Now that you are in the midst of wedding planning and you’re having soo much fun (or completely stressed out), let’s not forget that you need to plan ahead for your wedding invitation’s departure!
Start off by making sure you pick an invitation design at least four to six months prior to your wedding date. You need to take into account: design time, rough drafts, proofing, changes, and printing! If you are ordering directly from a website, you still want to give yourself time to receive your invitations in the mail and make sure everything looks perfect. Mistakes can happen and you wouldn’t want to receive your invitations last minute and realize you are marrying Jim instead of Tim!!!
Want to speed up the process? Have your envelopes preprinted. Address printing is an add-on that I offer to all of my customers. This helps eliminate the need to hand address or place labels onto every envelope. Only downfall with envelope printing is that you are still required to create an excel sheet with all of your guests addresses.
Did you “Save the Date”?
If you sent out Save the Dates, eight to twelve weeks is a good timeframe to shoot for sending your wedding invitations. If you have tons of guests from out of town or your wedding date falls on a holiday or a busy weekend, you'll want to give your guests extra time and send invitations out twelve to sixteen weeks prior to your wedding date.
If you're having a destination wedding and have already sent a Save the Date with travel information, you'll still want to have your formal invitation mailed at least four to six months in advance. Destination weddings require a lot more travel planning, booking and saving on your guests behalf.
No, you didn’t “Save the Date”!
No fear, Save the Dates might be a trend, but they are NOT mandatory. Most of your close friends and family members will already have an idea of your wedding date, but it is a good idea to send your invites out around the ten to twelve week mark if you skipped Save the Dates. This gives your guests time to get your wedding date on their schedule before their busy lives are booked full. If you have tons of guests from out of town, sending invites at the fourteen to sixteen week mark wouldn’t be a bad idea.
If you're having a destination wedding and you're choosing to not send Save the Dates, you'll want your formal invitations in the mail anywhere from six months to a year in advance. Check with your travel agent or accommodations to find out how soon your guests can book their hotels and flights. If they need to book early to secure a room, make sure you're taking that into account when mailing your invitations.
Oh Sh*t, it’s Past the Eight Week Mark
Well, get your life together and get those invites out ASAP! Keep in consideration that you are the one who, in the end, needs your guest to respond in a timely manner. RSVP’s should be in your hand at least two to four weeks before your wedding date, depending on your vendor's requirements.