FAQs

Wedding protocol, etiquette and tradition can be a bit of a minefield to get right, and generally speaking, I would say, that if it feels and sounds right to you, then go with your gut, but for any of those niggly little questions that you haven’t quite found an answer to yet, I’ve noted a few popular ones down below:

 

When should we send save the dates and invitations out?

For save the dates, send them out as soon as you know and have booked your venue, if you're planning on celebrating your wedding abroad, give your guests as much time as possible to prepare - saving, booking holiday's from work etc.  With regards to invites, anything around the 6 month mark is about the norm.  

 

Who should the invite come from, ‘us’, ‘bride’s parents’, ’both sets of parents’, ‘together with our parents/families’….?

The easy answer is 'whoever you want it to be from'.  Historically, the invitations were sent out by the brides parent's as tradition dictated that they tended to foot the bill, so got the pleasure of inviting the guests.  These days, as budget splits are so varied, you can include anybody you like - if you're organising, planning and paying for the majority of the day, send the invites from you both.  If you're receiving some help from either or both sets of parents, you can add them on too - either by name or using 'our families'

 

What about the wording?  ‘we request the pleasure of your company’, ‘please join us for our wedding’ or ‘we’re getting hitched, wanna come?’

This is where the fun starts!  You're stationery is the first part of your wedding that your guests are going to see, giving them a glimmer of the themes, colours, and plans you have in store - they allow you to 'set the tone' for the day and prepare your guests for what they can expect from your impending nuptials.  If you're dreaming of a big, traditional wedding with a church ceremony, you might opt for something more formal in your wording.  On the other hand, if your plan is to get married at a music festival, partying in a field and with your guests sleeping in tents; a laid back, conversational tone would likely be more fitting.  Your stationer can help guide you on this and provide different options on wording for you to pick from.

 

What needs to be included on the guest info card?  Do we even need one?

Imagine you were a guest at your own wedding; is there anything specific you would need to know?  Is the venue or reception tricky to find and require more direction than a post code in Google maps?  Is their limited parking or few taxi's in the area?  Do they need to bring cash for the bar or does it accept cards?  Do you require food choices from them prior to the day?  With regards to gifts, have you decided you would prefer a contribution towards your honeymoon rather than standard gifts and require to relay this to your guests?  If any of these (and this list is by no means exhaustive) are relevant to you, then yes, I would say an info card would probably be quite useful.  It also allows you to keep your main wedding invite simple in it's content and contain only information about locations and timings.

 

If you have a wedding and/or stationery related question that you're struggling to find the answer on, send me an email with it and I'll try and help you out - emma@alfandalba.com