Wow! Invitations are confusing!

crcossel · February 14, 2010

Ok so I am planning my sisters wedding and we are trying to finalize the budget. So today we went to look at invitations to see how much they will cost. But we ended the day so confused.

The invitations were very DIY. In other words we would see a design we liked and then find out that there were like 15 peices to it. Oh and btw, thats just for the paper. The actual printing design....we have to figure that out ourselves.

We don't even know what should go in it.

We know there is the actual invitation. But what inserts? What goes in the inserts. How much information? And can someone just tell us what we need and design them for us?

Please help....

Sarah · February 14, 2010

Invitations can be really overwhelming. There are a ton of resources on this forum though! Spend some time looking through people's invitations on this section of the forum. Lots of people have put pictures of their entire invitation suites - their inserts, their info, etc... there are lots of helpful templates and tutorials that you'll be able to download once you have enough posts/points, but in the meantime you'll be able to see some pictures at least. Etsy.com is another great site - search for destination wedding invitations and you'll see lots of ideas. The great thing is that there's always something for every budget so decide on that, then find the person that can create what you love. Good luck and happy planning!

AnnaBanana · February 14, 2010

Okay, I'm with you here.

I am sort of the "anti-bride" bride. This stuff does NOT come naturally to me. If I had it my way, I would send an email to everyone with the details as that is how I usually accomplish things.

HOWEVER, something tells me that's not very couth, so I set out to find exactly what you should include in your invitations. I have not found a definitive answer, but from what I have seen of other DW invitations, this is the conclusion I have come to:

1. Invitation - clearly the most obvious.

2. RSVP Card - with checkboxes for attendance, food selection, and perhaps your AHR should you choose to have one.

3. Inserts - You can put whatever you want on these, but most of the ones I've seen include information about the destination, accommodations, Directions/map, wedding timelines, and really any other information you feel pertains to your DW wedding. I don't see these as being requirements, but they will be helpful for your guests. You can also include a wedding website (discreetly) that can offer more information in a more casual way.

4. Response Envelopes - if you want responses, you need these, and don't forget to factor in the cost of postage for the invites AND the response cards. I have roughly 50 invitations going out and I custom ordered stamps. My postage fees were $125 (extra postage for heavier envelopes).

I hope that helps some! Good luck!