Wedding Invitation Etiquette and Design

Bride with wedding roses
After having asked for the bride's hand in marriage, and having prepared the guest list you will need to start thinking about actually sending the wedding invitations to relatives and friends. Generally, the invitations should be printed on fne white cardboard or on card of a pale creamy color.

The lettering should be clear and simple, in a dark black or blue color. The wedding invitation usually measures 31x21 centimeters open and is folded over in two, creating a hinge in the centre.

Etiquette for Confirmation of Attendance

Accompanying the wedding invitation, a reply card of the same color and style should be included.  The size should be 10 x 7 cm. This card should be placed in an open envelope upon which has been printed the address of the bride's family, to whom the confirmation of attendance  should be sent.  A postage stamp should have already been placed in the top right corner to facilitate its quick return. Although congratulations are often given informally to the bride and groom by phone, or face to face if you socialise on a day to day basis with the particular guests, etiquette dictates that the formal response to the wedding invitation card is sent in writing.  Typically a RSVP card is included in with the wedding invitation, in order to allow your guests to simply reply so that you know for sure who will and who will not be attending. The letters RSVP come from the french phrase "repondez s'il vous plait" which simply means please reply. 

The guests will need to confirm their attendance at least thirty days before the wedding, so that the bride and groom can orgainize the banquet on the correct scale, and can work out the budget for this. 

Formerly two separate notifications were sent to friends and family of the couple.  The first of these simply announced the forthcoming marriage, without actually inviting the recipient to the celebration. The second was the actual  invitation to the wedding banquet. In modern times this custom only continues in big state weddings, or in social events of the highest order, and requires a careful protocol.

Enclosed with the wedding invitation and the response card, usually a map to the location of the wedding celebration and banquet  place of celebration of the wedding and the banquet is included, especially if these are to be held somewhere that may not be completely straightforward to find.  It is recommended that both the location map and the wording of the invitation card are checked over a number of times by different people before the final printing takes place. The printers should customarily offer a sample print for the bride and groom to review before the full print run.

Wedding Invitation Designs

The wedding invitation design and style will usually vary depending on the positioning of the information, the font used and the size of the invitation. A classic way to lay out the invitation is to position the names of the parents of the bride in the top left, and  those of the groom's parents in the top right section.  At the center, the location, date and the hour of the ceremony are positioned. The address of the bride is placed in the left bottom part of the invitation , and that of the groom in the bottom right.

Following the positioning of the above information, usually at  the very bottom and centered the city and date of the wedding are noted, and below this the request for the recipient to confirm their attendance as a wedding guest.

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