Invitation Etiquette

As your wedding date draws nearer, it is time to send out your wedding invitations. With so many options available, it is important for you and your guests to understand the etiquette involved.

1. Each invitation should be specifically addressed to the guests that are being invited. For example, if you address the invitation to Mr. and Mrs. Carl Smith and Family, you are inviting Carl, his wife, and their children. If you only address the invite to Mr. and Mrs. Carl Smith, the intention is to only invite Carl and his wife. However, please note that although you may be aware of invitation etiquette, your guests may not. The response card may be returned with more guests than you you intended. If this happens, it is up to you to decide on how to respond. You may have to call them and politely explain that the invitation was really intended for only the adults. If this is an uncomfortable conversation, then you may just have to be ready to add to your guest list.


2. If you are inviting a couple who live together, but who are not married, then you specifically address the invitation to both of them, such as Mr. Carl Smith and Ms. Anna Roberts.


3. In the past, when single friends have been invited it has been customary to address the invite as Mr. Thomas Anderson and Guest, giving them the choice of whether to bring someone or not. More recently, with the high costs associated with weddings, some couples are choosing to limit their guest list, especially if they have a number of single friends who already normally hang out together. Once again, if you receive the response card and the number is two instead of one, then be prepared to make a phone call to clarify the situation right away or accept an increase in your guest numbers. However, please note that if a single friend has been seeing someone for three months or more, you should include "and Guest" on the wedding invitation, allowing them to bring a date.


4. RSVP cards should already be stamped and ready to be mailed back. It may seem like a little thing, but it is considered bad form to make your guests pay for their own postage.


5. Information in regards to where you've registered for gifts should not be included in your wedding invitation. Instead, create a wedding website that not only includes maps and updates about your wedding, but a specific section of links to places you've registered. Now days it is considered quite acceptable to include the website address in your wedding invitation to point guests in the right direction.


6. Wedding invitations are normally mailed out three to six months prior to the wedding. Although e-mails work for Save The Dates, invitations should still be "hard copy".
   

For additional assistance on how to properly word wedding invitations or help with any of your other wedding stationary questions, please contact us at info@creativeweddingsandoccasions.com.

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Cathy MacRae is a certified wedding and event planner, and owner of Creative Weddings and Occasions and Del Sol Destination Weddings. Located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, she plans wedding for couples in and around the Calgary and Banff area. She is also a destination wedding and honeymoon travel specialist helping couples plan their weddings in paradise all around the world. For more information about planning your own wedding or for advice from Cathy, please contact her at info@creativeweddingsandoccasions.com.

Decor Ideas For An Fall Wedding

As much as most of hate to see the end of summer, the fall season does give us some incredible options to work with when it comes to wedding decor. The oranges, yellows, browns and reds of autumn provide us with a fabulous and stunning palette of colors to work with. It also gives us a chance to bring in elements from the outdoors, including leaves, dried flowers, and possibly even vegetable gourds. Add to it the Thanksgiving season, and you may be able to incorporate a turkey or two.

One of our couples recently got married in a beautiful outdoor ceremony in a picturesque location in Southern Alberta on Thanksgiving weekend. Large containers of dried flowers, prepared by the groom's mother, were artfully arranged on either side of the trellis, filled with cattails, dried berries, and other plants unique to the area. To add some additional color, Blue Hydrangea brought in two large vases of curly willow and seasonal flowers that added color to the ceremony backdrop. Metal pails of flowers were also used to decorate the end of each row of chairs and line the center aisle. It was quick, easy, and economical, yet looked great!

The best part was that all of these items were able to be easily transported to the reception site at the Lynnwood Ranch (south of Okotoks) allowing the bride to continue the theme in her reception decor. She wanted to create an atmosphere that was both rural and rustic, and by incorporating and reusing items from the ceremony decor, we were able to add to the overall feel and ambiance at the reception venue. The metal pails of flowers were especially useful as we used them throughout the room including on the edge of the DJ stage, the coffee service table, in the washroom areas, and placed effectively throughout the room. A bride on a really tight budget may have even opted to re-use them as part of her table centerpieces.

Playing on the Thanksgiving time period, country-style stuffed turkeys decorated the buffet tables, along with additional arrangements of silk tiger lilies in the colors of bright oranges and reds, adding a holiday feel to the food lines.

Some couples think that their centerpieces have to be expensive to look good. If you get creative, there are many affordable options that can be quite effectively. At this wedding, we opted to use a set of three tea light holder at varying heights. Artificial leaves in autumn colors were pulled off a garland and scattered on the table around the holders. Ivory glass stones were also scattered around the centerpiece along with mini-pumpkins and other vegetable gourds. The flame from the tealights provided a warm, romantic glow. However, please note that the burning time of a tealight is relatively short. You may want to consider using LED lights instead (they make ones now that flicker like a candle) to avoid having to change them throughout the evening or if you are in a venue that does not allow open flames.

If your wedding is still a year off, one cost-saving idea is to take advantage of some the sales that might be on now and purchase some of the "seasonal" materials ahead of time. Even if you're not sure what you want to do, you will probably find ways to incorporate them, and not end up paying full price next year.

Fall is fantastic season when it comes to wedding decor! The bright colors of autumn give us lots to work with, and the natural materials available are plentiful. Look around, get creative, and most importantly, have fun!

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Cathy MacRae is a certified wedding and event planner, and owner of Creative Weddings and Occasions and Del Sol Destination Weddings. Located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, she plans wedding for couples in and around the Calgary and Banff area. She is also a destination wedding and honeymoon travel specialist helping couples plan their weddings in paradise all around the world. For more information about planning your own wedding or for advice from Cathy, please contact her at info@creativeweddingsandoccasions.com.