy right now).

I honestly even hadn't thought about that, but that's a great point. I know our reservations need to be paid in full by the beginning of March for our wedding in the beginning of May. I was originally planning on sending official invites out similar to a traditional wedding - maybe 2-3 months ahead of time and give them a month or so to RSVP (our STD's were mailed out approx 11 months in advance). But obviously that's not going to work, because at that point the full amount would be due and I have a feeling that would throw some guests for a loop!

Maybe I'll call my TA to see what she thinks........

[amynjoe]

Our invites will be sent later this month, our save the dates were sent out about 2 months ago, but we have a wedding website with resort and booking information, so I don't feel the need to rush them

[ssleenyc]

When should i send invites out for a wedding that is 11/14 but I need to get all menu counts back to the catering company no later than 10/1?

[azulskies]

I plan on sending out invites 2 months before I need a count, so sometime this month..?

[cruisebride0410]

Did most of your guests already make their reservations? If you already know who is coming they probably need less time to respond than if you don't.

[MaryS]

My wedding is 11/28 and I sent mine out in July and I did the RSVP for Sept 1, and out of the 92 invites I sent out I have only recieved 10 responses.

[Sheree10]

Since you need the menu choices by 10/1 you should be sending out the invites soon with an RSVP date of mid Sept. so you can follow up with the non- responders.

[Mystic]

I agree with the others who suggest to send them out SOON. I sent mine out in May with an RSVP date of Aug 1 for my Oct 24 wedding and have only gotten responses from 1/3 of my guests. Our parents and family have had to put calls and emails out to the rest, and some STILL havent gotten back to us.

 

People who said they were coming are now saying they can't, and there are some we didn't hear a peep out of during the entire process so we assumed they weren't coming but when we contacted them, they said they ARE coming!

 

You definitely want to give yourself some wiggle room so you can get an accurate count. What is so hard about checking off a pre-stamped card and dropping it in the mail?!