Here it is! We promised a little shout out to those needing some advice on getting those amazing wedding and party invites sent out. Here's a few pointers for you.
Sending Your Invitations
Formal Events
For formal events, invitations should be sent a good six weeks in advance. If guests might have to arrange travel and accommodations, make sure to send the invitations out far enough for their convenience. For those anticipating a number of out-of-towners, the courtesy of Save the Date cards, sent up to one year in advance, is always appreciated by the guests. This allows for the scheduling of travel arrangements at optimum prices and flexibility. If your event will be held in a popular seasonal spot, you'll want to send invites out up to two months ahead of time.
Informal Events
Where little or no travel is required, plan on sending or handing the invitations out at minimum two weeks in advance. This time frame ensures guests receive the invitation early enough that they haven't already made plans, yet not so early that they might forget about the event by the time it occurs.
Creating a Guest List
Your guest list depends on a number of factors, including intimacy, event space and budget.
Intimacy
First, decide on the degree of intimacy you'd like for your party or event. Smaller events will allow you to mingle with all your guests and give you enough time to catch up with everyone. The hardest part will be keeping your guest list small -- some difficult decisions will be made if you have a lot of friends. Larger parties can be a blast, but you may have to sacrifice being able to spend time with each and every guest.
Event Space
The size of your event space is often the determining factor in the number of guests you can invite. If you're planning a dinner party, you may want to keep the guest list under twelve people. Any more than that will crowd the table and make intimate conversations difficult. Know your space. Don't try to cram more people into your living room than will fit comfortably. Formal events can be pricey, so keep your budget in mind when inviting guests. For birthday parties or weddings, consider the size of your reception hall. Your party/wedding planner or reception site will be able to tell you exactly how many you can squeeze onto your guest list!
Budget
The final thing you'll need to take into consideration before creating your guest list is your budget. This is most relevant for formal events or parties that require rentals and catered food. Make sure you define your cost per person before going wild on the invites!
Tracking RSVPs
Keeping tabs on your final guest count is an important and sometimes stressful task for those who don't possess the organizational or detail-oriented skills that make it a breeze for others. We suggest the following for hassle-free tracking: Create your guest list in an Excel spreadsheet. Create separate tabs for "Invited," "Attending," "Not Attending" and "No Reply". And remember, if the spreadsheet is even a hassle that you don't want to deal with, Atlas Designs offers RSVP Tracking with their party and wedding invitation design. Visit our site at
http://www.atlasdesigns.org/ for contact details.
Dealing with Non-Responsive GuestsOnce you reach your requested RSVP deadline, you might still have guests who haven't responded. The best way to manage stragglers is to call them individually and politely let them know that you would love for them to attend your party and want to know if they can make it. You can even blame it on the reception venue who is pressuring you for a final head count! Most stragglers have simply forgotten that the RSVP card didn't make it to the mailbox and a loving reminder will not be offensive to them.
Even with all these pointers, working through the etiquette and details of getting your guest list prepared, envelopes printed and RSVPs tracked can send the party planners or busy bride into a tailspin. Atlas can help you with all those details, and even provide a customized spreadsheet to help you in typing up your guest list. Once your list is typed up, let us do the rest, including your envelope printing, stuffing the invitations, sending them out and tracking the responses. All you need to do is watch your email for daily or weekly reports on who is attending and then focus on tackling the menu!
WHAT ABOUT YOU? Leave a comment and share your fun stories about getting those invites out in time and help the other brides and party planners who are stressed and need a good laugh!
