Invitation Scheduling
One of the biggest questions we get from our clientele is in regards to their invitations and appropriate timing. There are many details that factor into an answer. For instance, a simple digital-proof from a website such as Minted will be much faster than a custom foil and letterpress suite with dried grass, silk ribbon, wax seal, calligraphy, and custom stamps from a local vendor… Now, those are definitely the extremes on both ends - most people tend to fall somewhere in the middle. For our purposes below, we will deal with what we feel is our “average” invitation suite here!
*COVID-19 couples… check the bottom of the post for our recommendations specifically for you!
Photo by Karyn May Photography.
Photo by Karyn May Photography.
We feel it’s most useful to work your way backwards from the wedding date. For our purposes, let’s say your wedding is on July 1st. We recommend that your RSVP date should be about 30 days (one month) prior to your wedding date - June 1st in this example. Sometimes we will flex the date a bit if it is near a holiday to avoid any delays in mail delivery. Getting your RSVP’s by 30 days prior will allow you to make phonecalls to guests you have not received a response from (trust us, it’s inevitable), and also inform your vendors of your final guest/table count. Most vendors will require a final count and payment at about 2-3 weeks prior to the wedding date.
Photo by Kelly Braman Photography.
Now that we have a solid RSVP date, we time our mailing of the invitations about 6-8 weeks prior. In our example, we would be looking at as early as April 6th, or as late as April 20th. If you have many guests traveling and have NOT sent out a save-the-date (6-8 months pre-wedding), you may even want to send the invitations out closer to 10 weeks prior to the RSVP date, to allow your guests ample time to make travel accommodations as needed.
Photo by Jonnie & Garret Photography.
Photo by Jonnie & Garret Photography.
Now, here’s where some of your invitation suite “details” come into play… if you are hand-addressing, using labels, or printing/mailing a simple suite via a website like Minted, you will want to place the order for them at least two weeks prior to mailing - about March 23rd in our scenario. They should be done in about one week, and allows you time to address them as you see fit.
If your invitation suite is a bit more intricate in design, or you are using a small business vendor, production takes about 2-3 weeks. If you are still managing writing/labeling the envelopes on your own, you will want to order the invitations at least four weeks prior to mailing - with production time plus a few days for you to address/stamp/stuff, that would put you at around March 9th.
Lastly, if you are using a professional calligrapher, most require at least 2-3 weeks for completion and returning them to you to stuff/stamp/mail - depending on your number of envelopes and how intricate of a font/design you select. Be sure to factor that timing into your schedule!
Photo by Ryan Prins Photography.
With all of that being said, we recommend you start looking at designs, thinking about wording, picking a vendor, etc. for your invitations at least 12-16 weeks (about 3-5 months) before your wedding date. If you are considering sending save-the-dates as well and want a full comprehensive suite, then you will want to work on selecting your overall designs by about 10-12 months pre-wedding, in order to mail your save-the-dates by the recommended 6-8 month pre-wedding timeline.
To simplify things, please find our recommended invitation timeline below:
6-8 MONTHS PRIOR - Mail out save-the-dates. Be sure your wedding website is created and ready before sending these!
12-16 WEEKS PRIOR - Review and select overall design, invitation wording, production vendor, etc.
8-10 WEEKS PRIOR - Order invitations. Weigh a full suite, and purchase stamps - don’t forget a forever stamp for the RSVP envelope! Address the outer envelopes, or send to calligrapher. Assemble suites, and stuff into envelopes. Make sure your wedding website is up-to-date with current information.
6-8 WEEKS PRIOR - Mail out invitations!
4-8 WEEKS PRIOR - Order day-of stationery pieces (ceremony programs, signage, menu cards, place cards, table numbers, thank-you cards, etc).
4 WEEKS PRIOR - RSVP date.
WEDDING DAY!
4-8 WEEKS POST - Mail out guest and vendor thank-you cards.
Photo by Abby Fox Photography.
Photo by Ryan Prins Photography.
We sincerely hope this information is useful to you, and please know that each invitation suite can be as unique as the couple getting married, and therefore your specific timeline may be tweaked slightly to accommodate you and your guests needs.
To our COVID-19 couples affected by this pandemic… our hearts are with you. If your wedding was in March-May, you have likely already canceled or postponed your wedding. We recommend updating your wedding website, as well as sending out a very simple card to all of your guests notifying them of the decision(s) you’ve made - it can even be as simple as a pretty postcard! For our June-July brides, there is no need to worry quite yet… we are recommending holding off until at least the end of April (if possible) to make any drastic decisions. If you already have your invitations, but haven’t mailed them out yet, there is no harm in holding them a few extra weeks, until we know more about what’s happening. For our brides that are August and beyond, we firmly believe you are in the clear, and good to proceed as planned!
If you are in need of exquisite invitations, we have an incredible sister company called Modern Day Press House (formerly Gwyneth Paige Couture Letterpress) with an immensely talented graphic designer that can assist you with all of your invitation and stationery needs. All of the images of invitations featured on this post were created in-house. Shoot us an email for more details, or check out the website here.
Cheers to you, friends!
Hearts and Hands,
Jenn and Team Modern Day