A Personal Glimpse Inside the Wedding Invitation Process
The easiest way to understand wedding invitations is to view one young couple as they delve into the matter first-hand. Karen Green and Joe Brown are getting married in four months. Both agree that a small outdoor wedding in the spring is best. Joe is especially thrilled with this idea, as his late brother’s birthday was May 21st. For that reason, Joe feels May 21st is a perfect day for a wedding, and his bride-to-be agrees.
Finding a Location
With the date set, the couple begins their plans. May 21st happens to fall on a Saturday, so they plan their day in advance by coming up with a guest list. Considering their parents’ requests and their own guest lists, the couple come up with a list of 180 people. Then call their top choices for both the wedding and reception and book their location.
Wording and Selecting the Invitations
Both Joe and Karen’s parents are chipping in to pay for the wedding. Joe and Karen realize they must include both sets of parents on the wedding invitations for this reason. They come up with exactly what they want to say.
Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Green
and
Mr. and Mrs. Brad Brown
request the honor of your presence
to celebrate in the joyous union of hearts and souls
between their children
Karen Marie Green and Joseph Alan Brown
on Saturday the twenty-first of May,
Two thousand and six
at four o’clock
Inn of the Green Mountains
Essex Town, Vermont
Dinner and dancing follow in the
Sunset Ballroom.
The couple head to a local party store to view differing styles. It is an outdoor wedding, so they know they want their wedding invitations to tie into the theme they want—lilacs. As Karen and Joe leaf through samples, they each choose their top three favorites. Karen and Joe decide upon a pale purple invitation that is trimmed with one white ribbon. They order two hundred invitations, along with matching RSVP cards and direction cards. After they place their order, they learn it will take two to three weeks for the cards to be ready.
Preparing the Invitations to be Sent
Once their order arrives, Karen begins the lengthy process of filling out both the inner and outer envelopes. Joe’s job is to place the small sheet of tissue paper between the card and organizing the enclosures in the proper format. Joe takes one card to the post office to be certain one stamp is enough.
Waiting for a Response
Weeks later, the couple are six weeks away from their wedding date. Joe mails the envelopes. The wedding invitations are all sent out. Now comes the time to wait for RSVP cards that have been dated to be sent back no later than two weeks before the wedding. Joe suddenly remembers that his mother had asked if he’d remembered to include his half-sister’s cousins. More invitations are sent out. The couple is glad they remembered to order extras!
Two weeks before their wedding, Karen’s mother calls those people on the list who have not responded. She needs to finalize the count for the inn.
Now, it is time for the big day. Everyone compliments Joe and Karen on the beautiful wedding and the lovely invitations. All of the hard work has paid off – the day is absolutely perfect.