As your wedding invitations will be the first piece of correspondence your guests receive regarding your wedding, your invitations will set the tone for the style of your wedding. If your wedding will be held in a church with a traditional wedding reception to follow, a classy card will showcase that style. In the alternative, if you are having a fun and casual beach wedding, your wedding invitations will feature a laid back, breezy style. Along with the crucial importance of your invites comes a list of do’s and dont’s of wedding invites which you may not even realize! The last thing you would want to do when sending out your invites is to make some sort of mistake which may offend your guests – or even worse – cause some of them not to come.

Ready to find out some of the best do’s and dont’s when it comes to your wedding invites? Read on!

When sending your wedding invitations, some of the following pointers to keep in mind should be:

• ALWAYS spell check your invitations. Even if all the wording looks correct on the invite, it is always a great idea to have another set of eyes read over the invite. Your eyes may be so trained to see the information and may miss the tiniest of misspellings or grammatical mistakes. You will want to make sure all the information contained inside your invitations is completely correct.
• You will want to make sure all the pieces of the invitation are assembled correctly prior to sealing the envelopes. We have heard many stories of frantic brides calling the post office after all their wedding invitation accessories were dropped off for mailing, once they realized they had forgotten the return envelopes inside. Always take the time to ensure each and every piece is accounted for when assembling, saving you any tears at the post office once you realize you have made a mistake.
• On the topic of response cards, always remember to include return postage. The response card is the tiny card which your guests send back to you, either confirming or declining your invite. It is much easier for your guests to simply check off ‘yes’ or ‘no’, seal it back in the envelope, and drop it back off in the mailbox already with the stamp on it. You will be more likely to get the responses back faster when the guests do not have to hunt down a stamp of their own.

Now that we know what you should do, how about the things you should NOT do on your invites.

• NEVER email your wedding invitation to your family and guests. Yes, this is the age of technology, but just emailing your invitation, or sending your wedding details in an email is a definite no-no. Your guests will appreciate the time you took in sending out formal invitations.
• Where it was once standard to send your wedding gift registry information inside of the wedding invitations, it is now considered tacky. It is almost like you are sending the message, “Hey – buy me a present!”. Should the guests want to know where you are registered, it is easy enough for them to pick up the phone and call the engaged couple to find out where they are registered, or to ask the parents of the bride or groom.
• Always take the time to hand write your envelopes, rather than stick pre-printed labels addressed to your guests. This will also show you took the time to hand-write your invitations and will show your pride in the finished product. Also, another point to remember when writing your envelopes is to write them out before they are sealed. Once you write on the envelope with the invitation already inside, you run the risk of making unsightly indentations on the actual invitations.

Obviously, there are a lot of factors which go into the wedding invitation, some you may not have even thought about before. Always remember that spell checking your invitations, proofreading to ensure absolute correctness, and taking the time to hand write your invitations will go a long way in the overall presentation of your invite.